Fark.... Just got a call.. Now not only is Laura's Dad about to die (probably today or tomorrow) and I'm preparing to leave today or tomorrow to go out to her.
Laura's dad, has passed, at age 55 from breast cancer. Note, that even men should look for lumps in the breast area. While rare, breast cancer is just as deadly for men.
Very, very sorry to hear about the family troubles and losses. My girlfriend lost her father suddenly a couple years ago, and it was an extremely tough time. My heart goes out to you guys.
Hope all is well with you and the comic creating world. Did you ever move up to Oregon?
Since I've been spending so much less time on the internet, things are better than ever in the comic-creating world. I'm putting a lot of time and effort into learning to write, also, with an eye toward doing my own personal comic eventually. Haven't moved to Portland yet -- it came down to either getting our shit together and moving in a couple of months, or sticking around for another year and a half, and we chose the latter.
@Churba -- thanks, man. I don't expect to be around nearly as much as I used to be, but I love you guys, and I can't let you go completely.
Oh yeah, and after a few days on antibiotics, the kitty's doing much, much better. I think she's gonna be alright.
Glad to hear the kitty is doing better. Hope there won't be any need for anything else other than the medicine.
Since I've been spending so much less time on the internet, things are better than ever in the comic-creating world. I'm putting a lot of time and effort into learning to write, also, with an eye toward doing my own personal comic eventually. Haven't moved to Portland yet -- it came down to either getting our shit together and moving in a couple of months, or sticking around for another year and a half, and we chose the latter.
That's cool. I hope you get can get something going. I'll look forward to what you have to offer.
@ScoJo & @Anrild My condolences. I hope you guys the best during these hard times.
Since I've been spending so much less time on the internet, things are better than ever in the comic-creating world. I'm putting a lot of time and effort into learning to write, also, with an eye toward doing my own personal comic eventually. Haven't moved to Portland yet -- it came down to either getting our shit together and moving in a couple of months, or sticking around for another year and a half, and we chose the latter.
Oh, if you do end up in Portland, I've another freelance artist friend up there, I should get you guys in touch when you move.
Wait Wait, is Conservative government like our liberal side or our conservative side? :-p
Or is is Conservative like Our Liberals, Or conservative like our Labour?
Actually, that's not good, in that case, either way, you're still pretty fucked, it's just a matter of which colour you want them to paint the strap on pineapple.
Oh yeah, Americans. We have a right wing party called the Liberal Party, Led By Tony Abbot, Who is a very catholic and allows that to inform many of his decisions, and is generally an extremely conservative right wing guy, and whom is currently engaging in a lot of political horse-trading to gain power. On the other side, We have a right wing party called the Labor party, who are currently in power by the skin of their teeth, And whom are headed up by Julia Gilliard, From Barry, Wales, who is a Non-practicing Anglican(to use her own words) who bows to the whims of the christian coalition and her majority Extremely religious party on those sorts of issues (So, Anyone who had hopes for Gay Rights, Abortion, or the school chaplaincy program getting de-funded, sucks to be us), and is generally an extremely conservative right wing kinda lady, and whom is currently engaging in a massive amount of political horse trading to stay in power, because her position is precarious enough that if she doesn't, she's effectively useless, and will quite possibly get axed by her party - She's getting more into the horse trading, since it's harder for her to maintain power than it is for abbot to erode her hold on that power, as Abbot only has to sway a small amount of people to endanger her position, whereas she has to please a larger number of people to hold on to it.
She's ahead of Abbot in the Popularity polls, But behind the last prime minister, Rudd, in the popularity polls. Despite that Rudd's party pretty much gave him the knife because of his falling popularity with the public. Oh, And she's fucking us over as to not break a campaign promise to bring the budget out of deficit, while still trying to engage in the political games - for example, funding the School Chaplaincy program, while trying to cut Scientific and Medical research funding by a significant amount - and all this in the middle of her wild flailing to regain popularity, while relying on Duckman "Do the hokey pokey and copy sloppy Joe Hockey" Swan to run her numbers, when he shouldn't be running so much as a petty cash tin, by the look of it.
Oh, and remember that last prime minister, Krudd, Who I keep referring to as The Fucking Smiler? Yeah, He's cocking about quite a bit of the time, and undermining Gilliard's leadership at just about every turn, though if this is just public perception or if it's intentional is up in the air for debate, and his whole "I should be in power because I should be in power" deal seems to not have changed.
In other words, We've got two very unpopular people vying for power through political horse-trading, for the sake of getting and holding power and fuck all more, both of which whom are extremely right wing and religious(or simply conforming to the wishes of the religious) and who are both the heads of parties which many seem to think would be led better by other people.
So, Basically, a total Shit fight where no matter who wins, the general public loses. As some would say, BOHICA - Bend Over, Here It comes again.
Whew, ThaneOfCawdor hasn't shown up to call me stupid or accuse me of being a Liberal party stooge yet, so let's move on to speak more of this getting bent over and taking your metaphorical rubbery violation like a good little voting public, yes you will, aww ain't you a good voting public? Yes you are! Yes you are!
Anyway, Now, Imagine getting fucked with a big, nasty strap on, with minimal if any lubrication. Pretty bad, right?
Now, Imagine that strap-on is actually a perfect rubbery 1:1 replica of a particularly large, spiny, nasty-looking pineapple, crown and all.
And now you have a mental picture of what's happening to the Australian people in general. The only difference being Which party's Colours that the pineapple strap on in question is painted with.
We have three major parties from left to right, NDP, Liberals, Conservatives. You see the furthest right wing crazy dictatorial party got elected with more MPs (like senators I think) than any other of the parties combined, so they're running the show with little power for the others. The election was brought about because the leader of the Conservatives, Stephen Harper, was found in contempt of parliament, and yet we gave him more power. (he had a minority government before)
We have three major parties from left to right, NDP, Liberals, Conservatives. You see the furthest right wing crazy dictatorial party got elected with more MPs (like senators I think) than any other of the parties combined, so they're running the show with little power for the others. The election was brought about because the leader of the Conservatives, Stephen Harper, was found in contempt of parliament, and yet we gave him more power. (he had a minority government before)
So basically, Canada is going all batshit Tea Party like we are.
Blonde hair, blue eyes, EU Citizenship, can I move to Norway now?
Not that I'd really want to. Spain doesn't really have the New Derp. We do have fair use laws that say any download is a-OK, legal gay marriage, a pro-choice stance, and all of the cannibis laws are totally unenforced. The economy is in the shitter and unemployment is astronomical right now, but that just means cost of living is lower for everyone else.
Also, an aunt several times removed immigrated to Norway from Spain with her Scandinavian husband. The blood banks there will not let her donate blood on the basis of ethnicity.
So, I just had a fairly friendly discussion on someone's FB about Sakura Con and PAX. I merely made a suggestion to have Sakura Con offer to mail badges for a fee and that would make me definitely attend Sakura Con next year.
It then led to a nice discussion of why I prefer PAX > Sakura Con and how PAX is a great convention. I, in no way, bashed Sakura Con for being a horrible convention but said I preferred the con-goers of PAX vs. Sakura Con and other various things why I think PAX was an overall better convention.
One individual said Sakura Con had more gaming than PAX. I honestly don't think that's possible even though I haven't been to Sakura Con in 2+ years.
Overall it wasn't a bashing but informing about PAX and several inquiries about PAX and I happily answered them.
I check back on it and ALL my posts were deleted. Whatever.
Yeah, but I'm white and of Scandinavian descent. I've probably got the best shot of them not giving a crap.
Yeah, me too, but do you really think you would feel happier in a place where there is still that sort of racist derp? I'm not Hispanic, but the backlash in Arizona against people of Hispanic descent bugs the hell out of me. I don't see myself being any less bothered by Nordic people getting cranky about Africans. I tend to really romanticize Norway when I feel frustrated about here, but then I remember that every country has its baggage. Japan, Norway, Costa Rica, here. Anywhere I would want to move to, there would be pros and cons - lots of nice people, but always a few loud jerks screwing stuff up for everyone.
Spent an hour in a seminar where I had a group of book learners drown any alternative though under a see of illegible fact spewing. Coupled with an incredibly stupid modern historian that had some really dumb ideas and tried to apply them to any situation.
Japan, Norway, Costa Rica, here. Anywhere I would want to move to, there would be pros and cons - lots of nice people, but always a few loud jerks screwing stuff up for everyone.
We need a civic system whose mechanism design minimizes loud jerk influence.
Yeah, but I'm white and of Scandinavian descent. I've probably got the best shot of them not giving a crap.
Yeah, me too, but do you really think you would feel happier in a place where there is still that sort of racist derp? I'm not Hispanic, but the backlash in Arizona against people of Hispanic descent bugs the hell out of me. I don't see myself being any less bothered by Nordic people getting cranky about Africans.
I hear ya there. I'm technically not Hispanic (although it depends on who you ask -- some organizations list Portuguese as Hispanic and some don't), but I look Hispanic enough that other Hispanics sometimes assume I'm one of them and have a Hispanic name (it's spelled the same in Portuguese and Spanish). Even though I don't speak with any sort of accent, I'm avoiding Arizona unless absolutely necessary -- and if I do have to go there (basically, I'd only go there as part of my job at this point), I'm bringing my passport with me. Granted, I may be taking the Arizona situation more personally because it does affect me and my family personally, but I always thought that state had serious issues. I mean, they were the last state to observe MLK Day.
Yeah, me too, but do you really think you would feel happier in a place where there is still that sort of racist derp?
I'd really love to find a place that is devoid of racist derp, but sadly, I don't think such a place exists.
True story: My brother and his fiancee just took a new apartment in East Massapequa in Long Island. It's in a nice neighborhood in a relatively affluent and peaceful part of Long Island.
So my aunt and uncle, who live 15 minutes west in Massapequa Park took it upon themselves to check out the neighborhood.
Their assessment? "You can't live there; there are blacks around." Word-for-word. Not "it has a high crime rate" or "there's a lot of gang activity." Nope. "There are blacks."
I really wonder how people get that racist and intractable. My uncle has at least been shot by minorities in his work as a cop, so that makes a degree of sense. But to just say "blacks are no good" is fucking mind-boggling.
Comments
@Churba -- thanks, man. I don't expect to be around nearly as much as I used to be, but I love you guys, and I can't let you go completely.
Oh yeah, and after a few days on antibiotics, the kitty's doing much, much better. I think she's gonna be alright.
@ScoJo & @Anrild My condolences. I hope you guys the best during these hard times.
Actually, that's not good, in that case, either way, you're still pretty fucked, it's just a matter of which colour you want them to paint the strap on pineapple.
She's ahead of Abbot in the Popularity polls, But behind the last prime minister, Rudd, in the popularity polls. Despite that Rudd's party pretty much gave him the knife because of his falling popularity with the public.
Oh, And she's fucking us over as to not break a campaign promise to bring the budget out of deficit, while still trying to engage in the political games - for example, funding the School Chaplaincy program, while trying to cut Scientific and Medical research funding by a significant amount - and all this in the middle of her wild flailing to regain popularity, while relying on Duckman "Do the hokey pokey and copy sloppy Joe Hockey" Swan to run her numbers, when he shouldn't be running so much as a petty cash tin, by the look of it.
Oh, and remember that last prime minister, Krudd, Who I keep referring to as The Fucking Smiler? Yeah, He's cocking about quite a bit of the time, and undermining Gilliard's leadership at just about every turn, though if this is just public perception or if it's intentional is up in the air for debate, and his whole "I should be in power because I should be in power" deal seems to not have changed.
In other words, We've got two very unpopular people vying for power through political horse-trading, for the sake of getting and holding power and fuck all more, both of which whom are extremely right wing and religious(or simply conforming to the wishes of the religious) and who are both the heads of parties which many seem to think would be led better by other people.
So, Basically, a total Shit fight where no matter who wins, the general public loses. As some would say, BOHICA - Bend Over, Here It comes again.
Whew, ThaneOfCawdor hasn't shown up to call me stupid or accuse me of being a Liberal party stooge yet, so let's move on to speak more of this getting bent over and taking your metaphorical rubbery violation like a good little voting public, yes you will, aww ain't you a good voting public? Yes you are! Yes you are!
Anyway, Now, Imagine getting fucked with a big, nasty strap on, with minimal if any lubrication. Pretty bad, right?
Now, Imagine that strap-on is actually a perfect rubbery 1:1 replica of a particularly large, spiny, nasty-looking pineapple, crown and all.
And now you have a mental picture of what's happening to the Australian people in general. The only difference being Which party's Colours that the pineapple strap on in question is painted with.
Great.
I'm moving to Norway.
This is the rise of the New Derp. It's a problem in all intustrialized modern societies it seems...
Also, Norway is pro-science.
Not that I'd really want to. Spain doesn't really have the New Derp. We do have fair use laws that say any download is a-OK, legal gay marriage, a pro-choice stance, and all of the cannibis laws are totally unenforced. The economy is in the shitter and unemployment is astronomical right now, but that just means cost of living is lower for everyone else.
Also, an aunt several times removed immigrated to Norway from Spain with her Scandinavian husband. The blood banks there will not let her donate blood on the basis of ethnicity.
It then led to a nice discussion of why I prefer PAX > Sakura Con and how PAX is a great convention. I, in no way, bashed Sakura Con for being a horrible convention but said I preferred the con-goers of PAX vs. Sakura Con and other various things why I think PAX was an overall better convention.
One individual said Sakura Con had more gaming than PAX. I honestly don't think that's possible even though I haven't been to Sakura Con in 2+ years.
Overall it wasn't a bashing but informing about PAX and several inquiries about PAX and I happily answered them.
I check back on it and ALL my posts were deleted. Whatever.
I tend to really romanticize Norway when I feel frustrated about here, but then I remember that every country has its baggage. Japan, Norway, Costa Rica, here. Anywhere I would want to move to, there would be pros and cons - lots of nice people, but always a few loud jerks screwing stuff up for everyone.
True story: My brother and his fiancee just took a new apartment in East Massapequa in Long Island. It's in a nice neighborhood in a relatively affluent and peaceful part of Long Island.
So my aunt and uncle, who live 15 minutes west in Massapequa Park took it upon themselves to check out the neighborhood.
Their assessment? "You can't live there; there are blacks around." Word-for-word. Not "it has a high crime rate" or "there's a lot of gang activity." Nope. "There are blacks."
I really wonder how people get that racist and intractable. My uncle has at least been shot by minorities in his work as a cop, so that makes a degree of sense. But to just say "blacks are no good" is fucking mind-boggling.