All Resolutions Are Arbitrary to Begin With, But When I Continue It Tends To Be With A Cadence
Often times when you get the latest Mixed Media with Mikkel, you are getting the first and a half draft. Which is to say, I had an idea and I ran with it the idea in a straight line with enough copy editing to make it seem like I am not completely ignorant of the English language.
A lot of my work ethic is born from this instinctual first round. The classic adage of “making it exist” because a lot of my work is attempting to capture the ephemeral. The purpose is to distill “hey, this is what I’m feeling at this moment.” And I do so knowing that if I need to, I can always make a revision later.
As this blog masquerading as a newsletter enters its second year of existence, I penned a draft and I was not happy with the draft. It was mostly correct. The words were fine, but it did not feel like enough. You can read this draft. I’m not ashamed of it or anything. It just… for as arbitrary as any of my resolutions are, I do in fact take them seriously. And the first free write I did in a coffee shop was fine, but maybe the lesson to be learned from a year of unbridled free writing is that sometimes you have to discard and draw. Perhaps, there is an upper limit to how much bulk generation can get you and at some point, you must craft a singularly perfect thing.
Or maybe that’s bullshit. I don’t know.
A lot of 2025 has been a combination of “I need to take care better of X” and repeatedly declaring “I don’t know” with varying degrees of confidence. These are lessons I have learned repeatedly and lessons I will continually relearn.
And maybe 2026, I need to go back to the original conception of the title project and start doing interviews regularly. And maybe 2026, some of these entries need to analysis of the construction and not just the construction. We’ll navigate as we go.
But, in lieu of a year, I did want to highlight some of my favorite pieces since I unfortunately thinking promotion is also on the docket for what needs to happen next.
As a Lapsed Catholic, I think a Part of Me will Always Conflate Consumption with Adoration - One of the earliest entries, but still the one that helped direct a lot of things going forward.
Understanding the Mythologyization of the Self and Others - If I don’t write an essay comprised of vignettes related to disparate yet interconnected pieces of multimedia, you can assume I had a particularly rough year.
If There Is One Good Things Generative AI Has Been Good For, It’s Convincing Me It’s Okay to Try Making Art - Fun fact, I’ve tripled my ceramics collection since the start of the year.
MIKKELISMS (1995) - Being a writer requires having an ego big enough to constantly try to put yourselves out there.
Matching Mixed Media: I Continue to Be Obsessed with Bringing Back Renaissance Style Patronage - This is perhaps my favorite of the Matching Mixed Media pieces so far.
Paraluman will get its own dissection later in October.
Anyways, for those who have stuck around, thank you. It means more than you know. I will continue to be here because if nothing else, my existence both empowers my friends and spites my enemies, which is more than enough reason to live four times over.