2019
2019
What. a. Year.
I’ve posted four whole drawings this year and I can honestly say it’s because my world got turned around (for the better).
March-
At some point last year my S/O and I were thinking about taking a vacation to Disneyland as a sort of birthday celebration for me/anniversary combo since they happen around the same time. However, our plans changed.
The both of us had gotten into Critical Role last year, which is a show on Twitch/Youtube where a bunch of voice actors play Dungeons and Dragons. We found out that the Entire Cast (sans one) of Critical role was going to be in Seattle at Emerald City Comic Con, and that was pretty exciting. Not only that, but one of my favorite artists from Canada was going to be at the Artist Alley there as well (Hunter Bonyun, deerlordhunter on Twitter, Instagram and Deviantart), so now we had a couple of really good excuses to go to ECCC. All of this on top of I had been talking up the Seattle area to TJ for a long time, because it’s where I grew up more or less (Vashon Island, Wa. it’s a short ferry ride to Seattle).
Our plans to go to Disneyland turned into plans to go to ECCC, and it was there we went. It was my first time on an airplane.. and that was…Interesting (not bad though). We spent a week up in Washington, we had an AirBnB in Renton which wasn’t terribly far from anything we wanted to go to. During the week we explored and ate and were merry. We did touristy things like going to the First Starbucks, going to the Public Market, riding a ferris wheel.. But we also did some nostalgic things. We visited Vashon, and the amounts of Nostalgia I experienced were surreal. It was so crazy to me how much was still the same and how much had changed. I was already missing it as soon as we left.
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On that weekend we went to the convention and WOW. I knew that ECCC was one of the bigger conventions in North America, especially on the West Coast, but I couldn’t have predicted it’d be that busy and crowded. Regardless of that, it was fun, and one day is simply not enough for a convention that big. We had enough time to go to the one panel we wanted to go to, Artists Alley, and I think we got 3 autographs each. Most of the time we spent at the con was standing in line for the autographs, but it was really cool and worth it to get a brief chat and a hug from some of those crazy folks from Critical Role. Seriously they are great people. Meeting Hunter was awesome. She’s incredibly sweet and is really one of my pillars of inspiration.
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There was a booth near the Artist Alley where you could find out your blood type for free. I didn’t know mine so I thought I’d give it a go. I found out that my blood type is B-, and one of the guys at the booth said “Don’t be negative!” and I laughed, and turned around and said “I can’t help it, it’s in my blood!” They were not prepared for that comeback. I think it’s the best joke I made all year.
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The Washington trip was over too soon, but it was cool getting to visit the place I still call home for the first time since we moved back to California (15 or 16 years I think).
April-
My birthday happened and I swear every year there is at least one person who asks “Do you feel any different?” and the answer is always “No.” but this year, the one time no one asks, I did. At the tail end of last year I had started taking anti anxiety medication, and I was really starting to feel better by this point, and with a clear mind it was easier to get things done. TJ had also quit their job in this month, which brought me more peace of mind because I didn’t like the way some of the people treated them, and it was stressing me out because I couldn’t go punch some people. After TJ quit we tag teamed instacart for a while.
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June-
I’ve been putting in applications for years, with little success. I think I had only had 2 or 3 interviews and I’ve been putting in applications since I was 16. I never knew why places wouldn’t hire me, and I had said at one point “If some one would just give me a chance..” Not having a job or school to go to was one of the major contributing factors to the anxiety and depression I was facing. I know that a lot of my problem with obtaining this elusive job thing had to do with mobility, I could only really apply at jobs in town that I could walk or bike to. Not only was distance a problem, but I also didn’t have a driver’s license. I think a couple years ago I had thought I might be able to drive a moped. Driving cars just made me nervous every time. Anyways, my family pooled together, hoping that getting me mobile would help me get a job because I could go further than in town. So I was shopping around for all sorts of mopeds, figuring that almost anything would do, but in my heart I wanted a Vespa if I really had a choice.
I shopped a lot online, and my older brother and I took a day one weekend and did some shopping in San Francisco, once I had gathered enough info. We went to a few places, and there was some good deals on Chinese bikes, we could have probably outright paid for one, but I was unsure of the quality. We kept a couple in mind, and then we wound up at one place I just wanted to go to because I knew they sold Vespa’s. I didn’t think I’d actually walk away with one because they were outside of my price range… but somehow I did. I remember Pat asking me if TJ and I could handle the payments, and I said that I wasn’t sure. it was $120 a month, and if anything we would figure it out.
The rest of June was getting used to riding around on my bike, going to a motorcycle course at MJC and getting my M1 License.
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July-
I got a couple of interesting emails from Indeed.com, the first one said “Start a conversation with Valley Printing.” But I didn’t actually see this one first. I saw “Action Required: Mia Wix is waiting for your response.” I remember being very puzzled because I definitely thought of that WIX website that makes websites. I looked at the email and I saw that the job was looking for someone with my exact skillset. The stuff I had a degree in. I thought that this was too good to be true and I had said “ Well this looks fake.” I clicked on the Confirm interest button anyway, because honestly, what was the worst that could happen? Spam emails?
Fortunately for me, I wound up getting an interview, which was super surprising to me, and boy was I nervous about it. Kevin and Mia interviewed me the day after I ‘confirmed my interest’ and they asked their questions and showed me around this place (which is not far from home, just a few minutes to drive), and eventually I was asked when I could start. and Kevin had said “Well, let’s give her a shot.” and It was really hard to contain myself. It was the phrase I’d been waiting to hear, and what was better was that it was something in the field of what I went to school for. What’s been even better is that I like my job and the people I work with. I feel like I got really lucky, and all the right stars aligned.
Who knew that getting the moped would actually lead to me getting a job… in a weird way. Yeah it coulda been chance, but I don’t think so. Those payments I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to handle, I could handle, and that was a good feeling.
And from July until now, I’ve been working, and it’s been really great. My art production has slowed down quite a bit, but I still try in my spare time to get some things done. I’ll post some recent stuff eventually, but until then, I hope your year was excellent as well, and if it wasn’t then I hope that you’ve made some memories or friends that make you smile.
I wish you All the best, and Happy New Year!
-Multimediapanda
Spread the Love
Dragons!
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Devious Journal Entry
Summer
So at the end of March and the beginning of April, I was on a road trip that took my partner, SgraffitoFerret and I across the states, from California to Tennessee (We were clearing out their storage unit that they'd had for 10+ years). We traveled along through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and we dipped into Georgia for a few minutes before we got to our destination in TN. I'd never been out east before, and though we didn't get to stop much along the way, it was pretty amazing. Coming out of California we experienced an unreal amount of weather changes, There was Sun, snow, rain, sleet, hail, fog, thunder and lightning, it was just crazy. Then on the way back it was basically all sun and hot. It was very strange to note all of the different accents as we stopped in at gas stations and food places, and people were incredibly polite.It was a really lovely time, despite the time crunch we had, and did I mention that Tennessee is beautiful? Because it is.
At the end of April my brothers and sister in law went to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown, San Francisco. We though it was going to be a small festival, but apparently it was a big to do! It was very crowded, but very cool. Might go again next year, since it looks like it lands on my birthday
. May, June and July weren't very eventful travel-wise, and I cant remember anything important going on during those months other than the fact that it was hot as hell, and our AC is broken, so Summer really sucked this year.
In August I finally got to meet a very dear friend of mine, BannonAKAHarpsichord and my partner in person!We've known each other for something like a decade, so it was really cool to get to hang out. We went all sorts of places, like the aquarium, the movies, and the zoo! We had such a good time. I hope it wont be another decade before we can hang out in person again.
September and October have been pretty uneventful, just trying to keep afloat, and keep making art. I really want to do a kickstarter for some enamel pins i've designed, but I'm really terrified to try. I've done a lot of research, but I know I also haven't done enough. So if anyone has tips on kickstarter research, hit me up!
My partner and I have planned a trip to Seattle for a week next March, and we'll be attending Emerald City Comic Con on that Saturday (I believe it's the second Saturday in March)! Will anyone else be attending ECCC? How's your year been so far?
Here's some things I've been working on since my last art post:
Personal projects:
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<da:thumb id="1872626304901205"/> (The pin designs I mentioned Previously. These are not the final versions of the designs, I was too hesitant to post those.)
Comissions:
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Fantober/Inktober:
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