List of Curiosities for July
Overthinking and not thinking at all tends to be my two modes of operation
For the past couple of weeks (and honestly since 2025 has started), I was pondering how I would utilize substack. Clearly, overthinking about it has brought about no results, so I decided to completely switch gears and share my most up-to-date list of things on my mind.
My hope in posting this is that I will use my “list of curiosities” to fuel further posts for substack, along with keeping myself accountable in documenting what I have been doing. There’s not a very strong need for me to do this method, but I figured it would be really nice to read this later and see what situations I have been in, and the creative solutions that came about it.
Summer Menu for Midweek
Ducky and I have had the pleasure of hosting small group for our church at our home - twice! They were a few weeks long, and we would focus our conversations around our impressions and things that we had read collectively in our church.
It’s something that we both delight in doing, and what I really look forward to in planning for midweek are the meals! Setting the table has become a pivotal part of the ministry - it’s an honor to create a space full of joy and hospitality. I always try to introduce something new to our guests, and make it allergen-friendly, healthy, and as tasty as possible. It’s also an opportunity to try new recipes, or envision what I can make from the pantry staples that I have on hand. Right now, I’m going through my collection of cookbooks to try and find recipes that evoke a summer mood.
Try out Milanote app for mapping and moodboarding
I got this idea from Bernadette Banner’s latest video on youtube, which you can watch here. In the video, she showcases the two impulse purchase fabrics she recently got her hands on, and then challenged herself to make outfits from them having as little waste as possible. She mentioned this app (who also was the sponsor of this video) and proceeded to board out her likes and tastes, in hopes of finding a through line as to why she has these impulse purchases. As someone who also does a lot of impulsive shopping, I too wanted to (over)analyze why I am attracted to the things I buy, so I will give this a go very soon.
Poster Planning
This actually is semi work-related. I teach an Illustrating in Procreate class at Azusa Pacific University, and for the longest time I had been meaning to create my own printed sample for my students to see. That being said, my students have already given me plenty of samples to share, but I am also interested in creating a poster that I enjoy and would want to put up in my home. I have challenged myself to create a poster from start to finish in the next six weeks, so I will most likely be posting about this particular project more often than not. (Or maybe not! The angel visits when she likes*)
Examen/Day Reflection
I think it’s safe to say that 2025 has been a lot so far. It’s been difficult to have any sort of routine, and it has been really difficult to create any work that has been related to the visual arts (cooking, lesson planning, and teaching have all been extremely productive though!). In reflecting on this, I had to sit and think about how some of my best work came about, and what I could do with my time to support these endeavors. I’m only day two in attempting to scaffold my weeks around these goals, and I will write about how it’s going in another letter - for now, it’s too early to tell.
Anyhow, thanks for reading! I look forward to sharing more of what I have been up to.