Academic
- I’ve been interning at Yahoo with the awesome UX research group! I learned a ton about user research methods and tools, as well as how the work differs from the more academic work I’m used to. I was hoping UX research was going to be the magic career that would match up with my life perfectly, but I find that I still don’t know what I want to do when I graduate. Maybe I’m setting my expectations too high. I have to remember that any career will have good and bad parts to it. Above all, I need to get used to the idea that I’m probably going to have structured working hours. As a grad student I used to lament that work time could be any time, but now that I’m at the end of it all and have figured out a good system for managing my time, I think I’m going to sorely miss my freedom.
- My two CSCW papers were both accepted into the revise & resubmit stage of acceptance! One did a lot better than the other. After a ton of revising, I was happy to see that both papers were accepted to the conference. Now for camera-ready edits!
Art
- I tabled at Kinyoobi-Con! They expanded the Artist Alley a tiny bit this year, but traffic (and sales) were definitely down compared to last year, so I think I’m going to have to pass on this con in future years. However, nice staff, and free food! Got to do a commission of a client’s OC!
- After some nail-biting, managed to snag a table for Krakencon in the Fall!
- A few bigger commissions this summer! I think I’ve found my niche: anime-style portraits of friends and family.
- Made new artwork for Herogirl! I’m using them on my business cards now, and maybe I can figure out how to incorporate it into a cover for the Chapter 2 book? I’m really proud of the colors on this one.
- Because I hate my arms, I started and finished a submission for the FFXIV Fan Fest art contest in like 5 days! I think it’s probably the most complex composition I’ve ever done and I really feel like I pushed the limits of my skills with this one. I suspect having such a tight deadline made me second-guess myself much less than usual.
- My Etsy shop has been getting a noticeably increased number of sales and views! I’m experimenting with Instagram marketing, and that seemed to boost sales quite a bit. The release of Pokemon GO has also boosted my Pokemon stuff! I also added a new item for sale: magical girl charms.
- Herogirl Chapter 5 is still underway! Still nervous about wrapping up the chapter nicely. It’s almost done…
- As one of my research projects, I created Mosaic, a community for artists to share works-in-progress snapshots of their art! It saw a bit of activity even after the research project ended. It’s definitely on my todo-list to move it to a proper server and market it a bit…
Personal
- Still working on exercising regularly! I’ve been trying to stick to meditation using Headspace, but I’m only managing about 2 or 3-day streaks. I usually try to do 10-minute sessions in the morning, but internship work commutes sort of messed up with that plan. I had a hard time finding an alternate time for some quiet time. I stuck with yoga fairly successfully, though, and have been using Pokemon GO as an excuse to go walking for long amounts of time during the weekends.
- Travel: I went to my cousin’s wedding and it was beautiful! After that, I headed to Japan to basically do an art pilgrimage through Naoshima/Teshima and Roppongi Hills.
- Anime: My Hero Academia (good ol’ fashioned shounen anime feels), Mob Psycho (my favorite anime of the season so far!), The Disastrous Life of Saiki Kusuo (my second favorite!), This Art Club Has a Problem (third favorite!), Love Live Sunshine (doing a pretty good job distinguishing itself from the original), Shokugeki no Souma (mindlessly entertaining, and ruining my ability to enjoy food at fancy restaurants because I keep thinking about how anime people would react to food), New Game (Yuru Yuri-ish vibe, mildly entertaining and relaxing to watch? Also glad I don’t work in Japan). I also finished Princess Kaguya (the Ghibli movie… beautiful movie, ends very sadly)
- Tried: Qualidea Code (so hilariously bad), Love Lab (a bit too cringey)
- Games: Finally finished Stardew Valley (with about 3/4 of the available achievements and high praise from my in-game grandpa)! I am finally free from my farming prison. Getting ready for the new FFXIV and gearing up! And still playing FFXII, and am now in the last dungeon. The end is near!
- Books: The Lean Startup! It was pretty interesting to read this while working at a large company. Definitely food for thought on how to work with others on projects. Also gave me some ideas on how to grow Mosaic into something beyond a research project.