Bryan Tipton

Arrived back home in San Diego last night. It was a bit surreal as nearly all my neighbors that lived around me in the apartment complex had moved out and been replaced by new neighbors during the week I was in Colorado. This morning I resumed my regular schedule of having coffee on the coffee shop's boardwalk patio while writing. A new waitress stopped by my table as I was writing in my sketchbook and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but every time I work I see you writing in your sketchbook, and I just wanted to know why you use the fountain pen and write so small." I told her that I like the fountain pen because I can create more dynamic lines which makes my writing look more interesting, and I told her I write small just so I can fit more on a page. I'm not sure if she was satisfied by my answer, but nodded as though she was. A little while later I was looking at a pencil portrait drawing I had done of my step-sister while in Colorado, based on a small photograph that was sitting on the coffee table. My drawing turned out okay, but it seemed off, and I sat at the coffee shop trying to figure out why. As I was looking at it, a younger woman pushing a baby stroller stopped by and asked to look at it, saying that she thought it was a beautiful drawing, and told her friend, another young woman pushing her own baby stroller to look at it too. She told me it was beautiful as well. It was very flattering. A guy sitting at the adjacent table told me that I was popular this morning. I did seem to get a lot of public mileage out of my sketchbook work this morning.

Went to my favorite art store to pick up my favorite sketchbook. I want to use it solely for my European vacation planning and travels. It doesn't hurt that the woman who works there is also very cute.

When I returned to my apartment I met my new next door neighbors. Her name is Shannon. She's sweet, and apologized for being loud last night (they had a party until 4am which reflects my extreme fatigue today). She just turned 21 a few days ago and was sampling the benefits of her new age. She said that if her and her roommate are ever loud, to just talk to them and they'll turn it down, or I can come over and join them. They seem like they'll be very cool neighbors.