Author: Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

Alina Happy Hansen is a writer, poet, and blogger based in San Francisco. Besides writing nearly 24/7 and reading stacks of books, Alina enjoys watching classic horror films and listening to Stoner Metal. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in English with a Minor in Writing and Rhetoric Studies from The University of Utah.

February in San Francisco: Books, Poems and Creations

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

The rain continued through February, but today there is a bright blue sky, and the Chinese New Year parade will crawl through downtown.

I’ve been missing, busy working on The Happy Poet Studio releasing creepy crawly inspired products.

Reading here and there, I’ve already finished five books this year. Do What They Say or Else was an intriguing stream of consciousness of a young woman. Indelicacy pulled me into a poor fabulous world of obsession and evolving relationships. Poor Things took me for a ride I wasn’t expecting with the last chapter a full 180 degree turn.

Listening to music as usual, I’m trying to expand my tastes and try something new, but the Spotify algorthims are keeping me in place.

Writing? Well, a poem here and there, and daily writing exercises when I can. I’m scribbling a few hundred words at the end of the day, but now mostly completing my writing on the weekends. I’m looking for journals to submit a few mismatched lonesome poems – recommendations welcome.

What are you reading/writing/listening to? I want to know.

Wishing for sunny days, this is The Happy Poet signing off.
–Alina

January 2024 in San Francisco: Art, Movies and Rain

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

Hello there,

The weather has been wet and stormy in San Francisco and this week there was a downpour on the 3rd that I got stuck in.

I’ve been away for a while, but I wanted to touchbase and see how you’re all doing. What have I been up to?

The Happy Poet Studio

Since November, I’ve been working on my Etsy shop, which features some of my original art and creative Canva designs.

I desire to design hoodies, t-shirts, notebooks, and bags. These are the things I use the most in the my daily life, and these are things that bring me joy.

For the past few weeks, when I’m not drawing I’m creating pins for my Pinterest or buying a bag of donuts.

Watching Movies

About once a week, I’ve been going to a movie. I have an AMC pass so I like to take advantage of my 3-movies-a-week membership.

My Top 3 Fav Movies I’ve seen recently are:

–Poor Things
5/5 My Kinda Humor, My Kinda Story

–The Boy and the Heron
5/5 Stars, Amazing

–The Iron Claw
4/5 Stars, Good but depressing

iPad Air (5th Gen) and Adobe Fresco

In December, I decided to push my boundaries and I got and iPad Air. I have a cozy apartment so there is limited space for art supplies and I’ve been getting the itch lately to create so this was the perfect fit.

I’m spending about 30 minutes to an hour every day drawing and painting in Adobe Fresco on the iPad Air and it’s a load of fun.

The textures look real, the water colors are amazing, and the charcoals are fabulous. Below is a painting I did inspired by Bob Ross’s “Winter Russet.” I worked alongside the YouTube video of the episode which helped a ton.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/288582288637735623/

What am I reading?

Axe Handles by Gary Snyder. This collection of poems is crisp. Snyder is one of my top favorite poets and whenever I come across poems of his I haven’t read, I need to immediately chew and consume them.

Music?

My December Spotify playlist is meager (understatement) and I’m working on my January 2024 list already. My goal is to hit around 25 songs and see if there’s an underlying theme/mood to it.

I try to build my playlists to reflect my mood during that month and I have over 3 years of playlists now, so it’s nice to have an soundtrack journal of the past.

What’s Next?

I’m writing a lot still and aiming for about 30,000 words a month. I’ve got poetry on my mind and a few short stories I’m playing with and of course there’s my half-finished novel and then that finished novel I still need to edit to completion (for the 10th time, I swear).

There isn’t enough time to do all the things I wanna do, but I’m gonna try.

Signing off,
Alina
The Happy Poet

NaNoWriMo23: End of Week Four

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

It’s a quiet chilly morning in San Francisco, and I’m glad Thanksgiving break is coming to an end. I spent the last few days reading, writing, and watching shows, and I’m well rested.

I focused on my daily writing, floundering a bit whenever I thought of NaNoWriMo, but I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself and have a bad time.

I’m proud I stuck with my daily writing routine and pumped out about 18,600 words. It’s better than nothing! Now that I’m looking ahead toward what I want to achieve by the end of this year. I’ve decided I want to hit my goal of writing 93,000 words for my daily writing routine in December.

What else have I been up to? Working on my Etsy Shop – The Happy Poet Studio. I created a few products this week that I had fun designing and have a few more ideas that I want to try out. I love the research that goes into products, keywords, and optimizing my shop. I’ve got a long ways to go but it’s a fun way to unwind.

What else have I been up to?

I watched the Scott Pilgrim Takes Off animated series, and it was a blast. If you’ve read the comics and loved the 2010 live action movie, I highly recommend you check out the series.

I’m reading A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. It feels a bit like reading Howl’s Moving Castle, but there are a few problems with the writing I’ve found already. The concept is fascinating, and so far, I’m planning on finishing the book.

Oh, and I finally hit Level 37 in Hogwarts Legacy…cool.

Are you reading anything fun right now? Do you have a daily or monthly writing goal? I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below and let’s chat.

Happy Poet, Alina
Signing off.