Personally, I love this blog because it is has been my [web]log/diary for the past six years of the movies I have watched, books I have read, and the galleries and museums I have visited.
I often return to it to see what I wrote about something. Although I put it out there, I do not think anyone reads it or cares about it, and that's totally fine for me because more important than having a virtual archive and an audience is that the creation of each post truly makes me think more. Instead of just seeing/experiencing something and moving on, knowing I am going to write about a topic makes me think intensely about it.
When I first started, I felt a great liberation from what I typically knew of content creation, which was editorial approval and fitting into certain publications at specific times. And unlike the Bill Woodman quote about cartooning and facing the blank sheet of paper as the "blazing island of white" and the panic behind that, the blank screen is more like a feeling of endless possibilities, like having all the stores, laundromats, and libraries in your area switch to a 24-hour schedule.
The one thing I do miss in this blog, is the sense of character development. I mean, there's me writing about all this stuff but I miss the creation of life. I studied biology and art, and I loved how creating cartoon characters was like creating a new organism, and you could define all the governing properties. I drew a lot, and made a lot of characters, some of which can be seen on an old blog of mine with linked sites from it: drewmartincartoons. I somehow pushed all that away and dismissed it as something in my past.
That's why I gravitated to a documentary I watched last night called STRIPPED. From the official website of the film:
STRIPPED brings together the world’s best cartoonists to talk about the art form they love, and what happens to it as newspapers die. Over 70 interviews were conducted, including the first-ever audio interview with Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes)...
It is actually a really well-done documentary, and it talks about where comics came from and where they are going.
Watch the trailer to get a sneak peek.