The Sixth Update!

Waited almost 20 years to make this joke pic.twitter.com/Zu5yughBim

— vids that go hard (@vidsthatgohard) December 30, 2024

It's a new year! 🎉

2024 was another year that definitely felt as long as it sounds and didn't pass by quickly at all to me. (Is...that how life's going to feel from now on?)

Overall, it was one of those very weird years...a bit more neutral to bad-weird...people working at a company decided to do something completely out-of-pocket...I failed to meet most if not all of my art-related deadlines...I had the biggest technology issue I've faced in a while...had a family member health scare right after getting that resolved...and very recently found out about the passing of an ex-family friend that I'm still in disbelief about.

The biggest bright spot of 2024 was learning about Blogger and working on my sites. I got a LOT of progress done! My DuckTales Blog is close to being completed as far as pages go. I'm somewhere after the halfway mark, but I have a batch of text posts I want to get out of the way first. I'm really excited about it--I don't think anyone else has touched on these topics before. And I've got all my main Delpad drawing deadlines lined up in a list! It would be great if I can find a way to follow-through with that. I've been holding on to some of these ideas for quite some time...

I'm also close to launching my original art blog! I took a break from all things K-Tee's CreeativeWorks, and now that it's been a year since, I think it's about time to try again. I have ideas for other blogs too, and while the urge to do something is strong, I'm pretty doubtful that I'll get to making any of them this year. I really want to focus on having the current two set. I'm terrified of giving myself too much to do. 😅

Blogger was a major goal I wanted to meet, so, I'm extremely glad I was able to do that. As for other goals for 2024? Uh... 

• Did I go to sleep at a better time? There was hardly any improvement on this. 😞 There were times where I turned off my devices before 12, which is great, but...can I be asleep before 12?! I need to stop ignoring my phone alarms about this...I was doing really well when I first set them. I was doing well at following the daily schedule I made for myself too. Then something happened and messed me all up...I'm tempted to say it was the job I had in 2023, but I could have sworn these things took place in separate seasons...🤨 Summer going on Autumn?

• Did I live healthier? Well, I have been pretty good with continuing to going out once a day. It's just that I need to go out earlier more often. I still haven't quite adjusted to the daylight shift, which has caused me to go out right before it gets dark, multiple times. While I still go out to be active, I really need the Vitamin D too. Before the change in daylight, I think I did improve on this vitamin by going out and put in more of an effort to pick foods with that in it. Taking the supplement didn't go the way I had hoped...I still have a lot of it left, but I'm not sure if I'll try again. 🤔

• I couldn't eliminate gluten as much as I wanted to due to budget, but I was more mindful. I probably did have less, so, it's sort of a win. I can't remember much about eating less dairy-products, but I usually have plant-based options when it comes to milk and don't eat dairy consistently anyway. I don't think I leaned hard enough into either of these to notice any changes tied to this. 

• I didn't make any meals. 😐 The closest I came to this was making cornbread casserole after enjoying the one my sister made when I visited her, mid-July. I also baked cookies on the first. x) I know, neither was healthy and one was pre-made, but I never made the former before and the latter was something I stopped doing for a while. 

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Here are the cookies from the other day! They're potato chip chocolate chip cookies, ha! 🫣 I usually put pretzels in the dough, and I did buy cauliflower pretzels to try a gluten-free option. I was going to put both in there but ohmygosh, those "pretzels" tasted HORRIBLE! 🤢 I couldn't put those things in the cookies! I would have ruined them completely! 😫 I've had cauliflower crust pizza before, so, I thought these would be fine...ugh, I should have known better by my last experience with that brand...butternut squash wannabe-Cheezit...things. 😒 I'm sending them straight back to the store to see if I can replace them with something else. 

A few of  'em got a lil' burnt on the tops, but other than that, the batch turned out ok. I think baking changed the texture of the potato chips and... reduced the salt? I hardly tasted them. I either won't do this next time or try a bag of thicker sliced ones. I probably should have used the frosted corn flakes instead. 😩

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• Did I spend less time on social media? Hmm, I wanna say that my laptop issue probably did affect how long I used social media. But if so, not for that long. I did go on an Instagram break or two and I might be on the verge of another. Social media is grinding my gears again... 

• I was right, the bot situation is getting worse: Meta wants to fill their platforms with A¡ generated users...that doesn't even sound right! Sounds like a joke! It should ONLY be a joke!! I couldn't believe what I was reading when I first saw that. 😑 People got punished for using bots and suspected of being bots on these platforms...and now the freaking company is doing it themselves?! What the HUH?? 

• As I was finalizing the notes for this, Meta deleted the example accounts that were circulating after getting backlash. They were claiming that a bug prevented real users from blocking these accounts...yeah, this isn't over, they're probably just going to be more secretive about it. 😕

• ...Heh, and here I was thinking that the dirty spam bots leaving me alone ment that something was being done about the issue...NOPE.

• Anyways, I did go to the library a couple of months ago. I finished watching Trolls: Band Together within the same week, but now, I still need to finish watching the rest of what I borrowed: Illumination's Lorax film (I didn't finish watching it and I keep seeing memes and such about it. Might as well) Clifford's Big Movie (I have no idea where I was when this movie came out; I loved the show and the books as a kid. The budget's looking suspiciously high for a home release...I'm sure there's an interesting story behind that), and an I Spy Christmas book (I love Walter Wick's photos, man.) I didn't get to go to any events, but since I will have to eventually send my stuff back and since I have an idea of what I want to rent next, I'll have the library on my mind. Maybe this year, I can put more of an effort to find something I want to be a part of. (I did get to go to an art-related event out of town, sometime in the Spring. The whole weekend was a little...odd, but I liked spending time with my sister. She had been wanting me to visit her more.)

• I didn't get my bike fixed...but my brother gave me one of his bikes for my birthday back in June!! 😁🚲 He got the bike when someone was selling them for $15. 😆 Sounds really nutty and a lil' suspicious, but I used it three times and it didn't fall apart. (I guess the seller was just really desperate to get rid of 'em? 🤷🏾‍♀️) The back tire however, that went flat later on in the Summer. 😕 Now, I have two bike tires to get fixed...but whenever both of the problems are resolved, I'll have two working bikes! I could have someone to ride along with me! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

• Did I make more videos? I only made two, lol, (oof) I keep trying to wrestle with the features on Instagram Reels when I should be using Clipchamp for the more heavy-duty technical stuff. I don't like the process of uploading to my phone, but I need to get over that. I have a bunch of footage for vids I need to get back to...

• Did I pick gaming back up? I can only remember gaming once when my nieces came over. That tends to be the only time I do that now...

• Oh! I figured out what happen to the Wii! My mom had put it in a box, originally for a musical device, that later got "PlayStation" written on it. Now...how would I have EVER guessed??? 😆 SO, so, glad it wasn't thrown or given away. 

• Did I figure out what to do with unwanted belongings? I haven't really gone through the ones I have packed up in the basement. Sounds like something to do in the Spring...I can't remember if I donated clothes last year (I'm gonna say no), but I tried to sell some pop culture items I no longer wanted. I wasn't successful, so I gave up. I could try again with a local store I've been eyeing. 🤔 I also found out about a project happening in my area that might need recycled materials...I'm thinking about reaching out to them...I've been meaning to last month.

• Did I have a better momentum? I'm...not sure if I've achieved this? I do have a better idea of what I want to do now, I just want to get out of the planning and starting stage. I want to get the ball rolling, and to keep it rolling.

Almost forgot to talk about Christmas! 🎄

It was...extremely ok. Some of us were too tired and some of us were too occupied to do anything really special or fun. But the food was good, and it's always nice whenever people come over for the holidays. I got a gift card. :B

My plans for a holiday-themed comic to post to my DT Blog, wasn't working out, so, I came up with a replacement at the last minute. Making that piece was pretty much the only time I felt festive. 😓 I hope the feeling is better next December. 

(I honestly enjoyed Thanksgiving more. 😶 We went over to a cousin's house, and the whole table spread was really nice. 😄 I'm still thinking about that mac 'n' cheese, lol. Then my mom essentially wanted to throw a small Part 2 at our house that Saturday, so, yeah, definitely more eventful than Christmas.)

And lastly, to keep the tradition going, here's this year's Top Nine:

I'm surprised about my BluLuc piece being first! (Not sure why, Bluey pieces tend to well due to how popular and current the show is in comparison to the others featured.) The fact that the dino piece came in second in spite of how disappointed I am with BJ's drawing. xD I like how my Delpad pieces make a diagonal row. x) And the stats!! I didn't think my reach was that good! The struggles with my original art account and feature changes really fooled me into thinking I wouldn't be able to do well. 😅

I am starting to wonder how genuine this is now thanks to the bot situation...🤔 I hate how I have to consider that if something feels too good to be true. I just want to accept the win. 😑

Whatever the truth may be, thank you to all the REAL users who liked, shared, commented and even followed! I appreciate it. ☺👍🏾

I hope this year will be full of great accomplishments for me and for all of you! ✨

Let's see how it goes!

 ~*K-Tee ✍🏾👩🏾🐹