April 2026

I didn't get up to too much during April. It's been boring these past few months. I have been kind of fretting over how much to write during these slower times. I've been deep in projects this month. One was the shop. Specifically the zines were tiring. I think I took a break from drawing and doing anything after I finished one. I just wanted to make sure they were well researched. My fish zine made my hand hurt from drawing.

the runabout

Another project has been the xB. My partner got his license, so he's been driving it around. We've been doing shakedowns with her (we call her the runabout). If you saw my post on the bulletin, you know that there was a pickup truck battery in it. Pickups usually have two 12 volts to make 24 volts. This one battery was 12 volts with similar, but slightly higher, wattage to the xB's battery. It being a little higher means that it may cause alternator strain longterm or that the alternator might not have been able to keep that battery charged. This was noticeable with the power steering feeling not good. It's electric power steering. I don't want that breaking. We got her new battery, and with a proper shakedown, we were able to get the power steering to feel better. She started to get a little stinky like eggs when the VVT kicked in rapidly. A few ideas about what that could be. My friend seemed worried that it was oil on the exhaust, but I am so doubtful of that. The Toyota I4 doesn't leak oil. It BURNS oil. Miss little xB doesn't leave an oil stain anywhere. She does have two cats I've learned. My suspicion was that it was from one of the cats. Egg smell = unburnt fuel. I know she has an exhaust leak in the manifold right before the first cat.

Something obvious that I should have known about a car is that the ECU forgets how to idle when the battery is disconnected. After we swapped that battery, her idle was MEAN. It eventually went away, so I forgot about it. It came back after I disconnected the battery, and I finally learned about what was going on. I just think it's silly that this stupid little car forgot how to idle. What a stupid little thing.

I was able to clear up the headlights a TON. While I was in there, swap the bulbs. The headlight clearing worked out so much better than I thought. Good ol wet sand and coating did it. The following day was her longer shakedown. To Stillwater. The idea of this was to work out the egg smell. Good, long drive while beating on her a good bit should burn off muck in the cat. At this point, her potentially rotten slide pin or weird rotor issue has been worked out. (Still gonna look at it eventually.) Front passenger brakes don't have sand in them, and her power steering + brake fluid feel good again. To get the headlights out, I was fucking with the fenders and everything. It was such a pain. I hated it. This is important to remember.

We drove to Stillwater with basically no issues. Only fear about getting back up the hill on one of the streets. The xB does not like stopped and starting on hills. Tires skid. The exciting stuff happened on our way back. My partner wanted to get her on a freeway after a very successful smaller trip. It was all good for about two miles. I asked him, "How does she feel?" and that instant, the fender liner is flying into view on the driver side. We were going about 75mph, so the fender liner had ripped itself out with the wind. I did have to futz with it to get those damn lights out. I shouldn't have needed to, but I had to get the fender bent in a weird way. Both sides had about half of the fender liners cause they have suffered for many years. We had to pull over and cut that liner out. That was wild. In a Target parking lot, I got the rest of it out so it wouldn't rub on the tire. I wanted new ones anyways I guess. This was the purpose of the shakedown too. She, and we, are okay after the incident. It was funny tbh.

My partner cleaned out the interior super well, so she's really nice inside. The car finally got my partner's mom's approval after we used it to take her to go get mulch for her yard. She was loving its practicality. It is literally a delivery van. I know I am all about utes, but I also love weird small van-like Japanese cars. Nissan Cube, S-Cargo, Honda City, etc. Old Toyota vans are awesome too.

social media

I've been critical of social media, and I still am. I think it's slop. I do believe in the slot machine tactics used to keep you hooked, but there are valid points about how social media can be used to spread awareness on subjects. Certainly, the response to evil corporations benefitting from social media addicted people is NOT requiring age verification. I don't like social media, but government surveillance laws are far, far more sinister.

Social media has some real fucking slop on it. I was grossed out by the stupid fruit love island bs. I kind of find the overwhelming amount of slop on social media disheartening, but I also have betrayed my own anti-social media rhetoric by learning how it works. This is mostly to gain a following for my art through multiple avenues. I have made an effort to learn how to make things that appeal to people without being scummy. I do only spend about a day or two every couple of weeks working on posts that I schedule out. It does absolutely drain me to do it. I have to set aside the time to make things, write captions, etc. It's intense. I still think it's crazy that my last job wanted to pay me nothing to do this intense work on top of maintaining and managing the physical business. Sometimes, I am nosy and I stalk the socials of that place. Not good at all. My old boss has fully adopted the AI slop shit.

I do keep myself at a distance from social media. I am frustrated that this "journey" has made it harder to get rid of my smart phone. I am not in the financial position to pay for my flip phone's phone plan, but deep down, I am considering figuring out the iMessage issues I had with my already existing (+ parent paid) phone plan. Yeah, my parents pay for my phone plan LMAO. I buy the phone out of pocket, but they pay for my plan so then I don't lose it cause they know I'm poor asf. There's no plans to get rid of it anytime soon too. I'll milk that as long as possible. Anyways anyways...

I also don't find the connections on social media to be as nice and genuine as Neocities. Nothing can really replace that honestly. I think the connections I have on Neocities have kept me from going mad this past year. Through my posting, I have found people that also have found this site which I think is so cool. There have been a few really kind people that have messaged me or commented on posts. Neocities is just better at those connections which is ironic. Social media doesn't feel that social anymore.

While the posting and scheduling etc tires me out, I am inspired. It's not draining for my work. I am not dreading the creation of art or anything. Actually, it makes me excited to create. For a lot of people, social media makes them burn out and/or lose inspiration and motivation. I am overall liking my approach to social media.

other notes

✦ My brother completed a part of his military training. I am still heartbroken that he's out doing that. A relative made a great point about how he's going into a skilled position in it (non-tread mechanics) which would secure him a safer spot if anything where to happen. I think I'm more worried about how others are treating him. He's a good kid though. I think the others would see that and be kind to him.

✦ My grandmother might buy a Subaru. I am excited for her. I told her that it'll feel great in the snow. I wanna whip it around if she lets me.

✦ I had this nasty neck pain, and I hated it. I slept slightly weird for only about an hour. I couldn't turn my head like at all. I am a little baby when I have an ailment. This was terrible though. I would move in my sleep and groan in pain. It has forced me to actually work on my posture. I haven't hurt my neck like this since I was a kid. I was fascinated by the poster of eye diseases at my old optometrist, but it was behind the chair I'd have to sit in while my mom had her eyes checked. I would be in so much pain the following day. I took like three instances of this for me to learn my lesson. I just love learning about diseases (to my own dismay).

✦ It's been so rainy this April. Supposedly, it will be a dry, hot summer, so I am welcoming the rain. Rain is one of my favorite things. What do those poem-loving girlies say? Pluviophile? It's so cheesy, but if it makes them happy, the girls can say whatever they want.

✦ I had a bad shower experience not too long ago. So, I wear glasses, and my eyes are god awful. They're like -4.50. I can't see shit. In the shower, there's usually a hair clump or something, and I try to clean them out. There was more than I could remember. Just like one more. I washed it down towards the drain catch. Motherfucker I picked it up, and it was a house centipede. I got out of that shower fast as hell. I am okay with them being in my house. They're charming, BUT I DONT WANNA TOUCH THEM!! I TOUCHED IT!! AAAA washing my hands didn't help with my skin crawling. My finger felt tingly for an hour cause I was freaking out so badly about it. I will touch a spider, but not a house centipede.

✦ On the topic of social media, I am peeved and tired of people doing the main character and um actually shit. There could be a harmless post, and someone has something to say. The post could be like as simple as someone finding a nice thrift find, and the comment says something about how thrifting is actually bad somehow or the brand of the clothing is terrible. Nothing that I post has this issue coming up, but it's always in the back of my mind when I create literally anything. I could make my illustration of Christina Koch, but deep down, I am worried that someone is going to be mad that I didn't make illustrations of all of the other women astronauts. If I had one million years and hands, I would! That's sort of an example of what I'm thinking. It's usually those infographic posting white young folks that are like that. They are too young to realize that too much discourse is bad and makes us divided which differs from the mostly united right-leaning people. Yeah, I'm making internet randos complaining a political thing. Discourse is good, but there is too much. We are too critical of each other to get anywhere.

✦ One last thing. I posted a while ago about a death in mine and my partner's lives. People thought it was a person, but it was a cat. A very important cat though. He was my partner's childhood cat. I met the cat on our third date, so I knew him for eight years. I would babysit him occasionally, and it always took like three days for him to be accustomed to me. He hated being held, and I managed to do it. He was incredibly important to my partner and his family. Very strange mannerisms from a cat. We joked that he was more of a human man than a cat. His name was Bear. He was a strange sweetheart and an incredible mouser.

vibes

may

Lots of stuff coming up in May. There's Doors Open and Art-a-Whirl in Minneapolis. I think we're getting the gang together to do garden day + beers/busch apples. I can't remember what else, but it'll be busy and fun. Babysitting Belinda the cat again Mid-May.

Happy spring to all of you! ><>