Birthday Treats!
It was my birthday last week! I have become a big fan of finding creative ways to treat myself for birthdays. I am also a big fan of experiences as opposed to physical gifts (unless the physical gifts are food, which also count as experiences).
I try to get a massage every year for my birthday. I try to pick a really good restaurant that I’ve never been to before. Dear Margaret was my choice this year, and it was phenomenal. This year, my good friend Blanca drove me up to the Chicago Botanic Garden and we saw the orchid show! Niles and I spent an afternoon in Chicago’s Chinatown and ate our weight in amazing dumplings at QXY and then bought a box of delicious baked goods at Chiu Quon.
This year, I splurged on a Beluga Encounter at Shedd Aquarium! It was not cheap! But it was incredible, and worth every penny, and the money goes to support Shedd’s research and conservation efforts. I highly recommend this! They get you in waders and you stand in very cold chest-deep water in the beluga habitat, and you learn a bunch of hand signals from the Shedd’s trainers. We got to feed the belugas, and pet their heads, and tickle their tongues, apparently they get a big kick out of that. We also got to see several of their tricks, AND I GOT A KISS FROM A BELUGA. His name was Atlas and we’re besties now.
Upcoming things!
• I’ll be in San Antonio on March 8 for the Hill Country Literary Festival
• I’ll be in Des Moines on March 22 for the Des Moines Book Festival
• I’m teaching a zinemaking class on March 29 at Hey I Thought of You! in Chicago
• I’ll be in Artists Alley at C2E2 this year! Details to come!
What I’m into lately:
I’ve been reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, because I joined a book club. I… have not been enjoying it. I feel like the narrator/main character is a freakin baby. But I suspect that has less to do with the novel, character, or writing, and more to do with my own issues? I think she reminds me too much of how silly and dramatic I was at that age. I’m sure I too was a freakin baby at 21.
I’ve also been playing Persona 4 Golden again on the Switch. I’ve played this game SEVERAL times before, but it feels like a comfy security blanket that I’ve needed to return to lately. If you dig lengthy, character-driven story-heavy JRPGs with a Jungian philosophical core, Persona is the series for you!
What Toki’s into lately:
The Young Prince has discovered my seedling heat mat. That’s for tomato and pepper seedlings! not for cats!
