Wow. Seven years. If you haven’t already, it’s not too late…take a moment to think about the many people who died…not in the abstract sense.

Try, one face at a time, to imagine two thousand, seven hundred, and forty-nine faces. That’s the number of death certificates filed for those who died in the towers.

Start small if you can’t tackle it all at once…only thirty-seven policemen…can you? Thirty-seven faces, thirty-seven human lives…perhaps a thousand collective years of experiences in the memories of those officers. Gone…bright moments of childhood, watching a son’s first steps…can you imagine it? Gone. Now try the firemen - another small pool, only three hundred and forty-three men and women in the uniform of the fireman. In your mind’s eye, imagine them, and look in their eyes. Then take a moment to say a silent thank-you to each of them…three hundred and forty-three.

Now try for the remaining two thousand, three hundred, and sixty-nine. Can you really imagine that many human faces, expressions…even one at a time?

I can’t. And it tears me up inside that I can’t, because that means that all those people I can’t even visualize…they’re well and truly gone to me, and I will never, no matter how long I may live, I will never get to meet them, shake their hands, scorn their taste in music, or marvel at their ability to turn an awkward pause in conversation into a great opportunity for a joke. Never.

The potential value in a single human life is staggering, and sadly, it’s made all the more so because of its ephemerality. In memory of the people who’ve died needlessly throughout our bloody history, take a moment every day to think about all the moments in your own life, and then make a real effort to understand that all the myriad people around you are made up of those same precious, fleeting moments…strung out across lifetimes. Maybe then you’ll get a glimpse of what it’s all worth, why it matters so damn much anyway.

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On an unrelated note, this week’s update is online (only a day late…but still late, dammit).  You may notice that the toning is back. I’ve still got to work on my linework technique…considering doing each panel as a separate page to ink so I can get finer lines. Also thinking about getting online and ordering some real Japanese inking pens, which are widely considered to be optimal for comic inking with an inkwell. But overall the inking method I’m using now is saving me both time and stress, and the whole thing is finally coming together nicely. Thanks to everybody for sticking around through my unexpected learning curve.

I’ve got the previous couple of pages redone in the new inking method and I’m probably going to scan them in and tone them this weekend, so hopefully I’ll finally be underway to fix the broken parts about earlier pages.

-wes