Monthly recap (June 2026)
I really lost track of time again.
Auckland Zinefest 2026
I'll be tabling at Auckland Zinefest on August 2nd (Sunday)! I haven't tabled in general for over two years, and in that period I've restarted a draft about why I don't table three whole times... but here I am again I guess. Though looking back on the drafts now, my main issues were environmental concerns and discomfort with charging high prices for fanart but I'm pretty much sidestepping all that by only making paper-based original art. Catalog for this year:
- ⭐️ ONE FALL: A beginner's guide to Auckland's indie pro wrestling scene (A6)
- ⭐️ Analog Refuge: What digital art can't replace about traditional, by me and you (A6)
- ⭐️ Scrapbook 2024, 2025, 2026 (A7)
- Scrapbook 2023 (A7)
- Anchovy (A7)
- Whatever dojinshi I have leftover (A5)
Plus two 4x6 risoprint postcards and some cutie bear stickers! The postcards are taking a longer to print than expected, so I'll send those out at the end of the month for any oomfs who requested one earlier. I made new business cards too, so I'll probably get a portfolio up on my art site by the end of the month.
For now though I'm very excitedly working on my zines; it feels good to have a message I actually want to share with people IRL...
Sigma maleing it in
But I'm getting very frustrated with how many of my posts just end up being like wow going outside is epic. It isn't so much that it's preachy but that it's hypocritical to espouse the values of local community when I participate in it so irregularly that I have reason to write about it.
Unfortunately writing about art requires drawing out my examples which takes wayyy too long for a hobby blog. Actually everything else is taking too long too. I have so many thoughts that I jot down in my journal and want to share but it's no fun if I gotta force myself to clean them up. I know I only post twice a month to begin with but I gotta take a break!!!
Bearblog is also still pissing me off with its lack of basic 301 redirect functionality. I said I wouldn't care about SEO for this site anymore but agh, it's annoying that I'm stifled by a technical problem of the platform rather than my content. I really can't wait to switch to a different host.
Regular updates
- I found the loveliest New Zealand-made Harrisons bear at a second-hand store. I've always wanted to get the Baby Ted bear from their collection, but it's over $100 so I was ecstatic to get George Harrison for only $18 ($10 USD). He's so big and his articulated arms fit perfectly over my shoulders for a hug!
- I went to someone else's birthday celebration for the first time in nearly a decade but it was very odd because there were only three people and I had never met the birthday girl before.
- I finally spoke with Liger (The Bloody Samoan/Michel Mulipola) at the Gender Bill protest. If you've ever looked at any photos of Palestine or trans rights protests down Queen Street, he's the big dude who brings the One Piece Flag. Bro is a comic book artist, pro wrestler, activist, South Auckland politician, and still the coolest guy in the world!!!
- Ally Rat sent a copy of the latest NZ lolita zine!!! It is so cool like I'm like waghhh this is exactly what I think a zine should be. She drew the most adorable pic of my wolfsona too 🥺
Solo traveling
I have two more posts about niche museums coming up, probably get around to them in August. Here's some other places I visited for now:
The good
- Paskatsu: It looks like a small, generic diner from the outside, but inside it's a covered garden restaurant set between towering apartment blocks.
- O3: Very moody, dark-academia type coworking space. You can go in for free three hours per week. Unfortunately the music is quite loud.
- Mezze Bar: I went crazy and ate here three weeks in a row because the only other Mediterranean eatery nearby becomes a luxury French restaurant at night for some reason. The vegetarian burger and platter are soooo yummy I cried. I love the atmosphere!
The bad
- Seafood Paradise 2020: My parents keep inviting me out to this yum cha place because they have a membership, but it seriously PMO because I have never seen another restaurant that has a giant LCD screen that blasts real estate and investment ads. They tell me "just look away from it", but then I take them to a nice restaurant in Newmarket (same price BTW) and they marvel at how wonderful the decor and vibe is. Yeah, that's because you don't have to watch some massive screen advertising investment properties while you eat!!!
The ugly
- [REDACTED]: The gay sauna relocated because the new train station is being built in the same section and one of my company's competitors is taking its place you can't make this shit up.
Art log
I got my scanner back! I've been drawing a lot in my sketchbook, mostly figure studies and cars and crap. I feel like this is the first time I've ever been able to draw figures well consistently and actually commit to my fuckass difficult art style as a result.
The green girls are two OCs who operate a teahouse on the edge of the universe. The taller one is a dragon with spiral, mountain goat-like horns, and the shorter one is a lizard with nubby horns but there wasn't enough space to draw them. Suzaku's pose is based on a pic of YUTO-ICE. Knock Out Bros is literally Shinsoku Ikkon IRL!!!
My baby niece turned 4 years old 🥹 I made her a birthday party sign and a giraffe card with an extending neck 🥹 Her cake was Paddington themed 🥹
Media log
Read
- Tony Yao - INTERVIEW: Jenn Barr – Getting to Know America’s First Japan Professional Mahjong League Pro
- Gengoroh Tagame - Our Colors: I don't have much opinion about whether or not this story is 'good' but just that it is interesting because it shines a light into what Gengoroh Tagame thinks about teenage romance. His work is so unabashedly kinky and depraved that it's impossible for me to read, so seeing him produce a such a pure-hearted story reminds me that you can bear the most disgusting of human desires and yet still hold unadulterated love within... is what I was planning to write until the last 5 pages of the book like bro.
- ⭐️⭐️ Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities: Really funny all things considered. All of the characters were great and it was thrilling towards the end. Sydney Carton may be the definition of a woobie.
- ⭐️ Haunted Peak C11: Following Haunted Peak feels like "Babe its Thursday time to read your incel cuck MGTOW manga" "Yes honey"
- Hunter Dukes - Oskar Kokoschka, Hermine Moos, and the Alma Mahler Doll: You never know what insanity is hiding behind a single sentence on a Wikipedia page...
- Gannibal C1-47: Zero likeable characters. Considering how extremely obvious it is that the family are cannibals, it takes wayyy too long to actually get into the mystery behind it.
- Tsukasa Hojo - Cat's Eye V1-3: The main character is fine as hell. I like Cat's Eye's relationship with Kamiya.
- ⭐️ Han Zhang - The strange disappearance of Japan's animators
- THE iDOLM@STER SideM TRANSCENDENT T@LES 10 C1-5: Pretty funny so far! I like how Shouta does not put up with Genbu's flowery bullshit at all. Also when they started talking about how Zeus kept cheating on his wife and Shouta was like "even Hokuto wouldn't go this far..." I CTFU.
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Nobuyuki Fukumoto - Kaiji V1-3: FUCK YESSSSS
Watched
- ⭐⭐ John Berger - Ways of Seeing
- ⭐⭐⭐ Werner Herzog - Into the Abyss: Must-watch documentary about the death penalty.
- Unlearning Economics - Why is the Whole Economy Just Coffee Shops?: It's about European (specifically British) politics, so a refreshing change of pace from American-centric shit.
- WIRED - Tom Scott Answers Content Creator Questions
- ⭐⭐⭐ Michael Moore - Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, Farenheit 9/11, Sicko: If Michael Moore is a propagandist consider me convinced. Bowling for Columbine rekindled my interests in documentaries as a means for education. Roger & Me was probably my favorite because it is a story that's more relatable to countries outside of the US, yet the demise of local manufacturing was also before my time so I didn't know much about it. You're just sick and frustrated by the end of it. Sicko was the most emotional at the end, but you could definitely feel the propaganda criticism coming LOL. Maybe it's just New Zealand, but public healthcare waitlists are loooong and I still have to pay a lot out of pocket for GP appointments (not to mention therapy and dental having no coverage, even though I'm lucky enough to have an employer that provides insurance).
- ⭐⭐⭐ Heathers: So fucking awesome I cried within the first three minutes. I'm healing my inner Tumblr user. Love Heather Chandler as always. Really liked how JD was portrayed with such stiff yet cartoonish movements compared to the other characters. There's a 20 year gap between the release of the film and the musical and it makes me wonder what influence the massive uptick in school shootings had on his character. I think, at least, that the film wouldn't have existed (or reached such popularity) if it was made in a post-Columbine world, but the musical is so obviously satirical and camp that most people are gonna 'get it'.
- ⭐️⭐️ Werner Herzog - Grizzly Man: Every shot of Timothy is like the video of child Sabrina Carpenter where she meows at a cat.
- Werner Herzog - Encounters at the End of the Universe: Werner asking a researcher about gay penguins was so funny.
Listened
- Paul McCartney - The Boys of Dungeon Lane
- Rednas VGM - The entire Ocarina of Time Soundtrack, if The Beatles made it (Sentence Mixing)
- Oasis - Definitely Maybe, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, Be Here Now
- No. 1 feel alone - My time: Sooo cute...
- Olivia Rodrigo - you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love: Liked maggot for brains, my way, and expectations.
- ⭐️ Shinsoku Ikkon - Stillness≒Movement 2DMV: Never cared for this song but the 2DMV elevates it so much. I love the typography! IT'S SO COOL!!! The original Asobistory artwork is mid so I'm veryyy happy with how COOL Genbu looks here YAY!!!
Played
- Anthropeum: Daily game where you guess where and when an artefact was made.
- Zanagrams: Basically a dupe of Puzzmo's Ribbit but made by a single guy. It marks some words as non-essential bonuses so it definitely feels less bullshit.