(Late) January Wrap Up
Two days into February but better late than never I guess! I've been down with some sort of flu or sickness which I can't identify but the last time I was sick it was because my body gave out from pure exhaustion and burn out so I can't tell if this is the same thing or I actually caught something. As usual, I digress, but I've been wanting to do these monthly wrap ups for some time so here it is.
Start!
Spent new years in Spain and it was so so magical. Sometimes I can't believe this time one month ago I was still there.
Ciutadella Park
Still super healing, top 10 moments of 2026 so far and I rambled a bunch about it last time already so I won't say much about this anymore.
School, Academics & Campus Life
I've been enjoying all my classes this semester so far. I'm really grateful I've been blessed with really good professors again. I think I've also been enjoying my classes because I'm finally taking classes related to my major so I've been feeling like a #real social science student. I don't think I can pin point a favourite class yet, but if I had to choose one, I think it would either be Sociology of Education or my biodiversity and natural history class.
Beyond classes, my extracurriculars have been great. I really cut down on the stuff I've taken on this semester so I do have pockets of free time to decompress or actually work on my readings and essays. I also find genuine joy, whimsy and interest in the things I have taken on this semester (unlike last semester...) so even though sometimes the activities are held late or I have to stay up to rush some backend last minute work, I don't feel burdened or annoyed at it.
Small Business & Art
I drew a ton this January. I drew for my extracurriculars, for myself, for classes and for my small business/art account. If my job counts, then I also drew and painted for at least 7h each weekend. I think I finally got into the groove of finding my art style and familiarity with Procreate and the kind of things I like to draw. Unfortunately my traditional sketchbook has been gathering dust, save for the few leaf drawings I had to do for my natural history class.
My art account is also still very much dead, but I'm hoping to revive it this week as I'll be boothing for my school's upcoming Valentine's market. I also hope to just share and draw more not for the sake of posting, but also just because I find joy and interest in drawing.
I think my relationship with art is still very awkward. I initially started my account and small business in hopes that it would be a motivation for me to draw again since I no longer study art. But I think there was a period of time where it became too stressful to draw because of the shit load of information Instagram would feed me of other really talented artists and successful small businesses. Imposter syndrome as an artist is still something I deal with, even though it got slightly better at the end of 2023. I know I miss art, and doing art, and I do get these random waves of sadness (especially when I visit art galleries) where I sometimes think about the life I could be having now if I had actually gone to art school for college instead of doing my social science degree. But even then, drawing and creating is still something difficult for me now. While I love boothing and my account, that thought of needing to create for the sake of transactions is now a unconscious nagging pressure in my mind.
Sad stuff aside, I have a couple of inspo pics I hope to draw in my own style soon which I am excited about (if I manage to find the time and motivation to...). I'm also currently working on a simple valentine's illustration for my upcoming market. I think the goal for my art and small business this year would be to create more, post more and booth more before I leave for Japan in September, and then also continue to post and draw while I'm there.
Life, Friendships & Other Things
I keep saying this but I'm genuinely very grateful for the way life has been treating me so far. Last year was genuinely a struggle bus saga (or a shit show if you want to be blunt) and I was honestly really worried going into the new school semester with everything that happened.
I'm really grateful for my friends. I became close or if not, closer, to one of my friends again following what Happened. I do struggle with it though, because on one hand I feel selfish for it because of the basis on how we became close again, but at the same time, he's one of the few people I trust and has helped me through a lot.
One of my goals this year was to let my walls down a little more, be more trusting and open with those I love and care about, and accept that it is ok to share things and reach out. I want to say that I have been doing that and I am a little proud of myself for this. I still find it hard, and I still can't fully do it, but small steps. I think if I could only pick one thing I could be grateful for this January, it would be my friends. I've really been blessed with a strong support social system, and it's a two way street so it's also up to me to continue to make sure I keep this level of socialising and effort up.
One of my closest long distance friends came back to visit for a week. We went to do a bunch of art stuff together which was really healing and fun for us <3 We visited Labour Block which was really really cool.
Zines by Clothes Press
My friend has zero social anxiety so it was really cool because she would just strike up conversations with the artists and ask lots of thoughtful questions. It was especially meaningful for me because if I went for this by myself, I would have probably just plugged in my earphones and wandered around silently. Being there with my friend let me learn a lot from the artists, their practices and ideation process.
Table by youccibai & dunia2dust
This table in particular was mind blowing. The artists were mainly silversmith jewellers but they (mainly dunia2dust) also dabbled in furniture design and hence, MADE this table just for Labour Block to showcase their jewellery. He shared that the table was meant to represent the earth and the moon, where the spiky edges were how the earth looked like when unfolded and flattened, and the moon was eclipsing. I think he explained it better than whatever I just wrote here but yea. Mind blowing.
We also went to the Impressionism exhibition at the national gallery and I don't have much else to say except that I love a good Impressionism painting and that it made me miss painting so, so much.
Morning Sunlight On the Snow, Eragny-sur-Epte by Camille Pissaro
Media Wrap Up
I sound like those people on Tiktok, Substack, IG or any other social media platform who is currently obsessed with fixing attention spans and analogue/long form content but whatever. I have genuinely been trying to consume more long-form, mind stimulating media this month and getting back into things I love. So here's my media wrap up:
Music
I did my review on my media journal HERE !
TV
Finished Stranger Things Season 5 which was honestly disappointing and it made no long-form impact on me or on the pop culture landscape whatsoever. I then found out Gachiakuta got turned into an anime which is crazy because I loved the manga for a really long time but fell out of it for a while. I'm currently on episode 2 and it's bringing back a lot of memories. Studio Bones really nailed the art style, though the anime does unfortunately suffer from the same effects of losing its crispiness of the details like JSHK.
Other than that, I haven't really had time to watch stuff. When I do find myself wanting to watch something simple, I still mainly turn to reruns of my favourite Rock the World or Going Seventeen episodes.
Books
If my class readings (and AO3...) count as books then yes I read a lot this month. But if they don't, then it's a sign for me to finish an actual book this February I guess...
Misc
Other quick thoughts and events in January include actually touching my website, importing my blog posts from said website into this blog, and discovering lots of new music. I also got to eat a bunch of good food (although I'm now very broke), go on a few walks and discover new places. #Awesome sauce
Lala Bee Hoon my fav <3
End
Wow this took me almost 2 hours to write. Granted, I was doing a meeting halfway in between for an hour but this was crazy long. I will end this wrap up with this image I found on Tumblr that I hope to embody for February and the rest of the year <3
Good Morning