Graphic Journal Tour – My NYC Sketchbook from 2000 ✦

A Journey Back in Time

Hey there,

Imagine being 21, broke, in New York City for a month with your BFF, filling a sketchbook with every single experience—concerts, exhibitions, record shopping, and random cultural shocks (like discovering (American) cereals and Teletubbies).

That was me in the year 2000. And flipping through those pages now, I feel such a weird mix of nostalgia, tenderness, and recognition. I just uploaded a new Graphic Journal Tour on YouTube where I go through that exact diary, a time capsule of a world before social media—when inspiration meant walking, sketching, getting lost, and seeing where the city would take you.

Inside, you’ll find:
✨ Concerts: Sean Lennon & Yuka Honda covering Backstreet Boys, Karate at the Knitting Factory, James Kochalka singing as a cartoonist, and even a Jeff Buckley documentary screening.
✨ Art & exhibitions: MoMA, MoMA PS1, Basquiat’s first gallery, and Pippi Lotti Rist’s dreamy installation.
✨ The NYC vibe in 2000: Cyber cafés, junk food discoveries, hanging at Barnes & Noble to read for free, and watching Ghost Dog and American Psycho in the cinema.
✨ Personal reflections: Looking at my 21-year-old self, my artistic instincts, my queerness, and how my style evolved over the years.

Come take this journey with me—watch the video here:

I also want to ask you something—have you ever gone back to an old journal, sketchbook, or even a box of old things and felt that strange bittersweet mix of nostalgia and self-recognition?

Maybe there’s a page you could revisit. Maybe you could redraw an old sketch, rewrite an old idea, or simply sit with your younger self for a moment.

let’s do it together: I’m going to do this in the Introverts Session this Sunday on Zoom for Graphic Journal Members, click on this Patre0n post to come

Much love,
Nicoz

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