office chair

September 17, 2026
Not only did I get surprise pastries, they also came with a surprise visit from Anna. I can’t imagine anything better happening to a day that, until then, hadn’t offered much in the way of interesting or joyful experiences. Earlier that day, I had unboxed some new, very(!) expensive ink: Platinum Chou Kuro, which promised to be the blackest waterproof ink you can get. Except it wasn’t waterproof. When I tried to paint over the face in the first panel with watercolor, the ink started smudging and messed the whole thing up. I had to switch to colored pencils to finish it, and even those managed to smudge the ink a little. So this comic is officially messed up, but at least we learned an important lesson: never trust an ink review that tells you an ink is waterproof.

Not only did I get surprise pastries, they also came with a surprise visit from Anna. I can’t imagine anything better happening to a day that, until then, hadn’t offered much in the way of interesting or joyful experiences.

Earlier that day, I had unboxed some new, very(!) expensive ink: Platinum Chou Kuro, which promised to be the blackest waterproof ink you can get. Except it wasn’t waterproof. When I tried to paint over the face in the first panel with watercolor, the ink started smudging and messed the whole thing up. I had to switch to colored pencils to finish it, and even those managed to smudge the ink a little.

So this comic is officially messed up, but at least we learned an important lesson: never trust an ink review that tells you an ink is waterproof.

July 12, 2026
I’m always a bit nervous about drawing and painting in public because I don’t always feel very confident in what I’m doing, and having someone look over my shoulder isn’t very conducive to my process. For the first time, someone actually stopped what they were doing, came over, asked me a couple of questions, and shared their art journey with me and it was... nice. I liked it. If you see me painting in public, say hi. But please don’t stalk me just to say hi, that’s weird.

I’m always a bit nervous about drawing and painting in public because I don’t always feel very confident in what I’m doing, and having someone look over my shoulder isn’t very conducive to my process. For the first time, someone actually stopped what they were doing, came over, asked me a couple of questions, and shared their art journey with me and it was... nice. I liked it. If you see me painting in public, say hi. But please don’t stalk me just to say hi, that’s weird.

May 28, 2026
Running intervals offers an interesting contrast. I never want to do them, even less than a classic run. But once I get going, they’re so much more fun. There’s something deeply life-affirming about sprinting through a forest. It feels almost primal.

Running intervals offers an interesting contrast. I never want to do them, even less than a classic run. But once I get going, they’re so much more fun. There’s something deeply life-affirming about sprinting through a forest. It feels almost primal.

May 26, 2026
I mentioned the quality of beds in the UK to a few friends, and many agreed that modern sleep technology doesn’t seem to have made it across the Channel.

I mentioned the quality of beds in the UK to a few friends, and many agreed that modern sleep technology doesn’t seem to have made it across the Channel.

May 12, 2026
It took me quite a long time to realise that I tend to get hangry. Once I noticed it, the fallout was reduced significantly, and I’d consider it a solved problem now. But it’s funny how we sometimes don’t reflect enough on the connection between our bodies and our moods, and end up spending years running around grumpy simply because we haven’t eaten and never made that link. (I really can’t complain about too many meetings, though. We have a very strict “Let’s not fill everyone’s days with something that could just as well be a non-synchronous Slack thread” policy. So when a meeting runs longer than planned, it’s usually for good reason.)

It took me quite a long time to realise that I tend to get hangry. Once I noticed it, the fallout was reduced significantly, and I’d consider it a solved problem now. But it’s funny how we sometimes don’t reflect enough on the connection between our bodies and our moods, and end up spending years running around grumpy simply because we haven’t eaten and never made that link.

(I really can’t complain about too many meetings, though. We have a very strict “Let’s not fill everyone’s days with something that could just as well be a non-synchronous Slack thread” policy. So when a meeting runs longer than planned, it’s usually for good reason.)