9.1.25 ~ 1pm

Mood: i survived

Banger of the day: steam whistles in my sleep

Dinner: carmelized fennel pasta

I was gone for the weekend in a silly little unincorporated community called Rollag in Northwestern MN. Here, the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion happens every labor day weekend.

I'm gonna write about it more in a proper blog post soon, but what the fuck

what the fuck

what the fuck!

This place is a goofy little town with steam and oil things chugging along EVERYWHERE. Pillars of black smoke, constant whistling, and endless chug. Doohickeys, thingy-ma-jigs, and whatcha-ma-call-its in every single corner of this place. You could see the smoke as you approached! (pictured on the left)

I have so many photos and videos on my phone and my camcorder from this. Instead of listing everything that was there, I am going to throw in a bunch of images and gifs. Like I said, my actual blog will have more about the event.

There were piles of coal in places. Dudes just in their own worlds playing with steam shovels, dump trucks, tractors, etc. Everything was so rhythmic and groovy. At night, they threw sawdust into the fireboxes of the steam shovels so it made sparks! There were a few mini trucks around too. It was just a crazy place that I truly did not know existed. Somehow, it's super popular but no one knows about it.

My partner and I were going to go to the state fair again today, but Rollag WORE US OUT!! So no fair today. Just rest. Definitely going again next year. This was such a crazy place.

Blog + garden update to come soon. Gonna rework my shrines sometime too, but it's not a priority.

8.26.25 ~ 12pm

Mood: dying

Banger of the day: idk

Dinner: tomato, basil, + burrata sammiches

I went to the state fair the other day and saw my fishy friends. I am dying rn tho. It's bad enough that I had to call in for work. Good luck to them.

I'll talk about the state fair experience after I go again and in the next full blog post. I can't think straight right now. I have discovered that if I drink consistently while on lexapro, I will feel terrible and I do right now. I could puke, sleep, and run a marathon all clumped into one general gross feeling. I am not feeling good at all. On top of that, alcohol can make SSRIs less effective, so you can assume that I am probably freaking out about my ailments as I used to do before being medicated.

Learning the hard way why people shouldn't drink while in lexapro... don't do what I do kids. Just smoke weed instead.

(sickly alien by @beachsideufo)

8.23.25 ~ 6pm

Mood: hate job

Banger of the day: jazz88 radio

Dinner: partner making stir fry

IM SO BORED

I like the flip phone a lot. I am drawing a lot more than I used to. It's kind of nice. I remember being in college and wanting to escape in my sketchbook instead of doing homework. It's been so nice to almost get back to that again. I'm also trying to balance wanting to code a bunch of stuff because this is also a really fun creative outlet for me. I want to redo my shrines n stuff, but I gotta focus on my art right now.

Art is fun again tho! It's been great

8.21.25 ~ 10pm

Mood: sleepy

Banger of the day: idk i have nothing today

Dinner: pizza

I'm housing some pizza rn. I just wanted to say that if yall find this site not on neocities, you should email me at garfriendyay@gmail.com and tell me how you found this site. I haven't done anything crazy for SEO or anything, so I am soooo curious.

Also very important news: the MN DNR has a live fish pond feed from the state fair. Here it is. It's so perfect. I love it.

8.20.25 ~ 1pm

Mood: so sweaty + hiccups + neck hurts

Banger of the day: idk i have nothing today

Dinner: wraps

My partner and I have been watching the animals on our neighbors' and friends' other side of the duplex, and these critters are so funny. The cats are obsessed with coming to our side of the house. There is really nothing here, and they seem deeply uncomfortable when they come over. I really don't know why they beg to come over. They pout when we don't let them. One of them was upset that my partner wasn't here because she is obsessed with him. The other cat screamed the whole time he was over this morning. He then proceeded to climb our shelves. He is the main reason why they don't come over. He is a little bastard.

There's also Bbue death feigning beetles, blue tongued skink, pacman frog, tiny crayfish, and a whole freshwater tank of fish + shrimp. Today is the big day where everybody gets fed. I'm gonna make my partner feed the frog I think. She scares me a bit. It's more of her jumping that scares me. Her herself doesn't. I'm just scared of her getting hurt cause she's so forceful and big.

I researched a bunch into ruderal species last night, and it really inspired me to make some work. It kind of sparked my inspiration for my portfolio site which I'm still thinking about whether I link it for you guys to see or not. Because of the nature of the freelance illustration industry, I have to be a somewhat public figure. This means that the site would be about ME ME not silly me like this site is. I guess what I'm saying is that I have to be out on the internet regardless. I am personally not too worried about linking this site to profesh me either. It's not that I do anything too crazy on here. I got time to think about it I guess.

I'll leave you with this interesting artistic video.

8.19.25 ~ 10am

Mood: the fog is here. actual fog. not brain fog

Banger of the day: guy like you by Yazida

Dinner: i actually forgot. i have to try to remember.

I've been trying really hard to not sit and stare at art on the internet. I love it, but makes me like dumb and unable to create my own. I do best when I don't look at it at all or limit it to just sites I find. Pinterest and Instagram mess me up.

I'm also trying to limit the content I do consume to be actively fun and/or inspiring which doesn't mean that it just has to be creative work. For example, I think I'm gonna read into rudeal + pioneer species because I think they're so interesting. Actually, let me just list the things I'm currently interested in or inspired by:

► ruderal + pioneer species

► ever-changing environments

► MN DNR (always)

► rare MN lakes species; like the cisco or darters

► this article

► this video

► the disintegration of the internet

► rain + how it changes my yard; worms + bugs

There's an orb weaver living in my garden currently. She's a Neoscona crucifera, and she has a boyfriend. The males don't build webs themselves, so they squat on a lady's web. I hope he treats her right. He's one ugly mf and she can do better than him honestly. She's such a queen, and her web is CRAZY strong.

The DNR has filled the fish tanks at the fairgrounds today. BIG NEWS!!! The fish are in and I will be seeing them. I hope they have a paddlefish again!!!!

I'm trying to get into a couple webrings which is rad, but I don't want to go overboard with them. Just like two or three.

xoxo kisses

8.16.25 ~ 5pm

Mood: BORED

Banger of the day: Is It Worth It by Cate Le Bon

Dinner: bbq chicken sammiches

Just quickly adding a few things.

Added:

♥ sketchbook pages on holbein sketchbook page

♥ one image to digital sketches

8.15.25 ~ 7pm

Mood: BORED

Banger of the day: Whatever was on Jazz88

Dinner: thai food

I am bored at work. I'm gonna have to update my own files on my PC with this update. I'm actually kind of amped for the MN State Fair this year. I want my gar hat. Pronto pup? Could go without. I think I'm just really hungry rn.

edit on 8/16 So I started doing this little mini blog update, and immediately, someone walked into my bar. I had to serve and chat with them. It was an older feller named Kurt. He has lived in the area for decades. We chatted about old cars, and he was so knowledgable about the engines and everything specifically in Porsches. It was awesome to talk to him. He has been in before and already gave me the nickname "Izzy" without me telling him that it was a nickname I went by. Cool ass guy

I'm also moving my stuff over to my Macbook, so it's easier for me to update my site. I just don't want to put my PC back together each time I want to code, ya know? It'd be a huge pain in the ass honestly. Coding feels less overwhelming on the Macbook too. It felt kinda spaghetti on the Lenovo. I have no idea how or why. My Macbook's files are far more scattered. Maybe because it's a smaller screen? I have no idea.

8.10.25 ~ 10pm

Mood: am i sick?

Banger of the day: I Don't Wanna Be Funny Anymore by Lucy Dacus

Dinner: sweet corn risotto

I am finally doing a bigger update. I got a lot goin up for yall. I've been at it all day today.

Added:

♥ blog post

♥ garden update

♥ edc page update

♥ added photos to flip phone page

♥ added photos and video to camcorder page

♥ added a childhood faves page

I got too tired to finish up redoing my materials pages plus I'm not in love with how it was coming out. I also gotta update some sketchbook pages.

Okay I schleep.

8.7.25 ~ 11pm

Mood: mmmm mangoooooooooossssssssssss

Banger of the day: air idk wind? idk

Dinner: veggie flatbread

I kinda just got back from work. I had an interesting night. Met a very nice young couple + played cards with them. We talked about phone bad, and they were both very funny people. I liked them a lot.

I had another woman who was struggling with alcoholism which I see a lot as a bartender. However, there's not much I can really do unfortunately. Anyways, she had scooped up this random guy on the street and brought him to the bar. He did not drink. She had like three or four. She was a sloppy drunk. Talked about all of these dates she's had while it seemed like she was also on a date. Then, she told the random guy she brought that they should "run the streets together." DOG WHAT?? Strange time. The cool couple were defo listening in on her too, so I got the goss from them.

Tomorrow before work, I'm gonna stop by a cutie boutique that an old friend of mine works at. I'm going for my little "artist date" because I'm doing the Artist's Way stuffz.

Okayyyyyyyyyy goodbye I'm sleeeeeepy

8.6.25 ~ 9pm

Mood: i love salad spinners

Banger of the day: True Power by Young Scrolls

Dinner: blts

I thought I was sick yesterday (I'm fine now), so I laid on the couch all day and watched adventure time. Well

I've been hobbling all day and wearing my cowboy boots did not help at all. I cannot bend over or anything rn. It huuuuuuuurts..

8.5.25 ~ 11pm

Mood: star wars

Banger of the day: anything john williams has written

Dinner: pizza (need to keep track of how many times i list pizza on here)

I got a silly fish lamp. It looks really bad, but it brings me joy. Some bad things has happened to my cherry tomatoes and tomatillos. Will update in a garden post eventually. The tomatillo situation is resolved. Also, I'm late on a blog post, but I also don't want to put that pressure on myself, ya know? It might not have as many photos as the past ones. It might just be writing. I had a subject that I wanted to write about, but I forgot. I hope I remember. It might be something about dead internet or something like that. I shoulda written it down. I have a commonplace book for that reason!

Anyways, I'm rereading Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. I only got about halfway last time which L I was a quitter fr. I gotta do it all tho. Wish me luck

Added:

♥ photos page for the barbie flip phone

7.30.25 ~ 9pm

Mood: alive

Banger of the day: the sound of leaves

Dinner: homemade mac + cheese

I bought a flip phone. I got the Barbie HMD flip phone. It is Barbie themed. I can listen to the radio on it. I love it.

7.29.25 ~ 11am

Mood: dazed

Banger of the day: Cherry Waves by Deftones

Dinner: chicken, veg, cous cous

Ok so we went to the zoo for the adult night thing, but I guess we were late and we didn't get to see the animals. Instead, we saw a 20 piece bagpipe group open for some psychedelic group?? I have no idea man.

We went back the next day to see the animals cause that's what we care about. I go for the fish obviously. So I saw cutie gars, and this one fish called a milkfish. He's such a plain looking fish with giant eyes, but he's HUGE like one of the biggest fish in that tank. It's crazy. We LOOOOOOVE milkfish. He's our favorite along with the abouti rodents.

That night was the Minneapolis Aquatennial fireworks which are usually launched from a barge on the river, but sometimes from a bridge. This time was from the 3rd ave bridge. All of the bridges being closed made navigating really hard. Smh they gotta close them off later in the day.

Anyways, I'm not in downtown at night often because idk I'm fem presenting and I can't go out and about at night. I mean, I'd probably be fine. Just don't want to risk anything. Downtown is super cool at night tho. We were at Boom Island for the fireworks, so there's the perfect view of the fireworks to the left and the skyline to the right. The fireworks were reflecting off of the buildings too. It was really neat.

During the day, the Aquatennial had like a festival down by the river. We went from the zoo to that to see Kannonball Rally's Cars and Coffee. It was smaller than the previous one we went to, but still pretty decent. I am sick of SRT Chargers and BMWs tho. I didn't get photos of cars, but I brought my camcorder for the cars exiting. Some dumb little boy yelled at a guy driving the bugatti "daddy's money!!" but the guy was like.. someone's employee. That was not his bugatti bruh. I hate the Minneapolis car scene. They're actually kind of hostile. There was a guy with an el camino that he was yelling "Let it burn!" What an asshole. Let people love their cars. Only insult tesla drivers.

Highlights:

⟜ 80s Chevy Cavalier

⟜ 90s Toyota Sera

⟜ Old Landcruiser

⟜ TWO BAJAS!! TWO SUBIE BAJAS!!! (One in show one not in show)

⟜ Legacy Wagon (not in show)

⟜ So many porsches

⟜ Celica Supra

⟜ I called the Cybertruck owner fat asf, and he was right behind me. I did not know. I also do not like him. No one does. He's an Elon dick rider.

I'll do something with the camcorder footage eventually.

The following days have been quieter thank god. I like doing stuff, but I'm so tired. We've had some storms which made my flowers droop. I hope they recover. My partner and I outran some ran too. It was super fun. We even got hail. I stood out in it to see what it felt like, and it fucking hurts. Don't stand in hail.

Work picks up again for me, and I'm not excited. I like money tho. I gotta fund adventures somehow. Here's some misc photos from the week. Ok luv u

7.25.25 ~ 9am

Mood: ouch my head

Banger of the day: blank no sound nothing just the whirr of my fans and ac units

Dinner: something

Air quality alert aaagggaiiiiiinnnn... it's up to 165 on the AQI. It's stinky too. If I look down my street, the houses are grey. It's kind of wild. It makes the sunrise and sunset really pretty tho!

I got a bunch of donuts this morning, so I trudged in the shitty air and my head hurts a little bit. I got outside plans tonight and tomorrow, so we're hoping it clears up.

On my fun little bakery walk, I saw some morning glories blooming. I do hate these plants, but the flowers are pretty. Normally, they are the purple with the magenta stripes, but sometimes, one mutates. The mutated ones are just all magenta and I think they're kind of magical. I also saw a giant mushroom on my way back from the bakery.

Ok imma j chill for the rest of the day enjoying the fact that I do not work today

7.21.25 ~ 10am

Mood: disjointed thoughts and ideas; not in a bad way tho

Banger of the day: listening to radio today again; deftones on radio k yippee

Dinner: dunno

It's supposed to storm today, but the storm is going around. Man wtf unfair. I want weather!!

I'm out of coffee. I'm so sleepy.

Part of me wishes that I made cute youtube videos.

Added:

♥ garden update

I have a fun weekend ahead of me. I am so exciiiited. I'll yap about it afterwards. Don't wanna expose where I'm gonna be, ya know?

luv u, u wonderful people

7.19.25 ~ 9am

Mood: forcing myself to be bored

Banger of the day: listening to radio today

Dinner: stir fry

I woke up missing a nose ring today at like 6am. I had to shuffle and find a new one in my pile of jewelry while half awake. Now, I have a hinged ring in it. My nose did NOT like this ring when I first had it. It's fully healed at this point, so we'll see how it goes. Putting the chain on is kind of jank with it too, but I neeeeed my nose chain.

I've gone off the deep end again with being against internet usage. I do this every so often then my addictions to certain platforms creep up again. I use both YouTube and Pinterest like religiously which is not great because I am always stimulating my brain. I need to be bored to create anything. Creativity comes from boredom. Because of this, I'm listening to radio instead of Spotify and I've blocked things like YouTube and other social media on my computer. Hell, I shouldn't have turned on my computer anyways, but oh well. Some people can argue that YouTube isn't necessarily harmful because they use it in a healthier way and educational way. I just watch whatever, but I don't ever absorb what I watch. I'd say that's a harmful way of using it.

Oh something funny to me rn is the "Gen Z Stare." I usually hate the like generation does this and this generation does that. The stare is SO funny tho cause I DEFINITELY DO IT. I am asked a question and I blankly stare at the service worker then my bf then back to the service worker because unfortunately as a fem-presenting individual, I look to the man to take action. My whole like anxious personality is doing that damn stare thoooo

Anyways, I'm tired, but vibing to this yacht rock on the radio rn. I'm dreading work..

7.17.25 ~ 11am

Mood: hungry

Banger of the day: Break It Off by PinkPantheress

Dinner: tomato basil sammiches

Not really too much to add. I've been wanting to focus more on my art than my site lately.

I've been trying to crawl out of this art rut for years at this point. I don't recommend art school if you want to have the world's worst art block when you graduate lmao.

Latest thing I made was this baja thing with me driving it. I love da baja, but I'm so w/e on this illo. Not like looking for critique, but I wanna redo it. It was fun to make tho and cars are hard asf to draw, but I WANT to draw them. It's a good illo niche to have cause many many many people absolutely do NOT want to draw cars. Definitely a gap in da market for car illustrators.

Anyways, I still have like three days of shit work days ahead of me this week. I wish I had the gumption to hunker down and do stuff, but it's hard and I'm always pulled away from it..

OH I almost forgot! You may notice a different border on some of the pages. If you zoom in, you'll see they're my attempt at little fish! I got a bunch in different colors too. It is the start of a design rework I think. That's for the future, though. Ok ily all

7.15.25 ~ 5pm

Mood: head hurt

Banger of the day: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot

Dinner: BLTs

It's so hot.. I'm dying...

I went to Duluth on Sunday for the Tall Ships thing. I got to go on a sailing ship for like an hour. It was pretty rad, but it wiped me out.

I'm not in Duluth that much, and I'm really interested in it as a place so it was fun to go. It's not even far from me. I just don't drive, so I don't get up there often.

Garden update to come soon? I feel like I keep saying that. Soz. I promise it'll come. There's just a lot of things that are happening that it would take me a good chunk of time to write out. I'm just struggling with motivation + the heat + doing lots rn.

Okay wish me luck with not boiling. I'm dying. It's too damn hot out here

Added:

♥ photos on phone + digicam pages

7.11.25 ~ 11am

Mood: sore

Banger of the day: lucked out by upgrades, Aukina, dreamstation

Dinner: idk

Feeling overwhelmed with lots of personal projects to do while also work sucking a lot. Wish me luck. me tired..

Added:

♥ sketchbook pages on current moleskine

7.9.25 ~ 10pm

Mood: dazed

Banger of the day: In a Good Way by Faye Webster

Dinner: taco bell.. shame..

We spontaneously bought tennis rackets and tennis outfits last night and played tennis as the sun was setting last night. It was crazy. There were a couple duos of dudes who clearly knew how to play tennis, and we showed up looking and playing like dorks. We spent more time running after the ball rolling away from our court than actually having the ball in the air.

Anyways, I'm gonna play ready or not and then sleep really hard again.

7.7.25 ~ 12pm

Mood: slept bad

Banger of the day: Infinity Repeating by Daft Punk, Julian Casablancas, The Voidz

Dinner: i have no clue. ideas would be helpful.

Our fireworks time was fun. We got a shitload of bottle rockets and some mortars. I only burned my hand a little bit, and we almost blew up a bucket.

When our pile was pretty depleted, we got invited to the neighbors' house on the corner. There's a kid there that managed to spend $4K on fireworks. Coronas were put into our hands the second we showed up.

Another neighbor who owns a bunch of cars showed up, and we all drunkenly stumbled to his house to see his cars and motorcycles.

Oh and earlier in the day, I unfortunately discovered that the convertible Nissan Murano existed. What an ugly car.

Anyways, this neighbor showed us his weird stuff. He's got a tent full of Bridgestone bikes, a canoe, a fishing boat, weird ass jerry-rigged karts(??? things that go), etc. It was quite a fun drunk adventure. Also, I'm jealous of his supercharged Nissan Xterra and first gen Miata.

We were too fucked up to clean up the yard.

I did not feel great the next day. None of us did.

We woke up, cleaned up the yard, and while cleaning, a Hummingbird clearwing showed up. I really thought that these did not live in Minnesota! It was so magical to see. It seemed to love our milkweed :)))

After cleaning the yard, we needed some real American diner breakfast to fix us. We went to a diner where the waitresses pick a mug based on what you'd like. I was given a pink mug with "Hello Gorgeous" in gold. Mind you, I was wearing a camo STLHD hat and camo shorts. This mug did NOT fit my outfit.

Then, I spent too much money at Savers. Savers is a fever dream. I'm not sure if I want to recommend it, but also I got some heat. Some ultra conservative grandpa died, and there was sooo many random conversative shirts. My partner found a really cool pheasant hunting shirt tho I'm jealous. It's okay tho I got a baddie fishing shirt.

Remember kids, don't drink while on SSRIs.

7.4.25 ~ 3pm

Mood: it's soooo hot aaa

Banger of the day: sorry for being silly by blush

Dinner: america burgers + busch apples

The fireflies were so magical last night. You're gonna have to look kinda hard in this gif to see them, but they're there! Now imagine there's like 3x more in there. That's what it was like.

On the way out, there was a storm off to the east and a fireworks show right next to it. It truly felt like a summer night.

Anyways, I got summery things to attend to like blasting things into the sky.

7.3.25 ~ 1pm

Mood: so sleepy

Banger of the day: Moving Out by Vacations mighta already done this song i dont remember but i like it a lot

Dinner: some pasta thingy

I ate the first thing from the garden yesterday. It was a sweet cherry tomato, and it was amazing. I love love love love sweet cherry tomatoes. They grow like crazy too! My flowers are really happy too. A poppy only sticks around for a couple of days because they're so delicate, but new ones take their places just as fast. This means that each day has new poppies. There's some never flowers too like longhead coneflowers and prairie poppies (I think?).

I'm gonna see a bunch of fireflies tonight, and I'm really excited about it.

6.30.25 ~ 1pm

Mood: lots to do

Banger of the day: Radioaktives Mädchen by Contact Sports, Miguel Angeles

Dinner: tomato sandwiches

I finally got my personal domain to transfer over to Neocities, so I have a big ol new coding project. I gotta code my portfolio site by hand, and I'm nerrrrvous. I also have a lot of gardening and cleaning stuff to do too. I think I might just get the garden stuff done today to get it over with because the clouds are looking real cool rn and I want to see them.

Added:

♥ garden update

O I also learned how to do fun borders, so I might do a bit of a design overhaul. Not sure what to do yet, so it'll be a bit.

6.26.25 ~ 10am

Mood: lost

Banger of the day: Road Head by Japanese Breakfast

Dinner: fried pike

Hello I did not drown in a lake. I also didn't catch as much fish as I wanted, but oh well. It happens! There's more fishing to be had this year. The gang wants to go fishing, and I wanna get myself a fly fishing rig so I can do cast, jig, and fly. My family didn't do any fly fishing, so it's super new to me.

I got to drive my friend's diesel VW bug around a parking lot last night (I don't have a permit or license), and it makes me want a diesel. That thing ruled, and it grumbles. It's a second gen beetle (first gen is the 98 one; the classics are seperate) with turbo and diesel, so she's craaaazy. It turns real tight, and just GOES. It's really awesome. My partner drove it around town which made me real nervous cause I've never seen him drive before. He actually did pretty good.

Coming back to my place feels strange. It's like my routine is outta wack. I feel lost, and it makes me lose my mind a lil. I'll be fine tho I just gotta get back into it. Garden update soon? It kinda went a little wack, but there's flowers now! It's very exciting!!

6.15.25 ~ 12pm

Mood: dont wanna work tonight

Banger of the day: into a g** by april27

Dinner: I have no idea. I have a million veggies to eat before I leave.

I think I'm done.. I think I did everything I wanted to do. It didn't take as long as I thought. Am I getting faster at this coding thing? Slay.

I did a bunch of stuff and reworked some other things. Maybe I'll do a couple other things before I leave, but maybe not.

I love you all. Y'all are so nice

Added:

♥ new about page

♥ graphics page (linked in about page)

♥ new photos page

♥ media pages

♥ whirl update (not much)

♥ houseplant collection

♥ natural items collection

♥ jellycat collection

6.14.25 ~ 11am

Mood: fallin asleep at my desk rn

Banger of the day: loner by Night Tapes

Dinner: maybe fries + shake mmmmm

I am trying to get together a bigger update before I leave for a bit. Imma finally get that media page done and maybe a small garden update. Not sure yet about that. Lots to crunch rq while still busy with work, so wish me luck!

Day 2 of a many day stretch of rain yippeeee my poor peppers.... they're gonna have no spice and my first cherry tomatoes are gonna take forever to ripen..

6.11.25 ~ 5pm

Mood: cozy rainy

Banger of the day: Lovers Rock by TV Girl

Dinner: bagel breakfast sammiches

I spent the whole cloudy day inside. I actually drew things in my sketchbook, and it's all I want to do rn. I feel a little inconvenienced that I have to go eat dinner. I'd rather be drawing. It's okay.

Added:

♥ sketchbook pages under current moleksine

6.10.25 ~ 12pm

Mood: sleeby

Banger of the day: Smooth Operator by Sade

The summer song.

Dinner: its taco tuesday

Wildfire smoke again.. it's not too bad tho so it's ok. Dr went good B) check in in a year yippee. Imma be outside kinda all day especially to see the strawberry moon hopefully. I don't get excited about all the of the special moons cause there's so many, but it's fun to get excited once in a while. Having whimsy is important.

6.9.25 ~ 11am

Mood: just vibin

Banger of the day: Pretty Girl by Clairo

I don't remember if I've done that song before or not.

Dinner: still thinkin

New car obsession.

I know. I know. I'm supposed to be the Baja guy. I will be getting a Subaru Baja someday. The Baja is my absolute dream car. However, a new little freak has stolen my heart. An extremely affordable and reliable little freak. I will die if I get T-boned, but otherwise it's pretty safe. It's a good meep meep.

The Toyota Echo

It's the Prius, but without the hybrid part. It is super light and fuel efficient. It gets about 33mpg, but it can get even more. No need for mods except some handling mods. Treat it right with good tires, new rims, and the best fluids, and she'll last forever. Thank you, Australians.

It's so cute. I'd either paint it like a trout or put a stupid little windup key on the top of it. I'd love it enough to put the bumper stickers I have lying around on it. I need it to be the 2 door one specifically. I think it's so much cuter and dumber looking. I love dumb, rare, regular cars. I wouldn't even put a new radio or carplay in it. I'd only keep Britney Spears CDs. This would be an unapologetic girly machine that zips real nice. It would be my baby ♥ I'd also be so okay with a cute old corolla especially if it was green.

I have a doctors apt today, so wish me luck. It'll be fine. Just an annoying thing to do. Gonna get some sun tomorrow. It's rainy today. I hope the garden likes it.

Added:

♥ free stuff page; just procreate brushes rn

6.6.25 ~ 10am

Mood: still yeeooouch

Banger of the day: Eyes Without a Face by Sinnerella

Dinner: pizzer

I wrote up a garden update while it was cloudy, but now it's sunny so imma go get sunburnt again.

Added:

♥ garden update

6.5.25 ~ 12pm

Mood: yeeooouch

Banger of the day: get lit by ANDRS

Dinner: balsamic pasta salad

The air cleared up, and I feel so free. I did spend too much time in the sun, and I got sooo burnt. It looks like I'm wearing red pants. IT'S MY SKIN!!!

Added:

♥ dopamine menu

6.3.25 ~ 9am

Mood: yuck

Banger of the day: Day Dreamin by Vacations

Dinner: meatball

The air is sooo icky rn. Checkin airnow.gov, the AQI where I am is 255. THAT'S INSANE. The rain isn't gonna help either. My garden getting the stank :(( and the mason bees aw poor things.

All I can do is stay inside and be bored.

6.1.25 ~ 4pm

Mood: sleepy sunday

Banger of the day: The Forest Town (Pikuniku OST) by Calum Bowen

Dinner: wraps again (we're addicted)

Outside of work, I've had a couple of pretty chill days. I tried to go to the park on my own, but I guess it was supposed to rain that day. I had no idea, so I got rained on for a bit. I discovered my fate when I walked outside and peered down the alley. Dark clouds stood at the end. I kinda wanted to watch it roll in, so I went to the park anyways. On my way there, I passed the world's most fragrant tree. It smelled so nice. I should have left the house much earlier to catch the sun because the whole point of me going out was to catch some rays. My legs are so pale. They needed sun desperately.

I worked a couple nights which was mostly unremarkable. However when I came back home, my partner had "found" me some gifts. The gifts were a couple pinecones. He also "found" (at the gas station) a bag of muddie buddies and arizona tee gummies which are delicious btw I highly recommend.

You know how I said that I just wanted to be in the sun? I am kind of obsessed with sitting in the sun rn. It like fixes me for a bit. Well, my chances for good sun are ruined for the next few days. Canadian wildfires are blaring, and the smoke is making it way down to where I live. The sun shining down is bright orange and the sky is white instead of blue. It's like there's clouds, but it's actually smoke in the upper atmosphere. This makes my sun time difficult.. The advisory for the air quality goes until Monday evening, but I think it'll be extended. Apple Weather makes the air quality stuff look so much scarier on the map because of the colors. It is cool to see how it's flowing, though. So far, the air hasn't been that bad. I did wake up feeling pretty not great for the first day (Saturday). I greatly dislike how low air quality makes me feel. A couple years back when the air quality index got up to like 227 here, I was feeling genuinely ill. You get headaches, nausea, and just generally feel weird.

I don't remember where I mentioned it, but I have definitely mentioned the past wildfires on my site somewhere. I TOOOOOOTTALLY jinxxed it by saying that I hope it doesn't happen again. It's not that bad this time around. The AQI is supposed to get up to about 100 which, idk, to me, doesn't seem too bad. It doesn't feel good. I'm missing the sun rn tho......

This opaque smoke in the sky makes the potential to see the aurora tonight dicey. So from the Space Weather Prediction Center, had issued a G4 alert. The scale goes from G1 to G5 with no activity not appearing on that scale at all. If you saw the aurora in May 2024, that was G4 to G5 I think? From how I understand it, the G-scale exists for the general public to understand the severity. To me, the KP-index is much easier. Idk I trust NWS and NOAA to be the experts at communicating the severity of natural events to the general public tho.

So, apparently it was visible last night which I missed out on, but I can't complain too much. I saw the aurora three times last year. I've been trying to see it since because it just feels so magical. This particular storm came from an M8 solar flare. I'm not too knowledgable about the types of solar flares, but I defo wanna learn. I think it's cool. Space weather is kind of weird and feels a little dubious. I think it's even harder to predict and forecast than weather on Earth.

NOAA put out a G4 watch, and in it, it says "We will not know the true nature of the CME structure until it arrives at our solar wind observatories..." so like we really don't know how the CME (coronal mass ejections) will affect Earth.

Wish me luck with the aurora hunting tonight My hopes aren't high, but I do still wish.

5.30.25 ~ 9am

Mood: bruh moment

Banger of the day: Heart to Heart by Mac DeMarco

Dinner: i forgor

I am dreading work. I woke up early just to have more time in my day that wasn't at work. These kind of days are when I really question why I give hours of my life to this shit job that I can never get back. It gets a little existential, and I get grumpy. What's extra stupid is that I only work like three days a week lmao. It's not even that much time. These next two shifts are intense private events, so I need all of the luck yall can give me

Added:

♥ fall shrine

♥ charborg shrine

♥ blog post

5.29.25 ~ 2pm

Mood: OMG SUN BACK

Banger of the day: Poltergeist by Deftones

I LEEEEEET YOU PRETEEEND

BUT YOU KNOOooOOWW TRUTH IS THAAAAT

I LOOOOVE YOOU TO DEEEATH

LIKE YOU LOVE THIS GAAAAME

(i lov deftones)

Dinner: Martha's Big Breakfast

I started doing the media page and a couple new shrines, but I literally made this face

at the idea of writing anything. I don't wanna do it rn just not feelin it. Imma go outside for the rest of the day. I need to touch grass. My head hurts.

5.28.25 ~ 3pm

Mood: missing the sun

Banger of the day: Salad Days by Mac DeMarco it's been stuck in my head since i woke up

Dinner: big salads; we ate junk for wayyyyy too long

The neighbors got a tiny cat that they found in a pile of car parts. She's really tiny, and they set up a camera to watch her in her little enclosure. She's really soft and sweet. Just really really loud.

She's like two weeks old? Something like that. Eyes open, ears still folded, and tail still triangle shaped. I'm really hoping she lives cause she's so cute and I'd actually cry so hard. I cannot handle cute animals dying like at all.

Coming soon:

♥ media page

♥ blog post

♥ new shrines

I'm gonna start making a new site for my profesh work too. I'll link it when it's done maybe? Idk yet. Also going to make a cool site for my partner. He likes writing n stuff, and I've been telling him to do it for a long time now. I'm gonna force him to.

goodbye

5.25.25 ~ 5pm

Mood: i wanna sit in the sun all day

Banger of the day: Latex Techno by ftshsm

Dinner: pizzzaaa mmm

Gonna be a longer one because I just want to talk about the strange folks I met at work over the weekend. So, it was a grateful dead related thing. I can't say too much about it because I don't want to doxx where I work, but just think like hippie jam band with older fan base. They all looked like normal middle aged people. Most of them are men. Got called "babe" a lot which normally is ick but it was super w/e with these guys. I don't like it, but I mostly didn't care. They gushed about how cool the space was (bc they were microdosing shrooms and really feelin it), and it is cool! It's a unique spot with unique architecture and lighting.

Most of these people remembered my name really well somehow. When the music was playing, they just swayed? Like I get that their feeling it, but someone needed to start a pit or something I stg. Just start swinging. Their very nice very cool merch girl spun in circles the whole time. How did she not get dizzy??? The band all remembered me so well, so I was able to do w/e I needed in the green room without issue. One of them would quietly say my name every time we passed each other. Nothing ominous. He was just stoned. That's the main reason why none of these people icked me too. They're all fucking stoned out of their minds. I deal with drunk people passing out or people in k-holes. I'd gladly have deadheads or metal heads over any other groups of fans any day. They don't puke. Ultimately, they were cool asf. I just don't get it at all. Mad respect tho!

Before the people showed up, I talked to this guy from the neighborhood who professionally drank SIX gin + tonics. I can't even do one. I'm so pussy, but also mm beer. We talked about his foraging and good food. I really liked him. We gushed about ramps. I am so inspired to finally tryu foraged mushrooms because of him. I love the look and science of mushrooms, but I don't like eating them. I'll eat them in a good wine reduction, but that's it. I need to try a chanterelle and chicken of the woods.

Ok that was too long my bad

Still working on:

♥ garden update

♥ media page

♥ blog post

did:

♥ put my email back on my about page; I did not realize that I accidentially took it off..

if you wanna email me, it's garfriendyay@gmail.com. Garfriend was taken :(

im gonna sit outside and eat my pizzer

5.24.25 ~ 11am

Mood: w/e

Banger of the day: life imitates life by quannnic

Dinner: wraps?

Ok so at work, we're doing a grateful dead related thingy, and what the fuck is up with deadheads. I DONT GET IT. Why are they like that? How are they so passionate about this type of music? I just don't understand. I get there's a lot of weed and acid involved, but I don't get it. They're usually pretty nice, too, but they were cranky last night. It's a two day thing, so I have to deal with them again today. Dreading it. The musicians are really nice tho.

Still working on:

♥ garden update

♥ art-a-whirl page

♥ media page

♥ blog post; mostly done just some edits, additions, etc. It's scheduled for the 29th.

i wish this was my fate -->

5.23.25 ~ 12pm

Mood: need more coffee

Banger of the day: IN A MOOD by berryblue

Dinner: had to forage

I might go on a three day fishing trip next month. My whole thing is fish, but I have a big secret yall.. I have not gone fishing since I was a child. I think my dad wanted a son, so he kinda raised me as one. We went fishing like every single weekend when the weather got warm. We were too poor to buy gear for ice fishing, but we would have done that if we could. I do believe in just bait and tackle fishing. NO TECH!!! Little underwater cameras n stuff is for losers that are too scared to sit in the sun all day and get burnt. All you need is one million beers, cabelas rods, and snacks. Nothing else.

I kinda want a pen pal. I have a lot of envelopes and stationary. I just wanna write letters to people and get their letters back. I think it'd be so fun.

I'm working on a webpage that is forcing me to think about my career goals again. It's kind of nice because I feel like I forgot and got off track. Not that I was ever one track to begin with, but idk it just makes me to feel more organized to write out what I actually want in my life and career.

Still working on:

♥ garden update

♥ art-a-whirl page

♥ media page

ok byyyyyee

5.22.25 ~ 11am

Mood: foggy

Banger of the day: Top Dog by Magdalena Bay

Dinner: some ground turkey rice thing; hard to explain ngl

My partner doesn't know this, but I have new cowboy boots coming today. He's gonna be mad at me He loves me tho it's ok he'll be fine. My drip is unmatched and unstoppable.

Working on:

♥ garden update

♥ art-a-whirl page

♥ media page

luv uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

5.21.25 ~ 1pm

Mood: sleeby deeby

Banger of the day: BORN TO RACE by PXRKX + INXFLAXRE

Dinner: slow cooked chicken tacos w/ avos, onion, + queso fresco

So it's official between my partner and I. I will be doing Art-a-Whirl next year. I really want to get a studio even though I have no true use for it, but the rent for it isn't that expensive. I could pay $200/month for both studio and display space with utilities included. I think it'd be so fun, and my partner wants to hang out in those buildings really bad (I do too of course).

I'm thinking about making a whole webpage about my journey to Art-a-Whirl. I think it'd be so cute. I've found myself using this website to be more of my brain and digital garden rather than Obsidian (which I also love using more than Notion nowadays). I think it'll be super fun!

Added/updated:

♥ buttons for my moots (gonna add more eventually)

♥ MY OWN BUTTON!! Take it!! Feel free to use it!!!!♥♥♥♥♥♥

♥ links on main page to "media" and "art-a-whirl;" actual pages for those to come soon...

5.19.25 ~ 11am

Mood: so tired omg but good

Banger of the day: Ray Mysterio by the Alchemist ft. Westside Gunn + Conway the Machine

Dinner: ramp egg bake w/ ricotta

Holy cow I am absolutely wiped out from the weekend. I went from working crazy events to walking a part of Art-a-Whirl like three times. I'll write more about Art-a-Whirl in my blog. It was fun and a lot colder than last year. I do hate being sweaty, so it was great for me.

Art-a-Whirl is a sick Minneapolis thing where artists in the NE neighborhoods open their studios and sell their work. It's massive and there are hundreds of artists. It happens every May. I love it, but it is so tiring. Like I said tho, I'll write more about it in my blog.

Time to resume normal life and hopefully do Art-a-Whirl myself next year

5.15.25 ~ 10am

Mood: too busy to think

Banger of the day: Thunderstorms and Neon Signs by Wayne Hancock

Dinner: frozen pizza

Work is gonna be soo busy. I am super dreading it. I got two crazy events back to back and lots of luggin shit around. I hope I look tuff after all of this. Then I'm gonna be walkin a million miles for two days. Oofda. It'll be fun tho I get to see a bunch of artists and feel imposter syndrome about it. I got storms to look forward to hence the song choice for today.

5.14.25 ~ 11pm

Mood: god so sweaty..

Banger of the day: No One Noticed by the Marias

Dinner: pasta

I did it. I gave myself tattoos. I just did the fish wish shoes, the two space ones, and a halbert. Rules honestly. I wish I wasn't so sweaty tho.

Added/updated:

♥ garden update

5.12.25 ~ 11pm

Mood: i got too warm

Banger of the day: KMAG YOYO by Hayes Carll

Dinner: wingstop..

bapple...

bapple...

you will let me drink as many bapples as i please...

5.11.25 ~ 11pm

Mood: sleep

Banger of the day:

this

Dinner: pad panag

Outside has been so nice..

The urge to tattoo myself again has been strong.. I am even drawing on myself with pens to see what my ideas would look like. I got a couple sewing projects that I want to do too.

Busy week for me this week. I won't be as active. Love y'all

Added/updated:

♥ garden update

5.8.25 ~ 11am

Mood: I REEEEALLY don't want to work

Banger of the day: I Never Lie by Zach Top

I SLEEP LIKE A BAAAABBBYY I NEVER SHOW UP LAAATE FOR WORK I DONT DRINK WHIIIISKEY

Dinner: man idfk

I went on a good walk yesterday, and I saw some fun stuff.

Everything is in bloom, and it's soooo exciting. My favorite flower, Lily of the Valley, is starting to bloom in people's yards. I first noticed it from the smell walking by a patch that was about eye level to me. It is a somewhat generic flower smell, but there is a distinct note to it that I cannot describe. I'd ditch all of my obscure gender neutral frangrances to have a pure Lily of the Valley perfume, but it's such a fleeting smell that there is no good perfume that replicates it well.

I stuck my face into a crab apple flower and got pollen stuck up my nose too.

We saw this big ass stump which was much bigger than any of the trees in the neighborhood which made us kind of assume it was an Elm tree that was lost to Dutch ELm. We cooould be wrong tho. It was wide enough that I could curl up just a bit and sleep on it.

I do be lookin at cars a lot when I'm out. Minneapolis has a lot of strange cars which rules because I think super cars are so overrated and boring. I like the WEIRD STUFF.

Not that weird, but there are sooo many second and third gen Ford Rangers in my area. They are somewhat coveted within the artsy folks. I am one of those artsy folk. I want a ferd ranga' sooo bad.

I saw a Saab 9-3 which was a treat. Deep down, I reeeally want a Saab, but from people I know, they're a pain to keep up with. Parts are really hard to find. I just think they're so fun, though. I want one still.

Lastly, I saw a Subie Legacy wagon. BAAALLLLER. It was cool asf. This person defo loves their wagon cause they fitted it with grey Sparco Terra wheels.

Added/updated:

♥ fixed about page; idk what happened it like just broke.. but it should be ok for now

♥ garden update

Ok that's all

5.7.25 ~ 1pm

Mood: chillin

Banger of the day: W01 by Sweet Trip

Dinner: hot dogs on da grill

I am thinking about tattooing myself again. I do it a lot with professional grade materials + proper procedures. I just don't do it on other people. Anyways, I have a few ideas floating around. Right now, my legs have most of my tattoos. I want to get more on my arms.