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December 21 → your favorite websites this year
-Dreamwidth (obvs)
-AO3 (so much VLD fic. SO MUCH)
-pudding.cool (the best interactive infographics)
-radiotopia.fm + maximumfun.org (does it count if I just use the websites to download podcasts? Yes)
-lolibrary.org (started doing volunteer coding with them)

December 22 → new items you’ve added to collections this year
So, I do have a small number of things I collect - Sakizou artbooks, every Sengoku Basara doujin this one artist has done, lolita dresses - buuuut I don't really keep track of when I buy things beyond the invoices in my email archive, and I don't really have a nice way of showing them off. I did get Meta's Secret Laboratory JSK in green and the lace-up cut of Fortune Tarot, which were both wishlist dresses (and both of which I haven't gotten around to wearing yet, lol)

December 23 → travel you did this year
My usual convention rounds - down to DC for Katsucon, out to the midwest for Anime Central and Teslacon - and then driving down to NC twice to visit my mom (which is why this is late - I spent all of Saturday on the road, and all of yesterday visiting)

December 24 → Something which caught your interest this year
Not entirely a new interest, but I got back into doing a lot more woodworking, which has been exciting.

- Java really is my least favorite programming language
- Home maintenance tasks seem to take much longer when it's your house
- How to use my table saw and circular saw properly
- A lot of kanji (but not as much as I wanted to learn)
- How to reupholster a sofa
- Speedy neat handsewing
- How to patch drywall
- Many ways to kill clothes moths
- The first five standard iaido kata
- How to give myself an undercut

...And a multitude of other things I'm not remembering right this moment. Life's too short to stop learning.

Kind of personal there, eh, meme? But I don't mind answering, I meant to blog about this some at some point anyway. I am... doing pretty well, honestly. Not some shining paragon of Healthy Adult Human but like, pretty solid, no major issues. I'm still struggling a little with managing migraines (which have unfortunately increased in frequency and intensity over the last few years) - still can't figure out any triggers other than upper back/shoulder muscle overwork, but triptans are great and do an A+ job nuking them once they start (which is how I now know they're migraines without aura rather than just really bad tension headaches, heh). I still lowkey want to sleep basically all the time but I know there's a decent chance that's ADHD-related and the solution is just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I feel like I don't have much to say about this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ While we could have a vigorous debate on the line between 'art' and 'craft' (and I generally come down on the side of a more expansive definition of art), I tend to think of myself as a crafter or maker rather than an artist. Most of my crafting is cosplay, which has been a little light this year because of the house which ate much of my time and money. I did manage to make a couple of non-cosplay pieces for myself too though, which was nice!

(going to go back to do the missing ones later, I swear)

No real new musical discoveries this year, though I did pony up for a paid Spotify account and have been using it intermittently, mostly at work, and just kind of seeing where it takes me when I seed things with a few choice songs I like (answer: a lot of industrial and goth rock).

The only concert I went to this year was VNV Nation, a few weeks ago. Fourth time seeing them live, and it was just as awesome as the first three times.

(missed this yesterday because I got caught up in rubbernecking the Tumblr dumpster fire, so a day late!)

I don't actually go to the movies a lot - generally there's very few movies I am hype enough to go out on my own to watch, and I don't have a lot of local friends to go out to movies with. I'm also not really tuned in to what's coming out when, so I often don't find out about things until they're out of theaters, heh. This is in stark contrast to my dad and brother, who are hardcore cinephiles and see tons of films, most of which I've never even heard of.

Things I saw in theatres this year: Black Panther and the Shape of Water with my mom, and then Ocean's 8 and the BNHA movie with friends in Boston. Enjoyed all of them though I think Black Panther was the best, both in visuals and storytelling.

There are plenty of photos of me from this year already on this journal (because I cosplay, and because I set up Instagram to crosspost here), but I've been trying to take selfies more often so I can get a better sense of how to pose myself in photos and look good, so - new photos from this evening!



And, by coincidence, today is the day I finally got around to giving myself an undercut, which I've wanted to do for a while now, but didn't have clippers. Went out and got some clippers today though, and had at it. The back is a little rough because I'm used to cutting that bit by feel and not a mirror, and clippers are less forgiving than feathering razors, but I'm still really happy with how it looks.



With the bangs down it mostly looks like it did before, just with less bulk to it.