A few weeks ago, I started writing a near-future science fiction story that explores what might become of Ushahidi and crisis reports via text messaging in the years to come.

A few days ago, I started seeing parts of my story unfold before my eyes every time I refreshed my Twitter account.

I live in the United States, where it is generally safe to have opinions, even loud ones, even unpopular ones, simply because you’re a human being and here we consider that a right. It means that when I see people’s opinions being ignored, crushed, or brutally silenced, I’m angry. And I’m five feet tall and my grandma can benchpress me, so what would I do about it?

Years ago, I could travel to the location of injustice and try to help with my hands–costly and dangerous, and I could never travel everywhere. I could petition my government to get involved. I could peacefully protest to encourage my fellow citizens to help with the petition. Or I could pray, which I’m sure has its internal uses, but frankly, I’m not convinced it has any immediate external power.

But the world has shifted, while and because we’ve been building technological toys for ourselves. We’ve accomplished powerful handheld computer/phones. We can instant message friends, play Tetris, download music, take pictures and shoot video. They’re pretty fun! And with Twitter, and later with Ushahidi (mark my words! and my fiction!), they’re going to change the world.

The streams in which our daily activities flow have shifted, subtly at first, but they’re beginning to pour into rivers, and those rivers are heavy with potential, heavy enough to carve canyons into the way things were. People are connecting, networking, coordinating, and preserving, and they’re using these Tetris-playing, photo-taking toys to obtain an audience.

As long as you have a phone, there is no longer revisionist history to erase your voice, to stomp out who you are and what you stand for and what you do about it. The Internet collects your Tweets, your blog posts, your YouTube videos. The Wayback Machine saves them for sweet eternity. You are immortal. If you have a phone and you’re close enough to a cell tower, you cannot be erased. You can die, but how many of us can suffer and die from one entity before the rest of the world will feel threatened by that entity and bitchslap its in its vile face? That is where this can go. Right now, injustice can be reported in real-time; some day, we can fight it in real-time.

The terrible things man does to man will never disappear, but we’re fumbling with a new way to fight it. Activism is as simple as changing the settings on your Twitter account to say you live in Tehran. It’s as simple as sharing this link:

Iran Election Cyberwar Guide for Beginners

…and letting other people decide whether or not they want to be a part of history. I hope you do.  I am.

Edit: If you don't understand what's going on, velveteen wrote a great summary right here.

1. I’ve had a growing collection of cheap plastic animals since I was little. Because I’m immature, I still play with them. (You have no idea how delighted I was when I saw the first episode of Firefly.)
2. There are cool piles of rocks, gravel, and sand down by the docks, just a few blocks from my house.
3. I pretty much hate when people take pictures of their creepy Japanese dolls and post them, so I figured the Internet needed some dinosaurs to eat the creepy Japanese dolls.

EDIT: HEY! I thought I turned the cross-posty thing off. I'm still formatting WordPress on my domain, so um, don't look at it. >_> hahaha

My pet archaelogist flew up to Seattle for a couple of days. I was kind of hoping we would go solve mysteries about long-dead people like on Bones, but instead it turns out the only thing she likes more than dead people is dead pennies. We went on a search for machines that ruin U.S. currency for fun and profit, and hit something like eighteen of them in one day.

Our adventures included this hairy little friend:

We fed him two fistfuls of pennies before his owner noticed we realized he wasn’t going to smear them and stamp them with an image of a bone.

So, I constantly argue about car art with my partner. He thinks cars are beautiful when they’re sleek and subtle, with only minor aftermarket adjustments; I think they’re boring, and you should paint all over them and glue things to them, like kindergarten art projects with wheels. This van, for instance, is the coolest SF-themed vehicle I’ve seen in a long time, but he gave me the “You voted for McCain, didn’t you?” face when I showed it to him.

Whatever. I love you, space van. <3

This is my favorite photo from the trip:

I put my phone number against the glass, but it wasn’t interested. Fine, I can take a hint. I know when I’m not withered enough for the popular curiosities to want a piece. At least I’m not a fake, Head! Yeah, you heard me. You and (most) everything else in that display case. A skillful fake that fooled me even after I stood there for three hours and eventually had to be escorted out by security, but a fake all the same. Maybe I’ll make a post about shrunken heads later.

Next, we had dinner in the rotating restaurant at the top of the Space Needle. The restaurant spins around, making a full rotation once ever ~45 minutes, but the walls remain in place. We found a napkin on the windowsill with a conversation on it between two people presumably on opposite sides of the restaurant.

Check out the pantspissing gorgeous view from the observation deck.

My fear of heights isn’t crippling, which means it’s basically a psychological toy I can use to torment myself when I’ve run out of pranks to play on the people around me.

And speaking of pranks…vandalism isn’t always wrong:

That’s public art, man. I would pay extra taxes to have more signs like that.

Once, I earned the right to type that. I had some trouble with my hinder that left me lying on my belly for almost an entire summer.

I was only seventeen, so it could have been socially disastrous, but fortunately I wasn’t the kind of seventeen-year old that had friends or engagements, just locker room embarrassments and the occasional split lip.  I already typed fluent HTML, tapped out in Notepad so it took five times as long but leant me a buttload more programming cred. In 1998 I took advantage of that keister malady to master the intricacies of CSS. When I attended trade school for what I already knew–web design and development–I passed with my eyes shut.

In my old age, a mere decade later, my fluency is fading. I’m hoping this new site reacquaints me with what was once my only means of indoor entertainment. There is code here to play with, and functions to adjust, and I can’t depend on anyone to do it for me. And since I barely have the time to maintain my own site at all, I’m not going to be able to do two anymore. Just as it was with my first website, you’ll now be able to find my art, writing, and personal life all in one place, separated only by WP’s convenient tags.

I don’t care what the purists say. I’m so freaking glad I’m not editing this in Notepad. So…

Hello, world!

Edit: Pretend you didn't see this. I forgot the cross-posty thing was still on, and the blog on my site still needs to be formatted. Really badly. haha!

I despise my country's obsession with terrorism. Something horrible happened to us once that happens in other places every day, and suddenly we're mentally unstable pants-pissing martyrs who approve of digging in the buttholes of everyone who gets on a plane for a fabled false sense of security. "Come on, boys, glove up! We'll find it in this one for sure!" Guess what, douchebags? There's nothing in there but unborn turds. Our country is one of the most amazing social products of human history, and we foolishly think it will stay that way no matter what we do now.

Well, at least I have hilarious irony to comfort me. Seriously, I hope he writes that into the comic somehow.

Full disclosure: I would treasure a cocktail napkin Rah used to blot her pen, even if she blew her nose on it first. I would steal and then park someone else's car all stupid in front of Jesse's house just to get the legal threat he left on the windshield. That said, it's awesome.



This is the kind of le gay romance that's a lot less romantic and a lot more asskicky. There's a generous helping of transparent "I sure wish straight boys would mack on me" fantasy, but if you even count that as a weakness, which I don't, it's still the only one. The rest of it is a load of skillfully drawn, creative violence and supernatural thrills, not to mention subtle character interactions and the silly little asides that made me fall in love with manga.

If this is sounding good, you should get yourself a copy. Support independent artists, stimulate the economy, blahdy blah HOT BOYS FIGHTING EACH OTHER blah MONSTERS blah SUSPENSE. Read it.

I meant to post this last week but of course time got away from me, as always. :P I'm going to set a bear trap for you, Time. How do you like that?!

Also, I think many people watching this journal would appreciate The Kansas Jayhawk vs. The Midwest Monster Squad by Jeremiah Tolbert, so you really ought to treat yourself to this fine piece of short story.

As promised:

55% done!

I completely finished the living room, which is definitely half of what I needed to do if you count actual square footage, but there's much more scrubbing to be done in the bathroom and kitchen, so I think the next 50% might take a lot longer. >:| Drat!

Now that I have a table again, I can draw on it.* Here: ( More sketches )

Also, I have something up in gear_shift, if you want to take a peek.


* Which is why you're getting art instead of writing from Story Ninjas, all of which I didn't feel was journal-appropriate, for various reasons. It's okay, the art is probably better anyway.

45% done!

Every Thursday some friends and I sit around and exchange prompts. Then we write for fifteen minutes, and then we read them aloud. It's really fun, and I've gotten a few good short stories or novel chapters finished here. If you're a writer in Bellingham you're welcome to join in. Let me know. :) I'll post one of my pieces when I get back.

30% done!

I took a break to walk the dog and pick up detergent and cleaner. Arm and Hammer doesn't give you a nickel or even any liquid. You fill the spray bottle with your own water when you get home. Then you screw in a cartridge containing Slimer from The Real Ghostbusters. It works very well, smells nice, and it plays wacky pranks on Janine for your entertainment. (Plus it was the cheapest one and I had to save my money to buy steak for crows. )

18% done!*

Like Indiana Jones, I am finding treasures in the Temple of Doom. Observe:

• Eleven cents in pennies
• Whole avocado covered in mold
• The sugar spoon!
• Enough dog hair to knit a new dog
• Butch's favorite cat toy
• Lots of underwear (why do I take off my underwear in the living room?!)
• A chest full of gold, jewels, and low-mortgage real estate

* I realize my progress is not impressive, but it's partly because I didn't fairly represent each task this time--the length of time it takes to do the ones I already did is much longer than most of the ones I have left. (The room I'm doing now is twice the size of any other room in the house, except the attic or basement, which I will NOT be cleaning today.)

12% done!

Dude, the Paralyzed Veterans of America sent us a nickel. Like an actual nickel. I'm thinking about using it to build a hot robot that can cook breakfast for paralyzed vets. I'm also thinking of donating to them just because of their brazen scheme, even though I'm not actually guilted the way they intended me to be. I'm more affected by irony than pity. Maybe I should build a robot that can use the nickel to paralyze people...

0% done!

No, I don't know her name, because I haven't read the bloody book yet. Hahaha!

From lisamantchev's trilogy, Théâtre Illuminata:



( Bigger. )

My scanner is filthy. >:| And I made her eyes green because that way if they're blue or brown, I can still change them, haha!

HMM WHAT COULD BE THESE?

( Some tall guy with blonde hair and some short girl who wants to beat the crap out of him. )

How come sometimes I can draw something when I'm supposed to and sometimes I can't? o_O DID ONE OF YOU CURSE ME AT BIRTH?

My boss is about a year older than me. She married her junior high school sweetheart, got married and had a baby, and now she manages the adult store where I work. She's had less higher education than I, her spelling is atrocious, she (and her husband) makes reckless choices with her money, she says she wants to lose weight and then eats cookies right in front of me,* and she drives like a complete asshat. If she leaves, I will go where she goes, because I never want to work for anyone else again. Why? How can you make your employees love you enough that they would quit if you did?

1. Your business is never her business--unless you ask for it.

Nicole doesn't pry about our personal lives unless we bring it up. Sometimes, if we're in a bad mood, she'll ask us if we want to talk about it, and if we don't, she warns us we need to leave our attitude at the door when we come in because we are not paid to be grouchy. But if we do want to talk about it, she'll do her best to help us fix it. The woman has gotten up at the butt crack of dawn to drive people to doctor's appointments, lent her employees money when they were in a bind, and always has a sympathetic ear.

On a related note, Nicole's business is always our business--unless she thinks it will create a negative mood. She rarely complains or brings up negative topics unless they're work-related and need to be addressed, and she does so with professionalism. (More on that in #4.)

2. Nicole never puts herself before us.

Nicole could easily schedule herself all the cushy shifts, and make sure she got her vacation time whenever she wanted, but she actually schedules herself around OUR needs. By doing this, she demonstrates that she understands we have lives outside of work, and that she respects that. No one wants to work for a boss who wants you to give up parts of the 130 hours that make up most of your life because during the 40 hours that you belong to them, they wanted to have the most sales volume or the least customer traffic or whatever is considered "cushy" in your workplace.

3. Nicole advocates for us to upper management.

Our company is actually full of great people, but it doesn't mean they don't misunderstand each other, or that they're never ignorant of someone else's needs or intentions. Nicole is protective of us. When someone higher up the corporate chain makes a decision affecting her employees, if someone feels a negative impact, she's willing to discuss it with them and then with our district manager to see if there's a new solution. She believes it's her responsibility to take care of us as much as it is to expect us to care for our jobs. The two are closely linked.

4. Nicole expects us all to interact like adults, and she sets an example.

She expects us to work while we're there; as long as there are things to do, she's doing them too. I've never seen her slack off when there was something that needed to be done. She saves her slacking for very slow times, or for little ten minute interludes to catch up with an employee she hasn't worked with in awhile, but never long hours lolling around reading or procrastinating. If she has a problem with someone's conduct or attitude, she takes it straight to them and talks about it calmly, professionally, and privately--and she expects us to do the same with each other. The result is that overwhelmingly, we behave as a cohesive unit even during times of mini-drama, like if someone has an unrequited crush, or extreme stress, like during the holidays. Nicole is always cheerful at work; yes, she'll tell you to go home if you're crabby and you can't shape up, but she'll send herself home for the same reason.

5. Despite being human, Nicole is fair.

Every time I thought I caught her playing favorites, it turned out there was a logical reason for scheduling Person X with more hours, or letting Person X have a key but not Person Y. She undoubtedly likes some of us more than others--she's only human, after all--but damned if I can tell who it is. (I hope it's me.)

* She'll have a (hilarious) tantrum if I don't also mention that she makes an effort to pack her own lunches instead of eating out, and that she brings celery and carrots and (disgustingly) dips them in peanut butter. It's not ALWAYS cookies.

Some people have been saying President Obama is the Anti-Christ. Sorry rejects, but George Lucas is the Anti-Christ, because none of the Monkey Island PC games are available in the LucasArts store. That officially makes them okay to pirate, so someone help a brother out with his insult swordfighting fix. (Also I want to give a copy to my mom so she can play.) EDIT: I have #1! Thanks Seamus.

Oh you want art? How about THIS?


And here is a comic I drew for beatonna, whose website caused me to start coughing because I was laughing so hard, and I'm not even sick.