Update since November, I got hurt and had to learn to walk with a cane. I still kept drawing Valla each day. The stitches in my foot have really slowed me down and I am thinking about my next step a little more than I used to. Maybe this is what it means to get older. To slow down and think a bit more before each step. I actually like the cane aesthetic.
On Drawing Valla every day: I feel this has been a fulfilling exercise in art. I learned how to cause art to happen even when I am not feeling great. Drawing or creating when I feel bad has always been a barrier for me. I can look back on the year and say, Well gee, I drew more.
I even read more, I read “Can’t spell Treason without Tea, by Rebecca Thorne” in the #TeaAndTomes series Twice because in all of the moves I had lost my place once. Didn’t think I would finish reading any books this year, but I held to completing this as well, sometimes only a chapter a week.
J’apprends francais. Heh, I am learning french, I don’t know much as I’m only 275 days in. Il y a des œufs has got to be one of my favorite things to say so far. I also like that prairie is a french word. Prairie Loup would translate to prairie wolf which translates to coyote, I think this is how words work? I am also known for being incredibly incorrect about how words work. Also the french word for potatoes, Pomme de Terre, is beautiful.
I also was just blessed to go to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra here in Milwaukee with my partner and their family. I have now seen TSO twice, once in 2008 and now in 2025. They got a tech upgrade and to think I lived through those tech advancements. When I first saw TSO in concert white LED’s were just being commercially available and new. I feel that lasers and addressable LED’s took the place of some of the fire. I don’t think less fire is bad, those flame throwers could easily take out that drone swarm.
This past year was quite a lot to experience…
Svihawu Bless,
“Prairie wolf”