Sunday, January 31, 2021

Hi! So this newsletter will be a little more personal than normal (I know what you're thinking, "How can you get MORE personal, Danielle?!")

I'm dedicating this it to my late mom, and because of that, I also wrote more than usual (but don't worry, there are still a variety of new doodles below.).

It's my Mom's sixth yahrzeit (Jewish word for death anniversary) on Wednesday. She died suddenly when I was 22. We were very close and I miss her every day. I wasn't sure if I wanted to incorporate this part of my life into DID (more on that below), but as this date got closer, I decided I wanted to.

One hard thing about losing someone is that the relationship is no longer reciprocal, (well except for the occasional sign or odd message from a medium... future doodle idea?!). Eventually, I thought, what better way to keep my mom's memory alive than writing about her and doodling about our dynamic?

We all know by now that I'm not really an artist — I've always been a writer. I was an editor at my college paper and my first job out of college was a reporter at a business newspaper. My Mom used to read everything I wrote and say she was so impressed with how much info I could fit into a sentence or a paragraph.

I think if she could see my newsletter and doodles — she'd find some typos and tell me to improve my handwriting — but, she'd also be impressed with my new storytelling format. With a picture and words, and sometimes video, I can say even more.

Below, you'll also find a doodle about my Mom and me, my take on the stock market fracas, a recap of Amy Schumer's response to Hilaria, and some custom work.

5 things I miss about my Mom, and 5 things she probably doesn't miss about me

As time goes on, one thing that's hard is that my Mom and I have a finite amount of memories. This is about who I was at 22. I wish my Mom could see who I am today. I'm really good at administrative tasks now and never dramatic! ;) I hope this captured just a little bit about who she was.

More on my relationship with grief and comedy/storytelling:

I could say a lot about my Mom and grief. And I already have in other ways. (Here's an essay I wrote last year about what her clothing means to me). Some of you may or may not know that I did standup about grief, and I was producing a show last year that I would host with other comedians, but was canceled due to COVID.

I liked doing standup about loss because it felt important to remove that taboo about talking about death and expressing my experience. Yet it was also hard emotionally and I felt pigeonholed. In standup, you work to perfect your set, which means you perform the same material a lot. I didn't always want to talk about grief, but those jokes were good, which made me stand out. As a result, I was afraid to try new material that didn't do as well. Plus, as time went on, some of those jokes didn't feel as relevant to me anymore.

It turns out, for now, doodling is a low-risk way to try out all kinds of material. Also, I don't want to be defined by my loss. Fortunately, as DID has grown and I have found my voice, I think sharing about grief is natural because it's a part of my life. I will occasionally share doodles about loss, while still making doodles about all the topics I currently cover: life, and DID, are multifaceted. 

Kumbaya curmudgeons: Robinhood backlash united unlikely characters

This past week, everyone from AOC to Donald Trump Jr. could agree on one thing — what Robinhood did (restricting people from buying stocks) was wrong! So, I drew a bunch of people who spoke out together in a circle that would never happen in person. Shoutout to my sister — an earlier version had everyone as a floating head, but she took a look and said it had "camp vibes," so I made the kumbaya circle!

I’m in there, too, but it took a while for me to understand this story. If you want to see the statements I'm referring to in the speech bubbles above, the video I made below sums it up with screenshots.

What Elon Musk does for fun

When Elon isn't busy disrupting transportation with his rocket or car companies, he likes to play with the stock market. I don't mean investing in it, I mean impacting it. He encouraged the Reddit rebellion in buying GameStop stock, but he also sent Etsy stock soaring with one tweet (Elon, please mention my shop next time!!). Apparently, he's influenced other stocks too. I think he's just having a little fun. Also, shoutout to my Aunt Viv who interviewed the fellow South African for Fortune! Go Viv!! (Viv and Musk are both from South Africa. So is my Dad!)

Amy Schumer speaks out about the Hilaria Baldwin scandal

Finally!

Amy Schumer/Hilaria recap for those who don't know: Comedien Amy Schumer is accidentally, sort of responsible for the Hilaria Baldwin scandal. In case you missed it, she posted a picture of Hilaria holding her newborn son in lingerie with a caption saying something like, "Happy holidays from Gene and me" (Gene is the name of Amy's baby). It was a joke. Hilaria didn't get it. It became a thing. Amy posted again joking about Spain. Hilz still didn't get it, and the new attention on Hilaria brought to light that she wasn't actually Spanish like she'd claimed. (I covered the Hilaria Baldwin story here and here). 

Doodle explanation: So finally, Amy, who has been uncharacteristically quiet recently, addressed it this week, and I doodled my favorite quotes, but also what I think she wanted to say!

More custom work!

Above is a birthday card for Kate, who's become a bit of a doodling muse! I also made a cute New Year's card for her and her boyfriend. He loves Nintendo and she loves charcuterie boards. I made a doodle for the winner of a virtual holiday party ugly sweater contest (I think I mentioned it last week). And, wishing Ashlee a speedy recovery for her broken ankle.

Also, I finally made a new page on my website for all the custom stuff. I think it looks nice! See it here.

Danielle in Doodle updates

I know I mentioned I'd make a Sex and the City video in last week's newsletter. I just haven't gotten to it yet! I've had a lot of custom requests lately! I'm considering learning to draw digitally on an iPad or something to expedite my process and to be able to quickly personalize my Etsy card offerings (you probably noticed some digital coloring in some of today's doodles, I'm experimenting!). Plus, it could make videos look better, because I've surprisingly gotten some traction on YouTube. And to bring this full circle, the comments take my confidence on a roller coaster ride akin to the stock market!

One: "Omfg what was that."

Someone else 15 minutes later: "Great video."

But, my time on YouTube is pushing me to finally get to my favorite YouTubers doodle. I'm also working a bunch of love-themed doodles for February, I'm thinking of doing one about stupid things I've done in Spain now that I have more Spanish-speaking followers because of Hilaria, and I'm borrowing my Grandma's car for a bit, so one about stupid things I did with my car is calling my name.

As a marketer, it's so interesting to see what does well, what the audience likes, who they are, etc, and try to balance making content I want to make with what I think will perform well with my current followers, and attract new ones. This is such a great learning experience! 

Also, I'm working on a monthly tech column for my friend Lauren at Disruptive Technologists which is why I got a bit techie this week.

And of course, this week, I will be remembering my beautiful, beloved Mom. 

Thanks for reading! Welcome to any new subscribers!

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