obsessions

how i got into it:

i am not quite elderly yet (my 30th birthday is still a few years out) but i have officially fallen in love with birding! we watched The Listers, a birding documentary, with my fiancé’s family and i was hoooooked. it follows brothers on a year-long birding adventure, and it opened my eyes to a subculture i didn’t know existed. one thing about me: i love a niche community with a cult-like following.

an owl lives in the backyard of my fiancé’s childhood home, so of course we spent the next day trying to spot it. this owl has beeen well documented and even has it's own coffee table book... it is basically a celebrity in the family at this point. now you're probably wondering what kind of owl it is and i can't really say but i will ask!(photos of the owl below!)

the fun thing about birding is you can do it anywhere. i spent an entire week hunting a Carolina Wren. i heard it everywhere at the park and could not get my eyes on it at alllll. so beyond frustrating. then i walked out of my local Kroger and heard it taunting me. i figured i wouldn’t see it, but it was a parking lot, so i had a little hope… and i did. lots of them. just chilling in the Kroger parking lot.

turns out this bird is quite literally everywhere and not that interesting. but i finally got my eyes on the first bird i was hunting, and i was truly so happy. i’m sure i looked crazy to everyone in that parking lot, but whatever!!

my birding game has changed a little since the Carolina Wren of it all. i now have binoculars, a camera rig, multiple books, and a few different apps. this hobby is serious to me and i don't care that the average age of a birder is 49! one day i will share my birding field guide but i am still thinking about how i am going to document this journey.

how i got into it:

yeah i am a junkie dowwwnnnnn! i don't like shoot up or anything but i have to get my fix. i guess the main difference is i don't need drugs, i just need some junk and my journal. so what is junk journaling you ask? basically you collect trash and turn it into an art spread. so for example, i spent a weekend in Lancaster PA visiting Meggie and Abdul. i collected receipts and other random things that would help me remember my trip. i then turned it into a journal spread that i can remember forever (see the spread below).

flip through my journal:

how i got into it:

i do want to make it very clear that this game is evil propaganda that glorifies murder and often times the maps and storylines are full of problematic pro america war nonsense. i hate war. and my opinions on america are very conflicted. i am still woke... okay ?!?!?!? this is so so so so embarrassing but it is what it is.

mason recently got a ps5 and i wanted to see how i could utlizie the new toy. i was trying random "cozy" games and games that i played on my brothers old consoles, but i was not really vibing with anything. i mean i do love fortnite and as long as the season is fun, i will lock in and do what i need to do. however, i wanted something more. i saw a tiktok of a girl playing call of duty and these idiot boys were making jokes about how a girl couldn't play the gane. she then proceedd to destroy them all. girls rule... boys drool!!! after watching her play i wondered how hard could the game be?? i downloaded the game and got to work!! the verdict is still out on whether the game is easy or not but i have spent many a weekend shooting the little guns and yelling at other players on the mics. pow pow !!