Punch and Pie: A spin-off of Queen of Wands
Emma: Steampunkish Fantasy Goodness
Dreamland Chronicles: Holy smokes, a bi-weekly 3-D comic
Dresden Codak: Philosophy and Weird Science
Looking for Group: Typical Fantasy Comic; Atypical World of Warcraft Comic
The Perry Bible Fellowship: This thing keeps winning awards but I keep missing it, reminds me a lot of Bill Plympton, who was my favorite animator some time in the late eighties

Sure, I have serious, dreary comics in my mix, but they've been there a while, so it was time to punch it up with bright colors and puppies. Exploding puppies, perhaps, but puppies all the same.

Mainly people seem to come here for the post Academic Funding Frustration, a warning to people about agressive sales techniques during a vulnerable time.

In short, don't let anybody push you around.

Fortunately, I have nephews, and it's great to be jumped on by a pair of excitable boys who want to drag you into their world of Christmas-time greed first thing in the morning (but not, thanks to efforts of their parents, at 6 am). So it rained, and rained, and rained some more, and I hoped that all that rain wouldn't turn to ice in the evening, but it felt like Christmas and for that it could be as blue as it wanted outside.

The tool I used to get myself raw with delight was not in fact made by the infamous Diebold but instead was made well-enough that other people (who were voting themselves either red or blue, since that seems to be the way of things these days) noticed that the machines were turning them the opposite color desired. I say: If you're going to get raw on a machine, you'd better be sure it works.

So now I'm going to coddle my blue state until I'm over it.

Me: Hello?

There's a pause. I know what The Pause means. The Pause means I should hang up immediately, because there's no presence until the computer hooks people up. I've used this for amusing disjunctive conversations in the past, but I try to keep things fresh.

Uncertain man: Hello?
Me: Yes?
Uncertain man: Is this (my name)?
Me: Yes?
Uncertain man: Hello, I'm calling from Time Warner Cable? I'm calling to let you know about our new phone?

Time Warner Cable has been obnoxious lately. In fact, they called me yesterday. And a few days before that. Everyone sounds around twentyish and inexperienced. In fact, I imagine they are people who answered the ads that read, "Make $$$ in your spare time from home!!!"

Each time they make the same mistake. They pause here. They will pause for up to about ten seconds here. What a perfect time to break in, which more experienced callers won't let you do until they're confirming your address.

Me: Oh, okay, thanks!
Uncertain man (flustered): Uh, sure.
Me: Bye.
Uncertain man (still flustered): Bye.

Thank goodness some people were raised with decent phone manners.

And then I tripped across this site which sells soft-sculpted full-head masks. Their purpose? "PhotogenicMasks have been created for anyone who desires to become a girl quickly and easily."

I kid you not. This is the wearable equivalent of RealDolls.

For anyone who is fortunate enough not to know what a RealDoll is, I'm going to ruin it for you: It's a full-sized female doll designed to have the look and proper fleshy feel that humans have - oh, yes, and be anatomically correct. I'm not sure which is worse: That people are buying these dolls, or that men are dressing up like them.

Everyone has their kinks, but for me it's Furries and Plushies, all over again.

Happy Satan-Day, everybody!

I had a spare LCD (from when a company went completely bankrupt) but it was not something for matching colors. Or even reading text. (When the iLiad comes out, I'm going to have to restrain myself heartily to to just walk out and buy one that day.)

Faced with the fact that I had to buy a new monitor, I skipped the CRT option entirely, though it would undoubtedly have been cheaper, and instead got this one:

I feel much better, now.

It turns out that nobody knows much about the company, not even the Better Business Bureau. Huge warning signs, big and red flapping in gale-force winds. So I asked: How do I know you're legit? Their answer: We're working with graces from the Federal Government. My retort: Prove it.

I'm still getting phone calls, almost daily, asking if I have any questions. Today I said, "Yes, and you should know what they are by now." I should just tell them to take me off their list, but it's now a test. Can they prove they have the backing of the Federal Government to properly handle my student loans?

Last night I tried the second iteration of their chocolate pudding (err, pots au creme du chocolat). It didn't set, so I ended up with eggy chocolate milk. I was sad.

It turns out nearly every recipe is different than the one we were handed that night. I'll try this again with an easier recipe. Serves me right trying to cook with directions from a gourmet chef.

This is part of my "sort of like a portfolio" series which will slowly be growing on my Flickr site. It certainly makes paying for a pro account more attractive.