DISAPPEARING ACT
03/01/2026
Having been away from my site for so long it's hard to even approach thinking about where to begin, but let me begin undeterred. (this ones gonna be more personal and less informative, what a shock)
I've always touted 23 as the age at which you must stop fucking off and face adulthood. So it's funny how sucker punched I felt when that exact thing happened to me shortly after turning 23. Maybe I just wasn't expecting it to happen so quick. One month you're three years into what could be considered a golden era, and the next month it's over (or in my case, I left it voluntarily). It has felt equally strange, bittersweet and anti-climactic. Such an abrupt shift feels like I've woken up in the body of a different version of myself.
The two people reading this already know what's up, but to reiterate, I moved to Seattle. The move came very quickly after receiving the offer to be an Assistant Production Artist at Zumiez. If I had to boil down what I do into a couple of words; I design t-shirts (not to be confused with creating artwork for t-shirts. That has unfortunately come to an end (...for now). I have some nuanced thoughts about my job, but sharing them only two months in doesn't seem wise (especially here of all places). Bottom line is, I'm quite happy with my job, and not many people can say that. I'm very very lucky.
In my experience, Chicago is a stupendous place to spend your early adulthood. Especially when you have a friend roster as amazing as I did. That being said, I've found myself missing the city itself as if it was also my friend. Below are some things that come to mind:
- the way the sunset hits the skyline.
- how the wind feels going 70 on lake shore.
- the odd-jobs that had me working in a random part of the city for a week or so.
- being the get away driver almost every time we went out.
- party crashing.
- the *diiiing-dooong* "doors closing" ... *dee doooo dee doooo dee doooo de-*.
- DJ's couch.
- the sandwiches at Cafe 53.
- going to Mistuwa.
- A-cen.
- having a reason to drink (I'm dry now, it's a good thing).
Since leaving life has been pretty dull. Wake up, go to work, go home, eat, sleep (and occasionally I'll chill with people from work). I'm sure things will change for the better once I make an effort to get out more. No friend group will ever compare to my warlords back home, but I'll need some type of group out here that I can be open/weird with before I completely lose my track of my personality. Btw I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining. At the end of the day, I have a roof over my head and I'm fed, that's all that matters. I'm good (even in an apartment that is borderline hypothermic).
Projects I'm working on now
If you want to come visit me you're totally welcome, I'll blow up the air mattress for you. Just be sure to save up because everything in this city cost approximately one trillion dollars. And if you want good tacos, bring them with you.
