So here's another journal update for anyone who still follows me for some reason. Basically more lame excuses for why I haven't been doing art.

First lame excuse: In September, I did something really fucking dumb. One of those instances where I absolutely knew it was dumb and yet I did it anyway. I was in a hurry and I completely ignored basic safety. I was trying to help my crew with an emergency fix on some machinery when I fucked up using our metal lathe. Long story short: a thick piece of metal struck my hand at high velocity, and it ended up breaking my proximal phalanx (the first bone in your finger) on my right index finger clean in half. The sharp bone also punched a 1cm wide hole in my skin that needed to be stitched up.

On my drawing hand.

I had to have surgery to get pins drilled through the two halves of the bone to hold it together for 6 weeks, and just now finished another 6 weeks of healing and recovery (which included some physiotherapy) after the pins were removed. I had my whole hand in a splint for 2 months. As much as I wanted to draw during that time, I couldn't even hold a pen. So there's that. I can hold a pen now, and the drawing itch is still there, but this brings me to my second lame excuse.

Lame excuse #2: My wife, Jessie, gave birth to our first child on November 17. This was totally a decision we both made a couple years ago that we wanted to do, and both of us are over the moon with joy for our little baby Nathan Alexander Hayes. I can't even begin to describe how happy we both are to be parents, and we are both working night and day to make sure this little screaming potato has an amazing life, with the hopes that he will grow up to be a good, amazing person.

This also means most of my attention is diverted away from my hobbies while we adjust to the new life of being parents. I am also getting sleep wherever and whenever I can get it. No shit: my boss shot an elastic band at my head to wake me up after I crashed at my desk last week.

I also get to start some night classes in the new year to upgrade my credentials to Maintenance Management Professional - a course that will take me about 2 years to complete.

And that's about it. I'm really sorry that my art production has dropped so much in the past few years, but I have some pretty good lame excuses to back it up. I'll still draw, and I'll always be a part of this community (more like it'll always be a part of me, but whatever). I just have many other priorities right now which mean you won't see a whole lot of updates on my gallery on a frequent basis.

Thanks for reading, and keep on being awesome.