A Newsletter From Julie Vick

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Hello!

Since it's January, I've been trying to get semi-organized for the year. I try to keep track of things in a bullet journal (abeit a messy one), and this year I am trying out a new one. I like its simplicity and the fact that it has page numbers (the one I had last year did not have page numbers, which I did not like). I do kind of miss the calendar templates my old one had, so next year I may try to find something that is more than just dots that also page numbers. Let me know if you know of one.

The photo above has a comic book filter -- something I discovered after fellow parenting humor writer Andrew Knott posted about them on Instagram. Highly recommend playing around with the filters and following Andrew on social media/Medium/in his newsletter for funny stuff in addition to important life tips. Keep reading for more of what I've been up to.

Book Report

My book has a lovely cover and is now available for pre-order. I also saw some sample design pages that are in the works -- it's fun to see it coming together on its path to being a real, live book. It's official release date is August 10, 2021, but you can buy yourself or a friend a future gift by pre-ordering now.

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Books, Humor, and Other Distractions:

• Memes: I'm guessing you've seen some of the Bernie Sanders inauguration day memes making the rounds. They are good for laughs, but bad for productivity. I particularly liked this one and this one.
• Short humor: Why is baking with small children so hard? Audrey Burges explores this important question in her McSweeney's piece "Are You Baking Cookies with Children or Starring in a Gritty Crime Procedural?"
• Show: I listened to some of the Song Exploder podcast a while back and enjoyed it so I was interested to see that Netflix created a show based on it. I find the whole process of creating songs mysterious, so the podcast and show are interesting windows into it. I particularly liked the episode on R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion, which was influenced by a song that I would not have expected.
• Podcast: Leslie Gaar has a new podcast called "My Effing Desk" which talks about balancing a creative life with motherhood. I really enjoyed the first episode with Elly Lonon--I was in the midst of overthinking a humor piece to death when I listened to it, and Elly's advice helped me snap out of it.
• Book: One of the books I enjoyed this month was Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist. It offers creativity tips and touches on how artists are influenced by others.
• Floss: I recently went down the rabbit hole searching the Internet for the best kind of floss and found a couple of recommendations for CocoFloss. I ordered some and honestly, it's kind of nice. Like a flossing aromatherapy self-care session. I try not to think too much about the fact that I am counting flossing as self-care these days.

Recent Writing From Me

• I collaborated with Sue D. Gelber on this list of New Year's Resolutions for Your 2020 Existential Crisis. We got a little dark with this one, but things are looking up in 2021, right?
• I recently put together a list of humor books that I recommend, which you may not have received when you signed up for the newsletter, so here it is.​

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