New Winged Friends ♡

 Friends, this week I learned it's never too early to become the "crazy" pigeon lady. 

me in 50 years if global warming allows it

My university's campus is HUGE, and in it roams all different kinds of animals, the most notorious being cats, grackles, and rock pigeons.

Last week's Friday, however, was a special kind of day. There's a deli at the Uni Plaza that I rarely visit, but I was craving their sandwiches, for some reason. On my way there before class, I found this little guy–or girl, I think–loafing on the steps.

As I carefully walked down the steps, it didn't move at all, making me wonder if something was wrong. There weren't any physical signs of injury so I decided to walk into the deli for my sandwich. 20 minutes later, I walked out to find it under the bench across the deli's entrance.

I decided to approach it this time, thinking something was actually wrong. I happened to carry a bag of dry rice with me, so I gently tossed it in front of the pigeon.

And she immediately ate it. 

Okay, so maybe she was just lounging and minding her own business. Because she quickly got comfortable getting close to me and eating from my hand, and words can't describe the joy I felt in that moment. It turns out she has a case of string foot, and my heart broke because I can't help her. It seems too late.

I left that Friday hoping to see her again when I came back on Monday. People can be so cruel to pigeons, and since she was inside the plaza, I was worried they were gonna try to get rid of her.

I didn't see her that Monday, but I ended up making a BUNCH of new friends. It all started with me feeding these brown loafing pigeons outside the plaza, and then all their friends decided to join in on the dry jasmine rice feast.

Before I continue, you need to know that as an exhausted college student, I dread waking up. No, I'm not depressed. The action alone of opening my eyes to another day at 5:00am because I need to take the morning bus so I can make it on time for my morning class is dreadful. Especially when it's the most boring lecture class ever. HOWEVER– things have changed. Throughout the rest of the week, I woke up so excited (without snoozing my alarm, okay?!), because I had some pigeons to feed. 

I was so eager; it's so nice to have something to look forward to at seven in the god forsaken morning. I fed them religiously until Friday, and I hoped they started to recognize me as I did them. 

There's one with a case of avian pox. He's so adorable, and I try to feed him seperately because he can only see through one eye. Therefore he's too slow to notice the food, and the others waste no time to eat it all. It seems his warts have taken over the side of his face, making him lose an eye. 

There are some signs inside the plaza asking the consumers from the other businesses to not feed the birds. So I hoped me doing it outside wasn't a problem. Yes, they ended up pooping everywhere, but they were fed, and the rain always washes it away, anyway. 

On Friday I saw the one with the stringfoot again! I forgot to take a picture, but it seems now we're on lap-sitting basis? Either way, I was so happy to see she's doing okay, and her feathers are so soft! 

I hear them often being called 'rats with wings,' but I see highly intelligent creatures who are just trying to survive after being domesticated then abandoned. 

They deserve to eat, too. And I can always wash my hands.

What I've been... Hobbymaxxing

 Hi friends! ♡ It has been such a long time, I know. When uni isn't drowning me with assigned readings and papers/exams to turn in, you can be 100% sure I'm hyperfocusing on a hobby to keep myself sane. 

Anywhoosies, I'm very happy to tell you the past month has been productive! As you already knew, I picked up knitting and sewing, but this time I'd like to add drawing and watercolor painting to the list. People from my generation are calling it hobbymaxxing. At first, I was like "wtf is that," but it really makes sense: hobbymaxxing refers to the practice of maximizing one's engagement in hobbies to improve mental health, productivity, and personal fulfillment (definition courtesy by Google's insufferable AI Overview). 

In my case, I decided to dedicate time to ALL of my hobbies throughout the week, depending on my energy. For example, lately I've been carrying around a totebag (that I made btw 🤭) with my yarn and knitting needles. But more on that later!

I wanted to preface this post by telling you what inspired me to write for you today:

A few weeks ago, I was waiting for my italian class to begin, so in the meantime I was chatting with my classmate. She's always seen me carry around my books and this day she told me, "I don't know how you read so much without getting bored. I could never, I prefer movies and series." 

I simply laughed it off, because it's something I often get from my family members. I respected her opinion, even if she was denying herself the pleasure of understanding why books are so much better than movies. 

Then she brings up TikTok. Mind you, I have deleted the app AND my account a few months back. 

"I also love watching TikTok, but you said you don't have it, right?" She asks. I tell her no and she proceeds to ask me: "What do you do with your life, then?"

Her question made me blink.

Obviously she didn't mean it in a bad way, but I was shocked to learn that there are people with no hobbies. Doomscrolling doesn't count.

How else would a person keep themselves sane without hobbies? I can't wrap my mind around it. So here's what I've been up to!

Watercoloring and Drawing

This has been my most recent hobby. Back in 2020, I was a fashion design major, so for my illustration classes I had to invest in watercolors to begin. But after I switched in 2021, my supplies have been long forgotten in a big plastic bin in my mom's "stuff room." 

I might have still wanted to independently learn watercoloring beyond fashion illustrations. I remember when I was an avid Skillshare user and ran into Anne Butera's courses. Plural because the first course I took was her blogging course (which is the reason I'm here today!) before I decided to try watercoloring again. But I was really burnt out, so I did her maple seeds excercise (that ended up kinda looking like testicles) and moved onto something else.

But here I am, 5 years later, giving it another chance.

I've always been convinced that I'm not the most creative person. But I learned that creativity is something you look for, not the other way around. I was also scared of being terrible at it, until the 80-year-old version of me I've made up in my head told me, "girl, who cares?!" 

So I dusted off my watercolor palettes and tried. I felt myself healing a little bit as I allowed myself to make mistakes and just... have really bad attempts. Here are some that I liked how they turned out:

Knitting

We finally have a franket update!

I have been making some slow but steady progress, and it's thanks to me carrying a totebag with my yarn and needles so I can knit on the go.

My favorite part about this is that since I take public transport, it has sparked conversation between old ladies who asked me about what I was working on. They always made my day because this would often lead to them telling me about how much they used to knit when they were my age and so and so. I am never beating the "old soul" allegations from my mother by the way I'm most comfortable talking to elders.

Here's how my practice blanket is going!

I feel like the mismatched colors make it more wabi sabi :)

Coloring

Whenever I don’t have the energy to draw or watercolor but I still want to do something “artsy,” I reach for the Crayola coloring book I’ve had since 2020. I’ve seen the ones trending on social media with the alcohol markers but I think I’m sticking to my crayons for now. 

The coloring book usually comes out when I’m too stressed and also want to wind down with an audiobook.

Sewing

When I got back to sewing, I’ve completely forgotten how 75% of sewing was figuring out what is wrong with my machine LOL. Despite a few hiccups, I’m very proud of the practice I’ve gotten. 

To practice making a totebag, I decided to cut up an ugly NEON hello-kitty-patterned sweater from my closet. I love hello kitty but I hated this sweater, so I figured it was perfect for this practice.

I still hate the print, so I'm not cure I'll ever actually use it 😭.

I wanted to replicate a nightgown my greatgrandmother made for my grandmother when she was pregnant with my mom (wow that's a long sentence). Since I couldn't afford to get new fabric at that time, I chose some bedsheets I never used, haha. 

And this is the actual totebag I made when I was able to buy some new fabric! It turned out bigger than expected, but it fits my big watercolor paper pad, so that's good! ♡ 

Video Games

I don’t think I’ve talked about it here but I also love playing video games. I’m currently going through my quarterly Stardew Valley phase, thanks to my penpal (hi Kaja! 🤭💗) whom I share a farm with! 

This is not my farm but this is an example of the game <3

This game is so cozy and relaxing. Perfect during my mid-semester chaos!

So that's all I've been up to! What have you been up to lately?

I have a looooooong reading list to catch up on so if I haven't commented on your blog post(s) yet, I'll be there soon! 😂

I hope life is treating you well, my friends. The current state of the world is terrifying, and what helps me is reminding myself that we have each other.

And these silly hobbies to keep us sane while the world is on fire.