Greetings from the First Hot Dog HQ – 10 Things Worth Sharing
Newsletter #010
This blog was adapted from my monthly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.
Our family is ending the year with some big wins: we re-opened the bookstore just in time for the holidays (thank god) AND I recently moved out of our home office and into my own studio.
✌️ So, greetings from the first Hot Dog HQ – a small room with a single window above a witchy crystal shop in Downtown Overland Park, Kansas. It smells like patchouli 24/7, but the rent is cheap and I don’t have the budget for a place that smells normal.
Here’s 10 things worth sharing:
While I’ve been moving into the new studio, I’ve been obsessed with this book, Loft Law. I want it to have the vibes of a New York City artist’s loft – a place that feels gritty and lived-in, with white walls and colorful shit hanging on every square inch. I also stumbled upon the youtube channel by the same author and watched several mini-docs about unique and creative people around New York.
-One of those videos features the owner of Noble Signs, which I already followed on Instagram but thought it was just a photographer who liked signs. David Barnett started the sign shop, which actually builds old-school commercial signage, and he has made it his mission to save historic NYC signs by creating the New York Sign Museum.
-If you thought this newsletter would be void of Hot Dog gift recommendations… shame on you. Give your loved ones something to show how much you care! Perhaps a Hot Dog wooden ruler, a Hot Dog enamel pin, a to-do list notepad (inspired by vintage stationery that I found at an estate sale), or a World Cup Soccer Hat that shows support for no team in particular.
-Every year, we buy the Creative Pep Talk Calendar for our kitchen. It’s packed with fun and encouraging illustrations from one of my favorite artists, Andy J. Pizza. If you need a calendar and you’re reading this dumbass newsletter, you’ll probably love it.
-I fell in love with Olivia Dean the other night when she performed on Saturday Night Live. I’ve been listening to her new album on repeat, and I have to admit that I’ve watched way too many youtube interviews. I have no idea what a “Jammie Dodger” is, but I could listen to her say it all day…
-I loved reading How to Know a Person by David Brooks. It’s a practical, emotional, and hopeful book about improving our relationships, including: how to be a better conversationalist, practices to build empathy, and how to support a friend who’s hurting. I think we could all benefit from thinking more about others, and I’m grateful for the conversations that David is leading. “I’ve come to believe that the quality of our lives, and the health of our society, depends to a large degree on how well we treat each other in the minute interactions of daily life.”
-Holiday Hot Take: Home Alone, Christmas Vacation, and The Santa Clause are great… but people aren’t talking enough about how Noelle (2019) is one of the best Christmas movies of all time. Santa’s son (Bill Hader) runs away to avoid taking over the family business, and his sister (Anna Kendrick) is sent to find him in Phoenix (!!!) to bring him home. It’s like Elf but, oh my garland, it’s funnier – and it has a better message. (Another recent holiday banger: That Christmas on Netflix)
-“I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent – no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.” I’ve reread this quote from Seneca many times since the bookstore fire. I get irritated by the EveRyThInG HapPenS fOR A ReaSoN stuff, but I do believe that challenges can make us stronger and better if we learn how to deal with them.
-“Everyone searches for opportunities while running from problems, missing that they're the same thing.” - Shane Parrish
-Robert Siegel, the long-time NPR host has popped up on my youtube lately. It’s mostly just old guys arguing about politics, but at the end of each episode Siegel pauses to ask each person if there has been “some small path to joy… that makes you feel good about life.” A simple gesture that feels enormous in today’s media.
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Merry Christmas, you guys. Happy Holidays. Cheers to 2026!
Justin