Candid Comics Returns!

Following a temporary setback due to a heinous case of strep throat, I've been searching for my funny bone amidst the rubble that is now my weakened body. I located it last night in the form of a Cracked.com-like article that I titled simply "Atheists are Vampires," inspired by three cans of cheap beer, a long night of mind-numbingly boring work, and vegging out to a horrid Wes Craven vampire movie (I know, which one, right??).

After fleshing out the article (to be posted after this blog post), I grew bored once again and searched through the book-lover's massacre that is my car's backseat for something to read. Out of the dozen or so books tossed nonchalantly in my car over the past several weeks of starting a new book and then moving on to the next, there was one that caught my eye. Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, was sitting there so lonely, batting its sad baby blues up at me from the crumb covered backseat floor of my Suzuki SX4. Why not? I picked it up, dusted it off, recalled with a tinge of guilt that this book belonged to a friend and that I've "borrowed" it for nearly a month now, and carried it into my place of work. I noticed that there was a large bookmark I was using for it, which is not unusual in itself, but that there seemed to be drawings on the inside of the folded page.

It had been sitting in my car for so long, the edge of the page had melded with the slightly melted glue that sustained the book's structure, acting like it was to be a part of the book. I carefully tore it from its roots and opened the paper. Holy shit! It was a comic I had drawn about a month ago! I thought it was pretty cute, and I remember that it made one of my friends laugh when I let him read it (I always like letting someone read it for a chance to see if it's funny to anyone else but me prior to posting it online). I haven't drawn a new comic in the past week or so (which is a real long time for me), so I decided to cheat and make this one my newest comic (number 24). Luckily, the type of comic it is, very short and straight to the point, inspired me to create the next three or four comics. Right now they're in the planning stages (i.e. - on little yellow post-it notes and in my noggin), but they will be coming shortly.

Now, without further ado, here are comics number 23 and 24. Enjoy!

Comic #23

Comic #24

Candid Comics

This was a test drawing of the comic characters I created.

Hey all! I haven't been updating the Meaningful Memes blog as frequently as I would prefer. I've been concentrating on writing a lot of these comics and posting them to my facebook page and going in and out of a funk for some time now. I hope to get back on the writing bandwagon soon -- starting today!!

Here are the last several comics I've made since the last time I've posted. Enjoy!

Comic #16

Comic #17 - The following are the links to the charities involved in helping Joplin, MO cope with the disaster: http://bigfishtees.com/
https://secure.ppaction.org/site/Donation2?df_id=1851&1851.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=fxa4hexh11.app214a
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Animals-Lost-Found-from-the-Joplin-Mo-tornado/185768248141000
http://www2.stl.unitedway.org/site/Survey?ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&SURVEY_ID=2960
http://www.ozarksfoodharvest.org/fooddrive.html
https://donate.convoyofhope.org/
https://secure.americares.org/site/Donation2?idb=2021337769&df_id=1520&1520.donation=form1
https://american.redcross.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=ntld_corpmicrosite&s_company=stateofmissouri-pub

Comic #18 - In case you can't read the book titles, the first book is C.S. Lewis and the second is Richard Carrier's Sense and Goodness Without God

Comic #19

Comic #20

Comic #21

Comic #22

New Candid Comics

Comic #14

Comic #15

More Comics for your lulz!

Comic #10

Comic #11

Comic #12

Comic #13

Meaningful Memes Comic

I'm having trouble deciding what the hell I should name this silly little comic. They're fun to draw, it seems to make some people happy, so I think I'm going to keep doing it either until it is no longer funny/silly/cute or until I get better at drawing and I start up a new comic!

So what do you think? Names? Suggestions? Let a sista' know!

Comic #7

Comic #8

Comic #9

Stick-figure Madness!

Comic #5

Comic #6

Comic Madness!

If you can't tell, I've been dinking around with comics the past few days. I've been incredibly uninspired by the world for the past couple of weeks, hence the drastically fewer updates I've been able to write. So I've turned to comics in order to add a little bit of comedic relief.

Hope you enjoy these next two!

Comic #3

Comic #4

Reaping Benefits from Boredom

I believe that in order to live your life well, you need to throw in some humor. A life without a decent sense of humor is one devoid of intense happiness. You can be satisfied without being able to laugh, but everything is so much better when you can take a moment to relish in the silliness.

Working at a news station as a Deko graphics operator has some upsides to it. One of which is a lot of downtime. I utilize this time for several things other than making new graphics for the evening shows, such as reading and writing. Today, I decided to create something that people can laugh at and enjoy. I hope you do!

Comic #1

Comic #2

Plant Bombs...Rumor Bombs

"I love rumors! Facts can be so misleading, where rumors, true or false, are often revealing." 
- Col. Hans Landa [to Perrier LaPardite], Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards

Many skeptics do everything they can to understand human nature and the world and to find the truth. They eliminate the improbable concepts through a series of steps associated with reasoning techniques and critical thinking skills, then cast those unlikely concepts aside unless convincing evidence suggests it to be even slightly probable. We weed out the bullshit claims that come to us in troves: ion bracelets can increase your stamina and strength, chiropractic therapy can cure your allergies, the Earth is only 10,000 years old, you can be healed through "therapeutic touch" therapy where no touching is involved, or that your future could be read by someone who studies the creases in your palms (for a flat fee of $55 per session).

We have made it a healthy habit to be skeptical of improbable claims and to report to others only what we have researched in the hopes of inciting another intriguing perspective on the issue at hand, maybe learn something, and get closer to the truth.

But I want you skeptics to break your pattern, if only for a day. Experience the discomfort just for a little while. I want you to spread a rumor. It could be about anything, anyone, anyplace. It could be a little white lie or a major fabrication. Test other people's ability to discern a rumor from the truth. Will they believe you because it's something that you're saying? Or will they throw a ton of questions at you, have a giant question mark pop up over their heads, and then take off for the nearest computer/library to research and see if your claim is true (or even falsifiable).

This isn't just a test to find if others are gullible. It's a valuable lesson in human nature. As social animals who attempt to make sense of the universe, when we are let in on a little secret, even if it's just a rumor, we feel a bonding with the rumor-starter and a little more at ease about the phenomenon being discussed.
Observe the people that you tell this rumor to and take note how they respond to your fib.

Finally, this isn't just a test on others. This is an experiment to understand how memes are started, how they evolve, and how they take on a life of their own. Watch this meme, the rumor, as it expands. Notice if it has changed at all since you created it and sent it out into the world. Observe the rumor as though it were an organism as it grows and adapts.

The Sheep Will Not Scatter

"Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered." (Zachariah 13:7)

It seems that this is what will become of the terrorist organizations without their leader, Osama bin Laden. This assumes that he was the main organizer of every guerrilla warfare tactic imposed upon the U.S. and that without him, everything will fall apart. If he was an intelligent leader, he would not have made himself the center of the entire organization (al Qaida). He probably would have split it up into several independent sections throughout the world so that his demise would not be the end of his campaign against pan-Arabism, socialism, democracy, and communism. Al Qaida in the past? Not if Osama had even a smidgen of intelligence, it isn't.

Besides, guerrilla warfare doesn't necessarily work like that. It's not based on certain people or places. It's based on ideology. If it's successful, it has no target to focus on. The ideology cannot be grasped and placed into a safe where no one will ever see or hear from it again. It slips through and infects those susceptible to fanaticism. It's a psychologically-based form of warfare, counting on the target pursued to make rash decisions and self-destruct. Thus far, they've done a pretty damn good job of that. Every action or decision now made out of fear of the possible attack from any outside source is the intended reaction.

Might I add: the reaction of several American people to the death of bin Laden is total hypocrisy. They cringe in disgust at footage of Iraqi's parading in the streets with dismembered bodies held high and people cheering. If they had the chance to get a hold of bin Laden's body, they would do exactly the same thing. Funny how the tables turn and suddenly violence and beastly behavior is all OK.