If this comic diary sticks around for more than a year, you’ll eventually notice that I become full of self-pity every time summer comes to an end. I find it hard to accept that we’re in for half a year of cold and wet weather. I hate being cold. I’m also not particularly fond of the accompanying darkness. Fortunately, we’ve learned from past winters and are currently planning to spend some time somewhere with better weather this time around.
I like this comic, even though I didn’t when I made it. It’s pure melancholy, and the whole day felt exactly like this.
On a related note, I always struggle with the end of summer and the beginning of the worst seasons. I will persevere, but it’s not going to be fun.
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...
Sorry, Pablo, I didn't really think you were weak. ONLY THAT YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT. HOW DARE YOU NOT RUN WITH ME?
Anyway! Anna felt better that night, and instead of celebrating her birthday with all her friends at the party that had been planned for that day but was rescheduled because of her illness, we went to a nice restaurant and had a cozy little evening.
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.
Let me know when I start sounding like a broken record, but I love that my adult life looks like this. We’re having fun!
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.
Speaking of life being great: This is how my Saturdays look like. What’s not to love?!
Every time a long train ride is part of the itinerary, I pack my Switch 2. Every time, I pull it out for maybe ten minutes, if that, before it ends up shoved back into my backpack. You’d think I’d have learned by now and just leave it at home. But I’ll do exactly the same thing next time.
Marcel from four years ago would never have been able to go for a run after a day of travel. For one thing, I wasn’t running back then. For another, travel used to take so much out of me that I’d be completely spent.
But over the last couple of years, I’ve worked on my relationship with travel, and this run felt like one of the clearest signs of progress.
It was such a relaxing day, and I was happy about it. The previous day had been taxing, so just hanging around, reading, painting, and snacking was exactly what I needed. Even though I underestimated the size of that sundae, I certainly didn’t complain, it was delicious.
In Germany we have the saying “Was muss, das muss,” which roughly translates to “What has to be done must be done” and I think that’s beautiful.
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.
6x6 all-out sprints (30 sec) with 60 sec recovery. It’s fun!
I’m always a bit nervous about drawing and painting in public because I don’t always feel very confident in what I’m doing, and having someone look over my shoulder isn’t very conducive to my process. For the first time, someone actually stopped what they were doing, came over, asked me a couple of questions, and shared their art journey with me and it was... nice. I liked it. If you see me painting in public, say hi. But please don’t stalk me just to say hi, that’s weird.
This is the first drawing in a new sketchbook, and I love how it turned out. Anna and I spent the evening in a park celebrating a milestone in our relationship, and I love that I get to share moments like this with her—that she’s interested in them simply because they matter to me.
I tend to keep things to myself because, I guess, I often feel like no one’s really interested. So putting myself out there by sharing something I don’t even think is that special, and then being met with genuine interest and openness, feels really great.
My reading can sometimes be a little too intense for Anna.
Summer is the best season, no debate needed.
I love drawing in this journal, but I’d love even more for AI to handle the scanning and editing for me.
I love winning battles against that inner voice telling me not to do hard things. It feels great.
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.
I turned 37 on that day! That number doesn’t remotely reflect the age I feel I should be, but who am I to argue with Chronos?
I mentioned the quality of beds in the UK to a few friends, and many agreed that modern sleep technology doesn’t seem to have made it across the Channel.
London’s parks are on another level. Ted Lasso didn’t lie about Richmond’s beauty, and Anna surprised me with a Sofar Sounds concert in an old chapel.
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 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 haven't watched a single episode of Naruto in my life.
Sant Jordi preparation.
I for one am very happy for her.
Catching up while walking 10.000 steps.
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 miss my little Boldu buddy.
Who needs meteorology when my head forecasts the weather?
Coding became a lot easier once I didn’t have to do it myself anymore.
