I’ve already failed my new years resolution: don’t be such a bitch.

Well, maybe people should just do things my way and not piss me off.

And by people, I mostly mean my dad.

Whatever, here’s to not changing.

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Today is December 31, 2011. In 2004 I met a boy who dared me to be great. He invited me to the 365 club, every day he challenged me to sketch. I didn’t have to show him, and they didn’t have to be complete or perfect, and it didn’t even matter if I pulled something out of thin air 5 minutes before it was due, but I had to draw, every single day. He said it would challenge me to innovate and create; if anything it’d teach me confidence. I had natural talent and moderate skill, but I had no belief. I’d hide sketches in between pages of books or shove them in drawers…the friends I had and the family I grew up with, nobody really spent their time drawing. Aside from it being some weird hobby, I was embarrassed, who knew if they were any good. But said boy, he thought it was cool. He hadn’t seen any but when he heard I was interested in designing, he asked me why I didn’t start. I told him I tried here and there, but nothing seriously. And that’s when he challenged me to the 365 club. And to this day, I don’t go to sleep without a sketch. Most get buried in books and will never see the light of day. Out of the leftovers that didn’t make the awful folder, about half enter a higher level of “bad”, and out of the remaining, about 75% go in a “hm” folder, and the rest are actually decent. And you know what, you get better. I’m by no means amazing, but I work hard, and after a while I realized I’m pretty good. And guess what, I’m not the only one who thinks so. I just found out some local critic included me in their top local artists of 2011. Now it’s not all that official, and anyone outside of Miami-Dade county will probably never see it, but, I still think its pretty cool. I bet you the boy will too :*) So here’s my challenge for you, join the 365 club. Whether you (want to start to) write songs or poems, draw, paint, run, play ball, whatever it is, push yourself to do it once a day, everyday. Don’t complain that you don’t have time, everyone can find a few moments if they really want. And don’t get discouraged if you’re not good, just keep going. It gets kinda fun when you do it with a friend, those last minute pulled something out of my ass on the spot days, they become really funny. So yeah, try it. It’ll be a gift to yourself in the end, trust me. Have a happy 2012 everybody. Stay safe.