August 7th, 2023 It’s no secret that Ashley Maypole, the main character of my comic The Flying Squirrel, is the Weirdo most like me. He’s an alcoholic comic book writer with Imposter Syndrome and an unhealthy obsession with squirrels. He has a son and a Boston Terrier and a best friend who looks a lotContinue reading “The Weirdos, Part I: The Flying Squirrel”
Tag Archives: Empathy
The Words I Needed Then
July 31st, 2023 Today is the last day of Brushfire month, which means I can shut up about it for a little while now. I tell people that I don’t write for an audience, and that is generally true; I don’t sit down and think of a target person, their age or gender or preferencesContinue reading “The Words I Needed Then”
Bad Brains + Bad Hearts
July 1st, 2023 The world lately has me feeling a kind of sick, and I’ve been having to remind myself of a lesson I learned early in sobriety. When I got better, my first instinct was to help everyone else get better, too. It’s not a bad instinct, but it’s a naïve one, and itContinue reading “Bad Brains + Bad Hearts”
Cold World: Communication & Understanding
June 20th, 2023 I was working at my first adult serving job when a woman sat down in my section and radically changed my perspective on people. Applebee’s was the catalyst for this revelation. See, I worked at Chili’s. And this woman wanted — nay, was compelled — to tell me about a terrible restaurantContinue reading “Cold World: Communication & Understanding”
Cold World: Faith & Spirituality
June 16th, 2023 “It’s not that I don’t believe in anything. I just haven’t found the thing that makes sense to me yet.” That’s how I usually answer the question of whether I’m religious or believe in God. The formal term is agnostic; I learned that the difference between being agnostic or atheist is thatContinue reading “Cold World: Faith & Spirituality”
Cold World: Loss & Grief
June 14th, 2023 Cold World was the first time I explored the loss of my mom in fiction. I do it here, on the internet, all the time. Your responses to that type of writing has ranged from “this is exactly how I feel, thank you for writing this” to “this makes me very uncomfortable,”Continue reading “Cold World: Loss & Grief”
How To Be Kind & Think For Yourself
June 7th, 2023 I was going to write about something else today, but Elliot Page has a new book coming out and I’ve been watching his insightful interviews and I want to talk about how we decide to be decent people. Sometimes, more than often than I’d hope, somebody around me will say something disrespectfulContinue reading “How To Be Kind & Think For Yourself”
61
May 31st, 2023 The older I get, the less I try to use the word “hate,” but today is the worst day of the year, and I hate it. It’s my mom’s birthday, which is worse than her death day, because that day was something that happened and is done, while her birthday is aboutContinue reading “61”
Football is Life (and Death)
May 30th, 2023 I’m posting this absolute thirst trap to talk about my two favorite shows right now which, like this photo, are about soccer and not about soccer at all. Yellowjackets and Ted Lasso couldn’t be more different on paper, but they share more than their European football connection; they compliment one another, andContinue reading “Football is Life (and Death)”
Platform of Pain
May 19th, 2023 If you would have told me when I was a kid that I would eventually build my life on hurt, I would have told you that you say really weird things to kids. But you would have been right. I was having a recorded conversation with a friend earlier this week (forContinue reading “Platform of Pain”
The Den 