š¢ Slowly But Surely š¢
At the top of Deception Pass, I stared over the side of the narrow bridge and felt suddenly, intensely afraid. When I planned this two-day solo bike trip around the western tip of Washington, I was excited to bike across Deception Pass, a turbulent strait that slices through mountainous coast, carving a gorgeous canyon that plunges thrillingly into the sea. But now, exhausted from having pedaled 40 miles already that morning when I stepping onto the sidewalk barely wider than my handlebars, I took one look at the water roiling 180 feet below and my whole body froze. As cars blew past me, the entire bridge shook. What if the bridge collapsed under the burden of a too-heavy freight truck? What if a strong gust of wind blew me over the side? What if the Big One hit and we all fell into the sea? I couldnāt look down, I couldnāt move.
I have ridden a bike almost every day for 10 years. Despite this, I am a very, very slow biker. I am always the slowest cyclist in any pack. The one time I entered a bike raceāa jokey cyclocross race on HalloweenāI was lapped. By a unicyclist. Who was wearing flippers and a scuba mask.
Spring, summer, fall, and winter, I stare at athletic butts passing in front of me as I plod along. Biking is often a macho world, where hardcore cyclists show off their ripped thighs and cantaloupe-sized calves, humble-bragging about who took the gnarliest, longest, hilliest ride. When I first started biking, I was upset at being the slowest. I felt awkward and giant, wondering if everyone was silently chuckling to themselves as they whizzed by me, āAt least Iām better than that girl!ā It took months and months and months of biking to come to terms with the reality that faster does not mean better. Iām the best expert on my body. I move more slowly than other people. And I take fewer risks. One thing I love about biking is that Iām in control of what happensāwhenever I get too scared or too tired, I can hop off and walk. Sometimes I walk up hills. Sometimes I walk down hills. Sometimes I walk just because Iām bored of biking. My biking mantra became, āSlowly but surely.ā And that evolved to become my mantra for other things in my life, too. Especially workāI make progress by pushing forward, slowly, surely, never as fast as Iād like. But I almost always get there, in my own way.
On Deception Pass, I took a deep breath. I had to cross the bridge. Ā There was no other way forward. The rumble of the cars whizzing past me was thunderous. In my loudest voice, I called out into the void. āThis bridge will not collapse in the next 90 seconds!ā Then I started counting down. ā90! 89! 88!ā As I shouted each number, I took one step. I stared at my feet instead of at the view. ā75! 74!ā I crossed the bridge in 85 steps. Back on solid ground, I felt like falling to my knees and kissing the blessed dirt. Instead, I got back on my bike and kept pedaling, mile by mile at my own pace.
This Week's Comic
Stuff I Made
Sticker Update - Because so many of you bought "Believe Women" stickers from me, I was able to donate $150 to the domestic and sexual violence hotline Call to Safety. If anyone else wants stickers, I'm still selling them and will donate the proceeds.
Comic Editing - I edited this memoir comic by Jamie Noguchi about how his Chinese-American aunts voted for Trump. I've been thinking about it a lot this week as political pundits dissect midterm results.
Nice Interview - This doesnāt count as a new thing I made, but Iām excited to be featured in Bust magazine this week. Writer Isabel S. Dieppa interviewed me about Open Earth.
Stuff I Love
Nicole Lavelleās stickers - Enough said. You can see all her straight-forward designs here.
Bike Gear That Doesn't Look Like Bike Gear - I bike all year round but I hate wearing special biking clothes to stay warm and dry. I'd rather just wear regular clothes that also keep me warm and dry. On this biking trip, I did really well with an Icebreaker wool skirt (which keeps my thigh fat from getting too cold) and a bright blue Chrome jacket.
Her Body and Other Parties - This short story collection by Carmen Maria Machado has been on my library holds list for so long that I finally just broke down and bought it at Elliot Bay Bookstore. I needed a book to keep me company on my bike-and-bus ride and Machadoās was both gripping and insightful. If I owned a bookstore, I would stock a whole section with her and Kelly Link or Shirley Jackson and Helen Oyeyemi and Lucy Corin. Ā
You Think You Know Me - My friend Ami is Kickstarting an expansion pack of her cool conversational game where people get to know each other by drawing various cards. Check it out! It reminds me of my favorite childhood game, The Ungame. Did anyone else play The Ungame or was that just me?
The Kalakala Ferry - Biking around the Olympic Peninsula, I did a double-take at a mural and had to turn back to take it in. The mural depicted what looked like a steampunk airship cruising across Puget Sound. Turns out, the silver behemoth is called the Kalakala and is a famous ferry in the region. You really have to see this thing.
Alice Driverās Reporting - I hate, hate, hate when articles report Donald Trumpās words on an issue and then just leave it at that. Nowhere is this more true that in reporting on the migrant caravan, a group of thousands of people fleeing Honduras and other Latin American countries that is winding its way step-by-step to the U.S. border with the hope that many members can claim asylum here. While Trump dismisses these thousands of people as criminals and possible terrorists, journalist Alice Driver has been traveling with the group and reports humanely on life within the caravan. For more truly heart-stopping photos of life in the migrant caravan, check out the work of Kisha Bari.
More Accurate Electoral Maps - Everyone is saying the word ācartogramā online today and I had to Google to see what it meant (itās āa map in which statistical information is shown in diagrammatic form.ā) The Internet is buzzing about cartograms all of a sudden because the New York Times put together this map of what elections look like measured by district rather than just state-by-state. The country looks a lot more blue this way. The way you present information matters - does a map make Republicans look like the majority, despite the country being split about 50/50? Ā
Also, Mapping U.S. Rivers - Speaking of maps, why do I like this hydrological map of the United States so much? Maybe because the country looks like a wild place? Maybe because there are no humans mucking it up? Maybe itās because itās a nice reminder that rivers existed long before state borders? All of the above.
Someone to Know
At The Nib, we hire (paid) interns every semester from two different schools: the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont and The Animation Workshop in Denmark. This fall, our interns came from The Animation Workshop, while means they traveled to a different continent just to learn more about making nonfiction comics. Right now, one of the interns sitting across the desk from me staring intensely at his work is Sim Mau. In addition to having a bizarre sense of humor and delightfully judgemental sensibilities, Sim Mau has a unique illustration style that lends itself to bright, surreal storytelling. He is from Portugal and when I asked what he wanted to research during his time in the United States, Sim Mau said simply, āQueer utopias.ā
Something to Do
Did you vote? Great! Now Volunteer. Voter turnout was at a record high this election. Showing up to vote is great. But donāt limit your political participation to just showing up once every two years. Voting is the bare minimum for civic engagement. Volunteering with a local organization thatās working on issues you care about is a great way to get involved for the long haul. Care about families being imprisoned at the border? Google āimmigrant rightsā + your town and see whoās working on these issues where you are, then sign up for their email list so youāre in the know when they need help. In Portland, Iāve been on the mailing list for workers rights education project Voz for years and finally saw a volunteer opportunity pop up last week. Iām going to my volunteer training tomorrow morning. Image: Nikki McClureās papercut print āConspireā
Iāll write to you next week! In the meantime, keep in touch on Instagram and Twitter, okay? If this is your first time seeing this newsletter, you can subscribe here.