No. 30 - April 2025
What a cruel and banal world where we know the truth of everything.
“What a cruel and banal world where we know the truth of everything.”
-Bodkin, Poison or Something
Even if you don’t watch Severance, you’re probably aware of it after the release of season 2 and subsequent explosion in popularity. I drafted this newsletter at the end of March, just after the season 2 finale. I got too busy to finish and send it until now. Maybe that’s a good thing if you were suffering from Severance fatigue a month ago…maybe I’m just telling myself that because I’m bad at timely marketing. Either way…
I watched the first two episodes of Severance on a flight in the summer of 2023. Later that evening, after arriving to my destination and settling in, I subscribed to Apple TV. I finished the season on my laptop in bed over the next few nights, fully engrossed and in love with the world and story they created. I watched season 1 three times over the next year and a half. I listened to Severed: The Ultimate Severance Podcast. This was before Ben Stiller and Adam Scott started their own Severance podcast, which I also listened to. I followed the show on Reddit. People shared interesting things that inspired the story, like Axiomatic by Greg Egan. But because it’d been over a year since the season 1 finale and season 2 was a distant idea off in the future, the fandom was pretty quiet overall.
Then season 2 dropped and the show was everywhere. It was loud and constant. The Grand Central promo event happened. This 8 hour Odesza remix dropped (which is so good). My Instagram feed was full screenshots and memes. The subreddits were endlessly busy, full of thoughts and theories and criticisms. People started complaining that each new episode didn’t give enough information or clues or hints. Every detail was torn apart in an attempt to link 18 disparate moments from 7 different episodes into a coherent idea proving just how smart and clever the theorizer was and how they had caught what no one else could and what the show creators never expected them to notice!
I hated it.
I didn’t hate it in the annoying “I liked it before you guys” way, because I didn’t watch the first season until over a year after it came out. I understand it’s a mysterious show and of course part of the fun is trying to unravel what’s going on. I was a fan of LOST as it was airing so I understand the culture that emerges around so-called mystery box shows.
I hated it because most people were focused on solving the show instead of experiencing it.
The show is a beautiful piece of artwork, created by a talented group of people. I really enjoyed the Ben Stiller and Adam Scott podcast because they talk so much about the process of making the show. It’s a meticulous production so of course many, many elements were always planned. But other things unfolded on set, decisions were made in the moment that felt right, changes came about as they moved forward with production, small details were contributed by the decisions of the actors or the cinematographer or the director. It was a collaborative piece of art that morphed and emerged and came to be throughout the process of shared creation.
Severance is a powerful story about consciousness and awareness and emotion, connection and love and grief. It’s about what it means to be a human and a person and how our environment and experience shapes us. It asks (literally and figuratively) “Who are you?”. There’s as much mystery in that exploration as in the actuality of what MDR does, what the numbers mean, and what Lumon is up to. It’s a special, powerful narrative that I felt was lost in the fervor to “solve” the story.
I saw Castaway in theaters way back in 2000. The angel wing embossed FedEx box is the only package Tom Hanks doesn’t open after his crash as he desperately looks for anything that can help him survive. The desire to deliver this unique package gives him the purpose and drive to eventually escape the island. 11 year old me was incensed when we finally see him deliver the box at the end of the film but we don’t see what’s inside. The box is never opened, the contents never revealed. I thought about that a lot afterwards and eventually (like years later) realized I would have been disappointed no matter what was inside of it. Nothing in the package could have ever lived up to to the idea of the package.
Often, the “answer” is never as satisfying as we hope. The reality is rarely as special or meaningful as what we are able conjure in our imagination or the meaning we’re able to ascribe. Once we know, there is no more wonder, no more awe. The expansive feeling of possibility collapses. The mystery dead ends. The magic of not knowing is gone.
I enjoyed season 2 of Severance. I have no desire to theorize or guess what might come next or to unravel some of the mysteries that still remain. I’m happy to exist in the not knowing and to experience the story of humanity, eternally full of confusion and wonder and mystery and possibility.
Sierra Magazine - For The Birds
The lead and 3 spots went with a feature in the Spring issue called For The Birds. It was full of tips for attracting and feeding birds in your backyard.
This was such an enjoyable project. Definitely one where I just got lost in having fun with the shapes of the bushes and splash of the water and getting the vacant but charming expressions of the birds just right. I say this with affection - I love those little idiots.
Positive Movement
In addition to my illustration work I teach barre and cycling at a studio here in Portland. I’m coming up on my 3 year anniversary of teaching and something like 7 years of taking classes there. Finding that community and building a consistent exercise routine has had such a positive impact on my life. It’s something I wish for everyone.
With that in mind I’m hoping to blend those two worlds more closely and illustrate more sports, exercise, and movement focused work in the future. You can email my agency or me directly if you have a project in mind :)
Real Simple - Simple Twists
I’m woefully behind on sharing the monthly work I do for Real Simple which is a shame because it’s always a favorite. I do well at the intersection of art and information, which is exactly what this feature is each month. Most recently the topic of the May issue was tips for gardening. Just in time if you’re starting to get in your yard as the weather turns.
And
I’ve just wrapped up quite a few projects that I’ll be excited to share next time. As usual when I get busy with deadlines I smashed through a lot of podcasts. If you like serialized investigative journalism you’ll like The Lazarus Heist, What About Holly?, Spy Valley, Operation Morning Light, The Illuminator, and Aftermath: The Hunt for the Anthrax Killer.
I read I’m Starting to Worry About this Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin after waiting ages for it from the library. It was both familiar and and unique at the same time. Very timely as we increasingly exist in a hellish online landscape.
I finally watched Perfect Blue directed by Satoshi Kon. It’s been on my list for ages and now I need to watch it several more times to catch all the details and enjoy the beautiful animation again. It’s a story about perfectionism and perception/image. The online element feels especially prescient for it’s 1998 release. Synchronistically, it poses the same question as Severance.
I did get away from my desk a few times, including for a really lovely evening with my husband where we suddenly found ourselves in this perfect moment in downtown Portland. The echo of the piano, the sound of the skateboards, the long spring evening after all the darkness of winter really felt like magic :)