Letter from the Editor:
Welcome, welcome!
It’s time for the year-end wrap up. I’ve been doing this thing where I forget that I spent February and March doomscrolling, curled up on my twin mattress and watching 65 episodes of Alias while knitting baby socks even though I didn’t know any pregnant people. Would I recommend the show? Not really, but it’s tucked away in my Covid-times scrapbook forever. People I know have since announced their pregnancies, and those tiny socks have homes. There is hope, and you can prepare for things before it’s fully time to launch.
With that in mind, I’m sharing some favorites from the past year, because even weird pandemic years have good things. If you’re more in the why-are-you-celebrating mood, may I suggest this show called Alias?
Sincerely,
Tenley Schwartz
Editor in Charge (of Like 2 Things)
In this Issue:
Old Year, New Me: 3 Things I Liked Unexpectedly in 2020
Ink Habit: A month of daily(ish) drawings
Old Year, New Me
I’m a creature of habit, which is why it’s so delightful to realize that my tastes can change, and I can still surprise myself. This year:
I got into animal-instagram. My friends will tell you; I’ve always been an adamant NO PETS person. I blame allergies, they blame my cold dark heart, we talk about something else. But then…my parents got dogs a couple years ago. And then my sister got a rabbit. All of a sudden, those pet videos started reminding me of the people I love, and the critters that they love. For the first time, I started hitting the follow button. I’m still pretty picky: I follow one three-legged dog, this island full of rabbits, and these sweet bunnies.
Got really into olive green. Many many years ago, my sister and I read this wild book about color matching your skin tones and I thought that green was an absolute NO GO. But then I found this sleeveless turtleneck for like six bucks at the thrift store and I liked the shape. Turns out the color is sneakily amazing. So good that I bought coordinating nail polish (Essie in ‘Precious Cargo-Go’ which is a pun that’s trying too hard). I have used it multiple times, which is saying a lot from me, the girl who paints every nail a different color to keep it interesting.
Dove into Marketing Twitter. There’s just enough useful info about formatting tweets and helping your audience that I keep following, and just enough dude-bro-hustle-culture to keep me amused and glad that I don’t have a Real Tech Job. (Please guys, you don’t have to innovate everything. Make some dinner or something!)
Ink Habit:
In December, I draw one comic for every day and post it on Instagram. 2020 was the 3rd year of December Daily Diaries, and it’s fun to see how both my art style and day-to-day life have changed since I started. (See my fave from 2018 here, and 2019 here!) I’m still sharing last couple of days on my Instagram, if you’re looking for some daily comics realness. Here’s a handful from this month:
Project kickoff, plus obsessively listening to Taylor Swift’s new albums.
Good things, great roommate outings (masked until seated, obvs!)
I didn’t mean to become a comic artist who only writes about roast chicken, but I guess I might be? Next comic: an excuse to draw my fave sweater vest.
My other December project: run a mile every day. I ended up taking a few rest days, but I liked returning to running and building up the habit.
Mundane things, some better than others.
Yep, I bought a house. It was a complicated sale, and I didn’t want to talk about it until it’d been finalized. And now it has! Pretty excited, but also a little traumatized by the whole process. Don’t buy a house from a government agency if you value sanity and simplicity.
Day of rest, followed by day of hitting the mall (business casual in Zuimez, nbd).
For the full month of comics (and other fun stuff I share) find me on Instagram!
Thank you for subscribing, reading, and enjoying this past year!
❤️, Ten