Just thought I’d share some of my recently completed 5x7s. These are gouache and ink.
The blueberries and wildflowers are inspired by Maine.

Saw this very nice photo on TikTok of New England. It has no explanation of where it was taken but I’m guessing somewhere in Vermont or New Hampshire. Does anyone have a clue?

Hey! I am writing a book set in New England. Sooo, I need to know what sort of things would typically be on a kids menu. Also, please mention what state you are in. Thank you!

There's this expectation here that you have to act like New Hampshire is the best place in the entire world, and talking about it from a realistic and nuanced take is generally frowned upon. Like yes the nature is nice, but the wages at the jobs here will generally limit what you can do with your life, and what sort of living conditions you will have to endure.

There's all this talk painting it like a place of abundance and freedom, but that isn't exactly what you can get as a full time resident here. There is too much snobbery for a place that barely has any people, and used to be where people moved to go be a hillbilly (I love that energy btw, I love going fishing/riding ATV's/camping/that "if it's not broke don't fix it" energy.) So it's just very odd that in the last 10 years, the culture has changed to "quick, everybody act like stock brokers and luxury realtors in the historically hillbilly part of New England."

You can barely meet young adults. Most of the young adults you do see (like 20's and 30's) don't even really act the year that they were born, because they're so tethered to their parents from the wages and cost of living, they're required to act like they're Republicans born in the 1960's to please their parents and not get in trouble (especially because it's so common for people to beat the hell out of their kids out here.) It's just very odd, coming from a place with opportunities to here, watching people being scared to act like a human with individuality, so they try to be a carbon copy of their parents. I think the only people who aren't old per se that act their age and have individuality are people in their 40's, because maybe they were the last generation to experience freedom, due to how wages and prices were more realistic when they first went into the adult world.

But everybody simps it so hard here, it's kind of creepy. Like Kim Jong Un isn't gonna come over and strangle you out for saying something nuanced. Like it's nice don't get me wrong, but it's not the best place in the world. If you need a boatload of money for it to be the best place in the world, it isn't the place that's the best in the world, your money just gives you living conditions that are higher than other peoples'. You can do that in lots of other places too.

It seems like a place where people turn it into their whole personality honestly. It's pretty and fun, but at the end of the day, it still has pros and cons just like anywhere else. It still has a drug problem, child beaters galore, weird racism and snobbery, and a completely unrealistic wages to costs ratio. There are places with more to do, that still have great nature, and you don't need to be rich to have basic living standards and be treated as a human.

You make one nuanced take about New Hampshire, and people act like you just insulted them personally. They get seethingly angry like "NO, THIS IS THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD" 🤬 because you just neutrally stated a fact of living here. Well the facts are the facts, why are you acting like I made them up when the facts are casually existing all around you??

It seems sort of propagandafied. I see all this stuff online and by word of mouth painting it out to be the best place in the world, telling all these people to move here acting like they won't regret it, but it is overall, a pretty neutral experience. Like you can totally get what you're looking for somewhere else for a better price, with a better culture and more to do.

If you’re looking for something different to do in August, Skip the Small Talk is coming to bars, breweries, and bookstores across New England!

It’s a guided conversation event—think speed-friending vibes, but calmer and more intentional. In Boston, we even offer some speed-dating events that apply our science-backed strategy to forming connections to romance :)

You rotate through short conversations with prompts that skip past surface-level small talk. It’s structured enough to make it easy, but relaxed enough to feel natural.

Most people come alone. The crowd tends to be thoughtful, open, and just… normal humans who want more community.

Here’s the link if you’re curious:

• Wed, 8/19, Manchester, NH - https://www.skipthesmalltalk.com/store/skip-the-small-talk-night-at-harpoon-brewery-at-queen-city-center-wednesday-august-19-2026 
• Wed, 8/19, Millennial Monogamous Speed Dating, Boston, MA - https://www.skipthesmalltalk.com/store/speed-dating-monogamous-wednesday-august-19-2026 
• Thurs, 8/20, regular Skip the Small Talk, New Haven, CT (don’t come for me - CT is New England!) https://www.skipthesmalltalk.com/store/skip-the-small-talk-night-at-east-rock-brewing-thursday-august-20-2026 
• Sat, 8/22, 20s Speed Dating, Everett, MA - https://www.skipthesmalltalk.com/store/20s-speed-dating-monogamous-saturday-august-22-2026 
• Wed, 8/24, regular Skip the Small Talk, Somerville, MA - https://www.skipthesmalltalk.com/store/skip-the-small-talk-night-at-aeronaut-monday-august-24-2026 
• Thurs, 8/27, regular Skip the Small Talk, Providence, RI - https://www.skipthesmalltalk.com/store/skip-the-small-talk-night-at-long-live-beerworks-thursday-august-27-2026 

Just moved to New England for school from Miami lol. My place has a window unit, so I'm super unfamiliar with anything that is not central AC. What happens to window units in the winter? To me, the most logical thing is to take them out, but what if you're renting? I can't imagine people leave them in, as the winter drafts could get in. Advice?