Sunday, January 10, 2021

In last week's newsletter I had a doodle that said, "Yay, it's 2021!" I think I spoke too soon... After watching the riots at the Capitol, I remembered the time I was fired from a job at a big White House. I reacted a little differently.

On a positive note, some new subscribers have joined. I have a welcome for you a few paragraphs down. And, I got two card orders on Etsy! They say good things come when you least expect it, right? I was with my family upstate and didn't have inventory on hand, so fulfilling the order was a challenge that involved everyone, including two patient women at Staples. If you missed my stories on Instagram, a video is below.

The pandemic has totally changed our routines, and even though it's a new year, it doesn't look that different, at least to me. So I included a doodle about my broken pandemic promises to myself and my new Sunday routine.

Plus, I'm doing something new! I included a few sketches for Valentine's Day cards. I want to know what you think, and I'm open to your ideas! 

If you're new to the newsletter: Welcome!! I'm Danielle, a marketer and writer who did standup comedy (I know, who in Brooklyn hasn't?!) and started doodling during quarantine. This newsletter is a roundup of mostly new doodles every Sunday around 8 pm with some commentary and brief stories. Sometimes I include a snappy video version of new or older doodles. I try to thread the doodles together with a theme and make this fun, funny, kind of newsy, and readable. I'm so glad you're here! 

How I reacted when I got fired from a White House

My spin on current events is often about me inserting myself into the situation. How to cover a riot I didn't/wouldn't ever attend..? Then I thought that at a very basic level, this is a story about someone getting fired and retaliation — and I had a babysitting job in a huge white house right after college. I actually googled it and it does look similar to this. I left the job amicably, but I did miss the snacks.

Broken quarantine promises to myself

This week, I saw that the New Yorker posted a cute video of a cartoonist drawing a mock magazine cover. They then challenged followers to draw their own. So it inspired a sketch, which I posted on Instagram. A video of the process is above. I gave it the full DID treatment too (redraw in pen, add color, watercolor, and love). The New Yorker did not end up reposting my doodle, likely because there was more urgent news to cover...

Anyway, this doodle is about how I've resolved to make certain habits happen in daily life, like waking up early and takign long daily walks, and they are not sticking. But one habit I've kept is making this newsletter. See the next doodle!

My old Sunday routine versus my current one

I know comparing our pre-pandemic lives to our current ones is soo 2020, but whatever, I'm still not over it. And a big thanks to my friends and family for reviewing sketches, listening to me talk about DID, and proofing. I don't think brunch with me on a Sunday would even be tolerable anymore since DID has become a huge focus. Thanks for your support! I also wonder how I'll keep up with this in the post-pandemic phase, but TBD. One day — and doodle — at a time.  

Help me make a Valentine's Day card!

I missed the window for Hanukkah cards because I couldn't think of an idea. I'm not going to let that happen for Valentine's Day! I used to standup, where you can get live reactions to jokes. So I figured I'd run some "jokes" but this audience before fully developing them. What do you think of these rough sketches? Do you have a better idea?! You can reply to the email with feedback ♥️😊♥️ 

Fulfilling my first Etsy order was a family mission

I printed my original stock of inventory on Vistaprint, which has a fool-proof templated uploader. So we had to resize it ourselves .. I mean my sister/dad did it on PhotoShop, then print and cut it in Staples. My dad loves a mission, so I think he secretly enjoyed this. Until I got picky about the way he cut the card...then he started to lose his patience. 

I restocked cards at a local printer

I had only printed about 10 cards of each variety in the first order last month, so I restocked. After spending too much time in Staples to print one card, I decided to print a bunch at a local printer near where I was staying with my family and picked it up the next day. This is a video of me reacting to unboxing them!

Update: If you ever miss a newsletter, or want to look at an old one, I've added a newsletter section to my website!

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