🕸Every Day is a Chance to Make Something New 🕸
Walking to dinner on Friday night, I felt a strange sensation. I was walking by myself along Portland’s soggy streets and I kept stopping to admire the way the light reflected in puddles. Shiny street puddles show a reverse image of the scene above, like a mirror. Gazing into puddles, I admired overgrown front porches and tree branches and the shape of my own shadow. I felt good. Like all of sudden I could breathe more deeply. Like I wished I knew how to do a cartwheel.
For the last month, whenever someone asked how I was doing, the answer that came immediately to mind was, “I’m in a hole.” A work hole, a life hole. Just a hole. Over the last year, I’ve been working on a book that will be an oral history of Guantanamo Bay prison told through comics. January was supposed to be the home stretch, but it felt like the last gasp. My mind was racing in an anxiety loop of all the things that could go wrong. What if one of the artists misses their deadline? What if their files aren’t formatted correctly? What if I don’t get all the release forms signed? What if I get hit by a car before I can finish the book? What if the publishing company goes out of business? What if the boat shipping all the books to the United States sinks and all of the finished books wind up on the bottom of the ocean?
But on Friday, all eleven artists had turned in their final art. No one had died, nothing had burned down. Maybe… it’s possible…. was I done? I had crawled my way to the top of the hole and was looking out on the big wide world out there. I felt like I was waking up to a future beyond my deadline.
Walking to dinner, I couldn’t stop smiling. It didn’t really matter what happened next. There’s a future where this book is a reality, sitting on a shelf where someone can pick it up and open to any page. And there’s a future where I’m excited again, where I stay up all night writing and drawing. Every day could be a chance to make something new.
Year of Zines Update
Last January, I set out on a mission to make 365 zines. A mere 13 months later, I’ve made 340! I’m going to be finishing out the Year of Zines in February. After I finish all 365, it’s not like I’ll stop making zines and comics. I am looking forward to making some bigger and more complicated zines, rather than the one-page format I’ve been drawing all year, and drawing more digital comics. The big good news is that I’ll be collecting 100 of my favorite zines from the year into a book! The Year of Zines book is funded by a Regional Arts and Culture Council grant. Everyone who backs my Patreon gets a free copy as a thank-you for supporting me during this tumultuous year. For everyone else, the book should be available to buy in April. Thank you, too!
Stuff I Made
Be Gay, Do Comics Book - The third book (!!) I’m working on getting to press right now is a collection of comics about LGBTQI history and identity from The Nib. Be Gay Do Comics is available for preorder and has an extremely colorful cover by Mady G.
Jane Jacobs History Comic - I wrote this comic called “Jane Jacobs versus the Power Brokers” to celebrate a hero of urban planning. The comic is illustrated by Jackie Roche.
Animals issue of The Nib - I edited a bunch of pieces in the brand-new print issue of The Nib magazine. I even got to interview cat celebrity Jackson Galaxy, who talked to me about how your cat probably doesn’t have a personal vendetta against you.
Stuff I’m Doing
Free Zine Workshop - Do you want to loosen up, do some simple writing and drawing, and learn how to make a one-page zine? I’m hosting a free zine workshop in Portland on February 8th. This isn’t a totally public event, but anyone who receives this email is welcome to come. Use the password “hotpocket” to see the workshop and sign up. Saturday, February 8th, 2-4pm at the Enthusiasm Collective.
Stuff I Love
Weird clothing items by Lorien Stern - Why do I love every single one of these strangely beguiling sweatshirts?
This Might Hurt tarot - I’m not a person who’s ever turned to tarot for guidance, but I’ll buy pretty much anything artist Isabella Rotman makes. So when she made a tarot deck, I snagged a copy. To my surprise, her down-to-earth explanations of each card and her gorgeous illustrations have drawn me into the habit of pulling a card each morning, just to see how it makes me feel.
Wafia's “I’m Good” - Everyone has a song that got them through a big project—the song you listen to on repeat so many times that it becomes a permanent part of your brain. The song that got me through writing the Guantanamo book is “I’m Good” by Wafia. Give it a listen and you're 100% guaranteed to feel better.
Catch and Kill - Have you been listening to this podcast? Listen to this podcast!!
Two short story collections - The two books I’m currently most obsessed with are Kelly Link’s Get In Trouble and George Saunders Tenth of December. Both short story collections are hard to categorize, in that they’re dark tales that are flecked with joy, but they both remind me of watching the only ever uplifting Black Mirror episode.
This Google Maps Hacking Project - This artist biked around with a trailer full of smartphones to create traffic jams on Google maps. I like people who show us how easy it is to screw with reality.
Everything Happens for No Reason - Just a small reminder.
Something to Do
Beef up your basic cybersecurity!
When the Guantanamo book comes out, I'm a bit worried I'll be targeted by right-wing groups. It’s entirely possible that the book could wind up as a topic of discussion on the wrong Reddit subthread and someone could hack into my Twitter account for fun. So I consulted some experts and spent an afternoon putting in place some basic privacy and security settings. I made the to-do list into a zine. All of these steps are simple, free, and will each take just a few minutes.
I'll send out another update next month. In the meantime, you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter. The archive of past newsletters is right here. Special shout-out to my work-companion Ginsburg, who served as a self-heating computer stand during the entire book-writing process.