LOL (Adam) JK

So I got a new book and I think it's awesome so I'm gonna share it! As I've mentioned probably a million times before, staying motivated is kind of a challenge these days so I was intrigued when I stumbled upon Adam J. Kurtz' book 1 Page at a Time.

I initially found Adam's work on Instagram (of course) probably through some dumb hashtag. I'm dedicated to dumb hashtags. Anyway, I instantly fell in love with his sense of humor and illustrations. I pretty much admire anyone that can draw because it's hard and I think it's 10x harder to actually develop your own style. He does both of those things while making awesome products like balloons, pins, books- you name it! Clearly, I was obsessed.

At first this book seemed kind of cheesy but then I realized that it's a-okay to be cheesy. I contemplated buying it online for a while but I haaaaate ordering things online and waiting. If I can get the same thing in a store and have it in my hands in 10 seconds then I'm defs gonna do that. It makes so much more sense to me. The anticipation of waiting for packages kills me, and not in a good way. I was kind of broke for a while so I ended up just kind of putting it off. I casually checked at book stores around town but didn't find any. (Note: By "casually checking bookstores" I mean walking through aisles aimlessly and avoiding eye contact with anyone that works there.) 

A month or so later I finally I had some money and I just happened to wander into an Urban Outfitters. Lo and behold- there it was! The book I'd been thinking about for like months was right in front of me.  I really wanted to get it, and I really was planning on it. But then I found another book (yeah, I'm that person that looks at books and socks in UO) that I wanted to get for my brother. I had missed a lot of his football games recently because I was preparing for ABQ Zine Fest and also because I hate football so I wanted to get him something. Ultimately I ended up only getting the book for my brother because I felt extremely self conscious buying two books from UO. Do people do that? I think the books are really only there for show because they were kind of dusty... Anyway, I parted with my beloved book and told myself that I would probably find it again somewhere else soon. Obviously I didn't because I had already "checked" all the places I would find it (still refused to ask for help in book store). So, in the midst of my frustration and regret I took the Amazon Prime trial offer and ordered it. It arrived in the mail two days later (with a dented corner, mind you- buying things online is dumb) and I started filling it out that day!

A lot of it is fun and silly, but there's also some pages that are kind of intense. In my opinion, some of it deals with mental health issues without getting too introspective. It makes you think but not in an obviously annoying way. I think you're supposed to fill out a page a day but I've just been filling out pages when I feel like I need to do something productive. Sometimes I'll do a few a day but I've also gone a few days without opening it. I think it's important for me to not put a lot of pressure on small things like this. I recently declared myself a perfectionist and realized that I often go into things with the mindset that if I don't do it "perfectly right" then I might as well not do it all. Honestly, that's a dumb way to live life. So for now I'm just having fun with it and trying to implement that mindset into other parts of my life.

If you like doodling/art journaling/books I totally recommend getting it!