PORTLAND, MAINE for the WEEKEND

I'm sitting in my hotel room in Boston at the moment writing this as it's pouring outside. I spent the weekend in Portland, Maine visiting my friend who has been working at a restaurant there since August. I was already going to visit the east coast thanks to the Billy Joel tickets I bought eight months ago, so I figured I'd swing up and visit her and then make my way down. I'm so happy I chose to do that.

Portland was very cute and cozy. It wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be, but the second day I was there, the temperature dropped significantly. But I like it cold. The people were also very sweet. 

We walked around everywhere, drank a lot of beer, and ate a ton of yummy food. Though I enjoyed being there, I was itching to get to Boston. Quiet cities make me anxious after a while and I felt the need to be around more people. 

Portland was different from what I imagined it to be but I enjoyed it very much. Boston, however, is living up to what I imagined it to be like. 

I have got a busy day ahead of me tomorrow so I need to get to bed <3

Got to the top

Saturday morning I managed to not sleep through my alarm and went for a 7 mile hike in the Angeles National Forest with friends. The beginning of the hike proved to be a challenge for me since I hadn't exercised for a month following my surgery. But about forty minutes in, I managed to figure out my own pace and the hike became more enjoyable.

The air was crisp and cold. As we were making our way up Mount Islip, the wind started to pick up and I felt myself getting cold but luckily it was a sunny day and it never got unbearably chilly. 

I fell asleep on the car ride back. When I woke up I felt energized and happy. Not exercising for a month was difficult. My body was itching to run and jump around, but I had to wait for my doctor to give me the OK. This was the best way to get started again. I'm also excited about the flag football season starting again in February. I had a great time playing last season and I really felt how much I missed playing after it was over. 

<3

Which is the happier of the two?

I saw The Martian much later than everyone else. I hadn't felt exited about going to the movies in a long while so I kept putting it off. I'm glad I saw it though. It was beautiful and emotional. I also really like Matt Damon, so that was a plus. 

I kept comparing the movie to Moon, which stars Sam Rockwell. Both movies are dark and both of the main characters are isolated away from the Earth but I found myself thinking that The Martian was a "happier" film just because of the color of the planet (LOLL...whatever).

I also loved that Harry Gregson-Williams composed the music for the film. I love love love the music he's composed for the Metal Gear series. Since I mentioned Moon, Clint Mansell's soundtrack for it was so good. It was amazingly creepy and nerve racking. I think if Moon had some disco tracks thrown in there, I'd probably think it was a happy movie too.

Anyway. Here's a quick gouache painting I did after I saw the film. 

Too many options isn't always a good thing ✌

A video posted by @lolokhod on Oct 6, 2015 at 9:56pm PDT

I started working on a new piece that I've had in mind for quite a while but I finally thought it was time to get it going. I'm using my new Wacom Intuous Pro tablet and it's so cool. For the last 12 years, I've used my super old Wacom tablet (the Graphire 3 - which I still love! We've been through so much together) but the Intuous Pro is just amazing. 

The idea of what I want this painting to be is so fun and awesome in my head. I get a little nervous about not being able to execute it the way I imagine it. But I'm still gonna try. The point here is to get better~