The Daily Doodles

“The Orbit of the Burial Moon”

It’s been 3 years since The Boy Who Was Born in Space buried his parents on that tiny moon, and for the third time in those 3 years, the Boy has found himself somehow crossing paths with the moon yet again… even though the Boy, his Robot, and their ship should be hundreds of parsecs away.

While at first the Boy assumed that he was subconsciously going in circles because some part of him wasn’t yet ready to leave his parents behind (the spaceship’s onboard educational videos he’s been watching have led him to believe this was a possibility), his Droid quickly calculated that the moon was actually a tiny orphan planet; a rogue planetary mass that wandered the galaxy with no set orbit, and its path through space had happened to correspond with their own.

However, now the burial moon has entered an actual orbit as the tiny spheroid gets pulled between the gravity of a distant gas giant and a nearby red terrestrial planet, causing the moon to complete a dizzying full orbit every 31 seconds.  

His parent’s final resting place had finally found a home.

The Boy knew that one might indulge themselves in believing there was some sort of poetic significance in discovering that his parents’ burial moon was an orphan (just like the Boy himself is), but his more logical side knew that the universe is simply a series of events without meaning, and this was just one of them.  

The parallels between him and the burial moon are a mildly interesting curiosity, but crafting some sort of life narrative out of random chance… it’s folly. 

The Boy finds himself wishing that it WAS his subconscious bringing him back to the Burial Moon over and over, because then at least it’d show he’s feeling something for them… like a normal boy.  It’d be nice to know he missed them, on some level, and that perhaps his parents’ burial moon finding a home could be a good omen for himself.

But, he knows that the galaxy doesn’t exist just to give one Boy’s life “meaning”.  The universe doesn’t work that way.   

The Boy Who Was Born in Space joins his Droid back on their ship, and never returns to the burial moon ever again.

Posted 5/16/2013

(Thank you once again to the talented Samantha from Other-side-of-the-universe.com for helping me GIF this!)

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“The Blank Tape”

Simón Martínez presses his nose against the TV’s monitor, his hot breath fogging the glass, as he tries to position his face as close to the television screen as humanly possible.  

He remembers doing this during his bored moments as a child, thinking he may find something secret being broadcast that he’d miss if he was watching from the couch like a regular person.  

The static fills the screen with its never-ending frenetic dance, never stopping to stay still even for a moment.  Simón focuses on just one black or white dot, trying to track its trail as it hops wildly across the screen, but each time he loses the poor thing as the rest of the static overwhelms it.

Having found this blank VHS tape in an ancient box that he forgot he ever had, Simón hoped there was some sort of lost treasure from his childhood recorded on the cassette… but nope.  Just static.  He guesses he was saving it to record something special, something special that never came.

But still, for whatever reason, he actually likes it this way.  The static is somehow soothing, filling his field of vision with the endless movement while the white noise quietly hisses on and on.

The magnetic tape inside the cassette *snaps*, and Simón hears the gears of the VCR grind to a halt as it struggles to eject the broken VHS.  The picture goes black.

Simón unwinds the magnetic tape from around the VCR’s reels, the strip crinkling in his hands, and throws the useless blank tape away.

Posted 5/10/2013

(Thank you to the extremely talented Samantha of other-side-of-the-universe.com for helping me gif this!)

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Anonymous asked: Do you allow submission stories, like, sending you a link or a story you might like?

Sure, anyone can send me anything!  A link, a drawing they did, their story, whatever.  Just use my “Submit” link to send me sumthin’ (it’s on the home page of my site, next to the “Ask”).

HOWEVER (and my Submit page goes over this), everything on my site is written and drawn by me only and I only, only, only will be posting my own work.  So if the goal is to get me to post someone else’s work (like, someone else’s words and my drawerin’), I really can’t do that.  

I love checking out people’s sites though!  Especially if they create their own content.  I am an Editor here on Tumblr for the #Illustration, #GIF, and #Artists on Tumblr tags, and every day I always make a point to feature people who I’ve never seen featured before. 

Please feel free to point me in your direction to check out your work, or ask me any questions you may have.  

If ya ain’t sure how the “Editor” program works, and what “features” are, here is the short explanation—

There are dozens of “official” tags on Tumblr, such as #Fashion, #LOL, #Science, #GIF, etc etc.  Each official tag has Editors, and the Editors are chosen by the staff of Tumblr.

Each Editor gets 10 features a day in each tag they edit for.  So, for example, since I edit 3 categories, I get 30 total features.  When an Edtitor “features” a post, it goes to the Explore section of Tumblr, under the corresponding tag it was featured under.

Being featured helps give your work exposure, and possibly a chance at appearing on the Tumblr Radar (that is also chosen by the staff of Tumblr, but I don’t know any specifics).  It’s basically a great way to get your work noticed by people who don’t follow your site, and to gain new loyal followers.

As always, ask me if ya got any questions, and I hope you’re all doing well! :-)

Love,
David Michael Chandler

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One of my favourite sites, Stranger Dimensions, did an awesome write up about me and my site!

You can read it here: A SPACE BETWEEN DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES: The Daily Doodles.

It was a very nice surprise, as I actually do read Stranger Dimensions daily when new posts are delivered to my Gmail each night, and about a week ago I was scrolling down the newest email, reading about many of the weird, paranormal, science-y news they report on, when suddenly I saw one of my drawings! :-o  I certainly wasn’t expecting it.

If you’re into news about scientific discovery, time travel, ghosts, aliens, the paranormal, and basically everything cool and fun that is known and unknown in the universe, I think you’d love Stranger Dimensions too. 

(And also, if you’re like me and you grew up listening to Coast to Coast AM, I KNOW you’d love Stranger Dimensions).

Thank you to Rob Schwarz for the great article! 

—David Michael Chandler

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“Life in the Backseat”

Leaning her head against the cool glass of the window, Hannah drifts in and out of a hazy, bored sleep as she sits in the backseat of her parents car, returning home after a long weekend at grandma’s.

Grandma wasn’t the same this time, and after catching the bits and pieces of her parents hushed whispers to each other, Hannah knew they noticed it too.  

Staring out at the mountains in the distance, Hannah wonders what it must feel like to have your brain slowly fade away… not being able to remember your family, friends, or even who you are… it could be what Hell feels like.

The mountains she was blankly staring at come into focus, as she realizes that settlers once had to cross those towering peaks on foot… a thought hard to fathom as Hannah and her family speed past these mountains without a second thought from the safety and comfort of a heated car.

She wonders if she would have survived that trip if she was alive back then… maybe she did die in those mountains, in some past life, since she simply wasn’t made for those times.

And maybe she isn’t made for these times, either.  Maybe it was some cosmic mistake, being born now… and if the world ends tomorrow, could this be the last life she gets?  Does everything start over?  Does time stop if there are no humans to notice it?

Ah, but there’s Aliens I guess… they’d prolly notice it.  Hmm…

Her grandma’s hugs even seemed different this time… as if it was just a reaction of her grandma’s muscle memory, with no feeling or affection behind it.

Hannah slips into a dream, standing in her grandma’s living room, searching for her toys that are apparently lost… and her grandma is coming down the hall.  Slowly.  

For whatever reason, Hannah feels like she must escape with her toys before her grandma catches her there.  She can’t see her, but Hannah can feel her presence looming, coming ever closer…  

It all seems so empty.

Hannah wakes up to her dad’s voice letting her know they’re home so she needs to put her shoes back on, and the thoughts from the drive fade away.

(Starring the awesome Hannah from Waitinginthewings.tumblr.com!)

(And thank you to the also-awesome Samantha of Other-side-of-the-universe.com for helping me gif this!)

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(Source: thedailydoodles, via elgarabatodeldia)

“Orbiting the New World”

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(Source: thedailydoodles, via elgarabatodeldia)

“Waiting for the Train”

Train after train passes by, each more empty than the last and none going where he needs to go, so Kyle sighs dramatically to see if he can make a loud enough noise to echo in the desolate subway station (he can’t).

He refuses to check his phone to see when his train is even scheduled to arrive, since that would show he cares, and Kyle feels the need to passive-aggressively take a stand to no one in particular to prove how much he simply doesn’t care.

Plus it’s more fun to sigh and moan over the train’s assumed lateness, acting as if it’s a huge annoyance, even though he keeps telling himself he doesn’t even wanna go.  Being upset over it at least passes the time while he waits.

Having laid in bed for days, too depressed to move, Kyle somehow dragged himself out of his apartment to go meet up with some of his friends like he had promised over a week ago.  He finds it hard to imagine that people do this every day, and that they even look forward to hanging out with people… it’s all such a hassle.

It was exhausting to even get this far with it…!  

His train finally arrives, but Kyle decides he’ll just text his friends a happy lie so he can go back home and be alone.

(Thank you to the Sensational Samantha of other-side-of-the-universe.com for helping me gif this once again!!)

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Hello everyone!

I recently passed a milestone that I am quite proud of, but as always, I was reticent to actually acknowledge it on my site… I am afraid of seeming cocky, boastful, pretentious, etc etc.

But, I passed the 100,000 follower threshold the other week, and I am very happy about it!

When I started this site 2+ years ago, 10k followers seemed impossible.  I remember texting my sister about each new follower or new ‘like’ (for about 6 months, I had less than 30 followers).  If I ever DREAMED of having 100k followers, I would have assumed I was FAMOUS!

Of course, as we all know, I am not anywhere close to famous, and as I personally know, I am still extremely broke and unsuccessful in ways that (financially) matter.  Despite the growth of my site and my work, I’m still not where I want to be.  Working on books, keeping up content for the site, making rent, it’s all pretty damn tough to be honest (not to sound whiny of course).

Still, I feel extremely lucky that I’ve been received so well by everyone here (2+ years, over 100k followers, and I’ve still only gotten 1 hate mail), and that I’ve grown so quickly and “easily”.  I am a firm believer of doing the work you think is good and not what you think other’s want to see, and if you believe in it then the RIGHT people will find it and enjoy it as well. 

I owe a lot to the staff of Tumblr, and everyone who has glanced or even stolen my illustrations and gifs, as it has all contributed to putting me on a career path I never thought I could embark upon.  

Longtime readers will remember how I used to draw…!  It was awful!  Only now am I becoming acceptable, and in the near future there will be books and other projects… all directly caused by the success of my site here.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, to everyone, and I really do love you all!  

If everyone wants to get together and all send me 1 measly dollar each, I will accept it.  HELL, GIMME 12 CENTS EACH.  I live cheap! :’-o

New drawings and gifs coming shortly…! :-)

Love,
David Michael Chandler

Hey everyone!

I recently did a fun interview with Make It Magazine; they’re a cool magazine made for and by the Malaysian maker community, and I was honoured to be a part of their new issue.

READ IT HERE.

Hope I don’t sound too lame in the interview, and please check out the rest of the magazine!  It’s perfect for any creatives or lovers-of-creativity all over the world.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND UNLESS YOU DIE SORRY.

<3 David Michael Chandler <3

“The Long Journey Across the Galaxy”

After hearing the hiss and click of the last hibernation tank as it pressurizes and seals in his shipmates, Harrison Daniels quietly lifts his lid and makes sure everyone is frozen in their pod…

In 31 years when they finally reach the asteroid belt they’ll wake up, but for now the coast is clear.  He has the room to himself.

As there’s no oxygen being pumped into this part of the ship (since everyone is meant to be in their tank, frozen for the journey), Harrison quickly grabs a spare oxygen mask and climbs up onto the round windowsill overlooking the galaxy.

He’s not sure why he snuck out of his tank, but as he watches the distant field of stars stream by as the mining ship rockets along at lightspeed, he’s glad he did.

His mind struggles to comprehend the enormous scope of the galaxy stretched out before him, and while he feels a deep connection to it all, it also leaves him feeling totally insignificant.  His problems, his worries… they couldn’t matter.

Thinking back, Harrison realizes he’s never actually been alone his entire life.  Family, spouses, friends… and in 31 years when they reach the belt, he’ll never have a moment to himself.  All he has is this, right now.

He tells himself that he has to do this again, somehow… for longer than just a few hours.  It’s nice.

But, he has responsibilities still, and everyone will notice if they arrive at the asteroid belt and he’s the only one who has aged the 31 years (not to mention, he has no food— the hibernation tank is meant to nourish him as as they travel).

Taking one last long look out the window, Harrison gets back into his tank, and goes to sleep.

(A very special thanks to Kyle Harter for giffing this for me!)

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(Source: thedailydoodles, via elgarabatodeldia)