I want to know it all!

I was a bit obsessive with the news when Russia first invaded Ukraine. That obsession inspired this little comic.

Text at the top says: I want to know it ALL! And I want to know it NOW!

Below is an illustration of a woman looking at a large tablet. She is looking quizzically and wearing a blue shirt. Illustration is very loose and messy and the tablet is made out of a collaged piece of paper.

Text at the top says: What is Putin thinking? Who killed Jon Tenet?

Illustration shows a bubble (a thought bubble) with magazine covers, including “Who killed Jon Tenet” with her face on it, another one called “Trump lies A to Z” with a man with a collaged bit of paper to represent orange hair. There is also, “Is Johnny Depp Lying? (He Must Be!),” “Inside Putin’s Brain,” What was life like in 1321?” And “The inside of the KGB.”

Text at the top says, “Where did Amelia Earhart go? Will we solve climate change? Is there life on other planets? Why is my dog looking at me like that?!

Illustration shows a woman with flight goggles saying “hi!,” a collaged world that is saying “You did it! You saved me!,” some collaged green columns saying “We’ve been watching you for years, we come in peace,” and a black dog drawn in curlycues looking quizzically at the viewer.

The text at the top says, “I want to know what’s true, what’s fake, what’s foggy, and why.” The illustration shows a blonde woman looking anxious, with a thought bubble that says, “Too much uncertainty! Help me understand!” Around the thought bubble are more collaged bits and lots of question marks.

The text at the top says: If it’s unknowable, I want to know that. If it’s unpredictable to the experts, I want to know that text. The illustration shows the blonde woman looking at a book called “Expert perspectives” with other books called “primary sources” sitting next to her.

Text says: I like to think that when we die, we get to know everything. As if, instantly, you’re gone from this world, but now you get to know the truth behind all the secrets, things lots to history, the mysteries, the future. Illustration shows a gravestone that says “R.I.P. Now I get to know everything.” Next to the gravestone is the blonde woman saying, “Tell me Grandma, what have you learned?”

Text on this page says, “But I don’t want to wait until then to learn everything. Tell me the secrets! What aren’t they saying? What don’t I understand? Illustration shows the blonde woman with a big smile, saying “I’m all ears.” Her ears are very prominent because they are collaged pieces of paper that stand out on top of the ink drawing.

Text on this page says, “I want to know it all, and I want to know it now, so that I can make better decisions, understand the nuances, and satiate my curiosity.”

Illustration shows the blonde woman with her brain opened up. We see collaged bits of paper representing her brain, and she is grabbing at it. Next to her, it says “I’ll just store all the info here so I can use it…”

This page says, “I want to know it all!” This illustration reuses illustrations from prior pages of the woman.

When we think of law as science

A comic. I don’t like philosophy but I may have waded into the territory of legal philosophy here…

Text says, “Growing up in an age of science and math, we get accustomed to, and rely upon RULES and LOGIC!” Illustration shows a woman with blonde hair, next to a dog. Above the dog is an apple, with dotted lines going down to the dog’s heat. The woman is pointing to the apple, saying “That’s going -9.8 m/s squared, even if I don’t believe in gravity.”

The illustration shows a blonde woman pointing at a circle that has a face, and is sitting on the grown. She is thinking, “The circumference of this emoji is 2 times pi times r. Always.”

The text says, “It’s natural, then, to think that laws are always rules of logic of the same kind as science and math.” The girl is sitting, reading from a propped up book. She is thinking, “So if the Supreme Court concluded this here, in this analogous situation, they have to come to the same conclusion!”

The text says, “Of course, laws do have some logic and the rule of law can work.” Below is an illustration of a no speeding sign, then a car that is caught speeding, then a ticket that is issued.

Text at the top says, “But there are always humans involved in this set of rules, how they are used and understood. Illustration shows a man saying, “Well from my perspective, you violated that law.” The woman is saying, “That view is incorrect because…”

The text at the top says, “And that means the meaning of the law is left to whoever doesn’t have their decisions reviewed, instead of whatever is the most inherently logical.” The illustration below shows the Supreme Court, with three members as ghosts. The text bubbles from the Court are saying, “We no longer need that part of the Voting Rights Act!” And “Abortion is no longer a right!”

The periodic nature of social media

There was a time when I spent all my free time on AOL Instant Messenger. (Check out the perfectly on point Pen15 if you need a refresher on the sounds and sights of those days). Then it got old.

There was a time I spent all my free time on Myspace. But I never really understood what was going on there and something better came along.

There was a time (a long time) when I spent all my free time on Facebook. Then it got old, manipulative, and impersonal.

There was a time I spent some time on Snapchat. But I was 5 years too old and Instagram was more fun.

Then there was a time when I spent too much free time enjoying Instagram. That time is still now. And, to a certain extent, it’s a great and easy way to share and get some feedback on creative work. But lately it is feeling more and more manipulative and out of control. I haven’t abandoned it yet, but its demise feels on the horizon.

After a few years into each form of social media, the luster goes away, the thing that made it special gets replaced by ads and manipulative algorithms, and it’s just not fun anymore. Well, these are my observations, at least.

So, I’m going to try to share more on this space that I own and and manipulate myself and that won’t be affected by the constant adoption and abandonment of social media. (Austin Kleon has some great thoughts about the value of owning the space where you share your work.) We’ll see how it goes….