A Quick Update

Greetings.

I have completed my BA in English with a creative writing focus. There was only a two week period of downtime between that graduation and the beginning of my low-res MFA program, which starts tomorrow. However, instead of using that time to get my socials in order and work on my now entirely self-motivated work schedule, I instead decided to severely sprain my foot to the point of not being able to put any weight on it, and then, upon finally seeking help, discover that, in addition to the sprain, it also has arthritis, which is apparently something you can physically see on an x-ray. Upon these self  discoveries, it then felt like being almost entirely bedridden for two weeks and doing jack-all squat was the more rebellious choice. What can I say, I slowly drag myself along to the beat of my own drum.

So that's where I am now. In the near future, when the screaming pain has subsided more, I will be updating my socials which includes this blog, Substack, Instagram, and my very old, very sad Facebook business page. Lol, Facebook. Can you imagine. 


Until then, 
H

Hello. It is a new year, as some of you may have noticed. It is also my last semester at CSU-P. I am going to graduate this spring, come hell or no water (it's crispy around here atm). Because of this, expect an increase of nonsense in the second half of 2026. Why? Because I am a shocking genius. Let me explain.

I languished for years under the misleading appellation of "visual artist." I would say I half-assed my art career but that is an insult to those who have been victimized by the bootleg BBL industry. Half an ass is still something and being half-assed still requires effort. I put forth none. I no-assed it.

One thing I was particularly bad at, other than making art, was promoting myself. So when I went back to school I said to myself, "There's no way in HELL I'm going back for art. I'm going to do something completely different, something that will finally play to my strengths!" So I chose creative writing instead.

The hindsight is startling in its cruelty.

Because of course, even more so than with the visuality of arts and crafts, fostering a writing career absolutely depends on self-promotion. Ew! Turns out, I have made a completely lateral move and, unsurprisingly, one that did not include any magic fixing of the problems I already had. How to self employ? Self motivate? Self schedule? Fuck if I know still! But, unfortunately, I am finding myself out of further excuses to avoid trying. This is it! 

So prepare for the future of self promo on a quasi-regular basis starting, I don't know, July? August? 2028? Never?

Oh god, what have I done.

-Haley

Greetings.

I have completed the 24'-25' school year at Colorado State University at Pueblo. Huzzah! This spring, I took a manuscript class and ended up with a completed poetry chapbook titled, Big Feelings.

It's a zesty little collection centered around the concept of overwhelming feelings like anger, frustration, anxiety, and even joy. Read the description here or click through to see more.

*****Note: I will be removing this work from Amazon on 5/26/25 so please get a copy now!******

Link to Big Feelings on Amazon

Ok, thank you, love you, bye.

Haley 

WHAT UP

Hi there. It's me again, eight years later. First, I gotta say: this shit holds up. Looking back through my archives there's some good stuff here. My comics were fire and I stand by that fact to this mufu'in' day. The drawings are also . . . fine. Charming even.

But things have changed.

I am no longer a (non) working visual artist. I am now a (somewhat) working writer and undergrad student at Colorado State University at Pueblo, the city in which I live. This is the change in my life that started fall of 2023. I'm now in my fourth semester, still actively avoiding my two remaining gen-ed credits needed- math and a science. My non-counted science credits are from 20 years ago and were entomology related but, c'mon. Have bugs really changed that much since then? I think that shi should still be counted.

So, in many ways, a lot has changed in my life since I started this blog a full decade ago. But sadly, many other things have not. 

One really key thing, to be specific.

I started this blog with its preciously sincere name during a time period in American history ten years ago when I was gravely concerned with how the tides were turning. Look, I'm talking about Tr*mp here. The lack of kindness, empathy, and intelligence that that disastrous run brought with it shook me to my core and made me question my own values and place in this world. Working on this blog helped me deal with those feelings.

Well guess what, motherfuckas! It's End of the World Part II: Electric Boogaloo, so let's take this old gal out for another spin!

It would be a misnomer to say that, this time around, I am just as crushed. No. This time feels different. I'm angry. I'm fed up with more than just politics, but our culture in general. I'm sick of the disposable way we treat people, objects, and ideas. 

I'm tired of artificially polished art, polished words, and polished people. I'm tired of artifice in general. I'm tired of disingenuousness. And most of all, I'm tired of living in a world where apathy has become the norm. Apathy to the thoughts and feelings of others, to empathy, to kindness. No one seems to have the energy to give a flying fuck about other people anymore, or art, or nature, or any of the stuff that makes life worth living. I don't blame my peers who are struggling with this. Not to get too "but ackshually," but actually, I think social media in its current form might be kinda bad, guys. I don't know, that's just my own personal opinion. I could be wrong. 

So let me now commit with, absolutely no consequences if I fail, to reviving this blog. I need it both for my own professional growth and to feed that need to scream out into the void in a time of (once again!) great darkness. Do little voices matter? I don't know anymore. But all the big voices are doing a truly shit job of managing things, so why not? Why not try?


-Haley N.

YAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

It all sucks, regardless of name!

Source: Wash. Post

Interesting chart. Snow is predicted here in Pueblo, CO for this Thursday. I'm pretty sure I've never witnessed graupel before.

I feel like a year ago I woke up in some sort of surreal dystopian version of the world I had already grown accustomed to for thirty two years. How has this happened? Why has this been allowed?

How do we stop this?

Hey ho- I have a new blog!

My husband and I have created a beer tasting blog. He tastes and rates the beer, and I check out and rate the designs of the labels. It's called Porters and Palettes. Check it out here!

My Drag Name

Fat Girl Problems

I bought some new clothes the other day. This is normal. Less normal: I wait until the dog has eaten all my pants or I have paint on everything I own to buy new things. I have a skirt that is at least 13 years old at this point. Etc. This is because clothes buying as a fat person is not fun. And I don't mean fat as in Dove commercial fat or Instagram fat. I mean fat as in- "Geez, why doesn't this bitch just invest in some muumuus and wall herself up in her bedroom already". Whatever y'all- Darlene Cates lived to be 69 so suck it. Side note: do not let little fat girls watch What's Eating Gilbert Grape? That movie scarred me for life. FOR. LIFE.

Anyway, it's super fun to look for clothing when your measurements aren't even acknowledged to exist by most clothing designers/manufacturers. I managed to find some stuff, even a couple mildly cute things. But I also had to deal with a whole lotta bullshit.

Now selling a size 3X shirt to a size 3X person by displaying it on a size 2 model is deeply stupid enough (looking at you Modcloth).  But check out these sweet treats I saved, just for you, my non-existent readers.

This first one is a double whammy of suck. First off, I want you to notice this shitty garbage site. I go to it because it has great deals! And also, I have no other choice! Cool! It used to be called "Woman Within". That is exceedingly awful and gross. "We here see you as more than a gross fat monster- we see the woman within you. Though the outside is, still, a gross fat monster. Now give us your money!" Awful. Again, I have no choice.

Recently (within the last year or so) they changed the name to "Fullbeauty" which is . . . fine. Whatever. At least it's not blatently offensive. Yet this screenshot is from only a few days ago. Notice the top sales banner. Hey Fullbeauty: your web person is slackin'. Get on that shit. Don't remind me how even eviler you used to be while I'm trying to give you money.

This same screenshot shows another fun thing. When searching for underpants (panties is a gross and awful word) this is what I got while doing a search for my size. Four options. all shaping solution bullshit. I already have a shape, thanks. It's called ROUND and I LIKE IT THAT WAY. The frustrating part is that this is a lie- they sell underpants in all sizes, my size included, in various styles. But when you do a search this is all that comes up. I had to scroll through all the styles to find others. HMM. INTERESTING.

Le terrible.

I noticed while browsing that Mellissa McCarthy's collection is now up. When I heard this announced I remember thinking "Girl, why? You always look bad." I hate her constant long sleeved floor length gown bullshit. Anyway, look at these clothes in the pic. The cardinal fat girl clothes sins are all here in this one pic. Ugly prints, animal style prints, French shit. Man, of all the stuff about fat girl clothes I don't get, the constant French language and imagery stuff is the most baffling to me. Anyway, it's mostly ugly, only goes up to 3x, and is VERY expensive. Guys, I just dream of a day when I don't have to pay thirty bucks for a goddamn tank top. 

Finally I will leave you with my personal favorites. I thought it was just this one individual underwear listing but it turns out there are a LOT. Enjoy these pics of tiny models selling plus size clothing that is apparently made entirely out of photoshop. Or, honestly, MS Paint. 

 "Because fuck you, that's why."

MST3K: The New Class

Reviewing the New MST3K: Episode One

I backed the new MST3K project, meaning that I got a sneak peak at the first episode on Sunday. The full season will be released this Friday but I'd like to share my thoughts.

THIS REVIEW DOES NOT CONTAIN SPOILERS. I took no screenshots, I'm not revealing the movie they riff, I'm not going into details. I'm sure those things can be found online in a second (and I would argue sharing those details aren't really outside of the spirit of the show), I just want to focus on the show itself and not the details right now. So I'm just going to discuss my thoughts about the new cast, set, riffs, etc. Keep in mind two things when reading this- I really hate change and this is probably my all-time favorite TV show. (Edited to add: meaning, I'm going to appear fair on the outside while hating the changes with every fiber of my being on the inside.)

(These are notes I took while watching. I wrote them on the inside of a cardboard Pocky box.)

MASH for Millenials

I'm what is known as an old millennial. It's a fun group to belong to. Born in the eighties, people my age got to grow up during the rise of cell phones, file sharing, and the Internet in general. For me, being raised by hippies, it sometimes felt like there was a disconnect between the world I was experiencing firsthand and the rapidly changing world I was seeing outside of my home. This line was further blurred by my family's early access to computers and the Internet due to my mother's involvement in academia. 

For me, the gap between my parents life and my own was never more apparent to me than during the golden hours of 4-6 pm, when our local network affiliates would play an assortment of pre-dinner time TV that I found frustrating as a kid. As I waited for the reruns of The Simpsons to come on, I'd sometimes have to sit through the closing minutes of MASH or Cheers to get to the good stuff. Those shows, for me, were firmly in the category of "ADULT STUFF THAT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND OR CARE ABOUT."  They seemed utterly alien to me.

Even though as an adult I've come to appreciate so many things now that I didn't before, MASH was still intimidating to me. It ended its run before I was even born. It was about SERIOUS TOPICS. And it had an intimidating number of seasons and episodes. 

I felt compelled to watch it anyway, to fill in my knowledge gaps and to report back. So the question I set out to answer was- does a show like MASH have any appeal left in it to someone in 2017, someone my age or younger? Does it hold any interest besides just "I always wondered what the show that came on before The Simpsons was about?" Having run the whole series, I can now honestly report back with a solid and confident . . . maybe.

Arts!

2017, Week 11. 'The Horsettes."

Updatels

Hey, you can now follow me on Instagram @misstwosense. Art, pet pics, sketches, travel pics, etc.

I haven't been writing much here because of a big reason: I've been learning how to type properly which means I can now type about 24 words a minute- the old hunt and peck way I could do up to 70 wpm. So this slowdown is INFURIATING. I will continue to practice till I get faster, but that may take awhile.

BTW, I'm using a site called typingclub.com if any out there is interested in learning to type correctly. It does kind of feel like a superpower.

Art Piece for 2017, Week 8

"Love"

This is my week 8 art piece and it is mildly NSFW so I am posting it here instead of on Facebook.

Can Crafts be Considered Merch?

Hey! You can now purchase arts and crafts from me directly with the new "Support the Blog" tab on the top menu. Several different items to choose from, all reasonably priced, all available directly from this blog via Paypal.

All the items I have for sale ship free in the continental U.S.

Also, check out my new Facebook page here. This time around, it's just for my art. Yes, you can buy stuff there but it also is a much more relaxed page that is dedicated to whatever I'm working on. Right now I'm working on a goal which is to complete one project a week for all of 2017 and I'm already eight weeks in, so go check those pieces out!

Thanks!

A Day In Trump's America

Perfect Day 
Lou Reed

Just a perfect day
Drink Sangria in the park
And then later
When it gets dark, we go home

(Fun! But also, achingly sad! I wonder why??)

Just a perfect day
Feed animals in the zoo
Then later
A movie, too, and then home

(It's almost as though the music reflects some sort of backdrop of sadness and regret contrasted against the super fun day. HMMMMMM.)

Oh, it's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you
Oh, such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

(HANGING ON BY A THREAD.)

Just a perfect day
Problems all left alone
Weekenders on our own
It's such fun
Just a perfect day
You made me forget myself
I thought I was
Someone else, someone good

(Because we are all garbage now.)

Oh, it's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you
Oh, such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

(Uh oh, I forgot today was a special day and glanced at the news briefly . . .)

You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow

(*Angry sputtering*)

Hi.  

Every Day Sucks

It's pretty hard to get up in the morning (or in my case, late afternoon) and feel enthused about the day when the first thing I compulsively do upon waking is check the news. The news is making me struggle in my day-to-day life. And this is especially disheartening since I moved to Colorado a fourteen months ago. Every day here is so sunny and gorgeous, even in winter, that it really rubs it in my face when I get up in a dour mood.

So why is the news making me feel this way every day? Besides the obvious reasons (the total dismantling of our government, fascism, etc) I think it's that ever since last November I've had my world view shaken. I think deep down inside of me, beyond the endless layers of fat and snarkiness, I truly believed that people where basically good. Deeply stupid, easily manipulated, constantly afraid, but basically good. And now . . . now I'm not so sure anymore.

Maybe part of being an optimist is having a certain innate naivety within oneself, but I can't help but be let down by the people around me. There is a streak of vile hatred running through the current administration that seems so against everything I've come to believe and stand for. Maybe it's my fault for ever believing any conservative who claimed to vote republican based on states rights, or the economy, or religious reasons. I thought those people were being honest. I thought they really cared about those things. But they don't.

And maybe that's what really bothers me. Because I haven't changed at all. I am still who I ever was and my beliefs have never wavered, and they didn't waver when democrats were in the white house either. But the people who voted for Trump? The ones who call themselves the moral majority, the ones who sit in their self-righteous pews every Sunday? They don't believe what they claim. They will sell their souls to feed their hatred. They will gut this country just to punish people who live a different lifestyle than they choose to live. They will violate this earth and lay it to waste to further their own interests, even though their lives mean nothing to this world.

The people who voted for Trump have no morals. They do not deserve to be treated fairly or to have their words taken in good faith anymore. Because they have shown themselves to be completely morally bankrupt in every way. And that to me, is the most disillusioning part of all of this. If the people who claim to have the most moral high ground, to be the most steadfast in their beliefs are also the ones who are quickest to throw that all away then maybe people aren't basically good after all. Maybe fear will always outweigh doing what's right or what's smart on the scales of life. Maybe we haven't evolved past hiding in caves to escape the noisy thunder of god after all. Maybe we were fooling ourselves all along. Maybe I was.

GET IT? BECAUSE WOMEN DO DIETS AND DREW BARRYMORE IS A WOMAN LOLOLOL

I recently finished watching the new Netflix show "Santa Clarita Diet". Drew Barrymore stars alongside Timothy Olyphant as a suburban mom and real estate agent who becomes a neighbor-munching zombie. A fairly breezy thirty minute comedy, I couldn't help but feel dissatisfied after finishing the ten episode first season. Why?

What is bothering me about Santa Clarita Diet?