there’s something out there gobbling up aeroplanes

.

.

When i drive away from work, one of the first things i see is a handpainted sign outside some kind of mexican kitchen that reads LUNA. And then i smile because i think of my puppy.

Oh, puppy. We’re taking her to the dog park again on a regular basis, although she seems to have mellowed out a bit. No longer is she psychotically outgoing and fearless. Or maybe there just are never enough other dogs there yet. Three or four dogs sniffing about isn’t enough to create the frenzied dogpack effect? Still, it’s strange. When i have her on the leash, she’s intensely interested in every other dog or person or squirrel that she can see. A dog a hundred yards away is big news. But in the park? Some guy can come in with a gigantic greyhound and she’s barely curious. I know there’s a piece of dog psychology that explains this but i can’t remember it at the moment.

.

.

Wow, i have two days off in a row. A real weekend. It’s been about a month since that happened. This is good, because i have a lotta random people paying me to draw things.

Ahhhhhhhh. Nice.

I learned that the madness at my job isn’t really going to end anytime soon. Things were supposed to be clarifying themselves by now, but instead we got some murky report that “we’re here for the next sixty days at least.” So that’s at least two more months of the management going bonkers and trying to hold on to this multimillion-dollar contract with their fingernails…

…but they only make things worse. Especially those Android phones. They’re taking away our solid and dependable Nextels and having every single thing go through the Android because it’s efficient and futuristic and a bold new paradigm! But there’s one Android and two workers, so that sucks all by itself. And the Androids… suck. We’re supposed to communicate with this pathetic free touch-to-talk app called TiKL, and it sucks. There’s a huge delay when you speak and no one can hear what you’re saying. I have to say everything three times and then the person in the Central office chirps back with “….come in?”

It’s abominable.

The funny part is that this TiKL app is free and open to anybody. All you need is the numbers and you can chime in to all these supposedly sensitive areas. If one felt puckish, one could get a smartphone and then just mess with everybody — call up there at three in the morning and say “wake up, guys! This is Lieutenant Miller. Come in? Yeah, you need to stay alert up there because the Captain and the Metro Director of Public Works are gonna be there in ten minutes. Just thought i’d give you the heads up. Over.”

Heheheheheheeeeehheh.

The real laughs will come the first time one of these Android phones is broken or lost. Someone will drop it in the toilet, or it will slip from a pocket, or get smashed against the floor when someone stumbles past it and catches their leg on the charger cord. It’s going to happen at some point. And it will be gloriously tragicomic.

Oh, well.

My new coworker is a totally normal, reserved, middle-aged fellow from Detroit. Nothing about him really stands out. And this is good. No drunken drama is expected.

.

.

.

.

[ Warning; political rants ahead. ]

Conservatives are still pissing me off.

Right-wing radio hosts like Mark Levin and Neal Boortz have long stated on their programs that no one is entitled to a job. Got that, you socialists? No one has the RIGHT to a job; jobs only exist at the whim of private corporations who create them or eliminate them at their discretion; profitability is the only concern. If you don’t have a job, well, you’re a loser with the wrong skills and have no right to complain! You deserve nothing but our scorn. Update your skills or go into business for yourself but don’t come whining to me!

…and at the same time, they’ll parade around sob stories from callers who have been hurt by the “Obama Economy.” Oh, Mr. Levin, it’s just awful, my husband lost his job over a year ago and succumbed to stress when he couldn’t find another. He suffered a stroke and now we’re being crushed by medical bills and our savings are all gone — why is Obama doing this to us?

There, there, Doris, things will really turn around for you when Mitt Romney becomes President.

>___<

Of course, that’s just garden variety hypocrisy. Even more infuriating is their subconscious racism. Have you been paying attention to this Trayvon Martin business?

Look, there’s nothing wrong at all with wanting to get to the bottom of the story. This is a complex situation, and it’s hard to discern the real truth because only two people know what really happened and one of them is dead. It’s entirely possible that George Zimmerman acted foolishly, pursued this kid, and was almost entirely responsible for the tragedy. But it’s also possible that Trayvon himself became the aggressor at some point. Did Zimmerman attack or threaten Martin? Was he attacked from behind? Both obviously felt threatened, so why does this ridiculous stand-your-ground law seem to reward the person with the itchier trigger finger? What really happened? It’s perfectly okay to reject the simplistic “he killed a black kid because he was a vile gun-toting racist” narrative that many are trying to push. The truth is never that simple.

But… if you heard the bare basics of the Trayvon Martin shooting — the news that broke almost a month ago — and you said “whoa, buddy, i don’t need to hear any more. I made up my mind. This kid was obviously up to no good and deserved to die. The shooter said as much and what possible motive could he have to lie? Heck, he deserves a freakin’ medal for what he did. Case closed, end of story.”

Congratulations, you’re racist scum.

And what’s with this presupposition that racism cannot be a factor in any way because George Zimmerman is Hispanic? I’ve actually heard a right-wing talker state plainly “racism cannot be a factor, because George Zimmerman is not white, he’s Hispanic.” What, are people of Hispanic descent so inherently noble that they are incapable of it? Oh, wait, i get it. He’s Hispanic, and that’s the same thing as being black to you. There are whites and then there are the mud races. Whoever heard of one mud racer discriminatin’ against another? Yeah, gotcha.

These people think it’s a “media conspiracy” that the photos of Trayvon Martin that were shown on TV were the ones provided by his family, pictures of the kid smiling and looking clean-cut… instead of, say, his grainy MySpace photos of him posing like a gangsta and showing off his tattoos… it’s a conspiracy! They’re trying to gin up sympathy for this predator! They’re unwilling to show the “real” Trayvon Martin!

But does anyone make this case when some redneck kid dies? If a white kid in Arkansas is tragically killed, are you allowed to use his nice school photo? Or are you obligated to dig up that picture of him muddin’ on an ATV and holding a deer rifle, his mouth caught in mid-holler, shirtless and holding a beer in one hand and flipping the bird with the other? If you use any photo except that one, are you conspiring to protect Whitey?

Remember when this used to happen to white kids who were dressed like hippies or metal fans? The West Memphis Three? Yeah, officer, we’re not really sure what happened but that guy there has long hair and a Metallica t-shirt, so he probably done it. Most white people now realize what’s wrong with that mindset. But when it comes to black kids who wear clothes that they see in rap videos, that’s different. It’s different because those white kids are just going through a rebellious phase; those black kids are making a lifetime choice to be a criminal who hates society and will murder us all the first chance he gets.

Sigh.

I’m exhausted. This country vexes me.

Of course, for right-wing hatred, nothing beats the true believers at the Protein page. Did you know that they are still, today, continuing their hatefest towards Sandra Fluke?

“How long are they going to keep milking this twit twat? Or “tit.” Better for milking. Even sluts have tits. Anyway, the aim seems to be “promote copulation, discourage pregnancy.” This bovine gash has made this the aim of her worthless thirty-something years on Earth, while consuming oxygen and food, filling toilets and soiling bedsheets. A bootblack contributes more to society than this bint.”

“Heh, a deliciously vicious post, George. I stand corrected, and bow to your wit and wisdom. Anyone besides me have an idea that this would be a great opportunity for Rush to jump back in this and extract some payback on the Flukster?”

“Slutty needs to buy her own birth control but if she has spare time when she’s not boning somebody and she wants to do something useful she should lobby for making birth control an over the counter drug I think.”

“If I called her a cunt, would that be a bad thing or just an apt description? Believe me, I love male/female interaction, but I don’t want anyone else involved. Especially the government.”

But no, right-wingers don’t have issues with women. Perish the thought. See, you have to remember that Sandra Fluke committed a grievous crime. She… testified in front of Congress that she believes that it’s discriminatory for health care plans to not include birth control when it’s mandated by law… particularly if they cover things like Viagra, vasectomies, and prostate health. Also, she used some kind of female mind-ray to force Rush Limbaugh to call her a slut on his radio program for three days running, which damaged his heretofore sterling reputation. He needs some payback for that.

She clearly deserves all the hatred they can dish out.

[ End political rants. ]

.

.

.

.

I’ve seen two really good movies lately. The first one is The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The murder-mystery plot is strangely typical, but the style and the characters are so fucking awesome it doesn’t matter. Now i know why people gush over this Lisbeth Salander character. The subplot in which she exacts vengeance on her rapist is a million times more compelling than the main plot.

The other one is Super, which you might remember as that movie that looked a little too much like Kick-Ass because it’s about a normal shlub who puts on a cheap homemade superhero costume to fight crime… but oh, mercy, is this ever the superior film. Kick-Ass kinda failed because it became the exact type of thing it was supposed to be lampooning, and the hero kid’s quest just sort of petered out and he ended up as Hit Girl’s sidekick…. but Super takes the ludicrous concept of an everyday superhero to its deranged, logical conclusion. And it is brutal, and disturbing, and violent, and disgusting, and great. Rainn Wilson has two monologues here that give me chills. Actual chills. Also, you get to see Ellen Page act like a complete psychopath. ( I didn’t know that it was possible for girls to rape men, but apparently it is. )

These are good movies. I highly recommend.

.

.

.

Did i not post this here? I love this.

——————————-

So hey, read my Blog, or you can see me on Twitter, or check out my Behance Network gallery, or see my LinkedIn profile, or visit my Facebook Page, or see my Tumblr, or see my Art Pics on Pinterest. It’s up to you.