2. Booze good, drugs bad (Part I) – SEE SAW Comics, Webcomics from the Sequential Artists Workshop

2. Booze good, drugs bad (Part I)

Title page: "2. Booze good, drugs bad"

A younger Lynn in full color looks at herself in a full-length mirror. She wears a frilly headband, and a blue dress and blue heels that are too big for her. She is blowing bubbles with bubble gum. Lynn holds a pillow in her hand, which she then puts under her dress to mimic a pregnant belly. She takes off one of the heels, eyes closed. She gazes directly at the reader, looking solemn and placing her hands over her pillow-belly. She thinks, "She must've looked like this..."

Lynn lounges on a couch, back to chewing bubble gum. She looks content and unbothered as she reads a Nancy Drew book. She thinks to herself, "Whatever..." Lynn narrates, "I didn't care for mysteries as a girl, perhaps because my origins were enough of a puzzle. I never finished the one Nancy Drew book I had. Comics were more my jam. Things I grew up NOT knowing: The 23-year-old woman who gave birth to me was named Pam. Being pregnant and unmarried in 1961 was not in her plans, and the poor thing vomited incessantly throughout the pregnancy. It was her first one. Besides the normal anxieties about childbirth and having some kind of pod creature tumbling around in her belly, she had no moral support from her family." A whimsical little pod creature smiles contentedly in the uterus of a pregnant belly.

Lynn as narrator continues: "The pod creature grew and grew, reaching an uncomfortable nine and a half pounds." Young Lynn blows her gum-bubble bigger and bigger and bigger, until it is almost the size of her face. Narration continues: "I drew my first breath after nine months of bonding in utero. But was I me yet?" The bubble has popped and coats Lynn's face. She is reading a Comic Kids magazine and thinks to herself, "Far out!" Narrator: "It's generally accepted that what pops out is more like a combo, a mother/baby - an emotional, psychological, spiritual unit. Mother and baby have separated physically but remain psychologically fused for months afterward. This period of time in the love pod is crucial for both to acclimate to life after the pregnancy." We zoom in on a page from the magazine, a colorful ad for Sea Monkeys - the Real Live Pets You Grow Yourself. Lynn pulls her gum into a string until it is longer than her forearm.

Lynn as narrator: "So I wasn't quite me yet when I was taken from Pam, directly after they cut the cord. I was placed in a separate ward for babies awaiting adoption. Against protocol, Pam managed to have some clandestine visits with me, due to her being a nurse working off her room and board at the home. I was born with the moon in Gemini (the twins). Perhaps this reinforced the dualistic nature of my first few weeks: mother/baby in moments with Pam, then unspeakable void/baby when removed. Lynn pours the sea monkey powder into a large fish bowl. She thinks happily of the sea monkey figures in the ad. She then gazes solemnly at the fish bowl, as Lynn narrates "Mother/baby, void/baby." She presses her head to the glass: "Mother/baby, void/baby."

Published On: October 31, 2023

Enzo waits in a park for Kim to pick him up, on a strip of sidewalk surrounded by grass. He wears a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, all black or simply silhouetted. There are lamp posts and palm trees in the background. "April 20. Worked. Enz left school early, coughing a lot. Went to Mom's while Enz did mock trial. Picked him up from the park."

Vanessa sits on a couch hugging her knees to her chest. A man sits next to her. They both look solemn, and are colored entirely in blue, except for their brown hair.

Vanessa lies in a neon green hospital bed with her legs in stirrups. She is actively in labor. Two people hold onto her legs, encouraging her.

Lorraine wears a pink-orange Butterick 2920 dress and jewelry. She smiles and holds up a dirty martini. She says, "The doctor says it calms my nerves. We won't be out too late."

Kim sits at a desk but is turned to face the viewer. A PC, keyboard and mouse are on the desk, and there is a chair a couple feet away. She is wearing glasses and comfortable clothes. Her legs are crossed. She holds a pencil in one hand, and grabs her shoulder with the other. Her dog sits at her feet; his ear is turned inside out. She points out that he's worried. "April 14. Worked on final project for class all day. Neck hurt. Tony took this picture because Molly and I both looked a mess. Enzo got a bad report card yesterday so we laid out some repercussions."

Lynn, in black and white, chugs from a glass.

A cat sits at a window sill, looking boldly at the reader. The fronds of a palm tree are reflected in the window. "April 8. Thursday. Worked. Tony had a union meeting, via Zoom. I had a call w/ team member from class. Enzo had mock trial."

Derek, wearing an orange turtle neck, poses with his arms outstretched above his head and making peace signs. His eyes are closed and he is smiling; he appears smug. There are camera flashes surrounding him, and two people hold microphones up to him. He says, "Hey! There's nothin' wrong with crying. Or been' soft. Or pig boys. I'm still a nice guy and that's what matters."

A person dressed in a green park ranger uniform holds a boom box over a beaver's dam. It plays water sounds. A beaver works on the dam and thinks, "Whatever, I don't care where I build it."

A girl looks over at a dog, who sits behind a fence. A red sign reads "BAD DOG."

A reddish brown building with smoking chimneys.

Derek sleeps in a hammock. He says, "JFC. KMS."

"Rory runs in a field surrounded by palm trees and other foliage. Description: "April 2. Watched Rory. Worked."

Young Lynn gazes at herself in a full length mirror. She is wearing a blue dress and too-big blue heels. She appears pregnant.

Derek sits on the floor with one of his kids, who reads a book and looks slightly bored. The title reads "Escape." Derek is talking to his kid.

Kim sits at a picnic table amongst trees and foliage. Caption: "March 26-27. Worked. Enzo's mock trial team won circuits. A co-worker bought me pho for my bday. I ate it at the park on break."

"Women often say they become invisible as they get older." Vanessa walks in a crowd, sandwiched by two fashionable younger women walking in different directions.

Part of a hand-drawn and colored map, labeled: "The Southwest Corner of Minneapolis in the 1960s..."

A man, likely Tony, stands on a ladder against the roof of a house, positioned right by a satellite dish. The house door is open. Reeds in the corner add a sense of balance to the panel. Description reads: "March 20. Saturday. Worked. Two summer permaculture practicums are now being offered. It will focus on the installations of food forests. Might have to quit my job in order to take'm. Anxious about the financial hit but I'd have more time for art/comics."

A black and white image of a house, with trees in the front and back and a speech bubble that reads, "What's new?"

Three people sit at a round kitchen table on a checkered tile floor. They appear to be in conversation. Description reads: "March 14. Spent the night at moms place in Bradenton. Ann and Mariely are on the night shift so we visited with them when they got home in the morning. Afterwards we got takeout breakfast and walked in the woods. Drove home after and relaxed."

Derek dressed like Uncle Sam, in a triumphant pose

Kim stands at a threshold, looking into a room with tiled floors, a dresser, a large artwork of trees hanging on the wall, and a small waste bin. Description reads: "MARCH 7 SUNDAY"

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