Adopted the Comic

Help Like My Artist Profile

Jess — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:44:09 +0000

Hi all =) I finally got around to updating my personal adoption and artwork website from the ground up, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. If you like my work, you might like some of the other projects that I’m a part of. Also you may be interested in my blog that’s on my site, where I reflect on mainly adoption, and sometimes art:

www.jessica-emmett.com

After years of being an artist, I finally started to get my own facebook artist profile. Help me kickstart this by liking my facebook page here:

www.facebook.com/JessicaEmmettArtist

^.^ Thanks!

Interholiday

Jess — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:46:12 +0000

It’s got to that time of year and here is our festive holiday comic =). While not inspired by, it reminds me of one of my favorite xmas films Nightmare Before Christmas =).

As a little extra we have we have made available a ecard* friendly image great for email. It’s not everyday you’ll find an adoption themed card, i know i’ve looked =P.
Either click the image to the left or click the link below to the jpeg:
www.adoptedthecomic.com/ecards/Adopted-the-Comic-Interholiday-ecard.jpg (370 KB)

As another little present I made live drawing video where you can see from start to finish how I drew this comic:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

original at Youtube: youtu.be/kBlVSYaYnGk

You can also find the first live drawing of a girl character video on the Adopted the Comic Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/adoptedthecomic?sk=app_205521576149308

A very happy holidays & happiness for the new year from us here at Adopted the Comic.

*for personal use.

Adopted the Comic is Two!

Jess — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:18:33 +0000

Adopted the comic is 2 years old \o/. Thanks everyone for the support and words of encouragement =)

We try and do the comic as much as we can, but as you can image life gets in the way a lot of the time. We still have comics in the pipeline and we hope that we can keep the comic going =). We have been honoured to be able to add to the community and two years ago we just weren’t sure how people would take “adoption humor” but I’m glad to see people enjoying our work. A big huge thanks to everyone adoption or not =D. You guys rock!

Language

Jess — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:32:14 +0000

We are proud to post this comic. This is one of three comics that was commissioned by Somewhere Between a documentary film. We were asked to create comic around the theme of “Language” and this is what we came up with =).

“SOMEWHERE BETWEEN examines what it is like to come-of-age as a trans-racial adoptee in today’s America, as seen through the eyes of four of the 79,562 adopted girls from China. Through the voices of these young women, we will see not just their lives, but our own, reflected back to us – whether we are adoptive families or not. SOMEWHERE BETWEEN will start a dialogue about what we see, who we are, and the changing face of the American family.”

Linda wrote for the Adopted the Comic September 2010 Newsletter:

“The reason we wanted to commission the comics for the documentary is because they use HUMOR…and so brilliantly. As Jessica said to me when we first met – she hoped that my film wouldn’t be all unicorns and rainbows in regards to examining the topic of adoption…but also not all dark and tormented…”

We would love to congratulate Somewhere Between for their success so far in the many film festivals they’ve been a part of this year and can’t wait for them to have a wider international screening/distribution *hint hint wink wink from the uk* =P.

Found out more about the film, see the trailer and sign up for email updates go to their official website:
www.somewherebetweenmovie.com

Find and support them on Facebook and Twitter where you can see updates, photos and hear the impact the film is having on people:
www.facebook.com/somewherebetweenmovie
twitter.com/swherebetween

It has been great to work with Linda, and to support fellow adoptive creative projects. Watch this space for the other two comics that they commissioned.

Gym

Jess — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 06:49:47 +0000

I guess I can’t be embarrassed about it any more… this is autobiographical =P.

Last year I did get my adoption documents and indeed there was my birthmother’s weight. I joined the gym this march 2011 mainly to help two concurring sporting injurys (ankle then knee, knee being the lasting injury) from 7 years ago. Most of the weight I’d gained was after these injuries. I actually think that part of the reason I hurt my knee was me and my husbond had decided to try and learn the first dance of our wedding with a teacher and we were moving in ways we’d never had before, and being so pumped from that we went straight into the sunshine to play basketball which is the most active I’d been since I’d injured my ankle the year before =O Thankfully I managed to stand through my wedding ceremony and DID manage our first dance routine =).

I’ve always been a “curvy” person even before the injuries, which I use to put down to genetics so I thought it was time to try and do something about it. And not to sound too corny, I’m healthier, happier & eating better… and in 4.5 months I have lost 35lb (2.5stone/16kg) and continuing to work hard on it =)

Research Adjustments

bert — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:34:49 +0000

We’re staying with some of the humor on research with this one, although it’s a bit more personal for me. Here we’re looking at adjustments to climate instead of culture. I’ve often wondered if we Asian adoptees really fare that well in cold weather, but no one’s done a study on it. :-) Having lived in Colorado and Canada for most of my life, I can say, I personally don’t like the snow and cold.

So, I’m interested to see what it’s going to be like when I move to Malibu, California! Yes, you heard it, I’m moving to Malibu! I’ve accepted a position with Pepperdine University and me and the fam are moving over the next few weeks! We’re very excited for the next adventure.

I think I’ll adjust well – it should be warmer, much better on my Asian body! I’ll keep you all posted on how it goes!

Research Communication

Jess — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 06:08:01 +0000

Something that we’ve not explore that much yet is adoption and research.

This comic was ode to the Emmett’s family dog, Kenny, that pasted recently.

Babies

Jess — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 15:35:37 +0000

Before i even talked to Bert about writing for any comic I remember wanting a comic like this. Thankfully Bert wrote one =D So here it is, enjoy =D.

Bert’s Poetry Slam

Jess — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:24:42 +0000

While we love doing the comic, me and Bert explore other creative avenues =D Bert has been kind enough to share a poetry slam that he did last March. The slam was put on by the University of Waterloo Speech Communication program and it was Bert’s debut! Enjoy!

To see Bert’s full poem click the “transcript” button below to expand the full poem.

↓ Transcript

"I’m a transracial, bi-cultural, lost and found adopted person just trying to find my way through this mess of life.

Like all of you, like each of you, like all of us in this together.

But then not quite, not quite cause I’m always reminded of how different I am and how I lack a real family or real parents or don’t know my beginnings or how I was adopted or where I came from or why I was abandoned - no scratch that - relinquished.

That’s the official term.

Relinquished. Like relish on a hamburger. A difference. In the middle. Like parents who are the white buns, and I’m the green veggie in the middle, smeared on from the outside, placed in the middle, made to look like I fit like everything else.

But I don’t, cause I’m not the same colour, or texture, or from the same place.

I’m just me. An adoptee. Like all of you. But like none of you. Like none of you can understand. Trying to find an identity I’ll never have and living with the identity I do have. But not understanding.

The pain. The hurt. The anger.

They call me bitter. Pill. Can’t swallow it. Aren’t you lucky? they ask. Aren’t you grateful? they ask?

Grateful Dead. Jerry Garcia. Now an ice cream for you younger folks. Cool. I’m an attraction. Tell me your story, they beg. You’re adopted? What’s that like?

Dead. Back to the dead. Maybe I am, cause I’m not seen, I’m not noticed, I’m not acknowledged. My parents don’t see me. My birth culture doesn’t see me. My adopted culture doesn’t see me. I don’t know what I see when I look in the mirror, cause I see so many things.

White. Yellow. Black. Grayish brownish whitish. Something in between.

Race. That’s me. A race. Which race? The one to win. The one I can check off on all those damn forms. The one that tells me who I am. Cause I’m not one, I’m the other. But then I’m not the other, I’m that one.

Or is it culture. Am I in a third space? Or a fourth space? Outer space? An alien?

Yeah, that’s it. An alien from another planet coming only to visit for a little while and see what it’s like to feel out of place for this lifetime and told I’m not out of place because people don’t see me and don’t get it and it hurts and I’m angry.

And yes, my parents are in this category. Both sets. Ouch, that hurts.

I am like you. I started out that way. Born. With a mom and a dad and a place and a time. But no papers. Story lost. Never found. Still looking. Some records the government won’t let me have.

Still searching . . . for Eye. Dent. A. Tea.

Like an optometrist. Eye. Like a junker car. Dent. Like in Britain. Tea. Metaphors all for me. To describe me. To tell me who I am. To find my Eye. Dent. A. Tea. Outside though. Not inside.

There’s nothing inside. Only a story. A story I only have pieces for.

That’s all. Pieces. Put them together. Like a puzzle. See some missing. Gone. How do I get them back. What do I do now? They’re on the floor. Put them together. Just do it.

Are you relating now?

I hear love echo in the room. A whisper. But what is love. Baby, don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me no more. What is love. Good question. My birth parents, so they say. My adoptive parents, so they say.

No wonder I struggle and don’t know.

Hole. In heart. It’s there. But. Gotta move on. Pain is part of me, part of my life, part of my Eye. Dent. A. Tea.

Adopted. That’s me. Used to be. I hope. Put pieces together. Not a full picture. But a picture.

Like you. Like me. See. We’re not that different.

Similar journeys in life. Pain. Struggle. Hope. Loss. Love. Take it one day at a time.

I am grateful. Life. That’s Grateful Life, not Grateful Dead. Not grateful for adoption. Grateful to be.

Shouldn’t we all be. Grateful. For life that is. For Eye. Dent. A. Tea. Optometrist. Junker car. Britain. Be grateful.

Don’t know story, but it’s a place to begin. My story may have holes. Parts missing.

That’s okay. A story’s a story. I’m glad I have one. I’m glad I have life. Not lucky. Not a gracious heart. Just . . . glad.

Adopted. That’s me. Used to be. Now I’m just me."

We’ve moved…. on FB

Jess — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:49:27 +0000

Well i’ve been thinking about moving for a while to a “like” page from the group on Facebook for a while. We know the transition may take a while, so please do support use by going to our page here:

http://www.facebook.com/adoptedthecomic

Or you can just click the like in the side bar =). Our FB is interactive and people have interesting links and comments so i whole hearted engorge you to join us =)