hezatown

Creative pursuits

2025-05-09 permalink

In December 2018, I was living in Hokkaido. I was having a sad and miserable few months and going through a rough time. Some friends that I had made while living in Yokohama happened to be in town in Sapporo at the time, so we hung out. It really cheered me up so I ended up going back with them to Tokyo over the winter break. We had a lot of fun. I saw friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. We went on a tour bus to Utsunomiya, which is a small town outside Tokyo that’s famous for gyoza dumplings and strawberries. The tour included trying dumplings and a strawberry picking thing. It was a lot of fun and is still a memory I cherish.

On the same trip, I ended up going to one of those hedgehog cafes. I was pretty excited before going, cause I really like hedgehogs. But the place really sucked. It was loud and crowded and bright and kids were screaming - the complete opposite of the kind of environment hedgehogs thrive in. It was really depressing. I felt really bad about having given money to a business profiting off animal abuse.

I remember standing on the train that night, looking at my own reflection in the window. I felt empty. I was overwhelmed by the feeling that all I was doing was consume. I was trying to feel better by having interesting experiences, but all these “experiences” were just consumption and not real.

I was drawing a whole lot after that. I even made an art account on instagram (that I ended up abandoning pretty quickly lol). I started learning Cantonese more seriously. It was fun.

As you know, I spent a week in New York a while ago. Toward the end of the trip I started having that overwhelming feeling again, that I was just consuming. Trying foods, seeing beautiful places, it’s all great. But something was itching below the surface. So as soon as I got back home I dove into creative pursuits, including this quick drawing:

And more stuff I won’t show cause it’s secret (like gifts to people)^^

Ppalgan geon Hyuna HYUNANEUN!!!!!!!!

2025-05-18 permalink

Why is hearing airplanes outside your window so comforting? You’d think it’d feel industrial and uncomfortable like the sound of cars.

Instead it feels poetic, evoking the vastness of the sky, leaves swaying softly in a summer breeze, the sun hitting the ground where lizards scamper.

…

Time flies past me so quickly. It’s already more than halfway through May. I don’t do much and so this has got to be the fastest five months I’ve ever experienced. But I’m comfortable. I like it this way. I don’t go any farther than the local park on most days. I’m happy.

My daily routine is sweet. I wake up and have my cup of Ryze Mushroom Chai. Then I sit around and do nothing for a while, as in I listen to music and/or stare into space. Then I go to the park and hang from the monkey bars for a little while, until I feel tired and walk back home. I may also do some push-ups or something. A couple times a week I try to take longer walks to not die from lack of exercise.

Then I do nothing for a little while again until I get hungry and have a snack. Then engage in creative pursuits for a few hours. I have dinner with my roommate. Then maybe I’ll be creative some more or read a book or something depending on what I feel like. I’m currently enjoying Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings ^^ (Dalinar is a DILF)

I’ll share some old songs I’ve been bopping to lately ~