"Ça fait tic tic un peu quand même." Miki

Hi, friend,

I know it's early April, but here's my thinking—I send the March one now, and then the April one later in the month. Double the tiny doodles for you, a satisfactory compeleted list for me! Winny win win!

I have finally—FINALLY—made it through the full grief process for AI. I am so pleased to share I am finally feeling some energy and some creative flow. It's been a long time.

There's still a lot wrong....

(A lot.)

But I've been so inspired lately by different art processes and artists I've seen. Truly kind individuals who are sharing their inner world....

It's enough for me. It makes me want to keep going, and hold out my hand and keep you going, too.

Let's catch up!

Links that renewed my faith in humanity

Let'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:

​Ca pik un peu quand même (YouTube), animated video by French pop artist Miki. Renewed my faith in everything. 2 min.

​A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator (YouTube), a gift from the Norwegian Consumer Council that keeps on giving. 4 min.

​Angine de Poitrine (YouTube), is mentally and audibly difficult to listen to, but the comments section makes it worth it. 5 min.

​Mixed media film about my cat – 'The Real You' (YouTube), will make you smile, grin, blink, then do it all again. So charming. 2 min.

Organizing the circus animals

My own YouTube has been on a break for a couple months, but I am making progress in coming back. Let's reconnect online if you want. I can't promise regularity, but I can promise beauty :). Here's the links:

To get ready to be more regular, I picked up a DJI Mic Mini for a quick audio upgrade so it's easier to talk and draw. Also got a helper analytics tool called VidIQ set up so I can translate my poor social skills a bit better and have thumbnails and titles that are inviting instead of off-putting.

The result is a few new thumbnails that are a bit more fun to click:

I'm going to channel my inner artist and struggle through it, but I am always interested to hear what makes you like and watch art and journal videos. I am specifically trying to grow my storytelling muscle. I find it so freaking hard to tell stories about myself and my life. I am so used to educating and being VERY to the point... I think it is worth learning and getting comfortable rambling and really letting myself be myself. We'll see if it floats your boat!

A miracle in my pen folio

I was party to a miracle in February. Around the time the second job I really wanted fell through, a community member from a Slack group I'm in reached out... they had finally seen a listing for the Usagiya 70th Capless Vanishing Point Oboroduki, also known as Hazy Moon.

Y'all.

I've been passively looking for two years. A fun grail to keep in the back of my mind. And when it did pop up, obviously it would be out of my price range, right?

But this friend. This amazingly anonymous friend. Shouted it out for me, confirmed I still wanted it and that the price was right... and they purchased it for me, to hold, to give me time to pay them back!

I am still so moved when I think of it. This was a low day—a day I didn't get the job. I didn't feel my best or like I'd invested the past decade of my career in the "right" field. And here was a glimmer of generosity, humanity, kindless, looking-out-for-you-ness.

I know it's just a pen. I know it's kind of silly! But this meant so much to me. And now? And now...

I quickly got to work rearranging things to make it happen. I sold about 4 pens in the Slack group and that covered the whole cost, and I also had some personal spending money coming my way. It was mine. It was OK.

So now I'm here, my grails complete, and I am so pleased! I pair it with the Sailor 1911L Pirate's Life and they're a perfect color match. Having this level of beauty on my desk, every day, ready to greet me has been so inspiring.

OK, let's ship this baby!

Here's to art and making real life better with it!

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.