Mario absolutely hated yard work of any sort. He’s always said he hated it because he was “forced” to do it when he was younger. He was also just incredibly lazy when it came to manual labor. When we bought the house, the previous owner left what was, at the time, a practically new John […]
Old Connections
I’ve spent the week hanging out with an old friend who I haven’t actually hung out with in person for over 30 years. I think that probably happens to a lot of us though with good friends we knew early on in life. Life happens, but you keep in touch over the years. We’d been […]
The Fool
Mario was a very talented and highly creative artist. Out of all of the visual art he created in his lifetime, none was such an undertaking and reached as many people as his tarot deck. It started like many of his personal illustration projects, as a stand alone “character” that came straight from his imagination […]
Trying to Reframe February
4 days from now it will make 5 full years since Mario made his grand exit from this life. It’s absolutely nuts to me how fast those 5 years went by. And about February … It’s not like every February of my life has been awful, but there have been some big, awful events that […]
Living Alone – Not Lonely
I was recently wasting some more time on instagram. I have to admit, their algorithm has definitely been improved, because what it has been suggesting, has mostly been content I’m genuinely interested in (tons of creative folks making things). However, it randomly showed me a woman who is making rather humorous videos about what people […]
“I shouldn’t do it but I do it anyway.”
Everyone’s got an, I know I shouldn’t do it but I do it anyway. For me, it’s staying up late. From what I can remember this all started when I was pretty young. I would give my parents fits over wanting to stay up way past my bedtime. I would come up with creative ways […]
Time and Possessions
This week was a whirlwind and it was Saturday afternoon when I’d realized I hadn’t queued up a new post! So apologies there everyone. I also managed to completely lose track of even what the date was by week’s end. I’m still feeling rather positive about being busy though. And unlike the many times in […]
Busiest First Week of January
In all the years I’ve been doing what I do work-wise, this is quite possibly the busiest first week of January I’ve ever experienced. I’ve already welcomed aboard 2 new clients, started 3 new projects that were booked before the year ended, heard from folks I’ve done work for years ago that want new work, […]
Turning the Page on Another Year
I’m writing this on New Year’s Day, 2026. I’m honestly really glad to bid farewell to 2025. And for the first time in probably 10 or more years I actually did something with a few friends for New Year’s Eve. I fired up my two old Technics SL-1200 DJ turntables and played some old techno […]
A Quiet Christmas
When I was growing up, we never had huge family gatherings for holidays. I can remember maybe a handful of Christmas days where my grandparents on my dad’s side stopped by for like an hour (and they only lived like 15 minutes away). I think a couple times my uncle, also on my dad’s side, […]
The Joys of Home Ownership
Mario and I purchased our house (I’ll probably always call it “our” house) back in 2007. After looking at many different houses, this one stood out and we made an offer as soon as we saw it. Through a series of “perfect timing” type of events, we closed on the house within 30 days. I […]
Volunteering
How many of the widowed folks out there keep in contact with their spouse’s relatives? Mario’s mom passed away in 2007 and his grandparents also passed after we’d made the move up to Oregon, but he kept in touch with his aunt (his mom’s sister) and cousin who also ended up in Oregon as well […]