A month of great movie releases here in the U.S. and FINALLY some warmer weather in New England.

I despise cold weather with a passion I cannot adequately describe without giving this entry an adult rating for excessively profane language.  

During my time in Japan, the thing I hated the most about the experience was the weather.  There were winters of 28 Fahrenheit (-2 Celsius) with no heat in the classrooms or at home, followed by rainy seasons that devoured the sun for over a month and had me going into work soaked from the knees down on an almost daily basis. Then came summer, when Japan's humidity made a stay in the Bahamas feel like a romp in the Sahara (I looked like a Chia pet during this season).  

That said, I love Japanese people's appreciation for the seasons.  The festivals, the foods, the traditions... all of these I sorely miss.  And, to be honest, the seasons only felt at their most extreme when I lived in the countryside.  In Tokyo and Osaka, conveniences like the subways, covered markets, AC/heat all made it far more bearable.  

One of these days I'll have to share some pictures of my time there. Fans of Japan on dA and around the net seem to picture Japan as this ultra-modern, glitzy, wall-to-wall anime fest.  When I lived in Ehime (2005-08), VCRs were very much a norm, AC/heat were a luxory more than a staple in many homes, and the closest place to buy anything but the most current manga (and any anime, at that) was several towns away.  I imagine the experience was sort of how a non-American would feel if they were coming to the U.S. for the first time and introduced to... Alabama.  Or South Dakota.  Or any place that's not NYC or Cali.  Cultural expectations, right?

And that's my monthly ramble.

Monthly Goals

Draw. Draw anything.  Even the rough daily sketches I had forced myself to keep up with have been dropped.  Things continue to be rough after the death in the family, and art gives my mind more freedom to wander than I'm currently comfortable with.  Instead, I've been reading and studying more, which keeps my focus pretty tight and narrow.  Still, I don't like how I've dropped art for so long.  This tends to lead to a hiatus that will sneakily creep into weeks, then months, and before I know it, I'm starting from square one.

I like to put these goals publicly out there so that when I fail to get them accomplished I feel a bit more shame at my lack of effort.

Welcome to New Watchers

GREAT ARTIST & STOCK PHOTOGRAPHER, LaLunatique!


She's a busy gal, so I doubt she'll see this, but I love her work enough to advertise it a bit.  If you need some reference photos to draw from, please give her gallery a look!