Now, the above might seem kind of fawning and patriarchal on the face of things, but I found it pretty-much the opposite. (work with me here?)

In short-- these three gals come from a range of backgrounds & scholarly ability, and are all vying to self-torture themselves through graduate school, essentially. For example, the advisor to Helen (the redhead below) is especially an enormous asshole, toying with her dissertation and future job-prospects unnecessarily, altho I suppose that’s also par for the course when it comes to the academic grant-process, no? *sigh*

Oh, right-- what’s happening here is that the school year is finally over, and they’re spending a few days in the country at Helen’s family’s place. Fresh air, mountains, hiking, et cet.

Now, all three of them had pretty-consistently been dealing with shit from their BF’s or love interests (and vice-versa) for the whole semester, so it was just nice for them to chill out, just girls, and symbolically as kids once again, with Helen’s family.

Those are the lines that really killed me-- the idea that gifted academics can suffer such thoughts. Uh… “Imposter Syndrome,” or something like that? So, meanwhile alongside their own accomplishments, they can be almost in a state of awe upon expert craftsman and people who make things happen with their hands, see?

If the pics don’t show up correctly, try the page:
https://imgur.com/gallery/little-sequence-from-fascinating-slice-of-life-work-glory-days-i-e-le-bel-ge-by-merwan-2012-AVlBEKe

Merwan is just wonderful to me:
https://www.bedetheque.com/auteur-9301-BD-Merwan.html

  • woodenghost [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    2·
    5 days ago

    Thank you! It’s really awesome of you to make all these quality posts all the time and share these cool comics.

    My grandfather, a machinist, build their house in his early twenties with his own hands. It was in a kind of cooperative, where you could pay in party by working on building sites to help others build their houses. So, even though he had help from others in the coop, he really effectively build identical houses multiple times. He learned as he went and did everything except electrical work, even the heating and plumbing. My grandparents raised five kids in this house. It really was his proudest accomplishment and near the end, he told the story again and again, almost every time I saw him and I made sure to listen.

    • JohnnyEnzyme@lemm.eeOPMEnglish
      2·
      4 days ago

      Thank you! It’s really awesome of you to make all these quality posts all the time and share these cool comics.

      Ah, you just made my day! 😃

      My grandfather, a machinist…

      That’s so cool to me. Would you say you inherited some of his ‘working with one’s hands’ sensibility?

      This totally dates me, but one thing I really liked from the film Witness (1985), is that the Pennsylvania Amish would organise building projects along the same lines.

      EDIT: Oh wow, I think I found the very scene:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL_X7GelX5Q