In the terminology of James Marcia: how can you reach identity achievement without a social context where it's OK to enter into the exploratory struggle of an identity crisis? Where you have that flexibility?

One of the boons of masquerade festivals, I think, is to give us that flexibility.

There's a gravitas to "coming out" where it often feels like you have to be Sure of whatever new identity you're taking on before you can announce it to anyone else. It helps those without first-hand understanding Take It Seriously, but I think it also stifles experimentation.

Any chance of a physical Book 2 any time soon?

"but why should we care about art if it's irrelevant to fighting for justice/building a utopia/my pet Topic?" read this comic and call me in the morning inahiddenplace.tumblr.com/post/6147627...

like all communication, this *may* be used as an instrument of some larger goal, to varying levels of effectiveness.

also like all communication, if we try to value art *solely* as a means to an end, we make the old error of seeing ourselves, too, as chess engines whose only purpose is checkmate.

art's function, then, is social and human: to communicate that which weighs too much to merely describe in words