Theological Question

I was talking religion and god with my mother today and something occurred to me regarding Christians vs. Muslims and Christians vs. Jews.

Now, I haven't studied religion and theology in depth, its not something I care to study, because I get confused by the layers and intricate lines and connections of it all.Knowing my ignorance, I still wonder...

Ok, so the Bible was written in the middle east. That means it was written by middle eastern men, yes? The first Christians were middle eastern. Jesus was a Jew. Middle eastern people were Jewish.

So when Christians say they strongly dislike or disagree with Jews (not to say that Christians hate them all, but rather that when I mention Jews and their beliefs to strongly Christians, I usually get a scoff and an eye roll in response.) and they hate middle eastern people for their beliefs and cultures, I get confused. I mean, wasn't Jesus middle eastern? Wasn't Jesus Jewish? Why do Christians hate the very thing that their worship figure is? Also, if Jesus is a Jew, why was Christianity made? Why not just follow Jesus's religion instead of making him the figurehead for a different religion? I just don't understand that.

Taking the Rough with the Smooth

Title is from "Fur Soft as Fur' by The Boy Least Likely To..

I suppose it kind of ties in to what I plan to talk about but mostly,boy it is hard to come up with titles!

I've been reading the website that hosts Post Secret,which you can find by clicking here.

I like reading these things, maybe because there's a voyeuristic part of me that likes to read other people's thoughts and see their creativity explored in a limitless media(just look at all the different styles and techniques employed on each postcard! Some are so incredibly beautiful, I can't believe the person who made it has such a horrible ugly secret to share, others are so well done I would like to find that person and ask them to make me my own postcard to share) but I really like the sentiments on a lot of them, I even go as far as to save the ones that have such meaningful words that I think, "I can stand behind that."
Reading this archive makes me feel like I'm not as horrible a person as I think I am, and makes me want to go out and get postcards and decorate them and...I don't know.I wouldn't go so far as to mail them into Post Secrets, right now.But I definitely think this Frank guy is the instigator to some new sort of art form and art movement, expressed through 8 by 10 cardstock and people's hidden sicknesses.

Or maybe I'm just thinking too hard.

I think I'd like to share some of the ones that meant something to me

Every time I have a converstaion with my family and certain friends about God and religion and their views on life and it comes out as such angry, hateful, narrowmindedness, where they use Jesus and God as an excuse for their hate of homosexuality, non-Christians, pro-choicers, anyone and everyone who does not fit into their rules as a 'decent' human being, I always lost the words to say what I wanted, the words to express how I feel about using a symbol of love as a reason to destroy.This postcard made me sit back and think, "yeah, that's a good point.I don't want to share Paradise with people so full of sorrow and anger."

Maybe, for me, it's not the BEST feeling, but it's pretty gratifying. I was born sick, shoulda died.Didn't. Lost my hearing. Shoulda been reduced to a lifetime of illiteracy, isolation and helplessness as a deaf person in a hearing world. I wasn't. I learned to talk.I learned to read. I kept up with my hearing peers, and in some cases, surpassed them. I love the look on people who are prepared to knock me down, people who are preparing themselves to tell me I'm not as good or as smart or as advanced or as..anything, as a hearing person, and its about time I got back to my 'place' in the disabled world,I love the look on their faces when they realize: I'm not letting them keep me down and I'm not going to let anyone hold me back. I'm proving everyone wrong, all the time, and while it's not the best feeling-it's tainted by the feeling that I SHOULDN'T HAVE to prove myself-it's pretty damn good.

I felt that way during the Hurricane. I always feel that way during emergencies and crisis situations: I care more about the pets than the humans.I suppose because the way I see it, is the humans are more able to take care of themselves, the animals aren't.

I feel this way so much, so many times, but I'm scared to take the first step. I want someone to go on the journey with me.

Reading Post Secret, and my enjoyment of it shouldn't surprise me, now that I think about it. One of my favorite, if not my most favorite, webcomics is A Softer World.

It's along the same vein as Post Secret, words and photos and creativity fused together to tell a story in a short frame. I enjoy almost all the strips, each one of them is so unusual and unique that I always enjoy them and their story telling styles. I love the idea of words and photos being mixed together, like a comic, but not in any linear way of story telling.

My favorite from A Softer World, though, is this one

I wish I was more bold, to be able to take that last panel's advice to heart, maybe I'd have a more interesting life if I did.

And one last thing:

WHAT THE F!?

A real duck!? Or a toy? Or...What? What made this person decide that course of action? And am I the only one who sees the genius in it?

This Woman, This Mutant,This Phoenix

This symbol is recognized rather easily, isn't it? Its a good design, simple, elegant, perfectly expresses the power and the story of the woman who has it.I love it.

I love Phoenix.I love Jean Grey. She's gotta be in my top 5 favorite female comic book characters.

But for a long long time, I hated her. I didn't get her story, the point of her character. I was only exposed to her from the early 90's comics and the cartoons and the movies and they all portrayed her as the gorgeous girl next door, the one every man loves and every woman wants to be friends with, and so sweet and so smart and so powerful and perfect and oh my god! In fandom, a character who is perfect,with no flaws, and who obviously is a stand in for the author/creator is called a Mary Sue. I felt Jean Grey was a Mary Sue. She was so perfect and fabulous and I didn't care. I didn't see the conflict with her, the layers, the depths.I thought she was just supposed to be the reader and the author's dream girl,the one who doesn't exist and if she did, she wouldn't love them. I hated her for taking attention away from the more interesting, more flawed characters, like Kitty Pryde, Dazzler, Storm, Magik. Ho-hum, her love story with Scott transcends time and space. Ho-hum, she's a model, the first female student of Xavier's, everybody's best friend, most powerful psychic.Ho-hum,she has an intergalactic omnipresent spirit of a god-like creature inside her. Where was the villian who could threaten her? Where was the foe that would scare her, make her fear for her survival, make her question her motives, her existence? Where was the story? How was I supposed to relate to her? She's all powerful right? Why is she still with the X-Men? Isn't she stronger then them all combined? What a good girl, to stay with the team, to be a team player, even if she was strong enough to destroy worlds.

So. For years.I didn't like her.I didn't relate to her. I didn't adore her and admire her and respect her and want to know more about her story.

Until I found out Cyclops had an affair with Emma Frost.

But wait! Scott and Jean, they were the golden pair, the perfect couple, the one that would last! He fought armies of space warriors for her, she died for him! How could he!?

And so I began to sympathize with her. She couldn't be so omnipresent, so invincible, if her husband would cheat on her. She couldn't be perfect, not with a crumbling marriage like that. She had to have layers now,to deal with his betrayal.

So I re-read my X-Men novels.Not the ones from the 90's, they don't show her in a duality type position. But the Claremont run, the books stemming from the 70's and the 80's.

I saw her before she was Phoenix, when she was new, and young, and idealistic,and-considering the times she was created-a strong and good female role,not sitting on the sidelines but engaging in battle with her team, and not as head over heels in love with Cyclops as I'd believed. She loved him, even then, but she didn't let her love blind her or make her act stupid, something I thought she would have done. She held her own with a group of men. She held her own with enemies. She was scared.She was brave. She was bold.She was shy.She was her own person. She was loyal to the team but not enough to lose her identity among them.

I read the Dark Phoenix Saga, and understood. She worked hard, she fought hard, she was still fighting, to get to where she was. She fought for her identity,she fought for Scott.For her team. She fought the Phoenix Force and she won. She won as best as a human woman could, she became one with it, but was able to remain in control of it. For someone to endure what she did, to go through what she did, and come out on the other side, still loving, still kind, still herself, still able to be herself and use this invader in her skin to benefit her team and her people... DAMN. She is one hell of a woman. One powerful woman that deserves the Phoenix.

Jean Grey, I'm sorry I didn't understand.

Pretty Pretties part2

Another installment of Pretty Pretties, this time featuring James Jean.

 I first found out about him from reading the series 'Fables' and I just fell in love with his art.He has a way of mastering light and shades, and has a talent for attention to detail.His work is so delicately rendered but so powerful.

The above is one of my particular favorites of his.

These were found on his official site-http://www.jamesjean.com/ where there's a whole lot more of his art of course, as well as details on how he did his work.

Pretty Pretties part 1

I' m a visual person, I collect images I like, or images that are well done. I also like to share the pictures too, to get the artist more fans. I'm going to start a series called Pretty Pretties featuring artwork I like by artists I like, whether its fanart or offical, comic book related or photography or anything, whatever.I just want to share these works of art and hopefully have people like them and search out the artist.I'll try to post the name or site of the artist, but sometimes I just don't know who did the picture, I just like it.

I'm starting this series with work by American Virgin/ NYX cover artist Joshua Middleton.

To start with,why I like his work.

I find his subject matter very intriguing, and the way he places his subjects are very attention grabbing.Instead of just action poses, prepare-for-battle poses or face shots, he tries different perspectives and different poses that convey the character's personality or inner thoughts. He also uses colors and has specific techniques that I love and adore.I find his style over all very visually pleasing but also very emotionally moving.

I guess I can't share ALL the pictures I had from him, too bad.

He has a site here: http://www.joshuamiddleton.com/

And he even shares process works to show how his work progresses from line art to final project, its so awesome to look at!

Check him out and look at his pretty and neat art

RIP Dr. George Tiller

I know I'm like, three days late, but I'm sure you've all read about Dr. George Tiller being shot and killed by a pro-lifer? 

Yeah I'm not about to go on a tirade or anything or contribute anything new or significant or earthshaking or anything about the whole thing. This site says everything I wish I was verbal enough to put to words (here). 

I'm a supporter of abortion. I feel women have the right to choose what happens in their bodies, not an arbitrary body of politics or a book or anyone. It's my uterus, not anyone else's.But like I said, I'm not here to debate or argue. I'm sorry he died, I'm sorry he spent his life helping women who had no where to go, and was harassed for it, and threatened. I'm sorry he was killed and my condolences goes out to his family.

I'm writing this because the first thing that went through my head when I read the report, besides, 'poor guy.' was this: WTF? How ironic is it that a pro-lifer whose argument against abortion is that all life is sacred and no one has the right to decide who lives and who dies gets the right to go out and shoot and kill a human being in cold blood because he doesn't agree with their policy? Am I the only one who sees the irony of a man who declares that fetuses in a woman's stomach acids is so precious, so special, so sacred and unique and one of a kind and right from GOD's hands that he gets to go out and find a full grown human being, someone born, someone alive, and loving, and loved, and human, and breathing and walking, and, yes, right from GOD's hands, and kill himkillhimkillhim! Am I the only one confused and seeing the irony and kinda getting a bit mad? Don't tell me that fetuses are deserving of life if you're going to buy a gun and end someone else's life. Practice what you preach.

I Jumped Through Time

The title's from a song by Abney Park, called Post-Punk Apocalypse. Its a pretty cool band and song,I dig the whole visual style they've got going.

Anyways, so I've been kinda wasting my vacation, reading fmylife.com and reading the stories on the Star Trek XI kink meme.

I have so much unrestrained love for the new Chekov it's not really that funny. Except to E. it is.I made her drive me to Toys R Us so I could get a Chekov doll,who now rides around in my purse with me. I plan to get a Bones at some point too. I grew up on the star trek stuff, and Bones was my favorite on TOS, which set a precedent for me,I guess, all my favorites on the following Star Trek series were doctors: Crusher,Bashir,the Doctor.I didn't watch Enterprise but I'm sure the doctor on that show would have been my favorite.

So its a surprise that I'm head over heels a Chekov fangirl.Although,well...not that surprising..Look at him!

As a result of me liking imdb.com, I then sought out other movies the actor,Anton Yelchin,has been in.I've seen Star Trek,Terminator:Salvation, Alpha Dog and Charlie Bartlett back to back. I liked Star Trek and Charlie Bartlett best.

I then found a site that had a lot of Adam Hughes's stuff and so I've been stockpiling on his works.He's so awesome,I would die happy if I could ever get to be as good an illustrator as he is.

Which reminds me,not that I forgot. But I swore to myself I'd start working on my comic,but I haven't.But I guess I can justify it by saying I want to wait until I write all 24 scripts for the book,and I can't start on the second books til I get my 1st books back from my dad with his corrections to the reality of the characters,for continuity reasons,so..yeah. I want the book to be as good as it can possibly be,so I want to get all the minute details out of the way, the details that tie the world to the real world to make readers feel like they know the universe my characters are in. I want to get everything fleshed out and written out and perfect and seamless before I start illustrating,so that the visual clues and contexts are matching.

So that's out of the schedule until I see my dad and get his painstakingly poured over and written out notes and corrections. I love that I have my dad to check and correct my story's background.

But even if I have these reasons/excuses I still feel guilty and shamed.

I think next post I'll try to write about something of value.