April °🌧️🌷🐇:･
“Oh! Be men, or be more than men. Be steady to your purposes and firm as a rock. This ice is not made of such stuff as your hearts may be; it is mutable and cannot withstand you if you say that it shall not." ― Mary Shelley, FrankensteinHi, friend, It's been a month! I literally can't wait for you to watch this cat music video, so feel free to scroll down and watch that and then come back and read this. Wasn't it fantastic? This month has been a lot of family wrangling, dealing with a new evolution of children (everyone's over 7... let the real life training begin!), and coming to grips with a household where both parents are having existential identity and professional crises. (More on that later). Drawing-wise, I finished the 2025 book (FINALLY) and I am so damn proud of myself. Finishing things feels amazing to me, and there's nothing so concrete as holding two books in my hand FULL of my drawings... It's a little thing, but a little thing that keeps me going. Thank you for celebrating with me! Links that renewed my faith in humanityLet's bring back a good old fashioned curated link roundup! Man, I miss that shit. Here are some videos that made me smile and feel like maybe we didn't completely ruin the Internet in the past few years: New on YTI've been craving more literature and storytelling perspective, so when a random Google took me to the Librivox database... Damn if you don't think I started listening! I put together a little series where we listen to a short story and doodle... the first one is "The Wit of the Duck" from John S. Burroughs circa 1900s.... it's fantastic. Please check it out if you like old writing! I also recorded the final sections of the sketchbook and collected all the links for the quick flips and longer walk-throughs on each video's description. It feels very tidy :). Here's the most recent long one in case you want to check it out. Pen updateYou know how I'm obsessed with the 1970s cross hatch E95S? Well, guess how obsessed I became when I discovered THERE'S A BALLPOINT AND MECHANICAL PENCIL VERSION, too. The ballpoint is now in my hands. The mechanical pencil has been purchased on Buyee (a Japanese proxy site) and is on the way. Most recently, I've been enjoying using my pens in sets of four. I'll make curated little sets of gold trip and then silver trim. They're very pleasing to look at, and each combo has an interesting and varied set of nibs on it. Drawing with each of these pens is a unique experience. The range can be quite intense, like if you look at this E95S with an EF nib: Compared to this Sailor 1911L H-M nib with a very very wet ink: The difference is like writing with a spider's leg vs. a sharpie. I love both! Well, finally, I gotta be honest—most days, I just feel like a lump of bad crap. I feel a lot of pressure to be a leader and know what's going on with the internet and marketing space, but the past few It is coming out through in my hesitance to create an online space for myself, to feel confident scripting or sharing. I open my mouth (or uncap my pen) and nothing comes out. I don't really know how to live like that, as I am usually rather opinionated. Forgive me if come off as a bummer. I know many people are having a hard time right now. I guess I just want to reach out my paw and claw around and know I'm not alone. I don't want to wallow. But I don't want to "push through," either. Where does that leave me? Where does that leave you? Well, it's still one foot in front of the other, so thank you for letting me share some things that are bringing me light in what seems to be a ceaselessly dark time. Sarah G. P.S. if you like the emotional atmosphere here, invite a friend to join us. there's not enough time to chill and rest among friends nowadays. |
tiny doodles with sarag
Hello to you from a sparkling summer! Time has moved differently at different times in my life. A few years ago, it was too fast, buttered-up plastic flamingos slipping down a hot slide, because of work. I was learning how to coach. I was building my business. I was hitting my $20K and $30K months. My life was falling apart in a whirl of pink, me doing my best to run from my postpartum depression. This time it's going too fast because of kittens. Pool day Fridays at 3 PM. A part-time work...
"I gave up on the possibility without even trying. And now, being through the wringer so thoroughly, I know if I don't reclaim my writing I won't make it through." - My journal lately Hi, friend, I hitchhiked my way into a sixteen wheeler of careless creativity and I’ve got no regrets! This is figurative, of course —I have a lot of breakfasts and lunches to make that would face serious disruption if I was on a truck right now. But that’s what it feels like to ruthlessly indulge in drawing...
"When is suffering useless? When it only turns us in upon ourselves, when it only makes us sorry for ourselves, when it changes love into hatred, when it reduces all things to fear." - Thomas Merton Hi, friend, I am so glad to report I am doing so much better! It's a combination of good reading, good supplements, and good time to myself. I am so relieved. I think the AI-depression is really, truly passing now. And I'm coming to terms with and healing from a lot of my ambition-related life...