2018 has been one hell of a year, hasn't it? Antho and I packed our vehicles up and drove from the bottom Southwest corner of the state of Nevada all the way up to the northern corner of Washington state, a trek that took us the better part of three days and covered over 1,200 miles! There was that stop in Merril, Oregon, where I thought my transmission finally clunked out on me only to discover she was just dehydrated... Before that, there was that bright, cold morning in Reno, Nevada, where we awoke to find wild horses grazing not far from our temporary campsite. We took a side trek out to Mesquite, also in Nevada, during the spring so I could draw a graduating class of high school seniors, and then the extended journey out to St George... We saw goats, and Gila monsters, lions and tigers and dolphins! There were photoshoots at Valley of Fire, Mount Charleston, and at home! We went to the China Lights Festival and the Intergalactic Art Car show, among many other things! Like I said, it's been one hell of a year.
There were some real ups and downs along the way too, but that's the nature of life. So it goes. One thing that remains consistent is the need for music, to help power us through. You can't spend three full days driving without something to listen to, right?! While I'm generally more than happy to listen to endless hours of the Mysterious Universe podcast, to get my fix of paranormal stories and Aussie sass, I have to admit that it was a great gift when Antho upgraded us to the Spotify Premium family plan. This is NOT a sponsored post- I just really appreciate how much Spotify has helped open up my listening experience. I'm definitely one of those people who can fall into a hard rut with music, listening to the same 5 songs for weeks until I burn myself out so utterly and completely that I force myself to forget the song exists until I end up stumbling upon it sometime later in a playlist, like the handy one Spotify compiled for me of my top 100 songs of 2018. I used to gather all my favorite songs via music video into a playlist on Youtube, which I'd let play in a background window, but that's growing to be more challenging as Youtube pushes their pay-to-play services more and more. It's a lot of fun to look back and see (or rather, hear) what songs dominated my year. A lot of K-pop is present as I'm still nursing the comedown from living in South Korea and being immersed in it daily... also, K-pop (and J-pop) is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. If I'm having a tough day, it's safe to say that a peppy girl group (or smooth boy band) will perk me right back up. A lot of these songs helped get me through long, slow nights working in the jewelry shop at Harrah's and withstanding profuse rejections from potential customers. Retail sales is a tough gig to be in for me, and it was the job I held throughout the vast majority of the year... I mean, I'm not a hideous specimen of a human, and I can be some measure of charming when I wish to be, but I have a hard time trying to pressure people into buying things that I know they don't really need at prices I personally wouldn't want to pay... I've made comics about this before, man!
But now, here in Seattle, I've found a gig that suits me a lot more on a philosophic and personal level. I'm not going to delve into too many details about it, but suffice it to say I've found a company and form of work that aligns much more closely with my personal values. They're eco-friendly, have pet chickens (and kittens) at the company office, provide acupuncture and yoga classes for their staff, and are flexible enough to allow me time off for a caricature gig when it arises while also paying a living wage. Pretty fricking legit, right? I know I can't complain!
So, here's to 2019!
I'm excited to see what new opportunities and challenges come our way in this new year. While we still have a few weeks yet to wrap up this year, I've been preparing for 2019 for a few weeks already...
💘
XOXO,
NAU
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