I’ve spent an ample amount of time in the workshop lately, practicing woodworking in order to build myself a new desk. This bench is the first piece of furniture that I’ve ever built, aside from a poker table several years ago, and as the last coat of varnish dries, I find myself quite pleased with the results. It’s not without its imperfections, but I’ve learned enough in the process that I’ll be able to build my desk with a lot more confidence. And hopefully fewer mistakes.
People often say it’s not polite to discuss politics. In ye olde days, I don’t think this was the case; people discussed politics all the time. Maybe there was less to talk about back then, maybe there were fewer ‘polite’ distractions like sports and celebrities. Or maybe it’s because back then people realized the direct impact that politics had on their lives, and maybe now we’ve forgotten.
It can take time to research what values a politician has, and it can take even more time to research whether or not they’ve honestly stood up for those values. It’s not always easy. It could take hours, days, weeks. And to figure out the values that you have yourself, well, it can take a lot longer than that… and it usually takes a lifetime to find out if you’re honestly living up to those values.
For the past few months, this site’s been the target of repeated attempts to be hacked. I’ve been taking regular measures to try and thwart these attempts, but they seem to be getting more frequent and orchestrated. It seems like the attempts are coming from all over the world, although it may in fact just be one lone gunman masquerading as a rogue pack of stormtroopers.
I’m trying to understand why anyone would want to invade my site. As someone who was fascinated with hacking when I was younger, I know the excitement that comes with the challenge of accessing something you’re not allowed to access. As someone who appreciates the work that white hat networks like Anonymous do, I can identify with the ideal of discovering truth in concealed information or exposing the corruption of certain systems. I can usually wrap my head around most viewpoints even when I don’t necessarily agree with them, but this… I’m not sure I do. What thrill is there in causing me this grief? I’m not some heinous villain plotting against the poor, I’m not some monolithic Corporate juggernaut Hell-bent on global domination. I’m not Shell, or the CIA, Wal-Mart, Halliburton, or Cyril Sneer; I’m just me.
So if you’re reading this and by some chance you’re trying to breach my site, please… just move along? I promise you, there are more justified causes that could you use your attention.
Thank you.
If you’re reading this, it means that robots have not yet enslaved humanity. Take comfort in that, but remember that it could happen at any moment. One minute you’re just baking cookies, the next minute you’re shining robot shoes and picking up their dry cleaning. Enjoy your freedom while it lasts, puny humans!
Most recently, I’ve been using my freedom to get my first graphic novel off the ground. To my surprise and overwhelming excitement, it worked out! I’m planning on writing a more elaborate conclusion, but to summarize, it was incredible and it was stressful. I went through intense waves of joy followed by doubt, followed by joy and then doubt again, often in the same hour. Now I can shift that stress from fundraising to production, which is a much more inspirational form of stress. I’ve been going over every beat of the story carefully this past week, and I’m more confident than ever that this book is going to be something special.
Focusing on this campaign caused me to neglect other things, though. I didn’t end up posting anything here in over a month, and I had plenty worth posting about. I let you down, Internet, and I’m sorry. Please, let me make it up to you with some comicles I doodled. I was told that they were funny. This was not my intention. They are supposed to be serious and poignant commentaries on society, and what you might think is a punchline is actually a depiction of the twists that life brings us, designed not for laughter, but for reflection. But go ahead, laugh if you want to.
All the best, puny humans!
I used to make comics as a kid. Lots of comics. All the time. If I wasn’t eating or sleeping, that’s what I was doing.
Now that I’m older (or at least taller), I wrote a comic called The Forever Maps and found an amazing artist named Todor Hristov to work with. We pitched it to some publishers, and we even got an offer. Unfortunately, most publishers won’t pay the creative team up front to do the work, and the ones that do won’t often take chances on up-and-coming creators. Long story short, we decided to do it ourselves; but the truth is, we’re not really doing it ourselves, because you can help us!
We are running a campaign for The Forever Maps, and we are hoping that people are intrigued enough to make a pledge towards it. We are not asking for donations; we are asking you to order our graphic novel in advance. The story is about a man, torn between family and immortality, struggling to choose between living forever and having a life worth living. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever read and the artwork is incredible.
If you’ve never used Kickstarter before, it takes five minutes and a credit card to pledge. It’s super easy. Their site is secure and your personal information is never shared with anyone. We have various levels of pledge amounts, and each level will get you different rewards. For only $10 you get a complete digital version of the comic.
When it’s done, we will have a product that will help us when approaching publishers with new projects. Once you see what we can do, so will they, and honestly, that will change everything for us!
I used to make comics as a kid, and today, I still want to. So please, if you can spare 5 minutes and 10 dollars, consider spending it on us.
Thank you!
How to use Kickstarter in five easy steps!
Last week, Charlotte and I were walking along a trail by the water, when she saw a stick jutting out from the bush. Now, the stick in question isn’t the same stick pictured here, because that’s a completely different stick; this stick was more like a tree. Long, twisted, and extremely appealing to one of us.
Charlotte’s not usually allowed to pick up sticks because she gnaws on them until they’re toothpicks, but I knew it was way too big. So I let her.
She got a firm grip on it and reefed and yanked and pulled as hard as she could. To my surprise, it budged. Just a little. Enough to see that it was caught up on some other branches and twigs, firmly holding it in place.
In my experience, most dogs would just keep reefing and yanking and pulling until they were exhausted. That’s what I expected Charlotte to do. But then, to my surprise, she didn’t. She went to each of the branches and twigs that was holding it in place, and snapped them near the base. Then she went back and with only a little reefing, yanking, and pulling, got the tree out of the bush.
Not entirely, of course, because I’m telling you, it was huge. But enough to remind me that when there’s something in your way, there’s always a simple way to move it.
writing categories
things to see and do!
