The Slow, Agonizing Crawl Towards 2021
Anyone else have their fingernails left? I certainly didn’t after the election. Yes, Joe Biden won, but unfortunately not by the landslide a lot of us were hoping for. 74 million Americans saw the horrible job Il Douche has been doing for the past 4-years and thought, “You know what? I’ll take another four please and thanks!” Unbelievable. Even more outrageous is Scandalf the Orange refusing to admit he lost, and continuing to challenge every vote in court. Thankfully, he’s lost almost every case and the wheels of transitioning to a new administration have finally started to turn.
With the transition of power on the horizon, along with 3 COVID-19 vaccines filing for emergency FDA approval, I am feeling a tad better about 2021. Last post I mentioned I was “foolishly optimistic,” but I’ll upgrade that to “slightly optimistic” instead. There’s still plenty that can come back and bite us in the ass, from the Senate remaining under Republican control (vote in the George run-off if you’re a registered voter in Georgia!), to vaccines not working, to the Demon Cheeto getting pardoned by President Biden to “help heal this country,” allowing those who should be held accountable to slip back into the shadows, successfully crippling our democracy for the next authoritarian leader who is capable of installing a full-blown dictatorship. I want to vomit when I imagine “President Tom Cotton,” or “President Paul Ryan” as possible dark (and very real) futures.
Enough about what keeps me up at night! The one thing that has been bringing me immense joy recently has been putting together the final touches on Clusterfux Comix #1, and getting started on laying out the second issue. I recently had another open call for submissions, and have been getting inundated with new contributors as well as some who contributed to the first issue. So much talent! I can’t wait to share their illustrations and comics with you all. Hell, I can even start laying out the third issue as well, seeing how it’s slowly getting to that point as of right now. I’ve enjoyed creating new comics and covers for all the issues, flexing my illustration muscles more than ever before. As much as I love writing fiction, creating comics comes with a much more seductive feeling of immediate satisfaction. I’m aiming to have all three issues out next year (Jan, June, November), and will continue curating and editing every issue as long as there’s a demand for it. I’ll definitely have a better idea of how many people are interested when I start selling the damn things and embarking on a press tour. I might even make my own podcast episode interviewing all the creators one-by-one. Stay tuned!
So it’s official: I’ve transitioned from being “furloughed” to “let go” at my job. Obviously no one wanted it to end this way, and my job was just another casualty of this pandemic. Thankfully so many people have reached out offering to help in multiple ways, from putting me in touch with temp agencies, to connecting me with their friends at other entertainment studios. If vaccines become readily available in the new year, a lot of places will start hiring again and my chances of getting a new job increase tenfold. In fact, one temp agency recruiter I had an interview with earlier in the week complimented me on my strong work experience, and made me feel a lot better. I just needed that little boost, you know? Silver linings in a shit year. If you or someone you know is hiring in the entertainment industry here in Los Angeles, don’t hesitate to reach out to me or connect with me on LinkedIn! I’m a street-walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm: something every company needs.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Please be safe and don’t attend family gatherings with more than four people, and get tested before and after. Your dad’s dry AF turkey and uncle’s rants about how Biden is stealing the election isn’t worth catching Corona for.
As usual, here’s our own little burnt turkey as your palate cleanser.
