My 2018 Playlist

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 

Brief life update 04/23/2018

I haven't been as on top of posting the last few weeks as I'd have liked to have been, and for that, I apologize. I'm still fervently trying to stay on top of my goal of doing a blog post every day for the duration of this year, even if that means having to backpedal and make back-dated posts at times to fill in the gaps. This post, right here, right now, is one such post. 

Why have I been struggling a bit this month, when the last few months went more smoothly?

Well, for one, our beloved rats are starting to get quite advanced in age. The ones still with us have passed their second birthdays, and it's not often that rats see their third, let alone a fourth. We've had to contend with various new issues presenting themselves, from the sweet boy pictured here, Zinni (short for Vizzini) having a seizure that impaired his balance, to cancer and respiratory infections. While we've always tried to dote on them and ensure their time in our lives was as wonderful as we could facilitate, it's especially important to us to be there for them in their final days to try to keep them as comfortable as possible. Rats are such splendidly gentle, affectionate little beings and they've made our lives so much more fun with their sass and squeaks. We certainly didn't expect them to be so sassy- we call them our "squeakers" because they're more than happy to vocalize when their siblings, or we, do something they don't agree with. Luckily none have ever gotten into any serious disagreements and injured another, and they've never seriously injured us. I will always recommend rats as pets. 

Then there's been the job situation. Antho and I worked an event called the Bluegrass Bender Jamboree, which exposed us to not only the entertaining twangy Earthiness of bluegrass music but the fun-loving, tie-dye-sporting, often super-friendly fans of the funky genre. While we were there as staff, everyone we interacted with was generally amicable, happy and having a good time so it was a really fun experience. The hours were rather long and involved a lot of standing or running around, so I had to plan ahead to account for being pretty famished after each shift, and while I was able to get blogs out I barely found time to feed myself. Shortly after the bender was over I starting a new retail gig, too. I'm still doing caricatures for private events and parties, along with volunteering with Critical Care Comics, so I've been feeling a bit stretched trying to get to early morning training shifts and events. Once a little more routine is established it should get better. I'm excited about this new position as it's with a different company selling some truly beautiful products in a lovely store. Should be a lot less exasperated faces like that one soon!

Overall, I think things are looking up for this summer. Our tie-dye and art creations has been in a bit of an unwanted hiatus, but we should be getting back into it pretty heavily here soon. While it hurts to see our pets grow older, it's a natural part of life, and unfortunately, rats lives go by at a much-accelerated rate compared to our own. The best we can do is love them while we've got them and give them all the care and loving treatment we can. And all the treats! Naturally. 

Thanks for stopping by.

💝

XOXO,

NAU

Happy February's & brand new babies

Hey guys, been a minute!

Needless to say, January got away from me. 

Between working on a book cover, volunteering with Critical Care Comics, adopting two new rats then losing our beloved fat rat Pendleton, working on trying to resolve the situation with my grandmother, car troubles and the rest I didn't find much time to work on the blog. For that I apologise.