The Unexpected Financial Benefits of Public Transportation

Ever since I've moved closer to the downtown area, I've tried really hard to take the bus more often - partly to contribute less to the carcinogenic sludge we call "air" in downtown Salt Lake City, and partly because riding the bus allows me to read/write/draw during the commute. That's pretty groovy, but I've found another benefit to taking the bus, one that's actually padded my wallet a bit.

I've not actually crunched the numbers to see if taking the bus really saves me money on gas. Yes, I go to the gas station less often, but I'm still paying for a bus pass - although my bus pass gets subsidized through work, so I expect there are some pretty significant savings there. But that's not actually the benefit I was referring to.

Whenever I'm feeling down or lonely, rather than picking up the phone like a healthy person, I tend to get in my car and drive to the bookstore. I satisfy my cravings for social interaction by reading or watching movies. As a result, I spend a lot of money on... stuff. Just stuff.

HOWEVER... commuting by bus tends to add about an hour to travel time... which means that most of my jaunts to Barnes and Noble wouldn't get me home until well too late to eat and unwind before going to bed, so, most of the time, I just can't be bothered. So I go home and call people instead.

My savings have never been better!

Special Delivery

I ain't even got a funny caption for this one...  I just drewed it!

So I've been trying to get a lot more writing done, and currently I'm working on two different stories which, deep down, I know would be better as graphic novels.  Now, I'm going to keep writing and see how I feel with the finished product, but JUST IN CASE, I'm going to try my hand at sketching up a few scenes as I go.

This picture was actually inspired by a technique I've seen used by Stan Sakai of Usagi Yojimbo fame.  If I do decide to dive in and draw a graphic novel, then I plan on studying Mr. Sakai very closely, as he's probably among my favorite comics artists of ever.  Sakai will sometimes shade in objects in the foreground, creating two different "depth" levels in his pictures.  This is my first real attempt at aping that technique.

The Rising Horror

Man, I'm screwed up!

I regret doing this one on the iPad. I think I would have gotten better results if I'd just used paper.

Braddy Reads One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Man, some books... I don't think I've felt this conflicted about a story I've read since Lolita.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is without a doubt worthy of the influence it's had on people over the years. It's a compelling tale with memorable characters, a primal, universal conflict, and a resolution that couldn't have come about any other way. It's a story that had to come together the way it did, and it would not have worked any other way.

It's too bad the main character is such an unlikable cuss.

Most of the issues I have with Cuckoo's Nest center around Randall McMurphy. He's brash, boisterous, and rowdy. He's sneaky, conniving, and contemptible. He's got some charm to him, certainly,  and the story felt like it screeched to a halt every time he wasn't the center of attention. Yet I could never bring myself to genuinely like him, because he asked for most of the poor treatment he received.

Sure, I get that McMurphy is meant to illustrate the value of freedom in the face of oppression. I get that he's making a stand against an unjust and corrupt system. I get that he restores autonomy and confidence to a whole group of disenfranchised inmates. HOWEVER, he remains, start to finish, an angry gambler, a misogynist, and a violent criminal.

I've got other grievances - mainly centering around the depictions of the mental health profession - but most of them I can brush off as elements necessary in constructing the delicate tyrrany against which our protagonist fights. Cuckoo's Nest testifies of the importance of personal freedom, and it makes the point that freedom is something worth dying for. It's a good message, and a good story - but did it have to be told this way?

Maybe, for some, it did. For me, though? R. P. McMurphy just isn't my hero.

Things I'll Love Forever: Sweaters

The Art of Manliness (the source for the above image) states that "a quality sweater that properly fits is one of the most flattering garments a man can wear." And, yeah, after years of dressing like an out-of-work poetry teacher, I'm inclined to agree. Sweaters are just about the best thing ever.

• Used to be that sweaters made me think of the "uncool" class of people - you know, like Carlton Banks. Nowadays, though, I'm pretty sure sweaters are considered a classy wardrobe choice. Frankly, considering my usual attire of ironic T-shirts making jokes about 16th-century poets and superheroes, it's miraculous I ever find anything "classy" to wear.
• I'm particularly fond of argyle, which seems to add just a hint of fun to an otherwise mundane wardrobe choice. I say "fun," yet argyle also classes up the overall appearance, making a splash at church or informal gatherings.
• Now, I'm a pretty scrawny person, so the long-sleeved sweater makes me feel a lot more confident about my physique by masking the HECK out of it. I look like I might actually be able to lift up a medium-sized dog or a chunky child, whereas, without the sweater, I might never be called upon to undertake such tasks.
• However, when I want to go with a more intellectual look, I find that a sweater vest - an oft-maligned sartorial selection - provides me with just the right writerly paunch that tells the ladies, "Yes, this man COULD seduce you. With his mind.:
• Most importantly, sweaters provide a level of warmth and comfort most clothes can't. I can't tell you how many cold mornings I've spent lying awake in bed, reluctant to rise and face the bitter chill of wind and snow, only to find courage in the thought that, "Well, at least I can wear a sweater today." Seriously, it's like Linus's security blanket, but you can take it to work without looking the fool.

It's pretty rare that I get worked up over an article of clothing. Since the sweater manages to evoke such a positive reaction from me, I'll love it forever.

And yes, I'm wearing a sweater RIGHT NOW.

The Golden Child Inside

Whew! Really had something in your throat, didn't you.

A Sunset Escape

Before the sun goes down...

All I wanted was to practice sunsets. The shadows in the front are just so I had an excuse.

Undead Tennis

Fifteen-love.

Heh. I'm not going to tell you how much fun I had with this one. Gross things are fun to draw.

My buddy Jason asked me to draw something with gas masks a few years ago, and now I find them a constant source for inspiration.

Las Niñas y Los Monstruos

Prepare for speary death, Kermit!

Aw, look, he's got her... um... complexion?

Yeah, so here are more girls and monsters. Also, this:

...whatever this is.

Kill Your Guilty Pleasures

I don't spend a lot of time conversing with people.  I'm pretty much the only person I know who would rather give a talk in front of a crowd of strangers than have one casual conversation with an acquaintance on a comfy sofa.  The sofa is just out of my element.  I'd be uncomfortable, and when I'm uncomfortable, I make sure that YOU'RE uncomfortable, too.  Usually by talking about some crazy Japanese cartoon I just watched or counting out loud the hairs on the back of my hand or resting my chin on your shoulder and sniffing really loudly.  So, yeah, I just stay away from casual conversation.

HOWEVER, in my imagined conversations with the friends I'd probably make some day if I could bring myself to talk to someone I haven't already known for ages, I get asked the question, "What is your guilty pleasure movie?"  And I always take great pride in answering, "I don't have one."  Which, of course, I say out loud, to myself, as I'm brushing my teeth preparing for bed, because that's when these hallucinatory encounters tend to take place.

When I think of the term "guilty pleasure," I usually think of "shame," and shame is an emotion that I just can't get behind.  In general, I've really started to dig emotions in the relatively brief period of time I've started experiencing them.  I even dig some of the "bad" emotions, like sadness, when I'm feeling particularly bohemian.  But, man, I just can't get behind the emotion of shame.  I think of shame like a terrible taste - it's your bodies way of slapping that moldy sock out of your mouth and shouting "Stop that!"

So my question is this:  If you genuinely enjoy something, WHY on earth would you compare it to a moldy sock?

Near as I can figure, there are two reasons to have a guilty response to the things that you like:

EITHER

Your "guilty pleasure" is something that society tells you you shouldn't like (for example, you marathon Hugh Grant rom-coms, even though critics and feminists and everyone else call them unrealistic).

OR

You like something that's really, genuinely bad for your physical or emotional well-being (maybe you eat the whole large tub of butterproduct-saturated popcorn at the movie theater).

Okay, I guess there's technically a third option, where you indulge in something that you know is bad "ironically," but that's really just the first option rephrased in a more pretentious manner, and you really should stop being such a GIT, man!

So this is my opinion:  if your guilty pleasure falls into the first category, STOP FEELING ASHAMED.  Seriously, just celebrate it!  People are more accepting of diversity now than ever before.  States are legalizing marriages for same-sex couples, "bronies" are a thing, and there's even a gender-neutral Easy Bake Oven.  If someone else is telling you not to enjoy something that genuinely makes you happy, then they're the ones with the issue, not you.  Frankly, we're all adults now (whatever the cuss that means).  There's no popularity contest to win, so there's no cause to feel shame over something that brings you joy, even if other people find it odd.

BUT, if you're indulging in something that's causing feelings of shame because it's genuinely bad for you, then... STOP DOING IT.  Quit smoking.  Put the lid back on that tub of cookie-dough ice cream.  Turn off Jersey Shore.  Your mind is trying to save you from killing yourself/deadening the keen intellect you were born with.  You should listen to your mind.  It's probably a little smarter than you give it credit for.

Yeah, that's right.  I just told you that you're enjoying things wrong.

I don't generally admit to guilty pleasures, then, because I don't think I should feel ashamed of anything I genuinely enjoy.  The only time I ever really fall into the "guilty pleasure" thing is when I'm not sure what my reaction to a particular stimulus is.  For example, I've been watching this really crazy anime called Spice and Wolf which is about this travelling merchant in some ancient European analogue world who teams up with this ancient wolf demigod thingy.  I love the depiction of medieval economics and the great banter between the two lead characters, but I get conflicted because the wolf character is often portrayed as a completely nude woman with dog ears and a tail.  So it's this show that's got some really strong points to it, and the naked woman's not even that provocative.  I mean, she falls somewhere between "disrobed Barbie doll" and "Lady Godiva" on the Virgin-Whore scale of titillation, so it doesn't really make me feel skeezy that way, but then there's the fact that she's actually supposed to be a naked adolescent girl, and that just makes the whole thing even more unsavory.  BUT, then again, it is anime, where everyone looks the same age no matter how old they actually are, and...

See?  This is why I stay the heck out of casual conversation.

*snnnnnnnnnnnnnnnfffffffffffffff*

Braddy Reads I Want My Hat Back

Is there a market for picture books for adults that I'm not aware of? Or is this just a thing my friends do?

Of course, I'm not talking about "adult" picture books. Don't be gross.

I'm not even talking about parody picture books, like Go the F*^% to Sleep. I'm talking about honest-to-goodness, 12"-square books that are, like, 75% illustration. Yeah, I've got a lot of friends who love those things.

And there's no reason why someone shouldn't love a good picture book. Some of my fondest, earliest memories are from reading the likes of "Little Critter" or "Curious George." Heck, as an adult, I've come to appreciate the work of artists like Shaun Tan, whose written one of my all-time favorite books.

Well, if you haven't ever seen Jon Klassen's I Want My Hat Back, you might want to try a picture book for yourself. The simplistic illustrations set up this sort of dry, deadpan tone that leads up to one of the best punchlines I've ever seen.

Plus, the book is full of the usual monosyllables, so most people could enjoy this book with their kids. Provided you like just a hint of dark humor in your child-rearing.

Braddy Reads East of Eden

Man, is Steinbeck depressing or what?

I've been doing less reading than usual. Between singing rehearsals all throughout the last quarter of 2013 and house... stuff... I've not really had the time. But now it's a new year, and a new month, and a new selection from my book club. So it's time, I guess, to take that reading rainbow for a ride.

This is actual the second time my book club has chosen to read a Steinbeck novel. It's not terrible hard to see why: Steinbeck is a stupendous writer, even if all he seems to write about is misery and discomfort. I've never walked away from a Steinbeck novel feeling anything other than enlightened, although perhaps a bit dirty, as well.

East of Eden is almost definitely my new favorite Steinbeck novel. It contains one of the most interesting meditations on morality I've ever read. Admittedly it took a long time for me to really get into the novel - it felt like the first several hundred pages were all set up , and it takes a LOT of patience to get the payoff.

I really hate long novels.

Ultimately, though, East of Eden has given me a lot to think about. Like the stories from the Bible on which the novel is loosely based, East of Eden affirms that men and women all,have the capacity for good and evil, and their reasons for cleaving to one or the other can vary. Sometimes, vice can lend one strength, while virtue can lead them down treacherous, sinful roads. Yeah, I'll be thinking on that one for a while.

By the way, I read the Penguin edition of the novel, and the back of the book kinda made me laugh:

Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families-the Trasks and the Hamiltons-whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

That, by the way, is literally the entire plot of the book. Spoilers, indeed.

Catching Up with the Classics: A Night at the Opera

Hey, it's been a loooong time since I've done one of these.

Although I have to say this is probably cheating a little.  I love me some Marx Brothers entertainment.  Which is kinda funny, since I really don't like many slapstick, goofy comedies.

The Marxes, though - they own their particular style of comedy in a way no other comedian does.  Nobody does snark like Groucho, and Harpo's peculiar prop-centric slapstick is surpassed only by cartoons, where they can actually blow themselves up with Acme-brand dynamite.

Chico, though... I've never really been a big fan of Chico's faux-Italian shenanigans.  I wonder if it felt different back in the time period, but today it feels a little... culterally-insensitive.

That said, the famous "contract scene" towards the beginning of A Night at the Opera had me laughing.  Groucho and Chico have a great chemistry when they banter, and they carry a lot of comedy that I don't think would otherwise come out.  Chico's accent actually does detract some from the scene, though.

But, then again, Chico is one of the most entertaining pianists I've ever seen.  The obligatory musical interlude feels out of place as always, but I never complain.  Chico's a delight to watch, and Harpo on the harp always manages to bring a tear to my eye.

Yeah, I, um, cry at Marx Brothers movies.  Is that weird.

Whatever.  They're great.

The Sweet Shop

Sometimes the simple dates are the best...

Cooking with Braddy: Pot Roast

Man, I just don't have the budget to splurge on fancy meals anymore. A big chunk of meat is usually well out of my price-range. However, I got a sizable Christmas bonus, a Saturday free of obligations, and my very own copy of the Good Eats cookbook.

Therefore: pot roast.

I suck at groceries. Often, I have trouble finding ingredients called for in recipes just because I don't know where to look in the supermarket. Alton Brown's recipe called for "tomato juice," but I went with a predominately tomato vegetable blend instead. It had a good flavor, and I don't think it hurt anything.

Also, I dropped the bottle of red wine vinegar and busted the cap.

I REALLY hate the little plastic caps that come on these things. They seem to fall to pieces at the slightest bit of pressure, even when the glass bottle stays intact. I think we'd better start calling weakling boxers "Plastic Jaw" instead, cuz that stuff is WEAK.

The meat didn't turn out quite like I'd hoped. It was pretty tough, even after 3 hours of cooking. But it had quite a good flavor, and it gave me leftovers for a few days.

Man, does anything ever taste quite as good as leftover pot roast? I think not.

My 2013 Highlights (According to Facebook)

Above:  The only new picture of me Facebook got last year.

Facebook gave me a handy list of the biggest events that happened to me in 2013... according to my status updates. They managed to catch my house in there, which was awfully cognizant of them.

Other gems from the year include:

• Stephen Bradford is baking bread and watching Gilmore Girls. So at some point he turned into a housewife.
• That moment when you borrow a friend's glasses and your vision improves.
• The day I stopped being a child was the day I realized that Sunny D is not very good.
• What I would say to my children in 25 words or less: "What the...? Where did you come from? WHO's your mother?"
• Fruit Stripes Gum! I have some now - not because of the delicious fruity flavor, but simply to marvel that it still exists!
• Green smoothie for breakfast, salad for lunch... I've been good today. Fruity Pebbles for dinner.
• I find myself feeling oddly wistful tonight. And you know what sparked it? Video. Game. Music.
  
  Only thing worse than being a nerd is being a sappy, emotional nerd.
• Father's Day doesn't mean much when you're single... but even I had to laugh when a bunch of twenty-something women got up to sing "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home" in church.
• The box of brownie mix says, "Stir 50 strokes with a spoon." Well, I used a WHISK, and I don't even COUNT my strokes. So, what are you going to do about that, brownie mix?
• I've got a hot date tonight with TWO GIRLS at once!
  
  Barnes and Noble ARE both women, right?

Heck, that last one could probably hold true for any given weekend in 2014.

The Back of a Head

This is, like, literally the only way I fall in love anymore.

So I'm experimenting a lot more with the Procreate app on the iPad, since I have a suspicion that pens and paper aren't really going to be in the budget for me anymore.  It's still not my favorite way of drawing, but I like it well enough, so I'll stick with it for the mo'.

Cecil and the Silver Tower

Forget about the tower.  I just really wanted to draw age spots.

I need to work on my "places."  Settings are really the most difficult things for me to manage, in writing as well as in drawing.

Big Screen Breakdown: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The year has not been kind to my memory of the last Hobbit film. At the time, I found it an enjoyable enough tale, saved from its flaws by some truly stellar performances. Now, when I think about it, all I can remember is the bad stuff. However, since that time, I've become reacquainted with the source material in the form of a rather silly radio drama I listened to while growing up. So how does The Hobbit: The Desolation of the Other Sequel Hook compare to its predecessor?

• I've finally put my finger on what my problem with the tone of these movies has been: They make the silliest parts in the source material deadly serious, but then they add other, completely new silliness to other scenes that never needed them. Compare the Beorn scene in the book (where Gandalf endears the shape-changer to the dwarves by introducing them incrementally during a long-winded story) to the movie (where the dwarf company reaches Beorn's home at the climax of a long chase). They couldn't have made it a little silly?
• As far as adding silliness to scenes where there previously was none? Bombur's barrel armor.
• By the way, it's nice to see Beorn, who nearly always gets cut from Tolkein adaptations, made the transition from book to screen. Couldn't say the same for Tom Bombadil, who always gets cut from Fellowship.
• Can we all just agree that, with only a few exceptions, the dwarves look stupid? Cuz they do.
• I'd like to publicly thank Peter Jackson for ensuring that many of my favorite actors, including Lee Pace and Sylvester McCoy, continue to get work.
• You know, it's funny, but there were a few times when I thought that dragon actually looked like Benedict Cumberbatch. It's too bad they distorted his voice so much in creating Smaug's voice. Cumberbatch probably has the second-best natural dragon voice in the world (after Sean Connery, of course).
• The Hobbit really should just be a comedy, with lots and lots of close ups on Martin Freeman's face. That face is a national treasure. Too bad it's not, you know, my nation's treasure.
• Anybody else think Legolas was far more interesting here than he was in the original trilogy? I mean, he was cool in the earlier films, but here I actually kinda cared about how he felt, which was a novel experience.
• Oh, and that Lady Legolas they added? She's cool. Let's keep her.
• Both big budget sequels that came out this year lack proper finales, but they've got different issues as a result. Catching Fire was good, but if the Mockingjay movies bomb, then I'll still have the first Hunger Games movie (which I quite liked) to watch on its own. Desolation of Whatever was ALSO pretty good, but not enough to redeem the first weak entry in the trilogy. However, if the THIRD movie turns out to be any good, I might have to go back and pick up all three. It's a terribly strange dilemma.
• Verdict: We'll see...