Ye Cats!

Molo reads up on the latest scientific recommendations for personal health and "wellness" in the latest Arms and Ether--"Scientification." Apparently, Molo also has a cat (above). I did not know that until today.

Life is flying out the window it seems. I feel I've aged 50 years in the last 6 months or so. Death and disease are laying waste to those around me and by association my beliefs and assumptions about what's "important". This feels like "experience" in the bad, Blakean sense. (Kids, it turns out that Death, not Sex = loss of innocence, so get with the lovin' and leave-off the dyin') And so, my mid-life crisis moves into the "questioning the mission" phase. Awesome. Just awesome. So not so much drawin/bloggin as of late.

A nice goofy little interview with Roz Chast in the Sunday NY Times. I mention because a) she was an early hero of mine, b) she kind of looks like an older version of Lady Miss Julie who also digs Ms. Chast's stuff, and c) I relate to her description of how she spends her Sundays as described in the article. I'll likely be up till 3 tonight as well, so cheers, Roz.

Anywayz, I first saw Roz Chast's stuff in The National Lampoon when I was in Junior High. One of my favorite 4-panels went something like this:
1. Where's Mister Etch-A-Sketch?
2. He's not here.
3. He's not here either.
4. His family is getting worried.
All of the drawings and characters looked like they were half-heartedly drawn on an etch a sketch. That strip gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Finally, thanks to Lea Of The Woodlands for the link to the very cool when I am king. The strip takes some nice twists and turns visually as it evolves. Dig it.

Financial End O' Days

I unilaterally declare it time to stop using the ridiculous euphemism, "Recession" and head on into "Depression" territory. Barring the unforeseen discovery of rainbow space diamonds among the nation's gravel pits, we're screwed. On the upside, I already drive a Depression-ready car--a 1991 "3-door" white Buick Park Avenue (as seen above!), so I'm ready on that score. I hope y'all are too. Time to dust off good old fashioned humility, hard-work, and lend-a-hand-can-do-ism -- or, despondent, self-pitying, abusive drunkenness -- whatever suits your personal style.

I'd also like to take a moment to thank the powers that be for the financial bonanza we're raking in from our various wars, deregulation, tax cuts, and overall awesomeness. Great job! Well-played, fellows. Truly, well-played!

Big Steve Hammond sent along a nice link to an animation by Jonathan Jarvis, "The Crisis of Credit Realized," explaining the banking collapse. Check it out. It filled in some big gaps for me.