I’m disappointed that I was unable to see the aurora last night. From what I gather, it might have been more visible earlier in the night than I had thought, and beyond that, I quickly learned that I did not know where to go without lights. I figured I had a chance at home, because stars are visible, but maybe I looked for it too late, and there are a lot of trees in my northern view. There are people from my general area and farther south who had vivid pictures of it.
Oh, I need to share this experience. In my Japanese lessons last night, I learned that the word for “seat” is “seki.” Like the titular My Neighbor Seki, the incredible gag manga about a middle schooler being distracted by her seat neighbor! I love finding out things like that; the book explained that Maeda roughly means “in front,” and he’s the kid who sits in front of Seki, so name puns exist in the series. I just didn’t realize how far it could extend. I’m excited to one day learn what Yokoi means. I also love the sound of tokidoki (“sometimes”) and machimasu (“waiting”). Unrelated, they’re just great words.
This week, I did a few group drawings, learned about wolves, and ended last night with the start of a new character sketch. I keep saying, “new character,” when introducing them online like this, but to me these are all old characters from back in college. That said, this new interest in their story has me thinking about them in new lights and finding the ways I need to frame them narratively. It’s been a rewarding experience. I’m working on some story planning with these characters, early phases. And I have to say, I’m liking the new skeleton I developed. It works well with my established style, helps correct some issues I’ve been having, and allows for more versatility.
Life in the Gutters 