This week’s new Dustinland comic is about how my cat wakes me up the moment the birds start chirping. And it’s spring, so that means WAY TOO EARLY.
It’s really amazing how much we put up with just because we’re susceptible to cuteness. I have upended my entire life to this tiny creature just because she’s cute. Really unfair we are so dumb.
Not too much to say about this new Dustinland comic! It’s about how it feels weird to throw out underwear. Do you experience this odd feeling, or is it just me?
Also I’m realizing this is my second underwear-themed comic in about a year. I did another last year after I had to buy some and got overwhelmed by how much options there were at the store. Underwhelmed and overwhelmed! Who knew?
This week’s new Dustinland comic was inspired by the recent events in the NYC subways in which a mentally ill homeless man was subdued by a passenger and placed in a chokehold, which wound up killing him. As a life-long New Yorker, I have been trapped in many train cars with raving lunatics, and in this comic I tell a story about one of these instances.
It’s all just such a depressing mess at the end of the day. We just seem so hopeless as a nation. We can’t do anything for anyone, even when we have the money to do so, we’re just too corrupt and inept. Maybe it’s just human nature, I don’t know. Like I say in the comic, I’m just trying to live. Maybe not the best way to solve the world’s problems, but if you’ve got the answers, please let me know.
Posted in New York
Tagged commute, homeless, homelessness, just don't, mental health, mental health crisis, new york, new york city, NYC, PTSD, subway
This week’s new Dustinland comic is about the urge to grab your phone, the compulsion to capture a moment and share it. This need so often takes us out of the moment, stops of from enjoying what we’re doing and makes us focus on how to share it, the best way to use our phones to capture it, what the caption should say, what kind of post it should be, etc… And while it’s a cliche that a picture or even a video can’t truly capture what it’s like to experience a moment in person, what I hope I’m adding to the story is in frame 3: the fact that no one cares. And really, no one cares — don’t confuse polite likes and comments with caring. Your magical moment is nothing but a tiny distraction for everyone else, something we scroll past at worst, and spend maybe 20 seconds at best if we choose to comment.
Someone I once knew used to say “Sometimes you take the picture, sometimes the picture takes you.” I think that’s truer now than ever before.
Posted in philosophy
Tagged calm, camera, facebook, instagram, moment, philosophy, phone, phone addiction, photography, screens, sharing, social media, social network, tiktok, video, zen
This week’s Dustinland comic is really an advertising/marketing comic. that’s my day job, my real job, the thing that gets me paid. Many people have told me I should draw advertising industry themed comics but I just don’t want to. I want my comics to be a break from all that, not just an extension of it. BUT… once in a while I make an exception and this is one of those instances.
This one is a true story, word for word, except the last two panels only happened in my head. But the first two really did occur. And you know, it’s complicated. As a parent, you don’t want to dissuade your kid from anything. And you don’t want them to hear too much negativity from adults about their careers. But at the same time, you see the things you don’t like about your path, and you don’t want them to repeat it. And that’s sort of where I am.
I mean… did advertising provide me with a great life? 100%. Can it be fun and creative at times? Definitely. Do I often work with smart, wonderful people? Yes. So I am so grateful for my career and everything I do. I really do feel lucky and thankful.
That being said… I feel like the big issues I have with advertising or marketing as an industry are more metaphysical. It’s more about purpose, or the lack thereof. And that’s what I want for my son. I don’t just want him to make money — although that’s nice and does solve a lot of problems. I want him to have a sense of purpose. I feel like most people in advertising don’t have that, and really, why should we? Sure, you can do some cause-related stuff from time to time, or maybe you get lucky and work on some brand that pretends to care about some social justice issue you agree with, but ultimately we’re just helping people sell stuff to other people via emotional manipulation. And while we can debate the necessity of advertising for hours, that’s not the point. It’s not about whether it’s needed or good or bad or anything. It’s about how working in this does or doesn’t give you a reason to wake up in the morning. And I hope my child grows up to do something where he wakes up not just wanting to make money or win some award or make his boss happy. I want him to wake up feeling passionate about what he’s doing with his life, feeling like he’s making a difference or creating something he cares about.
Am I talking about myself? Maybe. Maybe I’m talking to younger me. Isn’t that what your kids are, in a sense?
Posted in parenthood, work
Tagged ads, advertising, art director, career, copywrtier, creative director, dad life, dads, father, fatherhood, job, kids, mad men, marketing, parenthood, parenting, parenting tips, raising kids, work
This week’s new Dustinland comic is about the thing it’s about. And really, it’s about talking about that thing. Or talking about lots of things.
These days you can’t really talk about anything because everyone is insane and angry 24/7. So that’s what the comic is really about. And I’ll leave it at that.
Posted in politics
Tagged angry, cancel, cancel culture, debate, gender, ignorance, offended, offensive, political comic, politics, transformers, us politics
This week’s new Dustinland comic is about my relatively recent philosophy of “just don’t.” It really works in most situations. Of course I don’t mean “just don’t strive for anything in life.” It’s more about all those little moments of doubt. Those instances where part of you deep down inside knows you shouldn’t, but you convince yourself you should because you fantasize about the unlikely outcome occurring, rather than the likely outcome, which is going to not be what you want.
Over all it’s more of a slow and thoughtful approach to life. Why be hasty? Why foolishly act when you can take your time and consider things? All jokes aside, I really do think the world could use a little more of this, especially these days.
Posted in philosophy
Tagged buddhism, calm, just do it, just don't, negativity, philosophy, positivity
This week’s new Dustinland comic is about failure. But not actually about failure itself — it’s really about the modern approach to failure. After hearing all these successful people talking about how it’s okay to fail, we need to fail, go out and fail… not only is it annoying, but also, you never hear the stories of the people who ONLY fail. If you only fail, the ending to your story is not a good one, and you don’t get to tell it to an adoring crowd while holding an award, or on page 385 of your autobiography.
I mean, of course the idea is to tell people “don’t be afraid of failing,” and that you can’t play it safe if you want to succeed, but let’s not make it sound like failing is this wonderful experience, like experimenting with art on a canvas. In real life, failing is usually pretty shitty, and can have some very real impacts on your life.
So how about we tweak the way we talk about failing. Failing is not something to embrace. It’s something to avoid. But if it happens, it’s okay. You’ll be fine. Probably. Usually.
Today’s new Dustinland comic is about the term “drop.” As in how any new product or piece of art “drops.” It’s just an annoying term that I hope will be short lived. Maybe one day we’ll look back at it and laugh like we do at ’60s lingo like “groovy” and “far out.”
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