When I wrote “My Practice in 2021 & Beyond” , I thought I had a handle on things. I thought I knew how the next year would go. But in 2022 I quit my job, moved into my first apartment, started teaching at an art school, got covid, quit my job again, started teaching at a design school, etc etc etc. In 2023 I want to continue to court this chaos. I think I’m done thinking of my practice as this well-honed machine where each piece is an instrument playing in a grand symphony. My practice is more of a one-man band - each piece playing its own song with the occasional harmony. In 2023 I want to continue to make more noise than music.
Graphic of the Year: Piet
I created the first version of Piet back in April and continue to be amazed by this little algorithm. The lack of complexity in the code when compared to the amount of outputs it creates is my favorite quality.
Book Superlatives of 2022*
Most Likely to Reread - Finna
Most Beautiful (Prettiest Prose) (Tie) - Open Water + On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Most Likely to Brighten your Day (Tie) - The House in the Cerulean Sea + A Thing Called Truth
Most Likely to Break your Heart - Stone Butch Blues
Best Plot Twist - Attack on Titan
Best Short Book (Tie) - No One Is Talking About This + Red at the Bone
Best Dressed (Prettiest Cover) - Kroma #2
Most Likely to be a Movie Star (Would make a good film adaptation) - Open Water
Most Surprising - A Psalm for the Wild-Built & A Prayer for the Crown-Shy
Most Genre Defying (Tie) - Step By Bloody Step + No One Is Talking About This
Most Lovable (Appeals to the widest audience) - Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Best Overall - Blue Period 1 - 6
*This idea was borrowed from booktok.
Non-Book Stuff of the Year
Podcast - Articles of Interest
TV Show - Abbott Elementary
Album - Smino - Luv 4 Rent
Game - Death's Door
Movie - Rocky Horror Picture Show
Newsletter - I'm Fine I'm Fine Just Understand (The one recommendation that everyone should actually check out and subscribe to)
-mello
P.S. - A small thank you to you. I’ve written and read enough newsletters to know that they eventually become a slog so I appreciate you checking in from time to time.
P.P.S -
P.P.P.S - You should add me on goodreads. I love seeing what people are reading.