A book I like, a moody hot dog, summer songs and more!

Newsletter #39

In This Issue:

• Book I Stumbled Upon 

• Moody Hot Dogs

• Sunscreen Woes

• Songs of Summer

Programming Note

When the kids are home for summer, it's harder to get stuff done. 

So I'll just be sending out ONE newsletter per month in July and August. Back to twice per month in September. 

A Book I Stumbled Upon

For the past year (yes, year!) I've been reading Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries. I started with "A is for Alibi" and read all the way through "Y is for Yesterday," which is the last book she wrote before she passed away in December. When I heard the news that she had died, I was deep into her series and, like all of her fans, I was heartbroken. 

But reading the books from A to Y was such fun -- like reading one extremely long book that you didn't want to end. When I finally finished the last one, I was feeling... melancholy. I felt like I'd lost a friend. You know that feeling when you finish a good book. 

I started Googling "Sue Grafton" to find other things she's written (and found some), but I also stumbled upon this book that she said helped her as a writer. It's called "Telling Lies for Fun & Profit" by Lawrence Block.

In fact, this book helped her so much, she wrote the introduction for the book when it was re-released.

I've thought about writing fiction, so right away my interest was piqued. But I was skeptical because the book is quite old (published in 1994). Nonetheless, I checked the reviews and they were excellent, so I ended up buying it. And I'm glad I did.

If you or anyone you know thinks about writing fiction, this is a great book to spark motivation. It's funny and helpful, and just enjoyable to read. The advice is timeless. 

I just thought I'd mention it for any aspiring writers out there! 

P.S. I would also recommend reading Sue Grafton's books from "A is for Alibi" all the way through "Y is for Yesterday"!

Love These Sketches

Maybe you've heard of Lynda Barry, the American cartoonist, author and teacher. I follow her on Tumblr, and recently she shared these sketches of herself as a "moody hot dog." I immediately loved this concept.

And she posted this message with the sketches:  

Dear Students,

Here is my new summer semester avatar: Professor HotDog.

I don’t skateboard but Professor HotDog sure does. This is one of the things I love most about making comics. 

When I draw myself as a moody hotdog on a skateboard I actually feel like a moody hot dog on a skateboard. I love drawing myself as a hot dog leaning into a turn or boldly coasting.

Some kind of old style virtual reality brought about by just wiggling a pen on a piece of paper

How are we able to do this?

And why are we able to do this?

And why would we want to?

One reason: my HotDog avatar can smoke imaginary cigarettes all day long.

Sincerely

Prof. Smokey the HotDog

I mean, come on! So good. 

You can follow Lynda Barry on Tumblr and Twitter. 

Sunscreen Woes

I did this cartoon for KnowYourOTCs.org, as part of a series of cartoons I'm doing for them this year. (As you may remember, they're a site that shares helpful tips about safe dosing, disposal and storage of over-the-counter medicine. You can follow them on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.) 

As with most of my cartoons, this is based on my own personal experience with kids. Behold my daughter Claire and her friend when they applied their own sunscreen last year. 

Songs of Summer

I mentioned this playlist a long time ago, but it keeps getting updated so I'm going to mention it again. If you have a Spotify account, you can listen to the "Songs of Summer" playlist curated by NPR's All Songs Considered. 

If you search "Songs of Summer," you'll find it. There are some great songs in there, and you can just skip any you don't like. 

And if you're not on Spotify, consider checking it out! It's how we listen to all our music now. I've built a bunch of playlists, and you can also listen to "radio stations" designed around specific artists or different moods. Oh -- I also listen to my favorite podcasts on Spotify. I definitely recommend it! 

Top Cartoons

In the past month, I've posted cartoons about fancy restaurants, pediatric dentists, dog-crazy behavior and more! If you missed any cartoons, visit my website to catch up. 

Here are the top two cartoons from the past month: 

So, yes, the whole packing and unpacking process basically takes me a year. 

Meanwhile, Over on Patreon...

The Hedger Humor cartoons are supported by YOU! Over on my Patreon page you can learn about pledging $1per month (or more) and receiving different rewards, including behind-the-scenes videos and special cartoon art that you can share with people in your life! Thank you to all those who already support my work!

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