November 2025

It has occurred to me many times this month that were I not having such a nice time I would probably have burned out by now 🙃 (It's fine, Christmas is just round the corner)

Sadly the never-ending freelance fear of saying no will forever burden me (You can say no to work Emma!!! Especially work that is no fun and not very well paid!!!), and I am having such a nice time with my teaching work for the most part that I am definitely doing more than I need to there as well... 

Have my visual diaries suffered because I am working 9 – 10 hours most days?! PERHAPS. You, my lovely readers, can be the judge...

 

 

Kelly Jessie doesn't have to worry about working too hard. She just falls asleep with her licky-bowl on her head. (Ironically Kelly-Jessie is part of the reason that somehow despite working so bloody hard I'm still, frequently, broke, as she is somehow the most expensive dog I've ever owned)

 

 

Someone at my Quaker Meeting said this to me, and I took it as very high style praise. (Doin' this daily visual diary thing since 2013 and I still can't draw hands)

 

 

To further add to my stress, both my laptop and tablet are DYING (my laptop has been dying for over a year, but no really this time), and I have no money to replace them. However, after some persistence with the IT department at work I managed to get my work laptop actually functional (you have to go through a very convoluted process to install various software that I need in order to function, like Dropbox, Notion etc, but I did ultimately manage it after lots of admin). So the immediate crisis has been averted, though I don't entirely like having to work on a laptop that is not actually mine, needs must for now. Plus there are one or two pieces of software that the IT overlords will not let me have, like Affinity Publisher and Audacity with the right plugin. Sigh.

I can do both good cop and bad cop, as a tutor :)

Last year it seemed like Jessie didn't mind the fireworks, but this year she really did mind, for some reason. Had a stressful few days of desperately trying to console her to a cacophany of incredibly loud bangs, while also furiously working into the evenings on a laptop that was rainbow wheeling every few clicks, sob

One of my amazing MA Design for Data Vis students set up her own independent exhibition exploring the topic of TERMS AND CONDITIONS!! (https://didntreadthetandcs.com/) It was great and she is great (and I got to hang out with lots of cool people) 

Having been watching all of Adventure time for MANY MONTHS, we finally finished Adventure Time. What a fuckin' masterpiece, eh lads? (We are now watching spin off Fionna and Cake which is also surprisingly good)

After a long hiatus, somehow found time to do a London Loop with Jay. Progress!!

I used to hate when it started getting dark early, but somehow it's okay these days. No SAD for me!

 

I still hate rain though! (Took this photo during a brief beautiful moment of sunlight on an otherwise dismal grey day) 

Was up all night feeling like I was about to vomit (Emma's phobia) and convinced I had norovirus (Emma's worst fear), but in the end I was... fine? (And crucially did not vomit even once). 

I like to think I am mostly keeping on top of things, but I did arrive half an hour late for a teaching session (in my defence, the time was changed!!) — the students all whooped and cheered when I walked in, which I initially thought was lovely and then realised it was because they were all super annoyed with me, oops

One thing about teaching that I totally suck at is learning names. I can remember faces, and I can mostly connect students projects and ideas to said faces, but actually recalling their names desperately eludes me. I often have to refer to the little photo sheets the admin team give us, but annoyingly because it's the students themselves who supply the photos during the application process, they are often... unhelpful.

My partner got a cute little boardgame called Botswana which everyone else likes more than me (it's quite good but it doesn't like, set my world on fire). We had our old housemate Beth and partner Angus over for dinner and games, and it was fun (and had been way too long)

 
Mum took me to see the Kerry James Marshall exhibition at the RA and I really enjoyed it (but there's absolutely no way I would have paid the £££ they charge to go see it myself, so thanks mum!)

 
My partner managed to get some old Mario Kart games running, so we played a little. This continues to live rent free in my head, and probably will forever.  

 
And then suddenly, it's SHOW TIME! Degree show time, that is. The 15 month MA courses at LCC have their shows in November (unlike most courses which have shows in summer). I've never been quite so closely involved in making a show happen before, and hoo boy it's a ride.

Formerly reasonable students suddenly become extremely unreasonable...

...And I have to summon what limited DIY skills I have buried deep down inside me (actually untrue, my colleague Keir does it all and I just hold things in place while wearing dunagrees so I look like I might be good at DIY)...

But we did it!!! And I collapse.

Collapse... straight onto a train to York to see those boys! (Also new friend Alina was there briefly)

 On Saturday we did an escape room! It was great! We were slow!

I love staying with Justin and Dav, but I also wish they perhaps had 1 (one) more comfortable armchair...

This was the first time we had left KJ behind with a house/dog-sitter. She had an extremely good weekend and literally did not even care whether we ever came back or not. 

 AAAAAAAAGGGHHHH (every day is like this at the moment)

 

Because I am a huge idiot/glutton for punishment/ambitious individual trying to progress in her career/still somehow broke, I agreed to teach a short run of evening classes with 16/17 year olds thinking about coming to study creative arts subjects at uni. They let me teach illustration!! Woohoo!! Here is a REAL DRAWING I DREW ON PAPER (for the first time in yonks) (It was fun, actually!)

Had fun trying to capture the feeling of everything being a bit much

And then spent a rare no-teaching day trying to clear the inbox, only for three separate freelance clients to email me AFTER 5 on a FRIDAY with tasks. I should be safe after 5 on a Friday!!! Nothing more on the pile please!!!

Yesterday I had a nice treat, which was getting the train to Margate and sitting behind a table at a zine fair with my pal Keir all day. Margate was anticipatedly grey and rainy, but I still got my chips with curry and mushy peas, and was treated to a lovely sunset on the train home.

I feel like I should probably print this one off and pin it on the wall of my kitchen.

Evergreen (pun intended) advice.

Onwards to December, where hopefully Emma will finally log off for a bit. (I will never log off)