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Gloom, despair…

and agony on me. Deep dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. Gloom despair and agony on me.



I have to stop reading gloomy books and watching gloomy TV specials about the decline of America. It’s happening and will continue to happen and there is not one thing I can do about it, so why expose myself to so much GLOOM? Meh.

I’m a realist. I prefer to see things how they are rather than pretend that it’s different. That said, I also have to be wary of my Scorpio nature and avoid wallowing. I’ve been wallowing in the bad news lately. It’s true that American is in decline as is the rest of Western civilisation. Reading books and watching shows won’t change that. Neither will camping out in a park, for that matter. It’s WAY WAY beyond that happy crappy.

But why not just step back and try to find a reason to be happy? I’m trying, I swear, but I’m not getting anywhere. I’ve had a string of failures the last few years that have been demoralising and, well, a DRAG, MAN. Weight loss: FAIL. Breaking Think Weasel! out into something profitable: FAIL. Selling jewelry: FAIL. Trying to sell extra crap and clothes for some cash: FAIL. Attitude adjustment: FAIL. Staying young: FAIL. Doing volunteer work: FAIL. Conquering the Vile Organ: FAIL. Making enough extra money to bail us out: FAIL. Trying to stop drinking/smoking: FAIL. Hell, even the antidepressants failed! THAT is a serious FAIL.

I mean, really? REALLY? There is precious little I’ve done in the past few years that is NOT a failure. Then I look around and the whole goddam world is failing. Everything.

Well, when I put it like that, I guess there’s a reason I’m off my game lately, eh? Let the WHINING BEGIN. Continue reading “Gloom, despair…”

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RIP Steve Jobs

February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011

This is a large post made up of the smaller posts I made around the intertubes regarding Jobs’ death and its impact on me.

First, G+:
“Yah. A man I didn’t know died. And it feels like he was family. Steve Jobs’ vision absolutely changed my life. Mac changed my life. I wouldn’t have found my inner geek or learned graphics or even met Nick.

A man I didn’t know died today. And I’m pretty damn upset.

Thank you Steve Jobs, for your brilliant gifts to the world. And for your influence on my life.

RIP Steve Jobs

-Angela
Mac geek since 1995”

And the G+ follow up:
“I know many people don’t understand the reaction to Jobs’ death. It seems weird that the death of a CEO would matter. I didn’t expect it to matter as much to me as it did. I was surprised to have a strong reaction, actually. But when I started enumerating the things that I have today that I would NOT have had w/out Apple in my life the list got pretty personal. Lessee: my career, my life path, my HUSBAND. All these things are pretty much directly connected to that little Happy Mac. That is NOT an exaggeration.

So, for all the snarky bitches who’ve been talking about my “crazy cultist” goings on: FUCK YOU. You know who you are and YES I noticed. You’ve dropped (more) in my estimation of your character. Expect to see much less of me on various media and in person. If you had any passion in your sad lives, you’d understand. But, OH, nevermind, Hoarders is on. /snark/”

That was pointedly at the FB bitches who thought I wouldn’t see the thread. I did.

For the record, I think that putting flowers at Apple stores is a bit odd, but people react in different ways. They did that for Princess Diana and I didn’t get it then, either. But I do understand all the tributes and thank-yous going around the web.

It’s not the hardware. Or the stores. Or even the man himself. It’s the brave forget-the-past attitude. It’s the crazy innovation. It’s the ideals that Apple represents that move us.

It’s that little Happy Mac that changed the whole course of my life. THAT is what we’re talking about.

Some people are too shallow to get it. That is abundantly clear. But I tell you, moronic comments like “He was not a nice man.” really hack me off because a) oh, did you KNOW him? b) can you cite examples? c) NO ONE is talking about him PERSONALLY, duh.

I didn’t know Jobs. I’m not sad for him personally, I’m sad because now Apple will just be another tech company run by a boring old dude (and good gods, Tim Cook is boring and dry and corporate. ::shudder::). Once Jobs’ ideas/products have all played out, there will be no more. That light of innovation is gone. He most certainly is the Edison of our time. The bitchy people that won’t acknowledge that are actually the ones who are playing the Mac vs PC card, not the people that appreciate Jobs for what he did for the tech industry. The Mac vs PC debate is irrelevant. As are the bitchy posts. (And last time I checked, Apple is worth more than MS, so you can suck on that.)

The bottom line is that we are not Apple “cultists”. We are people who have honestly been affected by that Little Happy Mac. We are people who have no problem paying more for hardware in order to get the elegant OS. And most PC users have an iPhone in their pocket, so YOU are Apple “cultists”, too.

How do you like us now? ;)

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Why I don’t read Marvel or DC

This whole reboot bullshit has really got my knickers in a knot. And it’s exactly why I have not and will not read Marvel or DC comics. It’s stupid and it’s a blatant money grab.

Marvel has always put me off with their umpty gazillion multiverse crap. I don’t like having to have an encyclopaedia of the characters to keep up with what’s going on, ok? Call me crazy, but a bit more STORY and a bit less shenanigans would do your characters good.

DC has now rebooted. What a crock of shit. We need money, so let’s start at #1 again and all the avid “buy anything” comics nerds will go for it. DING DING DING!

I just don’t have the patience to deal with Marvel and DC. I want to read a comic with a story and characters that are TRUE to the ideals they are representing and are in ONE universe. Is that so hard? Apparently.

All this shuck and jive nonsense just puts me completely off superheroes. I’ve never been a huge fan in the first place, but damn, I really don’t see the reason to start if the characters I love will get gutted by a marketing scheme. DC and all their #1s can suck it. It’s a marketing scheme and it sullies the whole industry.

It’s shit like this that keeps comics relegated to the nerds and kids. I feel that the complete disrespect DC is showing its characters and its readers is breathtaking. Marvel pisses me off with the multiverse bullshit, but at least it’s organised! There is some sort of order to how it’s done. DC just flipped off everything and threw continuity (and integrity, IMO) out the window.

Ugh. I’ll stick with my indie comics, thanks. Marvel and DC can just keep on relying on that choir of old comics nerds to buy their crazy schemes, because I’m here to tell you, doing crap like they do is not doing anything to garner a new generation.

I encourage any and all of you displaced Marvel and DC refugees to try out an indie comic TODAY. Here are a few to get you started (and yes, some are via subsidiaries of the Big Two):

Think Weasel! (of course, you knew I’d pimp US!)
Serenity Rose
Anything by Terry Moore
Locke and Key
Little Vampires
Cleopatra In Space
Chew
(anything from SLG comics, really)
iZombie

And SO many more! Cruise the indie section at your local comic shop and show us some love!

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MacPro Goodness!

I write this from my new (to me) MacPro. It’s VERY fast! And I’m also using the oh so vaunted Chrome. I still don’t like it. Guess I’m just a Mozilla girl. Twhirl finally died. It just will not run. WAH! I’m using Echofon, which is ok, but I really prefer having separate windows for each Twitter feed. Dammit, Seesmic. Why did you drop Twhirl in the first place? You suck, Seesmic.

Nick is home from work today. He’s not been feeling well. I’m not either, really. I’m kinda stuffy and achey. I didn’t sleep all that well. Bleh.

I delivered a 10 minute long rant to Nick last night about why I think DC and Marvel suck. I shall try to recreate it here. The next post will be about that.

The chick at Centennial Park turned out to be a passive aggressive CUNT. She’s one of those who will say whatever you want to hear then turn on you when your guard is down. Typical Southern Female. Gahroce.

The Friends of Dekalb Animals website is pretty much done. It turned out nicely and the ladies love it. Yay!

I got some GREAT skullies at the con in Nashville. There was a jewelry show in an adjacent building that I couldn’t resist! I spent $60 on really cool beads and some sterling findings. This guy had mounds of strung beads for $3 each! WAHOOOO! So, yah, we made a grand total of $29 at that shitty con and I spent $84 between the beads and some presents I got for my girlfriends. I think I may be done with cons run by this particular organiser because he’s not organised, he’s a no receipt, no set prices, no set times kind of guy. I don’t like that. We were told the con ran 10-5 on Saturday, only to find out at 4:30 that he decided it’ll run until 7. When I called him out on it, he said “Well, didn’t you look at the website to see who the guests are?” NO, no I did not look at the website because I’m a fucking VENDOR and I don’t give a shit who the guests are! This guy can’t even be bothered to send out a goddam email to the people who are paying him for the privilege of setting up at his shitty cons. It’s just rude and careless and I think I’m done with him. There are some other up and coming cons that I think I’d rather get in with than this guy.

Hmm, I think I need to hook up my external speakers. I don’t think Nick did that when he set the MacPro up last night. ::geek geek geek:: :)

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Weather, politics and comics

The weather has finally broken and sweet relief from 90º days has arrived. AH! Even today, at 62º and rain is wonderful! I’ll take it! It’s always this time of year when I think that the NW wouldn’t be bad… But then I realise that it’s like this most of the time and MEH. It’s gotten too hot down here in general, but I like having 4 distinct seasons. I do wish La Niña would give us a break in summer.

Politics in the mornin’! It astounds me that so many dumb people (as represented on FB) STILL think Obama is doing a good job. WUT? How completely stupid do you have to be to believe that? Magical thinking much? He is a president who has accomplished exactly jack and shit. He has reneged on undoing the Patriot Act – twice. He can’t speak in front of a crowd at all without his Teleprompter. He’s never had a job fer chrissakes!! He wants to “tax the rich” to “even the field”. Oh, really? No, it sounds to me like take from the rich and give to the poor. Rich people do play the system, no doubt, so why do we not change the system? Fair Tax would stop that happy crappy. But this is not about leveling anything. This is about creating a nation of takers who don’t work and live on the dole (or who work for the government, same thing). UK, anyone? This is about crippling small business, making a hostile corporate environment and celebrating being a lazy fucker who lives on welfare.

While on the subject of lazy useless people, I’d like to piss off all the “disabled” assholes out there who have been “disabled” their whole lives and refuse to work. You know who you are. When I was growing up, I never knew anyone in their 20s who didn’t work. Now, it’s commonplace to see TEENS on disability. WTF? Hells bells, I had a BLIND friend who worked at Wachovia until he got too sick and had to go on disability – which he hated. When did being a lazy fucker on the dole become fine? When did it lose its stigma as a bad thing and something you tried to avoid? I must have missed the memo.

On the other hand, I know someone who has a real illness and is currently on disability while he goes to college online. He’s about to graduate. Which shows gumption and pride in his abilities. He’s not going to let his condition limit his choices in life. Bravo!

So do not tell me you “can’t” work. That is bullshit and you know it. Do something. Open an Etsy shop. Go to school. Find a way to be productive. Hell, even being a blogger is something! Geeze.

We have a convention next weekend (Oct 1 & 2). It’s in Nashville. It should be low stress. We’ve got our booth pared down to just a few totes and we’ve got the Square set up, so we’re good to go. I hope we make at least a little money. The comic is trundling along. We are in a slow period with dwindling ideas and lack of motivation. I hope the convention will get us cranked back up.

In other news, I’m working on a site for a local animal rescue group. I hope they like what I do and I hope they make lots of money for the pets. I’m also going to start volunteering for Centennial Olympic Park one day a week. Nick thinks I need to get out more. I probably do, but MEH. ;)

We are also planning a trip to CA to see Nick’s family in October or November. I look forward to seeing them, but not to the plane ride. Fucking TSA. ::sigh:: I’m gonna end up in jail if they fondle me, I just know it. Grr. Fucking useless harassment security theatre violation of my fucking rights… grumble, grumble.

Anyway, that’s what’s going on around here. What’s going on with you guys?