Even talking about my woes of if and how to see myself as an artist makes me feel a bit like a fraud. Imposter syndrome needs to be suppressed. When I allow myself to feel and behave like an artist, though, I get these little glimpses of something that somehow feels true. It’s great to be able to talk to Cecilia about these things. She has produced more art in the last couple of years than I have in my whole life of perhaps, sometimes, maybe considering myself an artist.
I’m currently figuring out how to survive winter without getting depressed, and finding a place to draw where I won’t freeze my butt off is one part of my preparations.
I wanted to try sketching people and artwork at the Hamburger Kunsthalle and somehow ended up joining the “Friends of the Kunsthalle.” I can now visit as often as I want without paying €18 every time, and I even got a cute little membership card to flash at the entrance.
These spontaneous walks have become less frequent since Ines moved to a different part of the city, and I miss them. It was great having friends in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, there's no way of finding an apartment anywhere else, so I'm stuck here in my absurdly beautiful Winterhude. Oh well...
Justine and Pablo offered "Hitschies" at Justine's party. I'd never tried them before, and they were delicious. Delicious enough for me to get weak and buy myself a whole pack. I really shouldn't have sweets at home because I know I can't control myself around them. I'm pretty good at controlling myself when it comes to not buying stuff I don't want to consume, though. So this was kind of a rare lowlight in my culinary adventures.
Hanna and Luis are in the process of moving from Glasgow to Venezuela and stopped briefly in Germany to take care of a few things and visit some friends. I was one of them!
Anna was sick that week, and I was so happy to find this stupid collector's plate to take over to her apartment after visiting the flea market with a couple of friends. She very much enjoyed receiving it. Then she looked up how much it was worth and discovered that some people were offering it on eBay for €250! I paid €6! Haggled down from €7. I know what I'm doing.
Sunday is long-run day. I love a good yap and run. Later that day, we were invited to Basti’s birthday party in the park. I didn’t know anyone except Anna and still had a fantastic time. Basti and all of his friends were great, and I really enjoyed what might have been the last picnic of the summer.
Cecilia has mentioned several times that she likes showing up in these comics as the person on the other side of a FaceTime call. Unfortunately, we decided against video this time because we both needed to get our steps in and went for a walk while talking on the phone instead. Which was great. Catching up and shooting the shit for three hours is always nice, but it’s a bit easier for me when I can walk around and keep my hands busy by drawing strangers while doing so.
When Anna and I first met, she told me that her friends Simone and Pastu love cats and would very much like to see as many pictures and videos of mine as possible. Back then, I already invited them to come visit and say hi to Gigabyte and Millimeter.
That finally happened on this day, and at least Gigabyte showed herself from her best side. Milli is a bit shy, but she came around after a while.
We played Big Walk and had a very stressful but fun evening. We ended up with too many people playing at the same time, and it all got a little too chaotic for my taste. But the game itself is really nice, especially for that price.
This was one of my favorite evenings from the last couple of weeks. I was somewhere in the city center, buying a new bag, and I knew Anna was out on the Alster, paddling around on her SUP. So I stalked her on Find My, got off the subway early, and ran to catch up with her. She picked me up and paddled me all the way back to my apartment.
Gigabyte has a question.
We met at the park to paint trees. Nils painted Mareen and me instead. Weird choice, but I guess our new outdoor painting club doesn’t benefit from rules that are too strict.
It’s sometimes hard to cope with the fact that all my friends improve so much at running in such a short time, even though I train three times a week.
At one point in the escape room, Mareen had to spank us with a leather paddle... it was definitely an experience...
It was such a lovely day. Everyone was there. So many friends came to Hamburg for the weekend, and we all had a wonderful time.
I seldom think it’s a good idea to skip my workout for the day. This was one of those exceptions.
Days like this are the best.
Summer is the best season, no debate needed.
This is somehow not as shocking to anyone else as it is to me, but how was this cocktail only invented in 2008? We had smartphones then! How did nobody, in all those years before that, think to smash up a bit of basil and throw some random alcohol into it?! It’s absurd!
I love talking about books with my friends.
My journal entry from two years ago (just a classic text-based journal) ended with me promising myself I wouldn’t spend my birthday alone the following year. And I didn’t.
Last year, I invited my friends over on the evening of my birthday, and it was wonderful. Now many of them have babies, so this year I invited them over on Sunday afternoon for coffee and cake instead. It was great.
I went to bed blissful and full of gratitude.
Visiting Tower Bridge while melting wasn’t exactly a highlight of this trip, but I’m glad I saw it.
We had quite a social day. Notting Hill is unbelievably beautiful.
What's up with GBP? It feels like fake plastic money!
Hamburg is considering a bid to host the Olympic Games, and the citizens have been voting on it.
Running alone and running with friends is like day and night. It’s so much more fun to yap while running for 12 kilometres.
We were the only ones in the class, and it was more of a “here are the materials, do what you want” kind of deal than anything else.
We spent the first of May in the park, having a great old time. It couldn’t have been a better start to the month.
I slept like a baby after this day.
A proper birthday butt slapping.
The spider crossed my “this is fine” boundary and was promptly evicted.
Give me a run, an exhibition and good company and I'm having a good day.
Catching up while walking 10.000 steps.
The Döner wasn't even good. Fantastic company, though.
Running became fun again once I stopped winging it and went back to following a plan.
I actually had to go back to the popcorn person and switch mine, because they accidentally gave me salty popcorn too.
I read the whole book on release day and loved it.
I miss my little Boldu buddy.
Not even the very expensive tickets could lessen my amazement about Sagrada Família.
Who needs meteorology when my head forecasts the weather?
