2024 or DIE

So! 2024 is finally here, after flying back on Dec 29th I'm just now getting over the classic traveler's flu. I called out of work for 3 days and holed up in my room; listening to Jerma edits and sweating under 3 or 4 blankets until it disappeared. I still have some pressure in my ears but it's very manageable, I even went back to work for a day before jumping into my weekend (Wednesday and Thursday off) My Christmas was full and very entertaining- but more exciting was that I got a new job! 

It's another bakery in Seattle that's got much better staffing, flexible hours, and doesn't require me to get up at dark-thirty anymore. At the moment I'm working my shifts at 5:00 or 3:00 AM. I thought it would be perfect when I applied. "I get off at 11:00AM or 1:00PM, I'll have the rest of the day to work on things!" but then I came home and couldn't move because of how badly my legs and lower back felt. It wasn't a far cry to say that this job has actively diminished my quality of life for the past 6 months. I tried desperately to find a clerical position, or something with a little less physical exertion involved but I'm a little bit of a meathead. My resume has 15 years of cattle ranching on it and maybe 2 or 3 of standard office work. I looked really hard for 3-4 months and finally gave up a little when my roommate offered to put in a good word at the bakery he currently works at. 
I'll start this new job on the 16th with 3 10s. This means that I'll be working 10-hour shifts for 3 days a week (doable!) with better pay and medical benefits (30 hours or more is full-time baby!). I'm really hoping that this new schedule allows me more time to draw and dedicate myself to personal projects. I also started the Artist's Way Challenge this week. So I'll post about that soon- I'd like to give updates on it every week. It's only 12 weeks of exercise so it won't be too hard to keep up. 

This year I'm making an inevitable bummer decision. I will officially no longer be working on my webcomics Fiasco or Wabi Sabi. They've been on the back burner for so long that the ringing promise of "time...as soon as I have time..." sounds more like prayer at this point. But life only gets exponentially busier after high school. And I can't see myself finishing them with how far I've come. I started Fiasco in 2015 in an attempt to practice backgrounds and characters before applying to an art college, and Wabi Sabi in 2017 because I thought it was so fun. So they did their job. I  grew up, got into school, and graduated because of them. They've seen every iteration of me, and I've seen every iteration of them. One time my mom was so proud of a page that I'd finally completed that she went to the printers in Billings, MT (the largest town near us) and got the page specially printed in full scale. Meaning I came home to a rolled-up 9ft long printout of my Pokemon comic page that she would show to every client she could (my mom's a masseuse). Embarrassing but very funny in retrospect.

I'll still draw the characters, of course. I did a good job on them and love them very much. And with the announcement of their permanent shelving, I can finally put out all of the artwork I've done for them for the past 7 years (there's a lot)! So, Thank you, my comics!! And all the people who grew up with me in the Nuzlocke community on Deviantart. I'll probably make a more formal post when I have the time. 

In their stead, I am going to jump back into comic-making full force for 2024! My college thesis, The World According to Cornflower Mouse, will be getting a one-shot! I'm rusty and nervous and hardly qualified but god am I excited!! I'm also going to put more direct energy into laying out beats for Ma Mere l'Oye, which is the biggest and most devoted story I've got at the moment. I don't know when that will ever come to fruition but it'll be fun to play in the space this year.