Photo Post: Jan/2008

Time for a big ol' digest photo post from today's awesome walk on the river. I hope you dialup users have placeholders turned on!





Special note: the guy with the Great Dane was actually quite tall, but the size of the dog makes him look midgety. The truth is that that animal's head came up to my chest. It was strange seeing him bounce ponderously around on the snow with my dog, who is medium-sized but could easily walk under the Dane's belly without ducking. Wacky!

Other note: I walked on some thin ice and it started to give way. Ignoring my desire to move carefully and distribute my weight evenly across the ice, I turned around and hauled ass. Man, that was surprising.

Dispatches From The Brink Of Bipolar Doom!

Google results for Dangerous Cult!

AWESOME!

I overcooked the motherfucking vegetables in the pot roast!

NOT AWESOME!

It was 45 degrees yesterday!

AWESOME!

Then it plunged to below zero this morning!

NOT AWESOME!

Kano answers reader questions in this series of cartoons!

EXCEPTIONALLY AWESOME!

And now, I sleep.

Anonymous Speaks Again

New message from Anonymous has appeared on YouTube. They are taking the human rights angle and running with it, and good for them:



Text for in case of baleetion follows.

"It has come to the attention of Anonymous that there are a number of you out there who do not clearly understand what we are or why we have undertaken our present course of action.

Contrary to the assumptions of the media, Anonymous is not "a group of super hackers". Anonymous is a collective of individuals united by an awareness that someone must do the right thing, that someone must bring light to the darkness, that someone must open the eyes of a public that has slumbered for far too long.

Among our numbers you will find individuals from all walks of life - lawyers, parents, IT professionals, members of law enforcement, college students, veterinary technicians and more. Anonymous is everyone and everywhere. We have no leaders, no single entity directing us - only the collective outrage of individuals, guiding our hand in the current efforts to bring awareness.

We want you to be aware of the very real dangers of Scientology. We want you to know about the gross human rights violations committed by this cult. We want you to know about Lisa McPhearson. We want you to know about former members of Scientology's private navy, SeaOrg, who were forced to have abortions so that they could continue in service to the church.

We want you to know about Scientology's use of child labor and their gulags. We want you to know about Operation Freakout and Paulette Cooper. We want you to know about Operation Snow White and Scientology's efforts to infiltrate the government of the United States of America.We want you to know about all of these things that have been swept under the rug for far too long.

The information is out there. It is yours for the taking. Arm yourself with knowledge. Be very wary of the 10th of February. Anonymous invites you to join us in an act of solidarity. Anonymous invites you to take up the banner of free speech, of human rights, of family and freedom.

Join us in protest outside of Scientology centers world wide. We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. We will be heard. Expect us."

Also, apparently Digg.com has been blocking Scientology articles from appearing on the front page. I don't want to be paranoid, but I get the distinct impression that L. Ron Vader just Force-choked a bitch. Say it ain't so, Digg! It looks like they have relented.

Edit: YouTube is reportedly blocking the first Message video from reaching its own front page. Paranoia is looking more and more like the sane option.

Edit edit: Some dudes in Orlando did a roadside leaflet handout and protest in front of a CoS church, with amusing feedback from traffic. Several participants were reportedly tailed as they left the scene and got it all on video with plans to upload later. If true, this story bears watching.

/B/ FOR BASTARD

Anonymous has shifted focus from the initial DOS attack strategy against Scientology, and has begun planning various IRL adventures. Major CoS centers around the world are being scheduled for organized assembly (with requests to 'wear a mask of your choosing' where legal). Hee!

People outside of Anonymous are joining the fray to work the legal side of the fight and add legitimacy, humanity and context to the mix.

I am frankly a little alarmed by how constructive their long term goals are, considering it's an Anonymous operation. They are the best (possibly the only) people possible who could have gotten this ball rolling. Just think about what happens to people who have identities when they fuck with L. Ron's posse.

Religious texts and internal church documents containing various sorts of internal douchebaggery and brainwashing tutorials are being leaked by hackers. These files are being distributed and shared across the internet (you can find a full list on the Chanology page).

Stories of people whose lives have been destroyed by the church are being Dugg daily, and many more can be found on Google. The shit they've done to their members in the name of religion is pretty disgusting.

Leaflets and pamphlets are being made available for anyone who lives in the cities or just plain enjoy sticking things to light poles, so they can raise some hell IRL.

Googlebombing is also underway (and I think I'll join the fun right now!). Terms like "Dangerous Cult" are being used to link to Scientology websites, and "Scientology" to link to Xenu.net (the most well-known critical website).

Hopefully it'll help to reveal the silly sci fi alien ghost invasion bullshit to new members or potential recruits who have not yet been broken by the church's mind control.

With any luck, the buzz will reach the potential marks so they can run far, far away while they still have their families, savings, and lives intact. I'm all for religious tolerance, but every newbie deserves to know what they're actually getting into when they join up.

I have never liked these dicks and their fake church. Maybe it dates back to my annoyance at seeing the fucking Dianetics book plug every five minutes during my Saturday morning cartoons. Maybe it's because Battlefield Earth sucked so much anus that I am offended by the very idea of anyone on Earth thinking Hubbard was a prophet. Either way, the schadenfreude pie is sweet and delicious, and if an IRL raid comes near my town, I'm bringing my camera.

Here's a related video that made me smile:

Update Post

Clicks for go read.

okonomikaki!

I am waking up tired every morning again. Blah winter! Blah! At least I got some stuff done and didn't spend it ALL napping.

I woke up for good at 11 pm, and walked the dog for two hours or so. It was so bright out thanks to the snow and overcast sky that you could read outside, so we went to the dog park. I let the Captain off his leash as soon as we hit the rodeo stands, because it was 1 AM and there were no cars or other people, and we sort of raced to the park gates. Once he got sick of running around there, we went out into the greenbelt between the park and chased each other around on the frozen river for a while. It was up to 20 degrees again, so I was really enjoying being outside.

I came home, changed my clothes, and took the new household grocery debit card out to pick up a big fuck-off list of stuff. Came home, ate a frozen cheese pizza and some bread for lunch because I was too lazy to cook, and worked on the comic until an hour ago.

Then I made myself a few test okonomiyaki for dinner. They came out all right, but not spectacular. I couldn't find the sauce at the grocery store, so I made do with just the mayonnaise. In small doses, it really did make the okonomiyaki taste awesome.

I made two pancakes, which started as one (there was an... incident with the flipping). The one I left on the burner ended up cooking to mush, but the first one was pretty damn good. I put thin carrot coins, broccoli, finely chopped steak and onion on the griddle, cooked it a bit, and splashed a big ol' heap of the white batter/cabbage mix on top. Okonobukkake!

If I'd known how long it would take for the whole thing to cook, i would have cooked the toppings less before adding the moosh. As it was, a lot of the toppings charred black. But who cares? They still tasted amazing! Overall, my results were a bit bland and in dire need of some sauce, but passable. Definitely passable.

I'll throw on some bonito flakes next time. They should add some nice flavor to the dish, plus I like to watch them dance and writhe around on top of the hot food. They wigged me out but good when I tried putting some on onigiri the other night.

Now I'm full of cabbage and meat, so I'm going to go back to inking.

I know I'm only dreaming

No art for like two weeks, then suddenly BLAM, I just HAVE to do two time-intensive pieces in 24 hours or I'll just plain bust. Go look for consistency in midwinter Lukas, I reckon.

The other night it got down to -20 fahrenheit, -26 if you count wind chill (and you really should, because HOLY FUCK LIPS ARE SUPPOSED TO MOVE!).

On the night of my Mom's death anniversary, my roomies took me out for dinner. It was really cool of them to drag me out of my head for a while. Came back home, got kinda weepy, watched some YouTube videos, got the giggles. Around 5 AM I drank two wine coolers back to back and within 20 minutes I was too dizzy to sit up anymore. Sadly I had to pee every three minutes for the next several hours as a result of said wine coolers, which interfered with sleeping a bit. Woke up 11 hours later still very drowsy. Spent the entire day half-asleep, watching Azumanga Daioh and then got into a flurry of arts that took out the rest of my night.

The strange thing is that, now that a full year has passed, I have lost that horrible feeling that Mom is somehow still alive and dying all over again. I think that was the worst part about waiting for the date to roll around--the feeling of it happening over again, even though I knew it wasn't really. Now my heart seems to know she's gone for good, and that gives me a little bit of peace.

Called my brother because he was worried about me and couldn't find my number. Tried to call my sister since, hey, it's the anniversary. But her cel number belongs to a guy with an accent now, or something, so that's out. Oh well. If she needs me she can just email or something.

Carlos Santana Shreds!

NEEDS MORE COWBELL



This Pat Metheny one is also pretty good. Wish I could sing like that...

Happy 123 Day!

I made it. My first anniversary, marking a whole year since the doctors gave up and turned off the machines.

In your face, Mom! Wherever you are (other than in a little box on my shelf, I mean).

Things to do today: eat tasty food. Drink liquor to her memory. Go back to bed and hope for it to be 124 day soon.

SUDDENLY, THETANS! THOUSANDS OF THEM!

Exciting shit continues to develop as Anonymous and Scientology go to war!

The internet has never been more awesome.

My money is on Anonymous to win. Yes, Scientology has the advantage of being a powerful, relentless cult with virtually unlimited financial resources and no compunctions against killing people who offend them.

But on the other hand, virgins have nothing to live for and therefore no fear of death. Not to mention, Mountain Dew is a renewable resource.

The outcome here is obvious.

WTF Japan, Take 3000

Cocco: Raining.

I like the song, but the video is wtf as hell.



You'd think she'd be HAPPY to finally find Waldo. I sure as hell never did.

Fol De Rol De Rol Dol

Did you survive Blue Monday?

I DID!



This video always cheers me up so much.

Is this love that I'm feeling?

Want an honest and long lasting relationship? Make sure you and your partner can recite these five statements.

*I can live without you, no problem.
*My love for you will definitely change.
*You're not everything I need.
*I won't always hold you close.
*You and I aren't one.

Wow. Someone who's not bitter snarky me actually came out and said it! And a writer for Oprah's magazine, no less.

Just got back from a workout. I really wanted to see "Life After People" on the History network, but we don't have a TV that gets channels at the house. The machines at the gym all have TV monitors attached, though, so I spent 2 hours on the elliptical and treadmill, watching the collapse of civilization.

During the commercial breaks (and oh dear god, have they always had that many?) I listened to my iPod instead.

"(Nothing But) Flowers" by the Talking Heads came up on my shuffle mix on the drive home, and that was pretty funny.

Total miles walked, with and without dog, today: 8.1! And my knee feels fine.

Update Post

Two new pages, and we're going back to the regular update schedule. Enjoy!

Angst post!

I have spent almost an entire year now psychologically torturing myself for driving away a friend, and all I got for my angst and woe was more angst and woe. The things the person was so angry about were things they had their own serious issues with, and it made me feel like I was going crazy trying to figure out how I could be the terrible person they made me out to be when I didn't actually think any of those things, although they really did. I still don't understand it, but I no longer think it was really about me at all.

I think what made this blowout different from all the others was that I was so deep in grief over my Mom's death (which had happened about two months earlier, hooray for timing!) that I didn't have the energy to chase the person down and apologize for everything regardless of whether I felt had anything to be sorry about. In previous major fights, I was always the one who apologized first and claimed the blame. I justified this to myself by reasoning that it would be worth a hit to my pride (wank wank wank) just to have my friend back.

I realize now that this is stupid and unhealthy, and I think maybe that was the only reason this breakup thing didn't happen 8 years ago over a difference in voting choices, and all it took was one horrible, petty argument where I wasn't up to the challenge to unravel it all.

Half of me wishes it weren't over. I love my friend so much, and missing them has made me twist myself into little loops trying to convince myself that I can still chase them down and get them back without utterly betraying myself.

But the other half of me is a happier person without the negative influence of so much anger and resentment constantly between us. The frienship had been littered with emotional landmines for years and I'd stopped noticing how little I dared to talk or joke about for fear of an explosion. There were conversations I interpreted as signs of improvement, but in hindsight I think they were probably wishful thinking on my part.

So yeah, this sucks. I've never been dumped before, nor have I had to do the dumping. Temporary hiatus from someone with drama I can't watch, yes. Relationship falling into flaming wreckage that makes me cry, no. I realize that thousands of people go through messy divorces all the time where the partners can't work their shit out face-to-face and have to just plain cut each other out.

How the hell do you stand it? Doesn't the need for closure drive you insane?

All in all, I think I finally 'get' the demand for those tormented breakup songs. They still seem stupid to me, but then again, that's probably where they're the most realistic.

Not many people read these walls of text, but putting words to this stuff after it spent so long rotting away inside my head has made me feel a lot better. Even though venting won't change anything in the long run, journal writing has always been a godsend for me when it comes to gaining perspective. Maybe a year or two from now a much happier me can look back and go "Aha, that's where I started to figure all that shit out!"

The cursed January

Busy busy busy. Big week with much doing. My internet friend Gui visited this week from Jersey and it was pretty cool. He taught me how to make flan and rule the world. When I've got the blogging powarz I'll post more on our adventures.

I've got lots of inking to do for the weekend. You see, Kagerou updates are about to resume as normal. The truth is that I can no longer function without the creative outlet and sense of routine it provides. The paid-work-first thing is a good idea in terms of improving my output, but trying to implement it has led to a marked decrease in productivity and wellbeing. So.

The Captain's obedience training has ended. He's shown truly remarkable improvement in his behavior, and I'm even getting his leash manners under control. Turns out I wasn't being loud or forceful enough to make him listen. You gotta bark at that dog to make him respeck joo. Also, I think his puppy energy is fading. He is still a bouncy animal, but he doesn't go batshit crazy anymore.

Greystoke died yesterday. I was surprised by how much it crushed my spirit. That fat old fellow had more personality than most people I talk to on the street. On top of the grief, I feel especially shitty for Seebs because he's had Stokes since he was a kitten (18 years ago). A good long life, but I will miss him anyway.

At least the cursed January is half over.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME

You know those lollies you could buy in the 1980-1990's, where the candy went in a color gradient from green to red?

I swear to God I just coughed up one of those, sans the stick.

The thing was the size of a half-dollar coin. I was too horrified to throw the tissue away in case it might be an organ that would need to have reinstalled later. To be totally honest, I had to restrain myself from taking a picture for this entry.

(You're welcome.)

He Choked On What?

If this ain't poetic justice, there's no such thing.

Laryngitis rules my world with an iron fist and my strength and energy are in the toilet. I slept 11 hours today and took a nap on top of that but I still feel like something you'd pry off the bottom of your shoe with a narrow stick.

It was 40 degrees out, so I took the Captain alongside the bike to the dog park in hopes that it would perk me up. On the way back, the front wheel suddenly turned 90* and would have resulted in a terrible wreck if I hadn't already been slowed almost to a stop. That was some scary shit. Also, the Captain decided to run right up in front of the bike a bit later and his paw got run over. No damage but here's hoping he learned his lesson.

I have gotten no work done since the day before yesterday. Maybe when the rabies passes I'll be feeling more artistic.

Kagerou Keychains, Part Deux!

Goodness I'm productive when I'm knocked off my ass with disease. Four years now I've been putting off making these keychains, and now the floodgates have burst right on open.

I made updates to the order page to add our still-functioning PO Box address. Now people who refuse to sacrifice their personal safety to the demon Pa'y-Pa'l can share the addiction that is horrifyingly shiny keychainage.

IT IS TOO EARLY FOR MORE PLAGUE

DAMN YOU ROOMIES WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME

I woke up this morning without my voice, to the sound of a rumbling tide that turned out to be my own phlegmy breathing. Also, my throat feels like I deep throated a porcupine. And is my right eye attempting to water for no reason? I think it might be.

Also, what the fuck possessed me to begin reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius this week, of all possible weeks I could have taken an interest in the story? It's too good to put down but the first two chapters gave me flashbacks up the wazoo.

Oh well, at least my brain still works. Off to make some art.

Typed with one hand as I shoveled in cereal with the other...

Lately I've been reading a lot of paper-format novels on the assumption that part of my epic writer's block might have been touched off by reading nothing but nonfiction, which doesn't feed the imagination nearly as well. Sure, that keeps me striving to write better in the nonfiction arena, but what I really want to write is stories.

Also, I usually listen to my books so I can have my eyes and hands free to draw or exercise or whatever. This is good stuff, but I've been using it as a replacement for much-needed vegetation time. Just sitting in a comfy chair with a good book, doing nothing productive, is amazingly soothing for the spirit. I haven't felt so mellow and relaxed in ages--something I can defintely use considering that January is already starting to show signs of being a particularly difficult month for my spirit.

That said, I've just finished To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, and it kicked ass. If you like cats, time travel and snark in your sci fi, you need this book.

Holy Fuck Degrees Fahrenheit

Ten below! TEN BELOW ZERO! I went out to bring the dog in and my hands were steaming. I'd just washed them and they were mostly dry, but... steam! Lots of it. And my fingers stuck to the doorknob.

Do I go to bed, or do I go throw water into the air and record a video of it poofing into a huge cloud of frozen vapor before a drop can hit the ground?

Ah yes. Bed. The wisest choice a man can make.

Successful Cat Is Successful.

I finally finished the first Kagerou keychains!

Clickety click for the order page if you are interested.

Meanwhile, today was a crazy bad-luck day. My dog peed on my foot in fear, I almost dropped my iPod into the toilet, the speaker jack on the back of my computer failed, and every single art project I tried to work on blew up in my face so cataclysmically that I almost threw a tantrum. Plus it's -15 degrees out there with windchill and the doorknob burned my hand when I put the dog out.

Smelling the danger on the wind, I stayed in my room all day and did not handle any hot liquids or sharp objects. Since I finally accomplished one task of paying goodness (I hope) after 13 hours of running around in circles, I have decided to take tomorrow OFF.

Beware the wrath of my slack!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's been seven years!

Feel free to drop in on the Kagerou Birthday Post to view some mosaic boobies in honor of the occasion.

This year's cake will be fully digital, in keeping with the tradition of never doing the same thing twice.

Work on The Project continues as planned.

My new year's revolution for 2008: Stay pretty much the same, and continue along the course to enlightenment.