꒰ Thursday 09.21.23 ꒱

Hello diary and diary readers!
Apologies for my inactivity. School has started up again, so I've returned to the coast to resume my studies. This time I moved into a new apartment. I now get my own room (for cheaper rent!) with the caveat being that I occupy the living room. Luckily, my mom has recently become a very skilled carpenter, so she and my grandma accompanied me to help me move and build temporary walls for my 'room'. We spent about 4-5 days building giant shelves that would serve as my closet and temporary walls, with curtains for doors. I'll upload pictures of my room once I get it to come together more...
I'm happy to see my mom so passionate about carpentry. Its one of her many passions, and she does it incredibly well. My room is so cozy, as it was built with me in mind. Theres a giant window that provides my room with so much natural light, and with me some much needed vitamin D and serotonin. I feel safe knowing the walls around me were built with love by my mom... It's only been a week since she went home but I miss her and my grandma dearly. My mom, grandma, and I had a lot of fun together. This trip was pretty much their vacation. Their 'real' vacation anyways, since every time my family goes on vacation theres inevitable bickering and my mom is usually the one planning everything, so it's not exactly relaxing. But with just the three women in the family hanging out together, we all felt at ease and had a lot of fun. I'm glad they were able to relax and enjoy themselves. We went to the beach, the flea market (my mom and grandma had a blast haggling all the vendors LOL), the city, and had a lot of yummy food.

School has been easy going so far. I really like all my new professors and I feel hopeful about this schoolyear. It really is a dream come true to get to study art.. My home isn't very far from school, but the walk can be tiring and the bus route from my apartment to my school is very inconvenient. Luckily, I've decided to invest in an electric bike. I've wanted one for a while now, but because my past living situations made it hard to keep one, I never got one. With an electric bike I'll have more freedom of movement... and... my bike is SUPER cute!
This is a nakto classic ebike with a 600 watt motor. Its an entry level ebike thats not particularly durable from what i've heard, but it has a lot of features that appeal to me. First of all, the motor is 600 watts which is much more than the 350 watt bike my family has.. I'm confident this will allow me to climb most hills, even steep ones! And the bike was on sale, so it was around the price of what a 250-350 watt bike would be. And the company is based in my state so I think communication and service will be much more reliable and convenient, as I've heard the company is fairly responsive. I like that the battery is removeable so I can carry it with me to prevent theft (even though it looks heavy) I intend on taking on as many measures as I can to make sure it doesnt get stolen.. All in all, the bike is inexpensive, has the features I need, AND looks cute!! :D

(warning: some madoka magica spoilers)
About a week ago, I started rewatching Madoka Magica. I first watched it when I was 11 or so, and since then I've probably rewatched it like 5+ times. Maybe it's because I'm a film and animation major now or something, but for some reason the show REALLY hit this time around. Its been a few years since I last watched it, and theres been some sentiment online stating that Madoka Magica 'ruined' the magical girl genre.. maybe I got the idea that it wasnt as good as I remembered but luckily that isnt the case. Madoka Magica is brilliant, I adore everything about it from the characters to the music to the writing to the art direction. Gahh the art direction!! a problem I have with a lot of anime is that the creature design is kind of boring, not scary, or memorable. This is not the case with Madoka Magica's witches. Thanks to Gekidan Inu Curry, the animation troupe responsible for execution of the witches and their domains, the witches of madoka and the spaces they inhabit are truly a treat for the eyes. Every scene with the witches is visually interesting, with the perfect blend of cute, creepy, and captivating! Their designs and their environments are so rich with intention, every detail can be analyzed to piece together the story of the witch. Which is exactly what I did as a kid.. I loved reading up about the witches and their stories, how those stories tied together with their motifs, and imagining what kind of lives they once led. Which leads me to my next point...

I love the story and the themes resonate with me more than ever. I love that the cast mostly consists of girls and the women they look up to in their life. I loved that the heart-to-hearts between Madoka and her mother were constant, insightful, and always shaping the story as Madoka considered her mothers advice. I adore every character and their complicated stories. Its hard to choose a favorite.. (Mami was always my favorite, but now I can't stop thinking about Sayaka and Kyouko..) The concept of "your wishes dont reflect what you truly want" that is so thoroughly explored in the show is what resonated with me most. Every character is given the chance to exchange their soul for one wish, and none of them (besides Madoka) actually wish for what it is they truly desire. Sayaka wishes to heal her crush when what she wants is his happiness so he can have the capacity to love her. Homura wishes to be the one to save Madoka when what she truly wants is for Madoka to be safe. (or perhaps she wants Madoka's love?) Anyways, as someone who has somehow accomplished a good amount of my most dearly held childhood dreams, and, surprise, is not 1000% happy and figured out, this theme led to a lot of self reflection... Ok i've been rambling about madoka for too long. I'm so obsessed with it..... Maybe I should make this madoka tangent its own entry. For now heres some Madoka doodles from my sketchbook.. Click to view larger!





Ok last paragraph I promise!!!! Today was a very lovely day. The weather was nice, and I wore a cardigan with my lacy babydoll dress. I went to the bakery where I had delicious milk tea and oyaki takana (my favorite bread of all time). I walked to the library and took a seat by the window. I didn't expect to be there for long, but I started drawing in my sketchbook and I couldnt stop. I doodled for hours and enjoyed every moment. Even though I go to art school, I feel as though I draw less than ever. I still draw a lot, but not as much as I used to prior to art school. (instead I took up coding webpages as a hobby? LOL) Maybe its because of my new, sunlit room or my excitement from my new classes, but I think I've regained the energy for drawing that I once had. The kind where I'm constantly daydreaming ideas and itching to draw..
I then left the library to attend my life drawing class. I thought my new life drawing teacher was a bit intense when I first met her last week, but this session was much more laid back and my instructor is so sweet and funny, constantly chatting with the class and offering her insight as we drew. Thats something I've really missed about life drawing class. Before art school, my life drawing class in my hometown felt so homey. I knew all the models and students by name. My figure drawing teacher was everyones friend. We all chatted as we drew, and had dinner together after class ended. Usually in art school the figure drawing instructors dissapprove of chatting during sessions, but we got to chat today and it was fun.


When I got home I did my laundry and organized my room. I had delicious sausage and rice for dinner with some peach cider, and had chocolate for dessert. And now I'm updating my beloved website! I'm so happy...