Feeling the New England fall. The Pharm Life panel was a line I heard float out in passing while public radio was on in the background of my day, and it reminded me of the realization my ex made when we were starting out as young people - starting out on careers, family: there is no way either of us will ever be able to save enough to retire comfortably. Now, at fifty, life has left me financially, emotionally, decimated. At this point, there is no way I'll ever be able to retire, period. I'm down to living paycheck to paycheck, and consider myself lucky if I can afford to provide my children with a warm home. (With Wifi, natch.)
The American Dream that I never even believed in has eluded most of the peers with whom I have kept in touch. I look for meaning, or at least a meaning to keep alive, in the moment. Not always a successful inquiry.
The image for the first frame, when googling images of depression to use as a trace-able model, was of Robin Williams, no doubt posed for when he was doing visibility work in the cause of creating a dialogue around that disease. I squeezed the image to fit the narrow frame, but I see him all the same every time I look at this comic. Sad, considering the struggles of his life, and also considering his death.
The Art frame is two lines from XTC's "The Wheel And The Maypole" off of Wasp Star, Apple Venus Volume 2 (2000). The title, "Harvest Festival", is another song, more bitterly wistful, off of Apple Venus, Volume 1 (1999). "Maypole" drives home the inevitability of everything in nature being tied to the life cycle, employing early British (Pagan?) imagery. Resonates to all of us divorced, I'd warrant.
Again Pharm Life panel improvised, and I'm so happy with how well it works. I am also partial to the color bleed that is happening there, a GIMP remnant that adds a subtle design life to a death-themed tale.
Art holds the Wasp Star album cover imagery, a neon-infused apple. Except, on closer inspection, I've come to realize the apple is likely a human ova being pierced with an inseminating needle. Generative imagery resonating on multiple scales ... at least that's my guess at what they were going for.
Feeling the New England fall. The Pharm Life panel was a line I heard float out in passing while public radio was on in the background of my day, and it reminded me of the realization my ex made when we were starting out as young people - starting out on careers, family: there is no way either of us will ever be able to save enough to retire comfortably. Now, at fifty, life has left me financially, emotionally, decimated. At this point, there is no way I'll ever be able to retire, period. I'm down to living paycheck to paycheck, and consider myself lucky if I can afford to provide my children with a warm home. (With Wifi, natch.)
ReplyDeleteThe American Dream that I never even believed in has eluded most of the peers with whom I have kept in touch. I look for meaning, or at least a meaning to keep alive, in the moment. Not always a successful inquiry.
The image for the first frame, when googling images of depression to use as a trace-able model, was of Robin Williams, no doubt posed for when he was doing visibility work in the cause of creating a dialogue around that disease. I squeezed the image to fit the narrow frame, but I see him all the same every time I look at this comic. Sad, considering the struggles of his life, and also considering his death.
The Art frame is two lines from XTC's "The Wheel And The Maypole" off of Wasp Star, Apple Venus Volume 2 (2000). The title, "Harvest Festival", is another song, more bitterly wistful, off of Apple Venus, Volume 1 (1999). "Maypole" drives home the inevitability of everything in nature being tied to the life cycle, employing early British (Pagan?) imagery. Resonates to all of us divorced, I'd warrant.
Again Pharm Life panel improvised, and I'm so happy with how well it works. I am also partial to the color bleed that is happening there, a GIMP remnant that adds a subtle design life to a death-themed tale.
Art holds the Wasp Star album cover imagery, a neon-infused apple. Except, on closer inspection, I've come to realize the apple is likely a human ova being pierced with an inseminating needle. Generative imagery resonating on multiple scales ... at least that's my guess at what they were going for.