In 2011, I started drawing for reasons other than work. For the first time in 15 years, I drew for fun. I made drawings out of the trash culture that I grew up with - superhero comics, cartoons, straight-to-video genre movies, pro wrestling, Mtv. Like most marketing, that escapist fare usually promised more than it delivered. But those lurid video boxes, melodramatic comics, and graphic magazine covers fueled my imagination. ​

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Using ballpoint pens, I draw in notebooks the same way I did in school during class. Back then I drew out of boredom, and maybe my suburban existence inspired this return. At times I think drawing helps me escape from the dreariness of daily news. Sunni Brown's TED Talk about doodling's "profound impact on the way we process information" suggests these drawings may help me process our information-saturated world. Or they may be nostalgia as I struggle with middle age.