Skip to main content

Doodling and divulging.

When I was in middle school, I drew cartoons in class. Instead of having a notebook full of history notes, I had a notebook full of cartoons about history. I would make little doodles of historical figures and their stories. It helped me remember things better, for some reason.

They were not very good cartoons, admittedly.

My history teacher was good, though.

Mr. Ryals taught us a lot more than history. He told us stories about his life. His friends. His experiences. He gave us life lessons to take away from his class. "Balance." He said. "You need to find the balance." They were words I took to heart. Before the end of the year was up, he called me to his desk. "Hey," he said. "You should draw cartoons." "I do," I said. "No," he said. "Draw them for the newspaper. I'm serious. You could be a cartoonist for the newspaper." I laughed and said no. "Do it." He told me. "I want to see your comics in the New York Times."

So I kept drawing cartoons. None of them were particularly good. Most of them were ambitious at best. Beyond my skill level. I tried to have a webcomic. I drew about three comics before giving up. I could not keep the schedule. But I kept drawing.

The summer before my freshman year, I saw an advertisement in the newspaper. "CARTOONISTS WANTED." So I submitted a cartoon. And I kept drawing. I ended up drawing comics for two semesters, summer and fall. It hardly paid anything, but that wasn't why I was doing it. "Look, Mr. Ryals," I wanted to say. "I'm doing it!" It was fun. I was doing it for myself almost as much as I was doing it for him. It didn't seem to matter what I drew as long as I drew something.

I was able to draw whatever I wanted. It's not like anyone was actually paying attention to what I drew. Freedom, $6 a day. I could draw better than most of the cartoon staff, too. But it was an endurance game, and I stopped. I was drawing nonsense pictures and it was eating up my free time. Who was reading it, anyway?

I kept drawing.

The other day we had a dinner to celebrate the end of the EMS class. As I left, the instructor stopped me. "Hey dude," he said. "You should draw comics for the newspaper." I stopped. "I did." He paused. "Really?" "Yes, I drew 'Dinosore.'" He looked at me and grinned. "You drew that?" He turned to the other instructors. "Hey, he's the guy who drew Dinosore."

I thought about it as I walked away from the restaurant. There is always somebody watching. Somebody who wants to pretend that they enjoy it.

Who am I to stop them?

Comments

shwangshwang said…
dinosore was sweet except the arcs took a little too long for me
January 3, 2009 at 5:03 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm a geologist, not an alcoholic.

I thought I had seen people drink before. Hell, I thought that I had drank before. But, clearly, I thought wrong on both of those counts. I cannot, for the life of me, think of a reason to justify all of the drinking that transpired down there last week. There was no rhyme or reason to it, it just was. Field work just makes a man thirsty. Taking this class was easily one of the best things I've ever done. We worked hard every day out in the field. Wake up at 7, leave the beach house by 8, hit the water by 9. My first three field days were in service on the R/V Acadiana , a 58 foot vessel that towed the CHIRP fish , the air gun, and the streamer to measure all the seismic data--looking at the subsurface of the seafloor we drove over. My second ship was the R/V Itasca using the multibeam , sidescan , and grab sampler --getting seafloor surface bathymetry. They were long, exhausting days and we returned to the docks around 6 or 7 every evening. And then, drinking. So much ...
1 comment
Read more

Finger pointing good.

When I was on the boat doing science at Galveston, I saw a lot of dolphins. It was a significant experience for me because I have never actually seen a wild dolphin in real life before. It was sort of a dream come true. And in the middle of the shipping channel, no less. They really are amazing animals. It really kills me to realize I'll probably never see dolphins in Galveston again because of what happened to the Gulf. What is happening to the Gulf. It really is a tragedy. On a much lighter note, I started this Insanity workout program and it was so intense that I threw up before I finished the first workout. That is a good sign, I think. It is certainly an incentive to complete the entire thing. Anything that makes you feel that bad so quickly must be good for you.
3 comments
Read more

Just an exercise in aesthetics.

Today was just one of those days. One of those days where you wake up and everything and everybody is against you. These days happen to me more often than I like, but that comes with being a relapsing surly, cynical bastard given to frequent and extreme mood swings. Everything just got under my skin today. Maybe it was waking up early before my alarm clock. Maybe it was the laugh they made when they messed up the first time. Maybe it was the look they gave when they thought they were being funny. Maybe it was the inflection they took when they got cranky. Maybe it was everything. But I think I did a pretty good job of playing it down. Of not taking it the wrong way. Of not letting it get to me. I mean, by now I'm pretty used to the routine. And I know it's not being fair to people. It's not them, it's me. I'm the one who's blowing up. So, you know. It's all over. For some reason I thought that the meteor shower was tonight. It was what I was l...
Post a Comment
Read more