Xavier H.M. - Notebook

I slept in late and already had a tofu scramble sandwich waiting for me in the fridge for breakfast. Had a quick phone call with my wife, Jem, then popped out to the library.

I didn’t get there with much time to spare. I only had less than an hour to chill before I went upstairs to a local ghost hunters meeting. I got an email about it and decided to check it out.

02.

In the lecture series on Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville I’ve been listening to, the lecturer makes a big, big deal about civil associations and participating in your local community and government. So I decided to check out this meeting because I think a great first step in doing that is going to these library events.

It was pretty cool! I thought it would be more about local haunted spots and their history but it was mostly people swapping stories about their personal experiences with the paranormal.

I’ve never encountered anything like that but I know people who swear on their life that they have. Since I’m a Mahayana Buddhist my worldview has the capacity for spiritual entities etc; I just haven’t had any experiences myself.

There was more people than I thought there’d be. It was nice just being in a room of local people and listening to their stories. It’s so easy to forget about our local communities, but I think it’s really important that we participate in them.

My work schedules in the past were always too wonky to really do many things like this. I still work second shift but I at least have the weekends off. I know the library puts on presentations about local history often so I think I’ll try going to one of those next time.

I took some notes during the ghost hunter meeting for ideas on my original fiction. I’ve been developing a fake Midwestern county with magical realism vibes. I didn’t get the information I was hoping for but there was some little things that popped out at me.

I’ll make a separate note about it. Once it’s live you’ll find it here!

03.

After the meeting I popped over to Goodwill to return a copy of Night at the Museum I bought last week. It was a two-disc collector’s edition and unfortunately the actual movie was missing.

I got my return sorted then looked around for awhile. I’m always keeping my eyes peeled for anything Jem might like (e.g. blue-gray sweaters).

I found a sweater for her, then actually a couple things for myself!

I couple years ago I switched to a minimalist wardrobe. It’s been slowly getting bigger ever since lol. I’m overdue another prune/declutter. But I wanted to get some new pieces to replace things I don’t wear anymore.

I’ve lost some weight so a lot of my pants are too baggy now. I got a really nice pair of green joggers! I’ve always wanted a pair of green pants but I could never find any until now. You’ve got to be patient thrifting—but eventually it pays off!

I also found a nice simple black cardigan, as well as a camo GMC hat. I’m not a car guy and I don’t even drive a GMC vehicle but I liked the camo and the colors. The cardigan is a nice light outer layer that will match with anything. I’ve been looking for a nice thin jacket and this will serve that purpose nicely. It’s good to layer, especially in Illinois where the weather can be all over the place in just one day as we start transitioning into autumn.

I also found a two-disc DVD series about the American campaign in Europe during WWII. I was torn between that and a copy of Forrest Gump. As much as I like that movie, I reckon I’ll find it again another time. This documentary series seemed like a much cooler find, and ever since listening to the Tocqueville lectures I’ve been itching for more history stuff.

There weren’t that many good CDs. I did find an album of “dueling banjos”. Not sure who the musicians are but it looked fun and I’ve wanted to listen to more bluegrass.

04.

I didn’t get great pictures so I just drew my finds. I used a mirror selfie for my reference but didn’t want to draw myself just looking at my phone. I really need to learn how to draw faces without references—I’m a good portrait artist IMO but without a reference it’s like everything I know flies out the window lol.

I wanna start learning more illustrative drawing techniques so I can start drawing my OCs! Whenever I draw generic faces they are always so flat and cartoon-y. I want to make them more dimensional and realistic.

Anyway, here’s the drawing:

You can find it in my sketchbook and on Sheezy.art!

05.

I listened to the radio the entire time I drew that. I love my little portable radio I got. I forgot how nice it is to actually listen to radio stations and find music that way. I’ve made a new page here in my notebook for recently discovered songs—definitely check it out! I update it pretty frequently now.