Editing 2244: Thumbtacks And String

{{comic
| number    = 2244
| date      = December 20, 2019
| title     = Thumbtacks And String
| image     = thumbtacks_and_string.png
| titletext = A tattoo of a tattoo parlor receipt
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a THUMBTACK USER - Expand, add title text.}}

{{tvtropes|StringTheory|In many media,}} crimes and conspiracy theories are solved on bulletin boards. "Leads" are attached to the board using {{w|Drawing pin|thumbtacks}}, and the leads are connected to each other using string (specifically {{w|twine}} is mentioned), in order to sort out connections and possibilities. There are many systems for {{w|information mapping}} that show entities as nodes in a {{w|Graph (discrete mathematics)|graph}}, with relationships represented by connections between nodes.  

[[Beret Guy]], eccentric as always, manipulates this by making just such a setup solely to determine where to buy the thumbtacks and string for use in it. The joke is that the bulletin board is entirely [[:Category:Self-reference|self-referential]] -- without a need for thumbtacks and string to hold and connect things on the bulletin board, there would be no need for the bulletin board itself, but because of the bulletin board's string and thumbtacks, Beret Guy needs the items advertised on it. An additional minor joke may be that the Office Depot ad near the bottom of the bulletin board has markers that are often called [https://www.perkinselearning.org/technology/blog/how-create-digital-pushpin-map "digital pushpins"].

The title text continues the self-reference theme: The receipt for the tattoo is tattooed to the person who orders the tattoo, which is the receipt for said tattoo of the receipt. Sadly, this has happened for real [https://www.eonline.com/news/528117/teen-tattoos-mcdonald-s-receipt-on-his-arm-a-week-later-tattoos-the-tattoo-receipt-on-his-other-arm in Norway].

The idea of keeping track of a lot of facts using pictures on a board and tattooing most important facts on the body was the key elements in the movie ''{{w|Memento (film)|Memento}}'' about a man who had lost the ability to form new memories and thus lived in the present, remembering only things from before his accident. 

The idea of the receipt being the object you buy, has been used in a [https://www.ikea.com/se/sv/p/markerad-matta-kort-lugg-vit-svart-00434753/ rug] sold by {{w|IKEA}}. Seems like the actual info from the real receipt will be printed on the rug you order.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:[Beret Guy is in front of a bulletin board covered in images, connected by thumbtacks and string. The below transcripts of each image are left to right, top to bottom.]
:<u>Sale</u> String and Twine 🧵 🧵
:Where to Buy Thumbtacks
:Scrapbooking Supplies (partially covered:) Call Now
:Sale
:📌
:???
:Great Deals YARN 🧶
:Office Supplies Thumbtacks Pushpins & More 📌
:Office Depot
:?
:Office Supply Liquidation SALE ⭐

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Self-reference]]