The Story behind Cookie Monster

Oh math, mistress of medieval torture😫. Back in 2015, I went back to college to get a Paralegal certificate. According to the college, I was required to take a math class, because none of my earlier college/highschool credits counted. I could go on and on about how ridiculous that was, but whatever, I begrudgingly signed up for a math class. Stupidly, I decided to take the abridged course during the summer and it was 6 (maybe 8 - I don't know how many because... I don't like counting!) weeks of hell. The class incorporated algebra, statistics, logic and some other subjects I can't remember because my brain is protecting me from re-living those unpleasant memories. I'm not mathy. I'm wordy, I'm visual. Don't get me wrong, I respect math people. I'm in awe of people who are mathy, who find math to be easy breezy - I'm just not that person.

I'm so bad at math, I had to go to a tutor to ensure I'd pass this stupid math class. I was in my forties, having to go to a math tutor... just... 😒. But, the tutor I found was amazing and interesting to talk to. We'd work on a little bit of my math homework, then I'd steer the conversation to more interesting topics like, the meaning of life, it made the math part tolerable.

During my summer of math hell, I literally (literally!) calculated every free waking minute I had to study math so I'd pass that dumb class. It was torture. But, towards the end of the abridged semester, I realized I would pass the class even if I got a D on my final (thank you Mr. Math Tutor for helping me figure that out). That meant I had a little time to do the things I actually like to do... art. I decided to draw a little something for Mr. Math Tutor, as a thank you for helping me pass the class.

Look, I know I'm no Davinci (haha, I'm the complete opposite 🤪), but I like to doodle. I like art. It makes me feel good, maybe because it releases endorphins in my body, I don't know. But I like art, I like drawing, and I do it even though I know there are literally (literally!) millions of artist who are better than me. I don't care, I still do it because it makes me feel good.

So, you may look at my little Cookie Monster sketch and think, Wow, she sucks! That's fine, I don't really care. You may be right, it does kinda suck! There are plenty of problems with the sketch that I could point out to you myself. Again, don't really care. It felt good drawing it. I wanted to add a little Marvin the Martian because it felt fun, it felt right, it was in the vibe I was going for. Everything in the drawing, despite my lack of skills, is right, because it felt right and needed to be there.

I gave the original sketch to Mr. Math Tutor and he genuinely liked it. I don't think he thought it was the best work of art he'd ever laid eyes on, but it was a meaningful gift that he genuinely appreciated. (Plus, I was really strapped for cash at the time and couldn't tip him with actual money). It may be in a closet somewhere collecting dust, and that's okay too!

Jump to 2025. I'm now a professional Paralegal and though I really do love my job as a Paralegal, I still work on my art, doodle and rely on art as a creative escape from the drudgery of the real world. I lose interest in creating from time to time, because I know I'll never generate a real income with my art, but the day I uploaded my image to ChatGPT and asked it to do something with it, ChatGPT generated some amazing re-creations:

I was truly impressed with what it did with my drawing. Really, kinda shocked more than anything. My crappy little drawing looked... a lot better! There were a couple wonky things, like the root on the right side became detached, weirdly. But overall, really good! AI breathed a whole new life into my work.

Here is another example:

I really liked this one because I asked to include my little Marivn the Martian, and it sort of did, this is what it came up with.

I like to leave my art open to interpretation. What Cookie Monster means to me may be very different from what Cookie Monster means to you, so I'm not going to delve in the symbolic meaning behind my vision. You either love it, like it, hate it, or you may just think, meh, not my thing. For me, it doesn't really matter what everyone thinks about it. If you like it, great! If not, then go look at art you like. And, if you hate art all together, you probably aren't reading this at all! That's what is so great about art! It's optional, unlike math 🙄.