Does Everyone Feel

[ Taylor Swift - the 1 ]

 

What is self-isolating without at least a little ruminating? Thanks to the city of Potsdam for providing a backdrop to musings, as well as a change of scenery.

***

Thanks also to everyone who requested their ballot, mailed it back, followed up with their election official, and asked their friends if they did the same. The work continues, but I hope you were able to celebrate this weekend. Let's keep going, and don't forget that the US Senate is still up for grabs.

Radio

 

(Radio ads by the Ministère des Solidarités et de la Santé in France and the Senatsverwaltung für Gesundheit, Pflege und Gleichstellung in Berlin, Germany, October 2020.)

Last Annoyances of Summer

 

 

Even with its annoyances, spending the summer outdoors was pretty enjoyable! In Berlin we're now at the start of another cold season, with the highest number of new covid cases per week since early April. Please be careful and be kind to yourself and to others!

If you're a US citizen, please mail your ballot in ASAP and call your senators about SCOTUS. Help make minority rule a thing of the past. 

 

[ Public Enemy feat. DJ PREMIER - State of The Union (STFU) ]

Treasure Hunt

 

 

I  contributed this comic to one of the ComicInvasion Treasure Hunt booklets! All four issues are hidden at various locations throughout the city while stocks last. Can you find them all?

Draw Your Outfit Right Now Meme

 

 

I participated in a meme!

Small Talk (again)

Options include the 3-second "Alright", the 15-minute rant, and the 90-minute introductory course.

***

If you're reading this from the US, please consider donating to a bail fund in your area to support the ongoing protests for Black lives and against police brutality. You'll find a list of bail funds for protesters here.

If you are a US voter and have not yet registered to vote, you'll find information on how and where to do so, as well as what to do to vote by mail, at VoteSaveAmerica.com! If you are a US voter overseas and are not yet registered, it is now best at this time to first do so via VoteFromAbroad.org and also request your federal backup ballot in case your regular ballot does not arrive in time. You'll find links to both processes here.

If you live overseas and are not a US voter, please share this information with your US friends the next time you want to talk about US politics with them! It will be very helpful. Thank you!

[ HAIM - I Know Alone ]

August Sleeping Patterns

 

Fortunately it's now autumn in Berlin.

 

[ BBXO - Sabotage ]

Fanart Friday: "Summer Years", DCFC

I was listening to Death Cab’s Thank You For Today the other day and remembered that I drew this comic a couple years ago. 🎶 (TYFT is still one of my favorite albums.) (Also I miss the Royal Armouries in Leeds, where I believe the first panel is located! Either that or Hamburg. Which I also miss.) 

[ Death Cab For Cutie - Summer Years ]

Some Other Place: Fighter

[ Jenny Owen Youngs - Vampire Weeknight ]

Lex returns! You might remember her from short stories of mine here, here and here; you can find other stories set in that universe here. 
I wrote this short comic as a poem many moons ago (remember pre-2020? I sure don't) and turned it into an exercise in drawing fiction again (I say "fiction", but of course Lex basically looks like me minus glasses, plus facial piercings and an undercut). I hope you like it!

***

Stay safe out there and take care of each other! The curve in Berlin has been flattened since I last wrote, but the virus is not gone -- and in fact there is an uptick in cases in Germany at the time of posting. Please remember that indoor gatherings have been shown to be a major vector of transmission, keep social distancing even when you're outdoors, and wear a mask (including over your nose!)

If you're in Germany, in light of the most recent terrible decisions made by what passes for the ministry of the interior at the moment, I recommend picking up a copy of the very good collection of essays Eure Heimat ist unser Albtraum, and reading up about police brutality and the widespread practice of racial profiling in this country. I also suggest following and supporting the work of Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland e.V., on this and many other issues affecting Black lives in Germany.

Clairikine Starter Kits (2020 Edition)

A study in processing an unprecedented pandemic 🚲📱😷 (March 2020, July 2020).