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Everything Is an Emergency

Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Excessive orderliness, perfectionism, attention to details, a need for control.

This isn't listed on my shrink bills--I'm always told I have "chronic adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety"--but, to me, OCD seems like it's not quite a stranger.

In high school, I would stare at various traffic lights: If the light changed at a time to my liking, this would mean I'd get into the college I wanted. Now, I stare at the annual Christmas tree and dream of rearranging and re-re-arranging and re-re-re-arranging the lights: There is a certain configuration of lights I can see in my head, or almost see, and if I can achieve that configuration, the world will be bearable.

If I buy a hard-cover book and create just a tiny dent in the jacket, it's almost like a physical pain. I can't stop staring at the dent. I desperately dream of fixes: If I put, like, a Chiquita banana sticker over the dent, will it stop bothering me so much?

For these reasons, I'm interested in the cartoonist Jason Kazenstein: https://twitter.com/JasonAdamK?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Mr. Katzenstein has a "graphic memoir" coming out: "Everything Is an Emergency-- An OCD Story in Words and Pictures." The cover has Jason cowering in a corner and shaking, and his head is half-transformed....It's a record-player, suggesting circular, obsessive thoughts.

The description: "A story about self-destructive myth-making....checking....washing....intrusive thoughts....and cats....among other things....."

This is a man after my own heart.

Katzenstein's restlessness and creativity--he seems to produce several cartoons per day--would move any aspiring artist. Katzenstein's curiosity and political engagement are admirable; though I don't share his Bernie fondness, I'm interested in his thinking. And Katzenstein's honesty and self-deprecation are rare qualities.

Finally, I have to point out another recent JK comic: Joseph, from the Bible, returns to a restaurant to speak with the coat-check lady: "Have you seen my coat? It was red...and green...and olive....and faun....and scarlet...and black....and ocher.....and brown....."

Happy weekend to you!
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