I know that it’s been over a month since you last got a Jet-Pack Jenny fix, but in that time I redrew and colored strip #2, which, when one only takes 1/2 hour a day to work on it, takes a lot of time.

Currently on my drawing table is the next strip, and because the next few strips are going to very expository, I’m going to resort to Wally Wood’s 22 panels that always work. I’m not doing them in order, but I am doing them. I’ll also color this one, immediately after posting the black & white online. I’m thinking about saving a lot of the steps in order to make either a process animated gif or video.

I don’t know if anyone felt the last blog post was out of place, but like it or not, being a skeptic is something that I’m about. I’m neglecting the other blogs that I started in favor of making this my home online. I may try to incorporate them here as long as I can figure out an easy way to post them and keep them backdated to reflect the order in which they were done.

Anyway, it’s morning and I’ll need to hop in the shower in a minute. Thanks for listening.

But, masters, remember that I am an ass; though it be not written down, yet forget not that I am an ass.

-Wm. Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4, Scene 2

It’s out there, it’s acknowledged, so now it can be dealt with.

Recently, it was brought to my attention again that I am an insufferable ass. It’s not a point of pride, just a facet of my personality, just as intolerance of cruelty towards others is a facet of my personality. I am much less of an asshole than I used to be. I work hard at being a better person, and emphasizing those parts of my personality that I’d much rather be seen by people than just my being an ass.

Perhaps being an ass is not a facet of my personality so much as a product of the things that make up my personality. Could it be that an ass is not as accurate description of one’s personality as much a convenient and brief descriptor of the various aspects of a personality? Lend me, if you will, a few moments to explore the issue.

I am curious about the world around me. It’s not the type of curiosity you exhibited by small children, where everything is something to be explored and tested.  I pay attention to the news, to politics, and things that catch that generally catch my eye. I’ve been that way for so long, I cannot understand how anyone can cease being curious. Problems may initially seem to big to understand, but experience has taught me that there is not a problem too large for a human being to understand.

I am an intelligent person. I’m not bragging. I have been told by people that I am knowledgeable about a great many things and I have tested well whenever the circumstances have arisen that my intelligence has come into question. I retain knowledge well, and have enough sense that when confronted with a problem that I do not immediately recall the answer to, I can generally find the answer in a limited amount of time.  I do not claim to be a fountain of knowledge, but I do get constantly amazed whenever I see a lack of knowledge in others.

I think this brings up the aspect that may make me an ass. I cannot fathom people not being curious or feeling proud of ignorance. In this week’s episode of Real Time, Bill Maher went on about the statistics of belief that Americans held. These are baffling to me, and yes, if you respond to me commenting on my cold by recommending Zicam, yes, I will probably correct you on the ineffectiveness and the potential harm of overdosing on Zinc. If you want to espouse on how man didn’t evolve because it disagres with a literal interpretation of the Bible, I may just dismiss you. If you try to dismiss intellectuals as not having common sense, I may remind you that without those intellectuals you might have already died from smallpox, influenza, polio, or the measles. If you tell me that Obama was born in Kenya, I may just ask you for proof.

Yes, I guess I should probably just let people live in their ignorance, but ignorant adults raise ignorant children into more ignorant adults. Ignorant people gather together and reinforce each other’s pride in their ignorance. Ignorant people are ready to believe things blindly and that leads us into witch hunts, unjust wars, and death. I cannot tolerate prideful ignorance, and perhaps that is what makes me an ass.

The quote is from Dogberry, a character that Shakespeare used to poke fun at citizenry given power that they are unqualified for. It was written before the days of American law where we would like to think that those with power are qualified, yet that all are equal. We all have access to the same knowledge, especially in the age of the Internet. However, if I respond to ignorance with overpowering correction, I can appear to be arrogant, and yes, let it be written down that I am an ass.

So, in the effort to not be an ass, I believe that I need to try a different response to ignorance, even willful ignorance needs to be an approach that encourages curiosity. Where did the Moon come from? Well, where would you go to find that out? I need to be less confrontational, and more encouraging of exploration. I need to lead them to the truth, not prove that they’re wrong. I’ve been going about it the wrong way for years. It’s not just about me being right.

So yes, I am ass. But I’m trying hard not to be.

Someone once voiced concern to me that I told too much about my life on the Internet. Well, there have been a few hiccups along the way, but I came to the conclusion that as a cartoonist, and now almost primarily an online cartoonist, a lot of my life is out there. Not to mention that a great deal of my personal life goes into my comics, even if they’re not autobiographical.

A good cartoonist puts themselves into their work. I did it in Factor of 01 on August 4, 2010 when Tom Winchester says “I’ve lost my family.” Yeah, that panel was all me. I’m currently starting a new autobiographical comic, and the stories I’ve done in the past that were autobiographical have put me in a position where I have to be completely honest in my personal life. Do I share everything? No, but the stuff that I share I need to be honest about. I still stand by the opinion that I formed ten years ago. If I’m not being honest with my readers, then why in the world would they want to read more from me?

With other people, it’s different. I wouldn’t include anyone in a story without at least their knowledge. In the case of the current autobiographical project, someone else will probably have a very large role in it. In this case, approval is paramount, but would I compromise the story if they were to veto? I wouldn’t compromise, but I would change the structure enough to meet their concerns.

That being said, I follow the rule of behaving as if you were were already at where you wanted to be. I am a cartoonist. Eventually, I would like Jet-Pack Jenny to be better known, and people coming here to read new content to feel included in the discussion around new comics and posts that have to do with the relationship between art and science, skepticism, atheism, and politics. I want people coming here to feel like part of the process, and just like what I did on August 4, 2010, I want people to know that part of me goes into these stories and I want to feel that from time to time, they’ll be part of these stories. If things go as planned, the ending to Factor of 01 will actually incorporate an idea from someone else, who made a suggestion for incorporating themes from a sonata. I’m incorporating it not because of who they were, but because it was a great idea.

That’s why I life my life online.

I just went back and re-read this, as I’m prone to do. It’s from last October (and has been since changed to private status) and it still applies, so I’m re-posting it now.

Is it bleak and dark? Yes, at times. Now, for a spiritual person, this is the time that they fall back on their faith. However, I am not a spiritual person. True believers that do not understand the atheist mindset would say that someone in a hypothetical situation like mine as having no reason to continue. So why do I just not end the suffering now? After all, it’ll probably be bad for some time. However, I know that this is all the life I get. It’s more precious to me than it was when I was clinging to faith. I will not throw it away in the hope of something less painful waiting after death. I have this one life and when it’s done, there’s nothing left. I will not throw it away.

For the record, I have been an utter asshole during my life, especially to my ex-wife. I have many character flaws and much of my life has been a continuous effort to repair them. However, I have always been devoted to my friends and willing to drop everything if they needed me. Whenever someone has called me in tears, I’ve been willing to spend hours on the phone with them. If they told me that they needed someone with them, I would be there. If you’re one of my friends, I want you to know that, because I don’t think I’ve said it often enough.