Update From Here + Things You Might Enjoy
March 29, 2020
In This Issue:
Update From Here
A Whole Long List of Things You Might Enjoy
Top Cartoons
Update From Here
Hi, everyone. I hope you're all doing OK and finding your way through this strange and scary time. I'm in California, so we've been self-isolating for a while now.
Our schools closed on March 13, and the district changed the calendar, so that week was deemed "Spring Break."
Here's how Claire spent her Spring Break:
And you know what? Fine with me, because I was busy doing this:
I feel like things get more surreal every day. And at first, I wasn't even sure if I should be posting cartoons (was humor even appropriate during this time??).
Ultimately I decided that yes, for some people (including me, and I'm guessing you), humor IS important during difficult times. Of course, no one is trying to make light of a serious situation. Humor is just a way to help us all cope.
Here are the coronavirus cartoons I've been posting. These will give you a look at what's been going on here. My kids have now started online school, so maybe some cartoons will come out of that, as well.
Let me know if you've been experiencing anything that could be a cartoon. I'm keeping a running list of possible ideas.
I hope you are all staying safe. And in the meantime, I'll try to keep bringing humor into your life.
A Long List of Things You Might Enjoy
Since we're staying inside to stop the spread of this virus, I've been keeping a list of videos, articles, cartoons and more that I've enjoyed--and you might too. Maybe you can save this email and look at some of these things when you want to break up your day.
We'll start with videos...
How to Draw: Disney animator Michael Woodside is posting videos showing you how to draw Disney characters.
Working from Home: Trey Kennedy makes very funny videos, and his latest one about Working From Home is great.
Living with Teens: My friend Shannon made this video about quarantining with teens, and I can relate to it SO much.
The Holderness Family: You might know this family who creates funny videos. This one is called "I Want to Know What Day It Is," and it's a parody of the song by Foreigner.
Coronavirus Rhapsody is a parody of the Queen song. It's quite good! See it here.
Penguins! And finally something non-coronavirus-related: A video of penguins going down some stairs. Trust me, it's something you'll want to see, if you haven't already.
Two books I'm enjoying lately:
That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story by Huda Fahmy
Description: Huda Fahmy tells the hilarious story of how she met and married her husband. Navigating mismatched suitors, gossiping aunties, and societal expectations for Muslim women.
My take: Huda's storytelling and cartoons are great! Thoroughly enjoyed this book, and her humor.
The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah
Description: Acclaimed English travel writer Tahir Shah shares a highly entertaining account of making an exotic dream come true. By turns hilarious and harrowing, here is the story of his family’s move from the gray skies of London to the sun-drenched city of Casablanca.
My take: My sister is reading it too, and we are comparing notes about how crazy the story is. It's such a fun read!
You can buy these books on Amazon, of course. But in the U.S., you can also go to IndieBound.org to buy books from your local independent bookstore. It's always good to support these stores, if you can!
Here are a few of the cartoons I've been enjoying. (Click on the image to go to the artist's Instagram page and see more of their work or, better yet, follow them if you don't already!)
This first one is by Will McPhail. I love the raccoon and the bird.
Next we have this one by Chaz Hutton. It's not the most uplifting, but I love how simple it is, and it really captures how I feel week to week.
Jean Jullien always has an interesting take on things. I especially enjoyed this one that he recently posted. I love how the characters are all doing something different.
Another great cartoonist to check out is The Oatmeal. Just go to his site, and you'll find a ton of entertaining stuff. He recently wrote a long cartoon about what he's learned about creativity during the 10 years he's been cartooning. It's excellent.
And now, some things you might like that that don't fit into the categories above.
Spring 2020 Guide. One of my favorite accounts over on Instagram is A Life From Scratch by Courtney Holsworth. She recently posted her Spring 2020 Guide, and I love it. It has recipes, fashion, ideas for organizing and more. (It was created before coronavirus times, just FYI.) We made the Salted Chocolate Oatmeal Pretzel Cookies, and they did NOT disappoint. You can find the guide here for a one-time fee of $3.
Funny Tweets. If you haven't seen this already, it's worth checking out. It's an article called "Cowboy Museum Puts Their Head of Security in Charge of Their Twitter, and His Tweets Are Hilariously Wholesome." It was posted on the Bored Panda website.
Family Guy. If you're a fan of the TV show Family Guy, you'll enjoy this "podcast" by Stewie and Brian. Funny stuff!
The Calm Place. This is a collection of calming sounds and visuals, put together by The New York Times. Thank you to illustrator, cartoonist and writer Marloes De Vries, who included this link in her newsletter (which is how I found out about it).
Nice Background Music. Over on Spotify, I've been enjoying a playlist called Jazz Piano for a Rainy Night.
Wordscapes. This is a fun word-puzzle game. A good way to exercise your mind! Here it is on the Apple App Store, and the icon looks like this:
OK, well I know that was a lot, but hopefully it will help you pass the time at home. Reply and let me know about things you're enjoying!
Most Popular Cartoons
As always, I will be posting cartoons on Instagram, Facebook, and on my website. It will be a mix of coronavirus and non-coronavirus material.
These cartoons were the most popular since the last newsletter. First, a comic about what my family is doing during self-isolation.
Next, a cartoon I created after going on a walk in my neighborhood. It was so nice to see everyone be so friendly. There's a real feeling of "we're all in this together." And also a feeling of: "It's so nice to see another human that's not someone in my house!"
I created this cartoon after going to the store several times and finding NO toilet paper.
As you may recall from another cartoon I posted, Claire dropped a roll of toilet paper into the toilet! It was a clean bowl of water, but still -- this was terribly distressing. I fished it out and left it out to dry. We checked in on it a few days later, and Kate told me, "What we've learned about toilet paper is that it's not meant to get wet and then dry." Truer words were never spoken.
Finally, when I saw that people were "stress-baking" during self-isolation, I posted this cartoon from the archives.
One thing I've definitely learned during this time at home is that BOTH my kids are like me when it comes to dishes and cooking. Which is most unfortunate.
Questions? Comments? Reply to this email! I'd love to hear from you!
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