Happy New Year!
Added 2020-01-02 18:12:43 +0000 UTCA lot of stuff on my workbench, and on my mind, starting with a visit to the optician on Monday and telling him that my new glasses aren't really good for reading or for drawing; and him replying, "With your eyes, you shouldn't really be doing either of these two."
That was a shock all right. It doesn't change anything though. If my personal worst case scenario is never being able to draw again, but if I still CAN, why on earth should I stop doing it now while it's still possible (though difficult) and wait for drawing to become impossible?
I really have no idea what the new year, or decade, will bring, but darker moments aside, it just doesn't do to ponder worst-case scenarios, so I'll just keep doing this. As this stuff is not degenerative, here I am.
So here.
I spent three hours fixing my graphics tablet settings today and then was just about done with it all, but in the end, I did sit down to design the first two pins: "Going on an adventure" and "Tinfang Warble". I'll still do some tweaking before I think about colours, and I hope to do the Three Rings tomorrow.
I finally dove into the Prancing Pony Podcast while doing these, and I'm absolutely loving these! Why haven't I given it a shot before? I can't wait to listen to hours and hours of meta-Silmarillion. <3
We also went to see Star Wars again yesterday (some minor spoilers may follow), and I spent a lot of the movie memorising Rey's and Ben's costumes to sketch them later. (Contrary to what I threatened on Twitter yesterday, I didn't bring my sketchbook to the theatre. I did think of it.)
Comments
/sends you all the hugs
Davina
2020-01-05 23:29:32 +0000 UTCAw, thank you so much, Madge. *hug*
Jenny Dolfen
2020-01-04 21:44:51 +0000 UTCMy heart goes out to you, Jenny. I, too, have a rare eye disease (RP), and after 12 years with the disease my eyesight is nearly gone. Keep the fight burning in your heart, do as much as you can for as long as you can! The doctors were brutally honest with me, too. Good doctors want to cure us, and when they can’t, often don’t know how to empathize. (And often must be very careful for various reasons, especially in the US.) The best bit of advice I got from another source was that people who lose their sight as adults go through the five stages of grief like people with terminal illnesses, and they told me to be as kind to myself as I could be as I dealt with the death of my old self and adapted to my new reality. I pass along my wishes that you find solace as you do the same.
Madge Doty
2020-01-04 19:27:55 +0000 UTCI’m so sorry this is a little ate but Happy Nee Year! I hope you and your family are having a wonderful Christmas season! Oh my, that is disheartening news to hear about your eyesight. Don’t let anything stop you from doing what you love most. I’ll keep you in my prayers. 🙏 I absolutely love your new pin designs!!! I’m so hyped to see what is to come! And your Star Wars sketches-those are awesome. Believe me, I would have taken my sketchbook. 😂 I agree with Laura and others, please take good care of yourself. I hope the holiday season has allowed you some time to unwind and feel rejuvenated.
Emily Sheldrake
2020-01-04 16:27:46 +0000 UTCIt's more than a try, Shawn - I'm through the Ainulindale and the Valaquenta by now. I think it's brilliant - like rereading the books, and even better because it's with a new slant and tiny tidbits to think about! It fills a huge hole in my heart, actually, since I can no longer reread the book, and the audiobook doesn't help - when I read the Sil, I pause at every other paragraph, go back, reread a sentence or just ponder what other things it connects to; you can't do that with an audiobook. Now I can with your podcast! Can't wait for the best bits, aka Feanoreans. XD
Jenny Dolfen
2020-01-04 07:50:40 +0000 UTCMe too! Happy New Year, Laura! <3
Jenny Dolfen
2020-01-04 07:46:41 +0000 UTCHe's not a doctor, but an optician - and to be fair, he's been hugely more helpful than any doctor I've been to for two years. Those just say, "We can't help, deal with it, have a nice life", while He's gone out of his way to work with me to find glasses that will allow me to work. Which is probably the reason why he feels this is the end of the line - he's been through much of the way with me.
Jenny Dolfen
2020-01-04 07:46:08 +0000 UTCOooh, that sounds like a lovely walking tour! We'll be touring the North next year (no wait, this year) - Yorkshire and the southern part of Scotland. <3
Jenny Dolfen
2020-01-04 07:43:55 +0000 UTCOh, with Corey Olsen! I'll bookmark that.
Jenny Dolfen
2020-01-04 07:42:53 +0000 UTCHappy New Year to you and your family, Jenny! I'm sorry to hear about your eyes, but I agree with Lithenna that no doctor should say anything like that. Here I hope you can continue doing what you like. If you need to slow down a bit, that's perfect for me, and I guess for everyone here. Take care of yourself. And I'm so excited about the new pins!
Laura Michel
2020-01-03 21:53:32 +0000 UTCHappy New Year, Jenny! I hope the new year brings you much joy and prosperity. I'm sorry to hear about your eyesight, but I sincerely hope that your optician's prediction turns out to be wrong. I'm very excited about the new Tolkien pin designs, and I'm already thinking of where I can put up some new Star Wars art in my home! And I'm delighted to hear that you've decided to give the Prancing Pony Podcast a try... we're glad to have you listening! :) Thank you!
Shawn Marchese
2020-01-03 21:37:18 +0000 UTCHappy new year to you and your loved ones! I wish you all the best for the decade to come <3 I'm still feeling so sorry about your eyes though, and I definitely cannot understand how a doctor can even say something like that to a patient!! Unbelievable... anyway, I've been following the activity of this podcast without taking the time to actually listen ; I'll give it a try ;) All the best to you again <3
Litsen
2020-01-03 18:17:45 +0000 UTCI love the new pin designs! The first is almost a "secret meaning", since so few will get the full significance. The second is just the thing to wear on an "ancient/holy sites walking tour of the British Isles", which I've just decided I need to plan towards. ^_^ Happy New Year to you, Jenny, and keep doing what makes you happy! (It makes us happy, too!)
"Blade" McMicking, D.I.
2020-01-03 03:51:02 +0000 UTCI’m sad your eyes continue to do poorly, but I’m delighted you intend to keep drawing anyway. *hugs* I tried the Prancing Pony Podcast and couldn’t get into it; the hosts rubbed me the wrong way. However, I absolutely love The Tolkien Professor’s Silmarillion Seminar.
Gwendolyn
2020-01-03 00:57:41 +0000 UTCOof. My eyesight is quite bad (not as bad as yours, I think, but still very restrictive) and not fixable by glasses technology. It’s awful, and I’m so sorry. The Prancing Pony Podcast is superb! So fun! You’re in for such a deliciously nerdy treat.
Kiersten
2020-01-02 20:21:51 +0000 UTCI love those two pins. The second one, at least, will go on the Appalachian Trail with me. As with you, I can't do everything but I can do something, and what I can do I will do. God bless you, my friend, and give you his peace.
Steven Tryon
2020-01-02 18:43:58 +0000 UTC
