Burst Reach #43

playing catch-up

Hey hi hello. It’s a new year! Whatever that means.

Obligatory end of the year self portrait, hastily painted in the back of a finished sketchbook

I’ll be frank: I feel like more than anything else, I fell behind in most aspects of my life in 2025. I feel like I’ve gotten worse, in multiple ways that I’m not sure how to articulate. I drew a short comic about it months and months ago, but um, never colored it. And I’m not sure how to get back to wherever it is I feel I should be as I approach 38 years on this planet.

unfinished comic panel, raw scan

The accomplishments I have to share from last year feel small, but I want to acknowledge them nevertheless. I truly believe the best thing to happen in 2025 was getting into the Digimon card game. It’s the first card game I’ve played since Pokemon when I was a kid, making my brain work in new ways. I’ve met cool, generous new people through this game, and made new friends. It’s a hobby that doesn’t involve looking at screens, we hardly ever touch our phones when we meet up to play, and that’s so damn refreshing. The vibes are fantastic. I feel changed by it.

I taught figure drawing for the first time! And got paid the second time! That’s definitely something I want more of in 2026. I’ve got a bunch of folks to reach out to this week.

Shot of the figure drawing class I taught at the Arts Depot last summer

Additionally: I did some repair work around the house, mostly plumbing, all by myself. It’s been frustrating but satisfying for my DIY brain that hates asking for help.

I reached a year on HRT. My relationship with my body has been…weird and not very present lately, but I’m going to do better this year.

Last month I joined a gym, after getting to go for free with my wife and mother-in-law. I got sick too, which kept me away for a couple weeks but I’ve returned this week and am greatly enjoying it. I’ve felt so…disconnected from my body again, neglectful of it (as mentioned above), and I think regular workouts, treadmill time, and massage chairs will help me get back to feeling, well, embodied, especially after an annoying shift at work. I think it’s a key component to actually having energy again. To feel more like I’m actually living. So far I’ve been going every other day. I know that won’t be sustainable all year, but if I can manage once or twice a week at least the membership will be more than worth it.

I spent December 31st cleaning, grabbing sushi from our favorite restaurant, digging through Digimon bulk at the card shop, working out at the gym, and then we had friends over and played games and struggled to stay awake until midnight. I spent the 1st of January at work, then took a bath when I got home, forgetting to turn a light on and just letting it get darker and darker while I typed up most of this newsletter. I didn’t make any art either day, but otherwise I don’t think that’s a bad way to transition from one year to the next.

I don’t really have much in the way of resolutions. My goals don’t feel like much either. I still want to be less materialistic, and focus less on, um, media consumption. Although having said that, I want to explore more music than what I typically listen to and as someone who struggles with the format, I want to try to read more poetry. I’m already almost halfway through an Amanda Lovelace book that Ashley loaned me as far as the latter goes, and since switching to Tidal last year I’m starting to pay closer attention to what they recommend to me.

my final Godzilla portrait

I finished out my Godzilla portrait project at the end of the month with 53 pieces altogether. You can see them all here on my website. There are some Godzillas I missed over the course of the year, but I’m done with this project for now. There are so many other pieces I want to make, and this year’s Pouncepunk art challenge to plan for. I had this grand idea of drawing and painting friends last year to get better at human portraits and I never did it, so that’s something to circle back to this year. Apart from that and figure drawing, I don’t know where else to go or what else to do, but I’ll figure it out. I know I need to get more involved in the community again, something I was working on last year but fell behind on.

Change is already coming next month, as far as work goes, and I think it’ll be good for me, and better help me focus on art.

I have so much physical and digital decluttering to do, too. I should get on that. Again: I feel so far behind on so many things!

What are your goals and plans for this year? Do you visit a gym? What’s your workout routine like? How do you keep track of everything you need to do?

Happy New Year! Take care of yourselves.