There was a period of years, early brain-tender years, when all I did was watch cartoons. The medium, its tropes, its lines and palettes and voices, all are seared into deep layers of memory. Influencing my vision, my sense of language, of humor, of self. Influencing the way I interact with others. Excavating this imagery, taking control of it, uncovering hidden connections and meanings and making these elements speak my truth, has been a kind of exorcism, cleansing and empowering.