OfframpQ's Newsletter: November 2023
Recovered from Jet lag, writing from China
Hi, I’m Qinghui Ji. This is my newsletter, where I share updates about my life, interesting findings, and maybe a poll.
It felt like the whole November I was preparing for the Asia trip. I began questioning the value of doing a month-long international trip because the cost of time is so high. In total, I probably spent 3 full days researching on how to deal with kids on the long flight, jet lag, and things to do in Shanghai, then another 3 days buying things, packing, and prepare the house. I thought not having pets is easy, but never considered my 50+ plants. The last 3 days were ultimate chaos. Akio and I caught a cold on the last day before the trip and he was having a fever due to the 1yo vaccines. At the end, we had to buy him medicine a couple hours before the flight 😵.
Updates
Life
Akio turned one
Arun’s side of family came to celebrate Akio’s 1st birthday and we went to Bodega Bay for a short trip.
Flying to Asia
Our flight is 13hr from Bay Area to Seoul + 4hr layover + 2hr Seoul to Shanghai. Maybe because I thought it would be hell, it actually felt easier than our 6hr domestic flight in the past. Here are some takeaways:
Red-eye flight is key. By the time we were on the plane, both kids were tired. Even though they didn’t fall asleep until after the meal service, they were both slow and not energetic.
Be proactive instead of reactive. The best advice I found online is to plan an activity for every 30 minutes, whether it’s food, game, screen or toys. I went overboard by filling one carry-on luggages with 10+ snacks and 15+ toys. We ended up using 2/3 of the toys and didn’t even touch the snacks.
International flights have free toys and a lot food! They can keep kids occupied for a while. Also, the bigger airplane allows for longer walk.
Work
New Yorker cartoon submission
I finally decided to try my luck with New Yorker Cartoon. Through the process, I found
New artists: Liana Finck and Amy Hwang!
Coming up with 10 universally funny topics that can be confined in one frame is more challenging than I thought.
The cruel reality of the industry: the chance of being selected is smaller than 0.1%. The chance of being selected given you are famous, like Roz Chast, is higher but still, between 1% - 5%.
Also, due to high submission volume, NYer rarely let you know when you are rejected, and they also don’t publish anything that has been published before. Hence, I won’t be able to share anything for a while.
Holiday card
I’ve been making a handprinted postcard every year for the last 5 years. I designed the card on Procreate, copied it to paper using pencil, copied it from paper to rubber stamp, then carved the stamp. I would do a few test runs before printing them on postcards. The whole process takes 1-2 days.
Recommendations
Music
Do you have one musician that reminds you of the time you dated your partner? Ours is Kings of Convenience. We love them so much that we used their song Misread for our wedding presentation. That’s why we instantly bought their concert tickets when it came out, and for the first time since our kids were born, hired a babysitter. The concert was at the Fillmore and it’s small and intimate. Just two of them on guitar for majority of the show, then a small band joining at the end. It was a magical experience.
I have been a big fan of his since childhood and my husband started listening to him since we met. This is my 3rd time seeing him live but first time seeing his solo show. It’s also at a small venue - the Freight & Salvage. Surprisingly, he talked a lot during the show explaining his journey of discovering different guitars. He brought 10+ guitars (I lost count) to the show and played a bunch of his classics. Another good babysitter money spent.
Books
It is probably Pamuk’s most famous book. I tried to read it a decade ago but wasn’t able to pass the 3rd chapter. Somehow it became easier now. Maybe because the subject is about illustration or because it’s my 6th Pamuk book. His novels often set up in Istanbul, and combine Turkish history and unforgettable love stories. Reading this one is like looking at a Turkish miniature art itself.
If you want to try Pamuk, I recommend that you start with A Strangeness in My Mind. It’s not his most famous one but I found it’s the easiest to read. It’s lovely story and lighter on history and politics.
Poll
I used to offer to send my handmade postcards to anyone who would like to have one, on top of the 80 something prints I sent to family and close friends. Now after taking my art career more seriously, and also having less time due to parenthood, I wonder if I should sell them instead. Same for other things I make.
It is awkward to sell my work because I don’t know if people would pay for them. This poll is anonymous so please share your honest opinion 🙏🏼
Thank you for reading till the end! If you have any thoughts or feedback, you can always comment or reply to this email.
- Q
Join Etsy and see what happens.Good luck