Hi! Merry Christmas! Sorry I haven't updated the site in so long. Honestly, I've been in kind of an ADHD slump? Like, do you ever have so many things you could do, that your brain kind of shuts down on actually picking anything? Yeah, that's where I've been at basically. Along with prepping for the holidays, obviously, and struggling with my depression. But! I don't want to talk about depression. I want to talk about Christmas. Christmas is, legitimately, my favorite time of year. I know that Christmas is a really stressful time for a lot of people, as are the holidays in general. I've been really fortunate that Christmas has always been a nice time for my family... well, not counting the year when half our presents got lost in the mail, my mom got pickpocketed on the Chicago blue line, and our tree was literally drawn on the side of a refrigerator box. That year sucked. But even with how shitty that particular year was, my family and I managed to focus on the fact of us being together, and how nice that is.
It really fucking sucks to be poor, but I think it can really foster a better appreciation of things. I think if I'd grown up with money, a spoiled kid who could get any expensive toy I wanted with no concept of how it could affect the family as a whole, I wouldn't have as much appreciation for the real things that matter: spending time with my family, finding presents that actually coincide with who they are as people, watching It's a Wonderful Life, making a big breakfast and opening presents because it feels good to give. It makes me happy to actually consider my family's personalities and find things that they'll really like, not just products that an Instagram ad tells me are "hot" right now. Presents that show I'm thinking about who they are as people.
My immediate family is extremely small, just three of us, so we're very close. Experiencing shared traumas can really bring people together when the world feels like it's out to get you. Luckily, that circle has expanded slightly in the last few years, with my and my brother's girlfriends. The only thing nicer than a really small, intimate Christmas is getting to share that with other people, and spread some actual Christmas joy instead of the capitalist, commercial bullshit I see every time I go out. I had to go to Target last week after months of avoiding it, and I was appalled by hearing a "Christmas song" all about how fun it is to shop and spend money, followed immediately by one about how "I don't need presents, love is the real gift!" That, plus seeing a $9 plastic clothespin being sold as a bicycle accessory -- as opposed to just putting a fucking wooden one on your bike -- made me absolutely irate. There used to be a time when kids would use a clothespin to stick a playing card on their bike so it would make noise against the spokes, and now that simple, innocent childhood quirk is being commodified in plastic and sold for nine fucking dollars. Our society can't collapse soon enough.
I hope that 2026 will bring us all closer to a world of true compassion and care. A world where we can eventually forget capitalism and focus on each other as people, as human beings and as aspects of our larger world. I don't know when that world can happen, I don't know how we can achieve it. It feels like a pretty hopeless wish. But Christmas is a time for wishes, right?
Anyway, thanks for looking at my silly site, I hope it brings you some joy. I have more comics that need scanning, so expect those soooooooonish? Happy holidays, and here's to creating a new year with compassion and understanding.