Let’s do a little cozy coloring in dystopia
No art this week. But hey, the goverment is open again.
The shutdown is over, which means my husband the federal worker can quit moping around the house like a border collie furloughed from his flock of sheep.
As for me, I remain physically low on energy, and yet my head feels packed with a zillion ideas and things I want and need to do. I have just enough brain cells to work a little and figure out what stickers will adorn next year’s planner and my laptop.
Still, I’m busy on several fronts in a productive way, which makes me happy. The weekly artmaking and the e-commerce inventory remain at a standstill this week — even with a spike in Etsy orders a few days ago — so we’ll skip straight to the Fluffbucket List.
The ‘Bucket List: Make the madness stop already
Never a dull moment, Padres fans. I suppose every ballclub is some sort of year-round soap opera. My hometown team may have crapped out of the playoffs straightaway, but no, the Padres couldn’t just call it a year and rack up tee times while hustling for free agents. First, the manager abruptly retired early; the team hired a former reliever who has never managed or coached; and this week, the family of late owner Peter Seidler decided to explore selling the team — nearly 2 years after Seidler died.
Next up: GM A.J. Preller defrosts the late Ted Williams for that much-needed bat the Padres need next season.
Color yourself adorable in dystopia. Adult coloring books have been a thing for years. I went through a time when coloring was a stress reliever. Then I stumbled upon CNN discovering “cozy coloring,” described as “simple line art with large shapes meant for quick, relaxing fills.” This is far closer to kindergarten coloring books than the intricate mandalas and gardens that grown-up enthusiasts tend to favor. And I understand how the heavily detailed stuff can be sometimes as stress-inducing as whatever you’re trying to escape.
There’s a ton of such coloring PDFs downloadable for purchase on Etsy. I went down a massive rabbit hole with a search for “cozy coloring” and picked up a few inexpensive “books” to print here at home on thicker paper.
Then I noticed a lot of weirdness among the cute, kawaii-tinged PDFs rife with wide-eyed Hello Kitty cousins. Titles like “Arcade of the Damned,” “The Adorable Apocalypse,” and “Cozy Goth Moments” began turning up. I began seeing cuddly animal prison inmates, bleeding ceilings, and “stoner girl” themes. Think “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Blade Runner,” or the show “Broad City” remade by Sanrio.
Clearly some of these use AI-generated art, which doesn’t thrill me. (I’ll leave it to you to figure out which ones.) But I appreciate the ideas. I look forward to printing out my copy of “Cozy Apocalyptic Pen Pals” this weekend.
Fudge is back, baby. After a 2- or 3-year hiatus, I’m diving back into holiday fudge production.
For years, I made batches of fudge for friends, family, and F’s teachers around the holidays. It was always an experiment: The varieties changed every year, with the basic chocolate as well as three or four other flavors, like walnut, orange cranberry, mint, or snickerdoodle — and even experimented with peanut brittle and caramels that coated the inside of our microwave for days. I pulled back for a couple of years; between the pandemic and several deaths within a relatively short time, I didn’t have it in me to go nuts with the treat production as I had in previous seasons.
I made a batch for a work retreat last year, but otherwise hadn’t done much. But with F graduating next spring, and seeing a need for some kind of joy as this crap year comes to a close, it’s time to revive the Christmas confection tradition. Ube fudge, anyone?
Conan O’Brien on “profound re-invention.” Every once in a while, when I need a pick-me-up about life, I rewatch one of the best commencement speeches ever: Conan O’Brien at Dartmouth College in 2011. It’s hilarious, as one would expect, but also has been a surprising source of encouragement for me in recent years.
Nearly 15 years later, this still resonates:
Many of your children you haven’t seen them in four years. Well, now you are about to see them every day when they come out of the basement to tell you the wi-fi isn’t working.
And then there’s this (emphasis mine):
Now, by definition, Commencement speakers at an Ivy League college are considered successful. But a little over a year ago, I experienced a profound and very public disappointment. I did not get what I wanted, and I left a system that had nurtured and helped define me for the better part of 17 years. …
But then something spectacular happened. Fogbound, with no compass, and adrift, I started trying things. I grew a strange, cinnamon beard. I dove into the world of social media. I started tweeting my comedy. I threw together a national tour. I played the guitar. I did stand-up, wore a skin-tight blue leather suit, recorded an album, made a documentary, and frightened my friends and family. Ultimately, I abandoned all preconceived perceptions of my career path and stature and took a job on basic cable ... I did a lot of silly, unconventional, spontaneous and seemingly irrational things and guess what: with the exception of the blue leather suit, it was the most satisfying and fascinating year of my professional life. To this day I still don’t understand exactly what happened, but I have never had more fun, been more challenged—and this is important—had more conviction about what I was doing.
How could this be true? Well, it’s simple: There are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized. …
It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It’s not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound re-invention.
A vaguely related link: Be wary of career advice in this job market.
Hiphop samurai anime. It’s a thing. We’re on our third rewatch of another anime classic from Shinichiro Watanabe, the creator of “Cowboy Bebop.”
The 2004-05 series “Samurai Champloo” manages to make a bloody mashup of Edo period Japan and hiphop music into an intriguing watch that just works. Like the timeless jazz that drives “Bebop,” the lo-fi soundtrack behind “Champloo” led by the late Japanese hiphop producer Nujabes is stellar. You can find the show on the anime streamer Crunchyroll for a quick weekend binge watch.
It’s been a week. But I actually have some work to look forward to over the next few days, so there’s that. Enjoy your weekend, friends.