Thoughts about design, code, technology and everything in between.
A fantastic interview with perhaps the only person I have a parasocial relationship with. I’ve been watching Yogscast content for something like a decade, and hearing Lewis in a slightly more serious context was a weirdly emotional experience.
This talk from Jack Conte about creativity, art, and how artists have dealt with change over time is one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time. It also captures my own feelings as an artist who isn’t inherently opposed to AI remarkably well.
We should react with “Ew,” then completely ignore whatever tried to rage-bait us more often.
I bought a second-hand table and set it up in my office as a dedicated art desk! It’s great and really cosy. Kind of like the Sheep Detective film we watched at the open-air cinema. Come to think of it, it was a great day overall.
We met at the park to paint trees. Nils painted Mareen and me instead. Weird choice, but I guess our new outdoor painting club doesn’t benefit from rules that are too strict.
6x6 all-out sprints (30 sec) with 60 sec recovery. It’s fun!
Millimeter didn’t actually react like that. That was just my attempt to make the cartoon a bit less boring.
I ordered a printer! Exciting times over here!
It’s sometimes hard to cope with the fact that all my friends improve so much at running in such a short time, even though I train three times a week.
I’m always a bit nervous about drawing and painting in public because I don’t always feel very confident in what I’m doing, and having someone look over my shoulder isn’t very conducive to my process. For the first time, someone actually stopped what they were doing, came over, asked me a couple of questions, and shared their art journey with me and it was... nice. I liked it. If you see me…
I love tax season. The wave of anxiety that hits when it rolls around is exhilarating, and spending a couple of days feeling like something terrible is about to happen really makes me feel alive.
This is the first drawing in a new sketchbook, and I love how it turned out. Anna and I spent the evening in a park celebrating a milestone in our relationship, and I love that I get to share moments like this with her—that she’s interested in them simply because they matter to me. I tend to keep things to myself because, I guess, I often feel like no one’s really interested. So putting myself out…
Sometimes, it really do be like that.
I tried to become someone who makes music. I failed and sold my e-piano. You win some, you lose some.
I built a shelf for my art supplies! I now have a whole new section in my office dedicated to storing my pens, pencils, paper, sketchbooks, brushes, and paints. I love it! The Year of Art has been going on for more than six months now, and I don’t feel like I’ll be stopping anytime soon. This really has a chance of becoming a lifelong project, so it felt worth improving the logistics around it.
I want to feel like I’m winning at the dentist. Every compliment means a lot to me.
At one point in the escape room, Mareen had to spank us with a leather paddle... it was definitely an experience...
It was such a lovely day. Everyone was there. So many friends came to Hamburg for the weekend, and we all had a wonderful time.
Now I need to pack up 93 books and send them to the company buying them.
I’ll actually save money by switching to fiber. I just wasn’t interested in doing all the work (ordering it and making sure there’s access to the area where the thingy can be installed) to get it. Now’s the time.
Linus isn’t the youngest anymore. Sometimes he forgets he’s an old boy now. When we visited on Saturday and were ready to leave, he shot out the door and jumped down a couple of steps without a second thought for his brittle old bones… or ligaments. Poor baby.
I seldom think it’s a good idea to skip my workout for the day. This was one of those exceptions.
I sometimes forget to make enough time for myself, which leaves my social battery completely drained and brings on headaches.
Baltrum is one of those strange little places you find on Germany’s islands, where nothing much ever happens except for the twice-daily ferry that brings in and carries away the tourists. I have a peculiar fascination with villages like this. They feel like a theatre production where most of life revolves around serving tourism, but the actors and crew can’t leave the stage when the season ends…
We drove to Bremerhaven, very close to where I grew up, to visit the Klimahaus and my father. It was a surreal experience to be in those places with Anna. I usually try to avoid going there, but this time it was nice, even if Linus, my father’s ageing dog, tore a ligament later that day while trying to chase a cat.
Being back at the sea did something to me. The sounds, the sights, I love it all. Every summer of my childhood, I spent all six weeks of the holidays by the sea. No internet, barely any infrastructure, just me, my boredom, crabs, seagulls, and the ever-changing tides. Come to think of it, it might be my favourite childhood memory.
Anna's mother had always dreamed of doing a Wattwanderung, a walk through the Wadden Sea at low tide to one of the nearby islands. So we packed our things, rented a car and a house, and made our way to Germany's north coast, where I'm originally from.
Last time, my hairdresser Ramona and I slightly misjudged both my hair length and the timing between appointments, and I ended up looking like someone who rather enjoys having far too much hair on their head. I’m fortunate not to have thinning hair, despite being a man in his thirties, so it feels a bit tone-deaf to complain about having too much of it. But with hair as thick as mine, it can…
In Germany, we have the saying "Man muss die Feste feiern, wie sie fallen", which loosely translates to "You have to celebrate the good times as they come". We tried. We failed. Oh well. Busses are the worst kind of public transportation. Change my mind!
I lied to Anna for her own good, because I’d prepared a little gift for her, and her investigative skills were dangerously close to ruining the surprise. Thankfully, I’m apparently a pathological liar, because she didn’t suspect a thing and was very happy to receive this little robin.
My reading can sometimes be a little too intense for Anna.
Days like this are the best.
Summer is the best season, no debate needed.
Meetings before 10 AM should be forbidden.
I'm already looking forward to next year!
I love drawing in this journal, but I’d love even more for AI to handle the scanning and editing for me.
Headache days are the worst. It’s either the weather or me thinking I can drink something with caffeine more than one day in a row that’s causing them.
I love winning battles against that inner voice telling me not to do hard things. It feels great.
This might be my absolute favorite comic from this year of daily comics so far.
Life is more rewarding when you’re invested in things.
I'm very strong.
I don’t know why, but the ending of Disclosure Day made me cry?!
Sometimes quality time together means doing things separately, but side by side.
Please don’t judge my apparently abysmal push-up form.
After that, I actively enjoyed the clean windows for two weeks. It was worth it.
We successfully built everything. Let’s just not mention how, a couple of days later, a real handyman had to come and bolt it all to the wall properly.
I’ve never understood people who pride themselves on how much heat they can stomach. Good job, dude, you’re hurting yourself on purpose. Very impressive.
This is somehow not as shocking to anyone else as it is to me, but how was this cocktail only invented in 2008? We had smartphones then! How did nobody, in all those years before that, think to smash up a bit of basil and throw some random alcohol into it?! It’s absurd!
We will persevere through these challenging times.
Anna’s new kitchen was installed on Monday, and I saw it for the first time on that evening. It’s beautiful! Germany seems to have a reputation for apartments being rented without kitchens. A couple of people have told me that, though I can’t confirm it myself. I’ve never moved into an apartment that didn’t have a kitchen. Maybe I’ve just been lucky.