July 2026 Newsletter

From Dan, Your Friend and Summer Enjoyer

Dear Friends,

July was all about staying cool, going back to some favorite places, being creative, and releasing another paper. Let's get into it.

Back to Sesame Place! You may have seen me last month going with my friends, but this time I went specifically to meet Tango, my favorite character (Fig. 22.0)! It was her Gotcha Day!

Fig. 22.1: I also spent some time with Bert~

I kept going back to the waterpark with another friend, their mom, and later again with my mom. Yes, I kept applying sunscreen but I also kept getting burnt! Probably because I was having too much fun (and the water rinses it off eventually).

Anyway, speaking of staying cool in summer, I started swimming again at the YMCA. It's been years since I swam laps, but it felt good to get back to it (after swimming competitively in high school). We go early before the sun has time to hit us with deadly lasers.

Fig. 22.2: Our table was ready for dinner, jousting, and cheering much too loudly.

Fig. 22.3: Most of the outfit was accessories, but I say that still counts.

My friends and I also went to Medieval Times (Fig. 22.2). I managed to throw together an outfit beforehand (Fig. 22.3). My favorite part of the show was seeing the horses up close. I've always wanted to ride a horse, and I have heard good things about horse therapy. If you know of any good places for that, I'd love an excuse to make a trip to see horses again. It also doesn't take much to convince me to make a cosplay. Ren faire in our group's future, perhaps?

Along with July, I was creative! I always participate in Artfight (three years in a row since I started) and my favorite artwork I made was my most ambitious, with 10 characters, all of people's unique characters all expressed in my style with my idea (Fig. 22.4). Artfight is an art trading/gifting game where you make art for other people. You may visit the original Arfight post to see the characters and explore the website.

Finally, I released another paper. This is the third in a series all about me, me, and me. This one is about My Pronouns, what to call me, why, and it has some topics that I prefer to avoid (there is, of course, supplemental reading linked in the paper if you want to dive more into that beyond the Pronoun Page discussion). Press or tap on the title of the paper to read further!

That's a wrap on July. August is where I will start teaching again, and I'm excited for my first day of school (again, for the 20th year in a row).

WEAR SUNSCREEN (and re-apply; I've learned the hard way), drink lots of water, and have a blast.

Dan out!