 mzalen, Fri, August 1st, 2008 This blog was written on July 26, 2007 Last night, at around 9:00 p.m., I was almost certain that a beetle had crawled into my pants. Now just to be clear, I was sitting on a sidewalk which was full of beetles at the time, so it wasn’t the most absurd possibility. At any rate, I could’ve sworn that I felt something move in my pocket. I jumped up, startling the person standing across from me, who watched in curiosity, and then amusement as I shook my leg (I thought I felt the beetle slip down from the pocket), then furiously untie my boot (I was certain that it had fallen into the boot from the pants). As I struggled with the last loop, he came over and asked me if everything was alright. I said no, and that a beetle got into my pants. He asked me how, and I said I had no idea, but it was now in my shoe and that’s why I was taking it off. We then both watched as I carefully lifted the boot, tipped it over, and whacked the sides. Nothing. The guy looked at me, then looked again at the boot, then went back to where he had been standing. As for me, I kept hitting the boot just to make sure it was clear. Then, looking back at where I had been sitting and noticing it was now packed with beetles, I decided to stand for the rest of my time there. Ah...reserve duty. It’s not my favorite activity. And yet every year I’m forced into it for about three weeks. While I won’t go into what I do or where, I will say it’s not exactly “fun.” However, I do have at least one outlet, and that’s in calling my wife. Most of the time she’s pretty sympathetic to my plight, as she’s just as unhappy about my absence as I am. But this time was different; this time she laughed and said I should make it into a comic. It’s interesting how often I get that response, and it’s even more interesting how often it comes after I’ve experienced something unpleasant. I had a hard day at work? I should write a comic about it. Some crazy guy cut me off on the road? Good comic. Reserve duty is terrible? Hilarious stuff. What’s the deal? Is my trauma really that entertaining?? Clearly the answer is, yes, and in truth, I’m not exactly surprised; after all, I often think other people’s traumatic experiences are funny, and in many cases I incorporate them into my strip. It’s just I’ve found that this method rarely works when I apply it to myself. Why? Well, bad experiences normally make me upset, and being upset seems to hinder my creative process. The one time I really invested effort in taking a personal trauma and transforming it into cartoons was many years ago, when I was heartbroken over the end of a long-term relationship. I decided back then that since cartooning was one of my greatest passions, it would help me get over another. Well, it worked. Just a few months later I had filled an entire notebook with ideas and sketches, and I felt much better. There was only one problem: The cartoons were horrible. Looking back at the material it seems obvious at how bad those strips were, but at the time I had no clue. I was so happy about having succeeded in pulling myself out of an emotional slump that I was blind to everything else. It was only when I showed a good friend some samples from the notebook that I realized what I had done. I watched as her face turned from excited at being given a chance to sneak peak my work, to almost tearful. After the third page I grabbed the book away and mumbled something about the material just being a rough draft. The lesson I learned from that experience is this: If I ever feel like making my readership cry, I’ll take my personal trauma and use it for material; otherwise, I’ll just stick with making fun of other people’s problems. CATEGORY: General Society
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