🦕 in pursuit of an angry-enough dinosaur

one that's still cute though, obviously

also happy 4th of july!! view from my apt’s rooftop

Hello my friends!!

It’s newsletter #2, I am about 2 weeks in my working-for-self journey, and I am LOVING my new life!!

…Maybe that’s not surprising, that quitting your job to do whatever you want is, um, awesome, but honestly I wasn’t confident that would be true. It’s still only two weeks in, so I’m sure I’m in the honeymoon phase of job-free living, but hey, honeymoons are meant to be enjoyed 😎

🤠 Easier than expected: Getting myself to work at all! I was worried that without job, I’d quickly devolve into a free-floating blob in space. Would I be able to will myself to get on my computer and work, without some external factor forcing me to do so? Would weekends lose their meaning? Isn’t unstructured time off the perfect breeding ground for existential crises? ……..

Luckily this hasn’t been an issue!! I’ve been working roughly 9-5, Monday - Friday, and the focus has been coming easily. I’m not not free-floating, and there are definitely moments when I’m like “ahhh traveling through space is scaAaAry!!” but I feel like I have a purpose, a clear (enough) direction, and I’m having a lot of fun 🥳

to explain things via sticker

😵‍💫 Harder than expected: Social battery. OK I was worried that working by myself would be lonely and isolating, but after I posted on all the platforms about My Big News, I’ve had SO many folks reach out. In the last two weeks, I’ve planned so many coffees, brunches, catch-ups, brainstorms… it’s been so heart-warming!! 🩵

I am SO surprised to be saying this, but it’s to the point I actually have to make sure I don’t have too many meetings each week! Both because I need to preserve my maker time, but also because I just don’t have the social stamina I did pre-2020 😂 I’ve got two coffees scheduled next week and I’m looking at the calendar like oh boy, that’s a lot………

I’m sure the social stuff will ebb and flow, so I’ll enjoy it while it lasts!! ☕️☕️

Hope you enjoy today’s newsletter, and thanks for reading 🌱

♡ vrk

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🧾 July is the month of receipt printers, apparently!

Last newsletter, I mentioned I was finding myself drawn to thermal printers:

So naturally… I’d love to code something that prints to one of these very adorable printers! Could be an awesome to tie it in with Aaron’s artwork too.

Progress update: Oh, I have been printing to these adorable printers!!

I actually got the technical pieces working faster than expected, and I wrote a Node script that can print images to the Phomemo M02S:

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After seeing THIS, you’re probably thinking

“wow vrk you are a GENIUS, no notes”

…OK probably not, I think you’re more likely thinking:

“That is so neat you are excited by this! But…….. why?”

Uhhhhhh self-explanatory??? Little printer??? Burger stickers???

lol jk, it’s a valid question!

I’ve got two projects related to thermal printers:

🔮 1. Building a fortune-telling device

some sweet guitar pedals (not of our making)

My friend Aaron and I have been working on an art piece together!!

It’s still VERY early and subject to change, but the current concept is a guitar pedal that prints your fortune via receipt printer.

Gonna order a bunch of parts from Adafruit tomorrow and tinker with what’s possible!

🐧 2. Mini Printer Pal

sneak peek 👀

I decided that for July’s prototype, I am building a tiny print studio for the Phomemo M02S!!

Is this a popular printer? Not really

Is this a useful printer? Not really

Will my software make this printer significantly more useful? Probably not

But I thought this would be a nice “starter project” for my exploration time. I can practice building a start-to-finish prototype by myself, from the initial concept and features, to the mocks, to the implementation, and release — all within July, and see how that feels!!

Plus, I think I can make a really fun YouTube video about it 👀

I’m actually hoping to release this next week some time (!!!) so be on the look out for an announcement!!

(Or, y’know, in 2 weeks if I am underestimating how much work remains 😂)

🌭 The rest of July

none of these are right!!!!!

• Finish & release mini printer pal

• Make progress on fortune telling devices

• Karaoke 🎤

• More coffees ☕️

• More picnics in the park 🌳

• 🦕 More drawing - so after an inspiring chat with my friend Yin (another brilliant illustrator!) I’m trying to draw again. Right now I’ve got a vision of this dinosaur emoji in my head that’s like, MAD, but like, CUTE but like, REALLY MAD, and I tried to draw it and… I can’t draw a dino that’s mad enough?? I started accidentally drawing happy dinos??? Anyway I’ll keep you updated

• No existential crises

🍧 miscellaneous

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• Let’s just watch this for forever

• saturdays like this

• A brilliant demo of these stamps!! love this note too:

  • ILMILY is a new stationery sub-brand of Pilot that promotes the idea of being more like yourself. ILMILY stands for "I Like Me, I Like You." By using stationery items that suit your personal style, you can grow your self confidence and become your best self.