Timeliness is just not happening for me right now, so it’s pretty on brand I wouldn’t get to my mid-year review until July. I’ll be honest, I’ve been horrifically distracted by pretty much everything going on in my own sphere and the world at large. I’ve picked up and abandoned more things than I can count at this point, which isn’t a great vibe to have going on.
On the positives:
I’ve never been more in love with my journal than I am this year. The Stalogy B6 is my perfect size, and I love the paper. I’ve had a few colors which have ghosted fairly strongly through, but I consider it a joyful quirk than something to be annoyed with.
I’m also trying to be more generous with my writing, and have included some random pieces of information in. I’ve also been filling the pages with stickers and sticky note art from my coworker. I kind of wish I had been more proactive with the decorating from the start, but oh well.
Pre-decorating is great!
The tip in pages are fantastic, though I’m crap with actually taping them in well. I mean, they’re in there, but it’s kind of dicey, haha. I’m also a big fan of the Wearingeul swatch cards. It’s added some bulk to my journal, but not enough to be concerning.
I’ve been mostly behaved in my purchases this year. I’ve bought a few Jinhao 82 fountain pens, a Leonardo which I had actually purchased in 2024, and a Montegrappa Tarvisium. I’ve been gearing up for the DC Pen Show here in August, so I’m trying to behave myself.
I also have avoided buying any inks until last month for my birthday. I probably wouldn’t have bought any at all, but I needed a waterproof black for one of the workshops I’m taking so I picked out some samples I’ve had my eye on (and one bottle, but that’s because Troublemaker Foxglove is usually sold out).
The less positives:
My tracker in my Plotter works great… so long as I actually put in a new monthly tracker. Somehow the start of a month always sneaks up on me and then I get distracted then the next thing I know it’s mid-month, I’m looking for my tracker and wouldn’t you know, I still have last months in my Plotter. Nice.
Goal setting? No clue what that is. We pretty much bought a house in January and everything went by the wayside in the goals department. Sometimes that’s fine, but generally we want to get back on track, and I’ve instead just done the, “Well, I boogered that all up, so I guess that’s that, and I’m never touching it again until next year.”
Getting things done is also apparently something I’ve forgotten how to do. I could probably list 15/20 things I’ve started and just not finished, ranging from video games to model building. Oops. What I need to do is list stuff out, pick one thing, and just finish that one thing before doing anything else. Set a timer, just be a responsible person for like half an hour. It’s not much, but I’m always impressed by what I can get done in 30 minutes.
Looking Ahead!
As I mentioned, I’ll be at the DC pen show in August. We usually alternate between DC and Ohio, and this is a DC year. I’ve got a decent list of small makers I want to visit, signed up for three workshops, and have at least one seminar I’d like to attend, and one nib appointment made, and hoping to get a second one when sign-ups open. Phew!
But before all that…
I’d like to finish reading, He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan. I’m about half-way through, and even though it’s a tantalizing story, it’s been a struggle for me. I go through spurts with reading, and I’ve been in a pretty big slump lately.
Depending on how the timing works, I do need to finish my second playthrough of Dragon Age: Veilguard. I loved it the first time, but I wanted to experience the other routes the game has to offer, but honestly, I don’t like it, and it’s really soured me on this playthrough. Sorry, Emmrich, you’re just not enough of a romance partner to make up for the rest of it.
I’m realistic enough to know it’ll be a miracle if I get through those two things by the end of the month, but I have plenty of other things to keep me busy if I do manage. As much as I don’t want to list everything out… I really should list everything out.
It’s been an interesting year, but I think it’s been a pretty successful one so far!
Casual Crossings 