Sycamore Press no. 21: Back 2 School

Thanks for bearing with me as I gave myself a little “summer vacation” from the newsletter. Here in the Southwest, the languid enormity of summer is a time for hunkering down more than anything else, and my avoidant tendencies kind of go into overdrive. Now my calendar is populating with work and social events, and the weather is letting up a little bit (after dark at least). I’m starting to see the light at the end of the PhD tunnel too (as one would hope to when starting year five). All this has got me feeling pretty good, so here’s me channeling that energy into an on-time (kind of) newsletter!

General Life Updates

Part of the reason why it’s been hard to muster up an e-mail is that there really hasn’t been much to tell. But surely by now I’ve accumulated lots of exciting news! Let’s see…

I cut my own fringe a couple of times and mostly succeeded in not messing it up too obviously. I tried to get myself in bed by 11:00 PM every night with what started as shockingly good results, though I’ve faltered a bit since then. I spent a lot of time on work stuff, and that has actually worked out really well.

I haven’t done any travel. Hell, I often don’t even leave the house except for work. This sucks because I love walking around and just doing whatever. It’s been super hot and super quiet for a long time, so I’ve had neither a good excuse nor convenient means to go a-wandering and be among the people. I should have gone to visit friends, but that’s basically always a flying situation. Not so bad on its face, but money’s been kinda tight, and there are still a lot of semi-important things I’m still saving up (or, really, mostly psyching myself up) to buy.

Anyway, like I said in the preamble, things are starting to pick back up again, and I’ve been in good spirits for the last little while. This kinda seasonal mood shift is familiar to me by now, but something feels a little different this time. I think I’m due for some more lasting positive change.

I dunno. I guess I’ve just got a good feeling.

Monthly Art & Media Intake

books n’ such

After I finally finished Moby Dick back in July, I started Kenzaburo Oe’s A Personal Matter and ripped through it pretty quickly. While it “went down easy” as it were, I wasn’t sure whether I still wanted to follow it up with another Oe novel as I’d originally planned. Still, I went ahead and started his The Silent Cry, which I generally prefer over A Personal Matter. It’s less direct though, so, like a lot of other Oe novels, this one is taking me a little longer.

On the side, I’ve been trying to remember to read Symbiosis: A Very Short Introduction by the one and only Nancy Moran, but I just have a hard time reading multiple books concurrently. Even if one of them is Very Short.

music!!!

Since we’re covering a pretty large time frame here, I’ll just rattle off a few tracks that have been in heavy rotation at some point since I last wrote you.

(Artist - Song Title) (*In no particular order)
First Day Back - Sure, Ok
Braid - First Day Back
Fiona Apple - Jonathan
Elliott Smith - Stupidity Tries
Elliott Smith - Easy Way Out
Faraquet - [The entirety of their 2000 album The View From This Tower]
No Knife - Academy Flight Song
No Knife - The Spy
Tujiko Noriko - Bikini
Lync - B
Lync - Silverspoon Glasses
Lync - Pennies to Save
The Wrens - I Guess We’re Done
Dinosaur Jr. - Little Fury Things
The Promise Ring - Is This Thing On?
The Promise Ring - Why Did Ever We Meet
Medications - Safe And Sorry
Medications - Exercise Your Futility
The Raymond Brake - New Wave Dream
The Raymond Brake - Laying Down

Wow! Wasn’t that thrilling?? Who doesn’t love lists!

Blog & Webcomic Updates

Since last time, I’ve published two new webcomic installments and three new blog posts!

I was feeling seriously stuck with the comic for a while. It helped to focus on streamlining my process. I recently got a little drawing tablet, and I have finally gotten the hang of using it in combination with my existing setup. Right now, I’ve settled on tablet+stylus for most of the actual drawing and then my trackball for navigating menus and for certain types of detail work.

I also got some extra practice by creating quick, one-panel digital illustrations to accompany my blog posts, something which I’m planning to continue indefinitely. I think my posts look more inviting to a prospective reader when they’re not just blocks of text on a beige background.

Last but certainly not least, I recently made a little zine containing the first 10 Sycamore cartoons along with a bit of “author commentary.” I don’t think I’ll do a full run on card stock like in the picture, but I wanna print a bunch on copy paper (I actually like it a little better that way) and distribute them.

Let me know if you want me to send you one! Though I probably will anyway, especially if I already have your address.

Food & Drink

I feel like this segment was always popular before, and I actually remembered to take some food pics (though not necessarily very good ones). See below my interpretations of the following recipes:

• Spaghetti puttanesca

• “Chickpea, Coconut, and Cashew Curry”

• Mushroom Bourguignon

• “Baked Eggs With Creamy Greens, Mushrooms, and Cheese”

Closing Remarks

Well, like always, I’m a little late both in getting this out and in getting to bed. I hope this newsletter was everything you’d hoped it would be.

I will try to write you a physical letter as soon as I can, or at least give you a call. I’d love to hear from you too!

It’s crazy to think that it will be October when I write you next. By then, I will have just recently given an hour-long talk at an internal seminar series and will be preparing for a highly-anticipated week-long leisure trip. Hopefully, I will also have some sense of what I’m doing for Halloween. Anyway, I guess I’ll talk to you then!

I love you!

—N