Salutations to you Reader,

The emoji I chose is not about how sexy July is. It's about how freaking hot it is outside in Virginia, and the freak thunderstorms we've had every few days the past week.

I hope July is treating you better than me. There's a lot of stressful things continuing to take place. Though I guess life has been a whirl for several years now:

• 2012 laid off whirl + self-employment
• 2017 first child whirl
• 2018 second child whirl
• 2020 covid whirl + husband broken leg whirl
• 2024 business world crash whirl and AI whirl

So really, whirl is my new normal. I should be used to whirl right? I am not.

Here's what's goin' on!

Huge Journal Problem Solved!

I'm sure I am not alone in the Catch-22 of parenting and journaling: I want to vent all my frustrations, but I don't want to leave a record of things that could traumatize my children.

Yes, I am thinking about this with nuance -- I know I need to leave a full view of myself as a person for them, yada yada yada. I also know they won't look at it or care probably. But this is about how my brain is doing this, and my brain is very concerned!

I've tried begin vague... a friend offered to let me send letters to her and she wouldn't read them... But sometimes I just need to write the F word over and over again, and I want to be able to read it later, and I don't want my kids to think I hate them. It's that simple.

Finally, it came to me: Beatrix Potter.

I was reflecting on all the stories we've made up for the kids at bedtime and how some of them are actually quite fun. And it clicked.... I can assign characters to all the drama in my life! I can write about them! It will be pretty obvious if you break the code... but also it puts this layer of unreality over it (and situational differences) that is just enough distance that I am super comfortable talking about what a buttface Mr. Jambon is and what he did.

And also if my kids code-crack this when they're 30 and realize who I was mad at... at that point you've earned it, you know??

Anyway, I've started some character studies and I sketched out the first page of the concept, and I am really excited. Once I get a second to breathe I can explore this more.

Because that is my biggest challenge right now and for the past eight years... every moment of my life where I am in the same physical location as my kids is pretty uncomfortable. It's noise, it's energy management, it's not being able to have a drink within 1 ft of me or they will smash it all over the floor, it's not being able to confidently direct my attention to a n y t h i n g in their presence. It's honestly agonizing. It flares to a 10/10 on some days, and those are not my best days.

Pen Show Update!

​My class at the Washington, DC International Pen Show in August is coming up on sold out. I bought a big wagon so I can bring my art reference books and give people lots of things to touch and look at. A big part of why I love doing this is so I can show people who are on the edge of this hobby new and interesting things: try this flex pen, look at how gouache works, what about painting with ink?? I try to bring enough things to intrigue everyone who attends.

Currently Inked

I haven't had much time to breathe lately, so I'll have to do a verbal update. Here's my every day carries right now:

• Pilot Windowpane E95S F nib with de atramentis document black (deep waterproof black)
• Pilot Silver VP with M nib with BPC salt water taffy (hot pink)
• Sailore Stormy Seas 1911L with M nib and Noodler's 54th massachusetts (navy blue)

Secondary carries (I toss them in the bag if I'm going to have more than 5 minutes to journal):

• Sailor Winter Sky KOP with M nib and teranishi opera rose (dusty pink)
• Sailor Ringless Black with Naginata grind and Troublemaker Milky Ocean (cosmic blurple)
• BENU Euphoria Matcha Latte with M nib and Sailor rikyucha (deep green turns army brownish when dry)

It's a really good mix — allows me to do my modern look (hot pink and navy blue) which is a lovely contrast. As well as easily tackle some florals (Rikyucha for the green with beautiful opera rose blossoms, or navy blue vines with hot pink and opera rose blossoms. It's very flexible to what I want to do on a given day!

In fact, you can kind of see my pen carries with the cat drawings Ive included — the pinks and blues are present.

30 cats

I keep drawing cats, so I made a series of it for Instagram. If you send me your cat I will draw yours.

Anyway, a short letter is better than no letter. Thank you for reading.

Sarah G.

P.S. Inspo pictures for you to draw in your style: