Things I've enjoyed these past few days
Mar. 17th, 2026 08:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
witchpoetdreamerPrego's pasta sauce jars are amazing to reuse for drinks I need to shake to mix. Pour in, seal the jar, shake, drink. Lovely way to enjoy a cold coffee with milk and sweetener. I also particularly like those jars because they have the number of ounces on the side. I kept one jar that goes up to 12 ounces, and the one I've used most this week goes up to 20 ounces. Very useful. I don't keep every single jars of the pasta sauce (we eat a lot of pasta so that would be impractical), but I do make sure to always have those one hand if they need replacement.
***
I had to get myself some higher quality watercolor paper because my sketchbook wasn't taking it well at all (although it's been behaving better with my watercolour pencils, it still warps heavily but I do like the crinkling of the paper once dry, but normal watercolours would make the water puddle in places, not great at all). I decided to go to Walmart because I want to keep my spending low in favour of savings right now, and honestly? Did not expect their paper to slap so hard! I just got a mix media paper sketchbook (because I prefer hot press watercolor paper and they only had cold press, but the mix media paper was smoother) and damn. It's actually better than the gouache paper I've had before! It warps a little bit (that I expected) but barely, and besides I'm not using this paper in any professional way so I don't need it to not warp at all. AND I got a lot of it for pretty cheap. Definitely going to get this same sketchbook once I'm done with the one I have now.
***
Speaking of watercolour, I've taken some time to play around with the mixing of my watercolour pencils and chose more or less the same colours for my watercolour themselves so now I have the same-ish palette for both and I can play around with what I know right now (and said palettes are pretty limited, which I like better than the 48 colours I've got. Now I only have 16 to choose from, which still allows me to not have to mix primary into secondary or tertiary, but also gives me plenty to mix from for particular colours I'd like).
****
I've started to have a bit more fun with my writing lately. I think fully admitting to what my problem is in a previous post of mine unlocked something. I'm not saying that I'm healed, but my approach to writing feels more... simple and carefree than it's been before. I feel it's going to be a cycle, an upward spiral in which every time I go back to feeling lost, it's easier, and I get better during the times I feel like I know where I'm going. And you wanna know what helped a lot? Creative Writing for Dummies. I swear, the for Dummies books have been really good to me (although I really dislike that they have books like "writing prompts for generative AI" and that kind of shit in their collection now).
It feels like, when it comes to writing, because I've done it for two decades at this point, I tell myself that I'm not a beginner, but in many ways, I still very much am. I have finished poems, lots of them. I have finished a grand total of three short stories. And I have never finished a novel. And that's something that the book reminded me of: someone can be a great poet but suck at writing novels. My skills at one thing don't necessarily translate to my skills at something else, even if they use the same medium. I think the main thing is that I am impatient when it comes to art. I like to be able to create something and it's done within the day (or at least it feels done within the day). Only once have I taken more than a day to finish a drawing. And the last time I've taken the time to write more than a few chapters of a novel, I was a teen with so much time on my hands.
I don't let myself be taken by whatever art I create for long enough anymore. I don't allow myself to enter a flow state. I think the last time I did was when doing embroidery, but I went too hard, hurt my shoulder and couldn't embroider for a few weeks, so now I'm scared to pick it up again because, well, I need my limbs for work (if my legs are going to suck, at least let me have my arms damn it). Maybe what I need first is a good yoga regimen, something that will allow me to keep my limbs in good shape and supple rather than cramped from sitting like a gremlin all day long when not working.
All in all, I've got a few good days to ponder, explore and enjoy the small (and not so small) things in life.
***
I had to get myself some higher quality watercolor paper because my sketchbook wasn't taking it well at all (although it's been behaving better with my watercolour pencils, it still warps heavily but I do like the crinkling of the paper once dry, but normal watercolours would make the water puddle in places, not great at all). I decided to go to Walmart because I want to keep my spending low in favour of savings right now, and honestly? Did not expect their paper to slap so hard! I just got a mix media paper sketchbook (because I prefer hot press watercolor paper and they only had cold press, but the mix media paper was smoother) and damn. It's actually better than the gouache paper I've had before! It warps a little bit (that I expected) but barely, and besides I'm not using this paper in any professional way so I don't need it to not warp at all. AND I got a lot of it for pretty cheap. Definitely going to get this same sketchbook once I'm done with the one I have now.
***
Speaking of watercolour, I've taken some time to play around with the mixing of my watercolour pencils and chose more or less the same colours for my watercolour themselves so now I have the same-ish palette for both and I can play around with what I know right now (and said palettes are pretty limited, which I like better than the 48 colours I've got. Now I only have 16 to choose from, which still allows me to not have to mix primary into secondary or tertiary, but also gives me plenty to mix from for particular colours I'd like).
****
I've started to have a bit more fun with my writing lately. I think fully admitting to what my problem is in a previous post of mine unlocked something. I'm not saying that I'm healed, but my approach to writing feels more... simple and carefree than it's been before. I feel it's going to be a cycle, an upward spiral in which every time I go back to feeling lost, it's easier, and I get better during the times I feel like I know where I'm going. And you wanna know what helped a lot? Creative Writing for Dummies. I swear, the for Dummies books have been really good to me (although I really dislike that they have books like "writing prompts for generative AI" and that kind of shit in their collection now).
It feels like, when it comes to writing, because I've done it for two decades at this point, I tell myself that I'm not a beginner, but in many ways, I still very much am. I have finished poems, lots of them. I have finished a grand total of three short stories. And I have never finished a novel. And that's something that the book reminded me of: someone can be a great poet but suck at writing novels. My skills at one thing don't necessarily translate to my skills at something else, even if they use the same medium. I think the main thing is that I am impatient when it comes to art. I like to be able to create something and it's done within the day (or at least it feels done within the day). Only once have I taken more than a day to finish a drawing. And the last time I've taken the time to write more than a few chapters of a novel, I was a teen with so much time on my hands.
I don't let myself be taken by whatever art I create for long enough anymore. I don't allow myself to enter a flow state. I think the last time I did was when doing embroidery, but I went too hard, hurt my shoulder and couldn't embroider for a few weeks, so now I'm scared to pick it up again because, well, I need my limbs for work (if my legs are going to suck, at least let me have my arms damn it). Maybe what I need first is a good yoga regimen, something that will allow me to keep my limbs in good shape and supple rather than cramped from sitting like a gremlin all day long when not working.
All in all, I've got a few good days to ponder, explore and enjoy the small (and not so small) things in life.
no subject
Date: 2026-03-18 03:01 am (UTC)Writing is hard, but wonderful work. Poetry or prose, it's all delightful to create.
no subject
Date: 2026-03-18 05:20 am (UTC)Thank you for reading and for your encouraging words!
no subject
Date: 2026-03-18 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-03-18 05:52 am (UTC)