Online Log
Last Updated 24.10.31
Sweeter Studio
SARAH WONG
Graphic Designer | Zine Maker | Illustrator
sarahewongdesign@gmail.com
LA-area designer, working since 2018. Loves literally every piece of art they see, full of tattoos, always learning and growing.
Contact for resume and PDF portfolio.
Has Worked for
A Noise Within Theater
Vietnamese Film Festival
Laguna Playhouse
Brannan Center
Loves
Matcha Lattes
Tattoos
Colored Foil
Fun Earrings
Dungeons & Dragons
Evil Clowns
CONTACT
7.15.25
I’ve been living my life, soaking in California sun and eating tacos with asada and grilled cheese. My beer tastes a little more sour, the cuts I get fade quickly, and my music scratches the hypothetical part of my brain that never sleeps.
Today, my friend and I walked around the outer edge of Highland Park in a large circle. We hadn’t seen each other in awhile, but somehow, as we began talking, we hit that groove of a good conversation and wanted to keep it going. First we walked around the parking lot, then in and out of a Superior grocery store, around the block, down the street to the iconic Chicken Boy restraunt, and up the street along the train tracks.
We talked about gossip in our collective artistic circles, our creative projects, and Dungeons & Dragons. Silly how the more mundane the topic, the more I love hearing about it.
While waiting for my friend to arrive, I sat in the parking lot and quietly observed my surroundings. Why does every shopping center have a laundromat and a nail salon? Is it simply a local rule or is this law of physics repeated throughout the US? I saw this classifieds board with flyers mostly in Spanish. Apartments were up for rent, ICE was not to be trusted, and English lessons were going to be taught at the local library.
There are plenty of places to put up classifieds. The newspaper and Craigslist are good places to start. But there’s something stark about a black empty board, waiting for the community to utilize it. The giant sans serif letters, announcing to all passerbys to pay attention might have something to do with it. Perhaps it was the flyers with the tabs pulled off, something I feel like is a bit of an artifact of an earlier time. Maybe it’s the latent desire in me to put something giant, artistic, and loud over the whole thing, promoting the work of every struggling band and fine artist in a 10-mile radius.
Sometimes I go on Craigslist and look at all the postings. I used to go on there for jobs, sometimes to buy the odd houseplant. But nowadays, I like looking at the missed connections page. It’s mostly weird people asking for sex, but every once in awhile there’s someone with such a genuine and specific wish for companionship that the request becomes a type of strange poetry.
I took the screenshots above because I wanted to explain to someone who I had met on Hinge how people still posted on Craigslist. And then I found these 2 lovely postings: one for a brown-haired, lazuli-eyed, violet girl and one for a Aries or Gemini or Libra or Sagittarius or Aquarius romantic partner. Both postings absolutely aimed for the stars in terms of what they were asking for, with intense specificity. I felt inspired to be as selective and thoughtful in my future partner as these 2 posters were. Or really as selective and thoughtful in anything as these 2 posters were.
Sometimes, I feel I ask for too little from life or the universe. I always feel a sense of fear that whatever opportunity that comes to me is entirely reliant on my own doing, and that as a flawed, unreliable person, I will never attract anything better. I live a lot of my life in the fear that I deserve nothing.
I don’t really know how to fix this part of myself, that lives in a constant state of hopelessness and anxiety. I know there are systems outside of my control, but when something goes wrong, I can’t help but blame myself, whether I’m blaming myself for not accomplishing something or having an outsized negative emotional response. In my head, I can never do anything right. There’s always something I can accomplish to a better degree or with more grace. And somehow this failure to reach perfection denies me the right to have good reltaionships, good jobs, and good living situations.
I may not deserve love, but I truly hope the people on Craigslist find what they’re looking for.