Monthly Archives: April 2016

Scientists Adjust Their Beliefs According to Evidence

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And yes, I know it’s more responsible to say “we share between 40 and 50% DNA with cabbages” but it’s much funnier to say 42. Trust me. It’s a reasonable conclusion

Today has been an angry day. There are ridiculous fools spouting untenable propositions everywhere I go on the Internet. My outrage isn’t really about people who deny science, even though they are trying. It’s just about people who think they know everything, and who honestly believe that their personal opinion must be undisputed fact, and that therefore everyone who disagrees with them must be wrong. Also, the punchline is something I like to say whenever people bring up the subject of what percentage DNA humans have in common with vegetables, and sometimes I just draw a comic because I have a joke.

I do happen to know something about science and religion, because my father holds a PhD in chemistry and strong religious views, so I was raised to read the Bible but to also apply the scientific method, and to understand the difference between spiritual truth and objective truth. My dad was a research scientist for 30 years, but he transitioned into education late in life, and now he teaches science in religious schools, where his work is not always appreciated. It’s hard for me to believe that these people really, truly exist, but they do. He had a class where kids were literally sticking their fingers in their ears so as not to hear a lesson about evolution. Sure, they’re kids, but at the same time, what an apt metaphor for the young earth creationists, the climate change deniers, the anti-vaxxers, and of course, most perplexingly, the chemtrail believers in our midst.

But, like good old Neil DeGrasse Tyson said, “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether you believe it or not.” Your opinion that one particular book written by people whose technological advances never went beyond blacksmithing is the only legitimate reference work on the planet doesn’t changes the observations of natural phenomenon made by people who actually wanted to learn the truth about their world. Whether it’s a statement that runs counter to your religious belief or your personal view of yourself, sticking your fingers in your ears and humming loudly doesn’t change reality.

I will refrain from discussion modern physics’ take on the nature of reality.

Gardens in the Rain

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This image has been cropped and color corrected.

I went out to photograph some tiny tomatoes in the rain, but I didn’t realize that the reason all my macrophotography has been looking weird lately is that there is a filter on the lens and the filter was filthy. That accounts for the soft focus-looking bit on the right side of the image. Still, cropped, it looks nice, I think. This is the peach tree in my back yard. It’s been back there for year but never managed to do much growing, because it is apparently tasty to caterpillars. So I’ve been super-vigilant about caterpillar murder (I use a bacteria that actually murders the caterpillar for me; I’m not much of a killer) and now here we have the testimony: tiny peaches bursting forth from the dying flower.

Now, apparently, I have to start killing ants before they eat the baby peaches?

I would have liked to have drawn a comic tonight, but I think my allergies have achieve sentience and are building a more enlightened society in my sinus cavity. I tried to appease them with some soup from the hip ramen shop downtown, but I suspect I may have consumed some MSG, because now my temples are as seized up as the rest of my face.

Every Time I Tell a Joke

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Man, I wish I knew the ending to that joke.

He likes to pretend I’m not funny. But whenever I tell a good joke, he immediately calls his brother to repeat it, and then every single time we go out with anyone for the next 3 weeks, he tells it again. That’s what love is. Putting up with that.

Yesterday’s comic got a pretty good reception, tons of upvotes across various platforms, which, of course, led to a bunch of misogynistic online criticism from anonymous cretins. It’s sort of disheartening to know that they exist. Do they hide their sexism under a cloak of kindness when they move in public and only air their shame from behind the safety of the keyboard, or do they spew that acid wherever they go?

Gender-based criticism never really affected me that much, since I have never actually felt like a girl. Genderqueer dragons are immune to that nonsense. But attacking the characters in my comic is another thing! I am overwhelmed with outrage. Philistines! You know nothing. Anyway, if you think you can cut me down with words…that’s like trying to burn Superman with the light of the sun.

Selfishness

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I’ll be sure to get on that as soon as nobody needs me and I have nothing else I have to do.

These aren’t all my experiences, but they’re all pretty common experiences, especially for women, I think. Don’t be selfish, don’t be selfish. Always put others first. Don’t ask for things. Take care of your siblings, take care of your children, take care of your parents. There’s no time for caretaker burnout because everyone depends on you. You never get to be the selfish one.

But that’s exactly what you have to allow yourself to be, or so I’m told.

Queen of Hearts Mandala

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Off with her head. Off with all their heads.

I’m starting to suspect that posting mandalas actually decreases the traffic on my blog, but goddamnit I have all these freaking mandalas and they need to be uploaded and I’m going to post them on the Internet. So there.

In other news, I read that the standard style book is changing and “Internet” will no longer be capitalized come this summer. That makes zero sense to me. That’s like saying that we’re going to stop capitalizing “America” or “Europe.” The Internet is like its own country and deserves to be a proper noun. Sigh. /end nerd rant.

This weekend was a wreck. I’ve been sick all week. I thought it was just a combination of allergies and the residual stress of my bullshit nightmare journey at the beginning of the month, but The Man, who also thought it was just allergies, has had all the same symptoms, but 2 days in advance of mine, so clearly he caught a weird cold and then gave it to me. And I’ve probably given it to everyone I’ve hung out with since I got back, because our friends are all pretty casual and we sharing drinking vessels and other things that touch your face. Sorry guys. It’s really just a mild cold. But still annoying.

Also, it rained all weekend, which is just completely ridiculous. I didn’t move to the goddamn desert to watch it rain constantly. On the plus side, in 50 years when the entire east coast is under water, climate change may very well turn the desert verdant and arable. If the Big One hits California and it falls into the ocean, Arizona could be the next Garden of Eden. Still, it wasn’t what my brain needed.

I’m writing a sad comic for Tuesday. It’s about my life.

Prickly People Need Love, Too

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Slightly more enticing than the average guy wearing a “FREE HUGS” sign around his neck.

A couple years back, The Man took me to see some a friend perform standup comedy at a local club. One of other comedians doing a set that night was from out of town, and it might have been his first time in the desert. He tried out what was obviously a joke he had just thought of on his way into town, about the saguaro cacti and how they held their arms with a pugilistic attitude, making them all look like they wanted to fight.

He didn’t get any laughs with that joke, and I think it was because it was too easy, and it didn’t go far enough. Those of us who live here know that they don’t all look like they want to fight. Some of them do, but some of them look like they want to shake hands, reach something off a high shelf, or push people away, or hold them tenderly. A lot of them look like they want to hold you tenderly.

A lot of them look like they’re really proud to have sprouted arms that resemble genitalia, and then want to show those appendages off to you.

The point is, saguaros all have a lot of personality, in a way that can’t be said for every type of plant. They’re distinguishable, and while there are some with a particularly classic shape, no 2 are alike, and they’re easy to anthropomorphize.

Hard to hug, though.

Not impossible. But difficult.

Dragon Comics 129

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Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

It’s a bit of hyperbole, but not much of an exaggeration. One iced tea 10 hours ago, OK, but if it were 2 iced teas after about 3 pm, I would be in trouble.

In grad school, I had this British friend, very British by his own admonition. One evening I did him a favor, and he asked how to thank me. Feeling a bit tired, and wishing to attend a yoga class later in the night, I suggested he make me a cup of tea. That is a very British thing to do. He selected an Irish breakfast tea. It was delicious! I had 2 cups! And I attended that yoga class, by golly! And then I vibrated for the rest of the night.

I do not drink caffeine after 3 pm now.

Dragon Comics 128

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ZZZZzzzzzzz…..

Wow, busy day. The Fox and Otter wedding was very wonderful but at the end of the day The Man and I found ourselves completely exhausted. Then I had a bad moment when the tablet wasn’t working again but it settled itself down. But still, it was a long day, and all I had was another insomnia comic, and I didn’t even have insomnia. I just got up earlier than usual and spent a lot of time sweating in the desert before breakfast, and then basically ate one massive meal in the late afternoon, and my brain was done and my body was done and my eyes were especially done.

Done.

At the Downtown Dispensary

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What’s really confusing about this is that you don’t have to open the door to get the full effect. You can smell the dispensary from a block away.

Miraculously, here is a comic. It’s miraculous due to the difficulty I encountered in bringing it to you. First of all, after uploading yesterday’s mandala, I went to work on a particular comic that I’ve been trying to finish all month, and the Wacom tablet was malfunctioning. I spend a long time messing with it–swapping USB ports, switching cables, turning things on and off, deleting and reinstalling the drivers–then finally emailed Wacom and started this pencil comic because I had a feeling that Wacom wasn’t going to be any help and I was going to need something for today, and that it would take me an exceptionally long time to get it ready without the computer.

In the morning, I received 2 completely useless (I mean, basically blank) emails from Wacom. The Man decided that I needed to upload newer drivers, which was a great idea, except that I hadn’t updated my OS in a while, and the new drivers needed a new operating system. So that took like 5 hours. It would have been faster but I didn’t have enough disk space for it, so I had to delete a bunch of files first. But the download took over 3 hours and the install took close to an hour. And then I still had to install the drivers. And now the tablet works again, huzzah.

Meanwhile, I drew this comic in pencil and then fixed the contrast in Photoshop so it was actually readable. But you can see why I prefer to do everything in Photoshop. I had to draw that same poster 6 times. Also, I note that the dude shrinks about 4 inches between panel 4 and panel 5. And the lettering is all wonky, and so are all the lines. I guess I could have used a ruler…

Just a slice of life. I do not have a medical card and don’t frequent the Downtown Dispensary–this was actually my first time setting foot in a dispensary–but The Man offered to drive some friends on their errands, so we were waiting for them in the lobby, and this basically happened: random dude stuck his head in the door, inhaled deeply, sighed, and left. Cracks me up. Bonnie Jo Campbell’s sitcom moment of the day. Subtle.

My pencil comics never get much love, but I honored my promise to myself. Sadly, what I needed to be doing with this day was perfecting the ceremony for the Fox and the Otter’s wedding, which begins in just under 12 hours from the time I’m writing this update. It’s ridiculous how much time I lost this week between American Airlines and Wacom both failing me. But I cannot fail the Fox and the Otter.

 

Sunflake Mandala

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Enjoy this one before it melts. 

The Fox and the Otter are getting married tomorrow! And the Dragon is officiating the ceremony, as is only proper, since the Fox officiated the ceremony when the Dragon married The Man. That probably gives the Fox and the Dragon a special bond, since he married me and I married him in the process of each of us marrying other people. Anyway, I’ve been working on the ceremony since my return from the nightmare journey, and I’m afraid I’m second guessing myself all the way. I read the latest draft to the Rabbit, who seemed to approve, but the Fox and the Otter want to be surprised.

I mean, they’re going to be surprised no matter what. But I assume they would like to be pleasantly surprised, rather than otherwise.

I wrote the ceremony and officiated the wedding when the Misseses Kitty got married, too, but they worked with me on the ceremony and approved the draft beforehand. All I have this time is a page of suggestions and the grooms’ assurance that they trust me to do it right. Anyway, I want to make this one perfect, too, and it makes me nervous not to have workshop, even though the Otter said he knew he’d be thrilled with whatever I wrote.

Easing back into more formal writing is good. Blogging and journaling are effective for what they are, but they don’t require the same sort of cohesion, weight, or order as the kind of writing I used to do every day.

After this wedding, my life will return very briefly to normal before The Man and I have to jet off to California for more family stuff. I guess real life is a process of having to jet off when you want to be still. And being still when you want to jet off.