Yet another infrequent journal post - yay me.

Anywho, school is wrapping up for the semester and my trials with my new school are just about worked out (hopefully).

My semester was pretty light, with just two classes and both Independent Study. So I had the opportunity to basically decide what I'd be doing with my semester. A valuable lesson in how I don't thrive in unstructured environments or with self-imposed deadlines.

This past April, I got to return to the Rainy Kingdom and I dragged with me. We took in the sights of Sakura-con and generally practiced bad consumerism at the many, many vendor booths. It was glorious. But that may just be because I was hopped up on lattes the whole time. Soooo glorious.

Also working on some new inking techniques/tools. I've extolled the virtues of brush pens to my friends for a while, but never really took the time to figure them out in any real depth. I just liked how they had a nice variable line quality, but I had no control over it.

Now I'm working on getting that control. And its brutal. I'm spazzing all over my art work and making a terrible mess of what I considered fairly decent pencil work. Its killing me on the inside, but I'm going to learn these pens even it kills someone. Preferably other than me.

Working on some PShop goodness too, but I've never really embraced technology in my art to the extent that just about everyone else has. I should work on that.

Well, seems I've made a list of stuff to work on, so I'm getting to that now.

So its Christmas Eve and I'll be heading out of town to visit family.

Semester is over and I have survived (with fairly good grades, to boot). Next semester is going to be a bit more free-form and I will be off to Seattle to partake of the Sakuracon goodness!

A decent year to look back on and a good year to look forward to.

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas and looking forward to good 2009.

/rant on

SO I've downloaded some of Macross Frontier from across the vastness of cyberspace, and I have to say my trials and tribulations were not in vain. A thoroughly enjoyable story that maintains the two conventions of music and action-packed transforming mecha battles. I saw the series (as much of it as I have seen) as a kind of return to the basic story of the original Macross, which was a good thing in my opinion. Reminded me a bit of how Gundam Seed was a kind of re-imaging of Mobile Suit Gundam.


Good times.

In school news, it moves a-pace. I seem to have found myself the Art Club Vice President, which was not something I planned on when I was first conned into sitting in on the meetings. So now on top of homework, I have club activities.

/sigh.

In more pleasant news, I'm working on several projects for art class that I am optimistic will turn out quite excellent. Its a bit of experimentation for me, changing a few things around, trying out a few new and uncomfortable media and all that jazz.

Saw the Presidential debate. Now I make it no secret that I'm all for Obama, but even I felt he kind of pulled a few punches. I can forgive that, its called being a Statesman. Its a sign of maturity that he was really there for the issues (imo). What ended up killing me inside was everytime Obama utter'd something to the effect of "McCain is right."

Arg!

The ultimate soundbite and he's just giving it to him! I felt it was more than made up for by McCain's childish attitude at the podium, which simply confirmed for me McCain has no business in politics, much less the Oval Office.

Of course, the real gem of the debate was when McCain appears to have mutter'd 'horseshit' under his breath twice while Senator Obama was talking.

Here's the link to a fairly decent clip with passable audio, so feel free to judge for yourself. Some have argued he's saying "of course" sarcastically... yeah, right.

[link]

/rant off

/rant on

So yeah... I need to update this thing.

Schools back in. Math something, Advanced Art, Intermediate Sculpture, Desktop Publishing and Graphic Design. I'm a busy cat.

Two weeks in, I get hit by an uber flu, so I'm laid up trying to figure how lying in "bed" can be production for me. Not a happy camper at the moment. Oh well.

Got some more arts in the works and hopefully will finish some of the collabs we have going.

Not much else.

Oh yeah, I'm even older now, so stop lolly-gagging you lil' whippersnappers.

/rant off

/rant on

So...

I'm in one of those critical thinking classes (mostly because I got a D in the last one) and we're discussing the issue of justice.

Now, first off, let's get something straight. Everyone believes in justice, we just have different mechanics. A thief in the U.S. goes to jail while a thief in Saudi Arabia may lose a hand.

OK, so my rant is about American Justice. We all believe it has a lot of good points to it (intact limbs) and that it seems to work... more or less. We extol its virtues all the time. "Innocent until proven guilty" (unless its in the news), Right to a fair trial (unless you're an enemy non-combatant) and that whole freedom of speech, religion, expression, yada, yada, yada. Just don't talk bad about the administration or they'll 'free speech' your credibility into the toilet of public opinion.

I'll admit I'm cynical about the state of affairs in our once great nation. I find myself asking "so who's going to pick up the torch of justice and freedom now that we (as a nation) have set it down?" And we have set the torch down. Rendition, torture, Gitmo, the Patriot Act, hypocritical non-proliferation, Abu Ghraib, Blackwater, NSA spy programs and Presidential saves for felons.

It feels like I'm living in two nations sometimes. One with an ideaology and belief in justice and one with an agenda and a Machiavellian approach to achieving it. When does what our nation stands for stop being important? At what point do we set aside what makes out country great to make our country strong? Why do we need to sacrifice our values to prove our righteousness?

I ask this because I see a disparity between what I believe is 'right' and what our leaders deem 'necessary'. I was taught as a youngling that what was necesssary for America was right for everyone. Clearly not the case. Don't believe me, ask an Iraqi. Better yet, an Afghan (only because no bothers to ask them. Bet they have a lot to say by now.)

And what does our nation get stirred by? Britaney losing her kids. Like this was a surprise? Out all night clubbing, driving with kids down the wrong side of the road and developing a serious drinking problem. Sounds like some white-trash mother out a trailer park sans the paparazzi.

Or there's Larry Craig. Gay or not gay? What? Feet touching in bathroom stall? SO WHAT? How is being gay an issue compared to how he legislates? What? If he's ACTUALLY gay this makes him a hypocrite? And this makes him different from any other politician how?

/sigh

But my real point is, if American Justice and Values are so great that we want to import this grand ideaology to other nations ("Hello Iraq, this is Freedom beating down your door and taking familiy members away at night.") why does it not apply to them?

Seriously. Every one of those poor bastards in Gitmo has been denied a trial. Has been denied access to our legal system. Hell, they can't even get into a Military Court. Why? Because they're not Americans.

Wait a sec. Isn't it our wonderful Justice System that we want to install in Iraq? So where's their Freedom of Speech? Their right to counsel. A speedy trial? Where is the list of the charges? Where is their public trial?

It has become clear to me that our leaders do not believe in America. Their's is an ideology of feudal commitment to those who contribute to their cause. They have twisted and turned our rights, our values, our sacred beliefs that made this nation so hopeful into something in where Capitalism is the greater part of our Democracy.

So my question remains, if our way of doing things is so damn great, why doesn't it apply to everyone?

/rant off