I've always thought it was a sign that I'm an open minded and accepting person that I am not particularly interested in changing the belief systems of the people around me. I am really way to busy understanding and adapting my own. But maybe it has nothing to do with open minded and everthing to do with self centered? Maybe the various evangelical whatevers of the world are, after all, inately more concerned with the well being or welfare of others than I am?

I don't know. I should think about this more. Namely, I have to figure out what the tangible and intangible benefits my belief system would offer to someone other than me, such that they suffer for not having my belief system. Unfortunately, the really big ones (heaven, easy inclusion in intellectual circles, etc) are pretty much outside the purview of anything I have to offer. Less general angst about the direction of the world? Larger enjoyment of the differences of people around you? A god that seems inclined towards joyful trickery as much as anything else?

I feel (for what it's worth) mine is a really fun faith, and very sustaining when times are difficult, and makes me more prone to be loving when I am leaning on it. In the marketplace of ideas, though, maybe that's simply too quaint? What kind of faith is it, I wonder, to see everything, even yucky things, as miraculous? To a certain mindset, it probably seems a lot like cheating. And my faith doesn't even have awesome rituals.

Also, there is a serious tangible loss for me if the world converted, en masse, to my way of thinking. Namely, that during the parts of my life that are tedious (working out at the gym, ordering medical equipment at work, doing dishes, laundry, or any other household chore, etc) what on earth would I have to occupy my brain if I couldn't spend my time trying to fathom the world view of others? I am not joking. A homogenized mental universe seems like the most drearily boring world imaginable to me- even if it's a mental universe that is homogenized to be in perfect sympathy with me.

Which brings me to another point. In reflecting on how I've spent the past 30 years, I really think I've spent the bulk of it trying to make sense of things. See God's pattern, etc. And I have a way of interpreting it that works for me, more or less. But, honestly, I have some serious doubts about my objectivity, not to mention the depth of my understanding. Frankly, I just don't want to think about the entire world taking my faith as The One True One, because it's actually The Thing I Have That Works For Me That I've Been As Honest As I Can About Deducing. I kind of want much smarter minds than my own working on this problem, and want to know their ideas about it along the way.


Anyway, all of that came about because i am currently beset with another case of "Fervernt Youngish Person Who Earnestly Wants To Convert Me To The One Truth, Which (conveniently) Happens To Be Theirs!" I want to gently deflect this person's very earnest testimonals about How God Does Not Exist (seriously, universe, I take back all my irritation in past years about born again Christians. Please, please, send me a deist of any (non-violent) sort!) by letting him know that I've more or less worked that question out to my own satisfaction, but I also want to let him know that I am not interested in converting him, or see any reason why our understandings can't coexist, happily, side by side. I'm not even very intersted in talking about my ideas with him, and have considered faking atheism, or indifference to religion, or deafness. But I think really I need to just come up with a gentle way to introduce the agree to disagree notion into our discussions. Which is a pity, because I like hearing his ideas- up to the point where he tries to get me to say that I agree with them. Because I don't, but why should that matter? They are really great ideas, and interesting, and I learn a lot from them!

I just am grumpy, I guess, by feeling beset by converters. Was I ever a converter? Well, I sincerely repent of it now if I was. But also, maybe the converters are right? Maybe having faith- whatever that faith consists of- implies a certain necessary set of steps, one of which would be spreading that faith?

Arg. All of me rejects that notion (It just seems so weird to think whatever is responsible for black eyed susans is interested in conversion. Or whatever is responsible for hormones cares too deeply about precision of definition), but maybe all of me rejects that notion because I personally don't want to engage in that behavior At All?

On a different note, the moon is beautiful and the cats are watching it with me, and that is a really nice thing indeed!

Hmph.

New Notes Feature
Automatic Detect Location
Pingbacks for All
Birthday Wishes

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I'll be just kinda staggerin' around bleary-eyed at two o'clock in the morning, trying to light the wrong end of a cigarette with a borrowed lighter with a picture of naked cartoon boobs on it. If you see me and come talk to me you will not understand what I am saying, and it will be awkward, and it will make you not enjoy my comics anymore.

I will not actually enter the convention center, except at the very end, to fill out a form.

BRUCE SPRINGSTZINE 1: WEEKEND IN THE VOID takes place in Toronto, on Canzine weekend last October. I flew in from Vancouver, and had exactly 36 hours from touchdown to takeoff again. What follows is a detailed report on that day and a half of sleep deprivation, self-abuse and small pressery. Sometimes vague and deranged, sometimes lucidly hung over, this is an honest report, complete with hand written field notes, of what happens when a writer (Joey Comeau) and a publisher (myself) attempt to stay up for 36 hours, fueled mainly on energy drinks, little orange pills, and pharmaceutical grade tequila.
( Read more... )

BRUCE SPRINGSTZINE 1: WEEKEND IN THE VOID takes place in Toronto, on Canzine weekend last October. I flew in from Vancouver, and had exactly 36 hours from touchdown to takeoff again. What follows is a detailed report on that day and a half of sleep deprivation, self-abuse and small pressery. Sometimes vague and deranged, sometimes lucidly hung over, this is an honest report, complete with hand written field notes, of what happens when a writer (Joey Comeau) and a publisher (myself) attempt to stay up for 36 hours, fueled mainly on energy drinks, little orange pills, and pharmaceutical grade tequila.
( Read more... )

My father is an excellent gardener, and could grow enough vegetables to keep up fed all through the winter. Turnips are amazing because they are root vegetables and so if you pick them and put them in soil in the cellar they last for ages and ages. For more information about turnips, see every day of my childhood.


(store!)

http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=461

Here is today's comic! We hope you like it.

Now that the movie list is up, it's time for Book List! As with the movies, an asterisk is a book that I've re-read (though there aren't really any this time). This list took me a lot longer than usual, I've made my reviews a bit more thorough (or as thorough as one can be in a few sentences, anyway).

( begin here if you dare )

So, I've been collecting airmiles for years, now finally (mostly thanks to the LCBO...) I have enough for some kinda cool stuff.

Which of the following is the best in your opinion:

Poll #1430107 Awesome Airmiles Poll:
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Which Would You Want?

I've released an early version of my new game Cephalopods Co-op Cottage Defence along with the rest of the games from the Artsy Games Incubator round 4. It still needs sound to be implemented but despite that it's pretty damn playable.  I've been testing versions of it with several people (it's 2 player co-op) and many times have ended up playing "just one more time" to try to best our last high score.  I'm really really happy with how it's coming along.


Here's the description from the readme file: 
Lady Amber Pennyworth (scientist, suffragette, and researcher of the occult) and Winston Mainspring (her clockwork valet and lab assistant) have found their cottage lab besieged by foul eldrich octopi.  Armed with only a hammer and a fowling shotgun filled with low grade birdshot they must defend the cottage for as long as they can.



Download it off the AGI site, grab a friend and give it a playthrough. It supports keyboard play but it's nicer if you have gamepads (xbox 360 ones work great)  If you get hooked and want to compare high scores the comment area in this post is the place to do it. Once the game is feature complete I'll be adding onine highscores.

Also next week, birthday trip up to my cottage yay! [edit: I actually mean a trip up to my actual cottage, no squidy things. This is unrelated to the rest of the post]

Blues Fest is only a few blocks away from our house, so every outdoor act is transmitted almost crystal clear through our windows.

I was just thinking, "Gosh, what is this 90's sounding rock? It sounds so familiar...?" and then the chorus kicked in and it was Our Lady Peace playing "Superman's Dead."

I loved that song when I was a kid. I didn't think it was arranged as well as certain other songs on Clumsy, but something about the totally vague but gender-angsty lyrics and how they interplayed with the totally vague but gender-angsty video just gave me a hell yeah feeling when it was on.

Oh man the coda just kicked in... I've got goosebumps. I don't know if it's actually a good song or not and I'm not going to apologize if it isn't; it's flashing me back to high school and the adolescent feelings that a steady diet of rap couldn't speak to.

I wonder how good of a mixtape I could make today out of the commercially viable "alternative" rock I started liking in 1997 or so...

You all remember Michael Jackson died?

There has been a lot of media crap around since then about that guy.

You want to see something really good and really poignant about it instead? My friend Sarah Louise (Sally Bloodbath on livejournal) made a really wonderful comic about her memories of MJ, and it is a refreshing, good thing.

I am just telling her as I write this that she needs a website, because that is the truth, the lady is talented. You should tell her so, because I am hounding her to get on it.

Check out her recent interview on Everything is Wonderful.

Have you noticed people ask unusually personal questions after you sleep with them? What is your favorite hotel, do you like thunderstorms, where do you get your ideas, how long have you thought I was pretty, why aren't you married, is it true you kissed my roommate? Let's take a poll!

Poll #1429877 Waking up with Somerled
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Let's make some pillowtalk!

I hate confrontation. I'm terrified of getting to a place with anyone where there is a danger they won't like me anymore. Maybe I'm scared they'll tell all the kids on the playground I'm bad or something.

We have two guys who are the main contractors on our job. One has a lot of history with my family, though I wouldn't exactly call us friends. Let's name him Squirrel. The other is his friend whom we shall call Badger. I started talking to Squirrel about the renovation back in October and we firmed up the timeline in February. He was working 20 hours a week at Home Depot but assured me he would be tapering it back to 10 during the reno.

The first signs of trouble came in March when he said he would have to maintain a certain number of hours at Home Depot to keep his benefits, but no matter how often I asked him, he would not confirm that number. Finally, on the day we started the reno, he said, "Yeah, it's 20, but I will just work extra hard for you, don't worry."

Since then, he has consistently refused to give me a schedule for upcoming weeks, has not shown up when he said he would, has always arrived saying he's exhausted and overworked, and has taken on other clients. When he is present, he is slow, inefficient, uncommunicative and rude to Snake. He interrupts Badger constantly and slows down his work.

Badger, in contrast, is quiet, thorough, organized and easy to communicate with. As time has gone by, I've come to rely more and more on Badger and dread Squirrels increasingly infrequent work days. Snake and I spent a week deciding how to fire him without firing him. Finally, on Sunday morning I phoned him and got voicemail. I said:

"Hi, Squirrel, it looks like we won't be needing you this week. We're running out of budget, there's not much left to do, and Snake is around all week to help Badger. I'll call you next weekend."

Frankly, I thought he'd be relieved, considering how he complains about having too much work and not enough sleep. Within 30 minutes, he was AT MY FRONT DOOR, KNOCKING. He came in and basically bullied me into letting him work Monday. One passive-aggressive exchange went like this:

Him: "I want to finish the trims on the door."

Me: "I told you I was going to do all the trim myself."

Him: "Well, I really, really want to finish the door, so you don't have to pay me for that time."

So, he came for five hours on Monday and only did half the work he said he would (a typical pattern). As he left, he called out to Snake, "See you tomorrow!!" Slam.

Furious, I called him when I got home and said as politely as I could:

Me: "Hi, I said I didn't want you in this week at all, and yet we agreed on Monday. I don't want you tomorrow."

Him: "Fine, I'll just come and take my tools. Hey, did you love the door?"

Me: "No, the corners look sloppy. Why didn't you do a proper miter cut?"

I think he wants to push me into a fight where I insult him and get aggressive so he can clear his conscience completely and say it was all my fault. I won't be pushed.

God, I fucking hate confrontation.

Everyone should watch this clip of Stuart Varney angrily pointing out the toxicity of weight fascist MeMe Roth's "arguments" against size 18 flight attendents.

Loose Teeth has a set of zombie-themed A Softer World mini-prints available in a very limited quantity for a very limited time: the next two weeks. From the site: "Here's the deal. You can order the set of 5 cards on their own for $7.00 shipping included, or you can get them for free if you buy the A Softer World book from our online store page."

And Overqualified is back in stock at both Amazon.com and Amazon.ca! Also, it is finally out in the UK!

I have been working on the One Bloody Thing After Another book forever now. Oh my goodness, I am excited about it. I can be excited about my own book, right? I like the idea of horror that makes you sad sometimes instead of scared. And I like the idea of horror books full of jokes, so that when you're expecting another joke you get something unsettling instead. And Happy Endings! And lesbians and dead moms who won't stay dead. And sudden unexpected retaliatory violence. And pink pink pink. This is my "vision."

Spring 2010! THE FUTURE!

I don't really even know what to say about this.

Why is this happening? Can someone stop this from happening?

Please.

really enjoying chicago summer so far, lots of free things goin' on, free outdoor shows and art things and eating popsicles on the stoop etc etc





also really enjoyin the new bibio album it is all over the place
bibio - ambivalence avenue
bibio - jealous of roses

http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=460

Here is today's comic! And when you are done with that (and we hope you like it!) then here is an amazing story about daredevil dinosaurs who visit earth from mars, which is where they live since they escaped earth. I love this story.


"Why would a dinosaur need a gun?" asked the shop owner.

"Self-defense."

The owner's gaze dropped to the three-inch claw that had chipped his display case.

"These are killing claws," said the dinosaur, whose name was Tark. "For sheep, or cows. I merely want to disable an attacker with a precision shot to the leg or other uh, limbal region."

"Uh-huh," the owner said. "Or maybe you figure humans shoot each other all the time, but if someone turns up ripped in half the cops are gonna start lookin' for dinosaurs."

Tark carefully pounded the counter. "There used to be a time," he said, "when gun dealers would actually sell people guns! A time . . . called America. I miss that time."</a>