getting a life

Friday, 11 July 2025 13:04
braintransplant: (Default)
have i made a single friend in the city i moved to 6 months ago? nope! but thats okay. im in the fucked up position of being painfully shy, socially inept, but also fairly extroverted in the sense that i love spending time with people (even strangers) a lot. i guess i can consider some of my coworkers my friends but its obviously not the same. i wallowed in the sad state of my social/love life the first couple months after moving but i have been forcing myself to just Go Outside And Touch Grass and i feel a lot better even though at the base level i am still pretty lonely. 
  1. i joined a figure drawing co-op! in the one year of art school i attended before dropping out, figure drawing was probably my favorite class. though i do not mean that in the sense that figure drawing is something im deeply passionate about as an art form - i just like the way figure drawing sessions are structured (increasingly long poses/drawing times) and i like the way the time limit immediately puts my brain into a flow state. so relaxing!!! anyways, the co-op is monday nights at the local art school and it really makes me happy to do, which is nice because art school sort of killed my love of drawing for the past ~7 years. i even started making linocut prints again! lots of nice low-pressure social interaction with randos there, and lots of free compliments on my gesture drawings which doesn't hurt. the other thing i love about figure drawing is that it always gives me such a strong affection/appreciation for the appearances of people in ways that feel wildly outside of conventional beauty standards. i leave sessions thinking shit like "that guy had fantastic earlobes" and "what a perfectly made knee!"
  2. i became a card carrying member of my city's film society. the cinema the program runs through is a non-profit meant to support independent film, and the ticket/concession prices are dirt cheap compared to the big chains. i love it! the 10 minute bike ride across the river there is amazing especially when the sun is setting in the evening. i saw 6 movies in theaters last month. they also do a special showing for the film society with a speaker and a Q&A session. i didn't talk at the ones i went to yet but maybe one day i will...
  3. piano lessons.....that i just signed up for the other day. i was originally debating joining a choir even though i am not really a singer, but it requires a full year commitment to weekly practice which is a bit much. but i miss piano (took lessons when i was a kid and quit because i was a snotty 7th grader). first one is next week so we'll see how much i have completely forgotten how to read music. plus i found out my local library has a room with a grand piano you can reserve for free yayyyyy my taxes!!!!!
  4. dating and then giving up on dating and then dating again. those of you who follow me on twitter already know the humiliating train wreck i endured at the hands of Comedian Man. for the uninformed, i briefly attempted to date an engineer who also does stand-up on the side. it was about 1 month of explosive sexual chemistry, then him ghosting me, me being confused because i have never been able to read the room, him apologizing 3 months later and wanting to get together again, and then him almost immediately ghosting me again 2 weeks later. if i open our text chain its just 3 unanswered messages i sent him across ~10 days. humiliating!!!!!! but embarrassing yourself is the spice of life and i feel like i am kind of a weird embarrassment adrenaline junkie. i dont care enough about social niceties to not share my thoughts so i always do. anyways, since my attempts to be #casual and #relaxed in dating did not work, i then tried to be serious. 4 different people proceeded to cancel on me day-of and did not reschedule, and then a 5th person fully stood me up. and that felt like a sign from the universe to abandon all hope. so i stopped for a while. but i got bored and picked it up again recently. went on a really good date this week (so good that we already have 2nd date plans) but i probably shouldn't get ahead of myself. we didn't even kiss! i thought maybe i should try having decorum and stop sleeping with people on the first date but its hard when you're a real #lover....
  5. as per usual, climbing gym + associated free yoga classes. i dont think i go on a consistent enough schedule to be recognizable to people yet but i switched gyms and really like the new one so much better.
  6. signing up for random bullshit! japanese weaving class at the arboretum? i'm there. shifts at the food bank? sure, i love packing boxes. being a greeter for the horticulture program's area at the state fair? absolutely. 
braintransplant: (Default)
keeping it simple. intentions for the year:

1. graduate in december!!!!!!!!! by any means necessary.
2. summer internship or seed potato lab employment for one last burst of resume bolstering.
3. climb v5 or get back to 5.11A top-rope level at LEAST.
4. read 12 books. i set this low at one book a month so that it is low pressure and my heart doesn't explode from stress. preferably i would like to read more books from non-american authors again!
5. save more money...........i shall aim for 25% of take home pay.
6. cook more often and more adventurously
7. maintain friendships! my 4 closest friends in bozeman will all have moved out of montana by the end of january. i do not intend to drift apart!!!
8. own less stuff. too much clutter = why i struggle to keep my apartment from becoming visually stressful
9. write more. fic or original - doesn't matter! i really miss the process of writing, and the fun of posting/getting feedback/discussing shit endlessly.
10. get back to juice-hunting. for those uninitiated to my twitter 6 years ago, when i lived in detroit i was dedicated to trying every juice i could find and hunting for the best version of each. i'm sure there's still tons of juices and fruit punches i have never tried...it was fun and stupid and we should all have at least one silly resolution :)
11. get job offer that makes moving back to detroit possible upon graduation. this is not realistic as agriculture/horticulture industry does not exist there outside cannabis which i pledged to never work in ever again so...belle isle conservancy please be hiring in december.
12. continue seeing every movie that comes out ever no matter how stupid. i have one of those cinema passes and i intend to keep abusing it
braintransplant: (Default)
 i am once again setting goals for the year because my 2021 ones didnt go too badly. in no particular order:
  1. land some kind of research job/position at MSU: i have decided im going to schmooze the hell out of my profs until one of them offers me something wicked. i just have to be the greatest student of all time and magnify my libra charms...and then i can finally stop toiling away in the shitty job mines.
  2. read 24 books: as always i set my reading goal to be attainable because there is always Something getting in the way of loftier numbers. 2 books a month average has been successful for the past couple years and feels natural so im doing it again! i do however want to read more writing from other countries - maybe another country's classics or a novel that became very popular there in the past few years...? mutuals from outside the united states please feel free to rec me a classic you actually liked or anything else from where you live that was good. i love sci fi especially.
  3. save 5k: last year i barely scraped my saving goal together but i was still getting through my depressi shopping addiction issues for the better part of 2021...LOL. i think i can actually pull this off this year. i always need longer term somewhat unachievable goals to motivate saving, so i've settled on wanting to get a mac desktop + saving to get a new car in a few years (ford maverick truck im looking at you!!)
  4. get stronger: i never set weight goals because frankly im pretty sure im underweight and it just doesnt motivate me nor do i think its particularly productive for my situation (thank you medical anthropology), so i am once again aiming to get jacked. well maybe not totally jacked but i just want to stop feeling so frail. i really noticed it while moving my stuff across the country. last year i was making small gains before field school but then it just fell off. so i need to get back on the horse, or whatever that metaphor is.
  5. learn to rock climb: in utah we clambered up a lot of rocks and cliffs without any equipment and it was sooo much fun. the puzzle-y aspect of How Do I Get From Here To There is delightful as well. im just nervous to officially try it alone and for some reason feel embarrassed that i will have to be bad at it for a while + am so weak...so i need to get over that. which i will. but i will probably need to muster the courage and get comfortable in bozeman for a little while first.
  6. good grades: not aiming for a 4.0 because i want to be realistic yet hopeful, so nothing worse than a B+. 
  7. original fiction: i really want to write something original this year, even if it sucks. or at least just do some world-building or compile some notes. ITS TIME. for the braintransplant cinematic universe.
  8. closet minimization: i got rid of a ton of clothes before i moved, but i still have too many. i'm down to the stuff i love + stuff i like well enough, but theres still some pieces that just dont get worn enough. i will probably head over to the consignment store up the road and see what the situation is because i feel bad adding on to the infinite piles at thrift stores + would like some $ return if at all possible. its only been a week since i got here but clothing definitely needs to be a bit more practical than some of my closet is when its -4 fahrenheit (aka -20 celsius) some days. 
  9. get better at piano + bass: hopefully i can find the time or get some lessons! piano i can re-teach myself mostly but i need help with bass because i dont know how to overcome my tiny hands.
  10. less screen time: some of my stats last year were kind of horrifying.
  11. learn some kind of craft: i want to make things again!!!!!
  12. become more well spoken: i stumble over my words a lot + noticed recently how often i use 'like' as a crutch and would like to stop. not sure how to work on this but i'll research it i suppose...
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lets look at the 2021 resolution/plan/goals post i made at the beginning of the year and review my successes/failures

college    (5.5/7 = 79%)
  • anthropology writing intensive course: i did the writing intensive in conjunction with the anthropology capstone requirement but forgot to actually register for the intensive due to some miscommunication on the part of my professors/advisors. however my advisor just waived it and its fine. so i did it. in a fucked up way! it was about urban farming in detroit. 
  • re-take technical comm: i did not do this. i replaced the gen ed requirement this was going to fulfill with a dumb intermediate writing course. so i kind of did it.
  • exit interviews: the head of my department said we weren't doing exit interviews this year. so i passed?
  • see if field school transfers as anthro methods course: it doesnt. but its fine i just took anthro methods.
  • graduate with linguistics + anthro degrees: hell yea
  • re-enroll for biological sciences: i did this if you consider that i refined general biology idea to environmental horticultural science. so this counts as a pass. to me!
  • michigan state master naturalist course: cancelled due to covid. SAD!

field school
   (2/3 = 66%)
  • manifesting that it happens in person even if it ends up in utah: nailed it!
  • letter of recommendation from isaac: havent asked for this because i havent needed it 
  • win the presentation competition: well there was no competition this year for some reason but considering the fact that dr broughton had zero comments on my practice run, isaac had no edits on my paper or research proposal, and one of the guests at our conference told me i should apply to work with the bureau of land management to help solve their wild horse problem, i feel like i kind of won.

work/finances
   (1/3 = 33%)
  • stop being the worst employee of all time: i got a different job and became a solid B-tier employee imo
  • save 2k: well some people have dental problems and are bad with money. i got closer than i did last year though. and to be fair i did just have to get all new furniture. so maybe i did it for a second.
  • stop buying clothes oh my fucking god: failed this HARD. had successful 1-2 month stints where i abstained (and am currently in a solid streak right now) but this is a huge problem for me...shopping addiction.....aha. help.

misc:
   (4/5 = 80%)
  • read 24 books: made it to 26 or so! i wanted to read way more than this like i did last year, but in my defense i had WAY more going on in 2021 than i did in 2020. i did it though. i got better at picking out books i like this year too.
  • more volunteering: i think i did alright in this. i did tree planting and rain gardening and food donation and clothes distribution and some mutual aid stuff with for the people detroit so...i feel okay about it but also wish i did more! hopefully i can find some good stuff to volunteer at in bozeman.
  • contact [redacted]: i did not do this and boy am i GLAD i did not do this. i have officially let go of my firstlove disease! chains and tyranny etc etc
  • clear out apartment clutter: well everything i own now fits in my car. so!
  • get out more if possible: you know what sure. i met interesting people this year and also went places when i could! im a real boy now (not a puppet)

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