It's Our Steemit Birthday!!!

I originally started blogging on my @ascendedmonkey account, which turned out much like all 'first pancakes' do- a bit of everything, oddly flavored & highly experimental. It has since been retired/reserved for more esoteric themed posts, while @munkiioh has become by main account for all things art & @steemmonsters related.

One year ago, @crystalhuman & I (@ascendedmonkey/@munkiioh), started our journey here on steemit, and man has it been one heck of a ride!

While I may be a biologist by qualification, an artist by trade, and a gamer by hobby, most probably couldn't tell, because when it comes to crypto/talking about myself/speaking to people in general, I am what some would call special. Truth be told, being on a platform as dynamic & diverse as steemit, for this social potato, has been quite challenging.

See Exhibit A - "Traversing the Stormy Steemit Seas."

My anxiety drew this...

So... why exactly am I here then?

In a word, I am here for the 'Freedom'.
Growing up I watched my father work hard to support us, and it ingrained in me this sense of 'being tied to a job I hated' in order to survive. Like a lot of kids, I followed the 'life' playbook to the letter, having gone to school & got a degree. Unfortunately, due to health issues, I got let go from my first contract job, right out of uni.

I worked as an Educational Officer at the PAP Wildfowl Trust, a nature reserve that was built within the local petrochemical plant, Petrotrin. T'was my dream job, but unfortunately large bodies of water and random fainting spells apparently don't mix...>_>'''

Fast forward a few years to when I met my hubz, and us deciding that we wanted the freedom to travel the world, this meant we needed to have a source of income that was not geographically fixed, but rather could move with us wherever we chose to roam.

...Then came Steemit

We eventually managed to narrow our job search to 'something online' and/or art related, since it was something that we were both passionate about. After a few months with little success selling custom t-shirts locally & teaching online, there came one fateful day, that Eddie (crystalhuman/hubz) saw a fb friend talking about $ that he made on a steemit post. A few short hours later we were signed up, and exactly a week after that we had our accounts. The rest, as they say, is history.

"Kitteh on a Sill." This was taken & posted back during my Steepshot.io phase... It was brief.

Memorable Mentions & Steem Monsters!

We found out about Steem Monsters soon after joining the platform and it had us hooked from day one. While being able to test a game that's still being built and make $ while doing so, has been AMAZING; I must admit that one of my proudest moments on Steemit, was winning a Gold Foil Alpha Edition Naga Warriror, in a Mene Gold contest, that was held by @goldmatters a few months ago.

This was the accompanying illustration for my winning entry. I literally never won anything growing up, so to win a kickass card, that I could then use to go kick some more ass, AND potentially make money while doing it?! I WAS STOKED!!!!!!!!!!

"That's all I got to say about that...o.o"

While I could write volumes on how wondrous this last year on steemit has been, from the inspiring projects that we've worked on behind the scenes, to the invaluable friendships that we've made along the way, no amount of honeyed words could ever truly do it justice.
I thank you for taking this trip down memory lane with me, and if you care to read some more, here's a list of some of my favorite posts from 2018-

In no particular order
-"Anime - an addictive form of expression for this Caribbean artist."
_"Lord Hanuman & the strength to overcome."
-"How to win a guy for life. The story & process behind the portrait."
-"Drawing portraits made easy. A step by step Tattoo Artist's approach."
-"Steemit Jeopardy! Play Along & Win SBD!!!"
-"SM Kickstarter Boss Fight Art Contest!"

Until next time homies, I bid ye,

PEACE!

Piccature of le-crystalhooman und Aye for ye eyeholes :3