Ruben's Thing: Self Five!

Self-affirmation is a bit of a tired phrase in my ongoing mental dialogue; a topic whose characteristics morph depending on its stimulation- my or others' social interactions. However it's something I keep falling back to- I keep tracing people's behaviors back to this one idea of whether or not self-affirmation is productive.

It can manifest itself in many ways, one being shown above (sorry if this format breaks the rules of the blog- the media being determined by the writing, not vice-versa) as a way to either damage-control after an injurious incident, or to draw attention to oneself after some form of success. A third, more frightening version to me, is the preparatory sense, where the person fills up their cup, or reinforces their esteem for a situation or time period. This seems to be a product of dangerously low self-esteem and a lack of trust in oneself to make it through any difficulties a day might present.

Now my real question becomes "Is there validity or necessity for self-affirmation in my life?" because it looks pretty damn goofy.  Am I above having the need, or even benefitting from saying "I think I can, I think I can" over and over with growing intensity until it turns out I actually CAN become Super Saiyan? Is patting myself on the back helping me progress as a person, or is it hindering how seriously I can take myself, and therefore holding me back from thinking on a higher level?

I apologize because this post is hardly conclusive, I'll tell you that now. But it is something I've been thinking about more and more as stress and hormones slowly deteriorate the kids around me into teary, broken down children who are too caught-up. Affluence is another issue for another, slightly different blog, but I hope this makes sense, and is something somewhat relatable, however divergent it is from the agreed structure of the blog.

Evan's Thing: Tenniscoats テニスコーツ - Baibaba Bimba - A Take Away Show

I'm sure you guys can relate to the kind of rapid clicking that whatever chosen method of internet-surfing has created in us. It's pretty well known that if a youtube video is over about three minutes, your average viewer is going to click away. Plenty of folks are concerned with this shortening attention span. How much it hurts us and whether or not it helps in other ways (like multitasking) is something we should talk about, but not tonight.

Tonight I want to talk about something that has become more rare and valuable to me because of all this stuff. I want to talk about beauty. Arresting beauty, to be specific. Something so damn pretty it stops you in your tracks.

I got thinking about beauty when I stumbled across this painting the other day. I don't care if it was because of the subtlety of the lighting in the foreground, or the absurdism, or the simplicity, but the thing killed my redditbuzz and I couldn't help but close my other tabs and stare at it. For a while. Like longer than I had good reason to.

Just this one painting lifted me out of the rapid-clicking, instant-gratification mode I was in. No gimmicks, no drama, no comedy. Just. Plain. Damn. Beauty.

And it didn't leave me dry afterwords. You know that feeling you get in the last few seconds of a youtube video, when you start scanning for the next thing? Trying desperately to find some other little crumb to entertain your(big dumb stupid)self? None of that. Nada. Just a little itch to do something, make something.

I can't speak for you, and I'm sure that it does a whole bunch of nothing for some people. But the feeling is true. That painting feels bigger than me. It's humbling. It puts me in my place. It makes me feel small and inspires me at the same time. I don't get that feeling very often, and its probably because with so many things competing for my attention, I don't give any of them the chance they deserve. The ones that knock me on my ass really stand out.

That's why I love this video.



If you can, please watch it. Only. Close the other tabs. Turn your phone over. Watch the whole thing. Don't click away.

----------

ps. If you have some extra time on your hands and want to get kicked around a little more, this short story by André Dubus will do that.

Ben's thing: Sakana

SO. There is this webcomic called Sakana. This is a wonderful thing for a few reasons, namely, three. First, it has some of the most incredible characters of any comic. Second, the art style is lovable, unique, iconic, and expressive. The third reason, and why it deserves the first post on this blog, is because it has done an incredible job rising above the struggles and stigma that bog down web comics.

Great plot aside, the characters make the comic worth reading in and of themselves. In conjunction with the pacing of the story, the characters experience real development and change as a believable part of their lives, as opposed to a manufactured or strong-armed plot. While there are tropes throughout the comic, no character can be reduced only a trope. The characters are interesting people dealing with real problems, that range from the mundane,

to, well, less mundane.

Second. The art style. Scott McCloud's defining work, Understanding Comics talks a lot about what goes into making a style. Mad Rupert's art style does develop a great deal throughout the comic, and the characters, to a certain extent, grow with it. Mad has an understanding of each apex of McCloud's three facets of depiction, reality, expression and form. Her characters, their actions, everything depicts with precision not only the reality, but also the subtext, the pieces of information that go beyond literal illustration. She seamlessly integrates the intent of the depiction and the reality of the image, all the while making her panels flow visually, making her, in my opinion, a real, top tier comic artist.

Third and finally, there is the simple fact that Mad, the author of the comic, has done all this through a webcomic, a medium traditionally viewed as unprofessional, unfinished, or juvenile. Perhaps because the comic was never something she forced out, but let it sit while other responsibilities came up, it remained something she was passionate about. Truly though, the largest hurdle Sakana has overcome as a webcomic is the issue of pacing. Sakana can be read either as a serialized comic, or binge read as a graphic novel, but in either path, the pacing of the comic works with the plot. Each panel has a balance of text and visual interest, as well as a steady plot development across several stories that keeps the reader engaged. Or if you are catching up from the beginning, the plot moves along a good enough clip to keep from dragging, but does not fly by so fast that the comic doesn't feel rewarding.

SO. Basically, Sakana is a story about a few guys who work in a fish market, and it's written and illustrated super well. You should all read it.