I was fortunate enough to see Greg Proops live recently. I am very much a fan of his podcast, “The Smartest Man in the World“. This fan art is based on a bit from the “Diamonds” episode.

I made a wallpaper version for you on a new fabric design I created. I don’t know why this feels so adorable to me… The design is very tiny for a contest, but once the contest is over, I may enlarge it a little. The giant bacon design is ready for order, though i think I’ll have to make a rotated version as well. My idea was something that would be more abstract when worn, or could be made into large bacon pillows.

Meager offerings this time. Sorry… I’ve just been so drained. There was a large and overly complicated snow storm, sleepless nights caused by criminals trying to burn down the building I live in and otherwise stir up trouble, medical woes and horrifying procedures, and a heavy case of grey season blahs. So it goes.

Once upon a time, I amassed a giant collection of my opinions and links to articles supporting them (I know, some links are outdated, broken, or somehow link to the wrong things because they moved the source… sorry.).  Today, I ranted on Twitter, and I have more than several 140 character or less statements so…

• How you look is not what defines you as a nerd, or a geek.
• Comedy attempting to appeal to “nerds” shouldn’t use old stereotyping contexts and reformatted racist, sexist, sizeist, jokes.
• Comedy written for thinking and studied people will suffice as “nerd” humor.
• Also, there is no such thing as “too old” for a thing, instead of picking on what other people find fun & joyful, find your own indulgences.
• The more I hear about how girls don’t play video games & only fat/”ugly” people are nerdy, the more I think the speaker is lazy & selfish.
• I want to support stuff I love, even if sometimes they say dumb things, but boy is it hard sometimes.
• Nerds, fats, uglies, we are everywhere, and we are in your audience. Hard to pay you for the pleasure of being called stupid and a loser.
• Disclaimer: Sure, insult/rude comedy is a thing people enjoy, but w/ such skill & cleverness for other types, I want to see variety honored.

• Response to the question of what inspired the rant: Comedy overload, I think! A lot of opening acts for things I want to see, or interviews with comedians. I’m very demanding. ^_~;; & bunches of people saying Chris Hardwick isn’t a “real” nerd, as if such stereotyping is useful is some way. Insults that prop up what?

The Comedy criticism…

(Yes, I know I have been down this road before…)

If you are a comic trying to break out some nerdy jokes on stage, and you stick with comic books and video games… here’s what not to do:

Who likes video games? OMG, a GIRL raised her HAND. Ladies only like boring stuff like The Sims and Social Gaming, LOL. What game does this unicorn of a lady gamer play? Mario Cart? Uh, I guess… because ladies are bad drivers! Right? MOVING ON to jokes about REAL GAMES LIKE WAR STUFF.

You will have just insulted the audience, and yourself (particularly uncomfortable when you’re in a city built by computers and video game tech). I bet you are actually more intelligent and more funny than that. Understand, I’m not saying you’re a bad person for doing this, I generally doubt you are. You’re probably working really hard, and screwing up tremendous amounts of courage to go up on stage and do your thing, you’re also probably more perceptive and thoughtful than the average bear. What I do not understand is why you set yourself up that way. If you jump right to a stereotype B.S. kind of thing, you have shown your weakness. I actually would prefer you to stumble for a little bit, bomb a little, but come back around to something that would better reflect on your ability to communicate your funny thoughts – I am patient, I respect the process, I can wait for the good stuff. (P.S. The good stuff could look like this, or like this, or like this, or even like this.)

Who the heck am I to be running my mouth, anyway? This isn’t what I do for a living, what do I know? Sure. I get that. But you are what I consume for living, I am a customer, I can’t do this, so that is why I TRY TO PAY YOU for it. If I’ve come to a show you are at, it is because you courted me as a customer. I have popped up as your target audience. I assume you want people to pay to see shows, so you can be paid for your very hard work, or maybe you just want people to listen, so you put free stuff on the web to share your thoughts.

So let me tell you about this particular customer that I am.

I am a tough cookie. I am very serious. I live at a fairly high level of stress. I am unemployed due to disability, surviving is my daily struggle. When I was working, I would spend money I earned to support what creative people created with their hard work. Now, I rely on the kindness of those who love me and want me to be able to go out and enjoy life, or I have to pinch pennies from a nonexistent budget because I love you, and need you*. I can’t get out very much, so in the past, not doing laundry for 2 weeks so I could afford a show seemed a reasonable plan to get some kind of relief from the kind of stir crazy I get when my body keeps me trapped at home for stretches of time. I value what you do so much that I make sacrifices to be able to support it, because you support me.

*Did I say I love you, and I need you? Yes, I did. I’ve talked before about why I make fan art. I am deeply passionate about art. Comedy is an art. I respect this on the entire scale between Carrot Top and George Carlin, between infantile silliness and deeply intellectual truth telling. Creative people keep my brain alive and firing. I cannot and will not abide by the reality/tabloid/fluff TV mind numbing experience. I want to FEEL, I want to THINK. My “reality” TV is Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters. My cotton candy viewing is The Big Bang Theory and Chuck. If I’ve made fan art that relates to you in any way, it is because you made something that excited me, and filled me with so much, it came spilling right back out. I can’t really find the words to tell you how or why you are awesome, but maybe I can SHOW you.

I am a tough cookie. I spend my time filling my head with art, news, and trying to learn things about the world around me. I have a tremendous amount of down time (not “free” time, no, living like this is not a gift, thanks) in which to explore many topics that most people do not have the time to do (I have a terrible, furious, activist brain!). I have the time to listen to many hours of what you do, and talk of who you are. I spend a lot of time trying to understand what you do, why you do, how you do. I want to respect you, I want to know the rules of what you expect from your customers. I wish everyone could invest in that, so they would have a greater respect for the medium, and attach actual value to it. The result of this is that I have very high expectations of you, and that I can be very forgiving that you simply have not had the time to invest in the things I have.

So as a customer, what I hope for is this:

Don’t demand laughs. Poor form. If you do, you better have thee most hilarious, well-crafted, set-complimenting way to do that. If you simply call attention to the lack of laughter, you make this customer too nervous to laugh. It puts me back in my own head, and I don’t know how to respond anymore – Are you being rude? Am I being rude? Is listening intently so I can hear you over the drunk assholes a bad thing? Am I making you nervous? Should I be faking it? What if I find your jokes offensive and hurtful, won’t laughing encourage you to keep saying terrible things? OH SHIT what did you just say? I missed the joke! AHH!

When you DO have time, invest in learning new things that relate to the things you say on stage. Instead of relying on popular stereotypes, find the way that builds everyone up with humor. I can let stupid or insulting jokes go by, until you’ve become willfully ignorant. Then I won’t even give you a polite laugh, I will be left with the assumption that you mean to shame me for… uh… paying money (that maybe came from halving my sparse transportation budget for 2 months) so you can keep working.

On isms…

Let’s just stop being shitty to each other in general, yeah?

Do you make a lot of fat jokes? Don’t just rely on the the vapid TV and sponsored “news” (am I implying American news has been bought? No, I’m SAYING it.) B.S. Ask yourself what is funny about your fat joke, why is it really funny? Is it true? Does it highlight some reality people don’t think of? Is it insulting someone just for the sake of building some people up by tearing others down? Look at science, look at research, look beyond hyped interpretations of stuff talked about in the media to see if they’re just too stupid to understand where that data came from and what it ACTUALLY says.

“Ah, yeah. Look, I’m not trying to pretend it didn’t exist. I just stopped performing it. And some people like that song. And some people are upset by it. And people can listen to it if they want. You’re not putting people in a room and then trapping them there while you abuse them.”  – Tim Minchin in response to why he doesn’t perform his fat shaming song anymore.

Watch the “Fast Food” episode of Penn & Teller’s “Bullshit”. While I may not agree with all of their conclusions, consider even the single point made that “experts” you see in the media say children born today will have the shortest life expectancy, they’re going to die young because OMG FAT – except science says no, actually, they’ll probably live longer than any generation in U.S. History. Penn’s outrage is hilarious and well placed. You don’t have to keep victimizing victims for the sake of “comedy”.

You may also want to consider Todd Glass’ recent interview with Marc Maron. When he talks about every little homophobic comment informing how he developed as a person… yeah. That’s true, you know. You may think “it’s just a joke” and that it is harmless, but it is not. You may be a better person than your joke, but sometimes the things you communicate do not work as you think they do.

“The problem with sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, classist, ableist, etc., remarks and “jokes” is not that they’re offensive, but that by relying for their meaning on harmful cultural narratives about privileged and marginalized groups they reinforce those narratives, and the stronger those narratives are, the stronger the implicit biases with which people are indoctrinated are. That’s real harm, not just “offense.”” - Scott Madin

In conclusion…

I’m not freaked out and crying, I’m not hysterical, I’m not over-reacting, I’m not trying to entitle myself by demanding you do for me only what makes me happy. I’m trying to communicate my frustration as a customer. I deeply feel that the people I’m seeing on stage, or listening to in podcasts are smart enough to do better, I believe that they are clever. I believe that they CAN elevate discourse and still be a damn RIOT. I don’t give time, money or attention to those creating things specifically to be outside of the demographics I am in. I do not begrudge an insult/shock comic from making their living, and seeking out frat boys aged 21-25. They found a niche, they exploit it, they earn and feed their families. For all of the people I DO adore, I just want them not to be contributing to the shit I have to go through every day. I want them not to be a part of frat boys pointing and laughing at me while repeating “jokes”, I want them not to add to transphobia that keeps people from finding safe places to live and work, I want them to keep breaking barriers of thought that help people laugh at things like bigotry, willful ignorance, and just how weird life can be, I want them to keep finding the most creative insights and connections between all things, I want them to keep delighting me with things I was previously unaware of. I want to give you the attention and appreciation you so deserve for the work you do.

I am a tough cookie, and I love you.

A tribute to the recent episode of A Bit of a Chat with Ken Plume: Wyatt Cenac, American Muppet.

A comic based on search terms that have led people to my website. I realize many of them do not intend to find ME, and are searching for someone with the same name… but still.

Wil Wheaton posted a little video of hijinks with his wife, and so I thought of the above, with cameo by Paul Sabourin… you know, because.

Something must have went very wonky with the first print, because Zazzle sent this replacement and the print is more clear, and after washing and drying it didn’t look like it had been covered with glue. I’ll keep you posted, but you may wish to consider light colored shorts if you’re in a hurry! All the ordering info is here.

In episode 12 of the Roderick on the Line podcast, John decides to break the 4th wall to address the listeners. Merlin is dismayed, as are we two listeners, apparently! I have also taken to listening to episodes twice. Normally I don’t do that with podcasts, but it moves SO FAST, sometimes I do not have time to fill my index cars with notes.

Sadly, I forgot to fanart bomb with Paul Sabourin this time. Maybe I’ll find a way to put him into the next things twice.

In other news…

If you are a fan of Ball-Joint dolls, you my be interested in this convention that I did some art for!

So, since there seemed to be demand for it, Chicazul helped me secure permission from John Roderick to print this as a t-shirt.

Here is my first print using Zazzle.

There appears to be some shifting during printing, which I suspect has to do with printing on a black shirt. I went ahead and lightened the image a bit, and hopefully that’ll help it look better regardless.

I have also put it up on Red Bubble, Skreened, and CafePress in case you prefer another service. I should also note: CafePress also does Pajamas, and it seems especially fitting here!

Now that I’ve got the shameful self-promotion out of the way, please enjoy these other recent Roderick themed fan arts.

This one is based on Episode #10 of Roderick On the Line with Merlin Mann. There is also a Paul Sabourin fanart-bomb, since I clearly owe Paul some respect for not featuring him in more art. ^_~

And speaking of that…

Roderick showing Sabourin some wookie love.

It may also be worth noting here, my most used fanart tags are “Paul and Storm”, and “Paul Sabourin” & “John Roderick” are now tied.

I got to see Marc Maron with Mike Drucker opening tonight! It was SUCH a riotously good time!

I first saw Drucker open for Dan Telfer, then opening for Kumail Nanjiani, and tonight for Marc Maron. Every time he’s somehow magically 10 times better than the last show. Given that I initially found him to be a fucking hilarious nerd, you can imagine my wonderment at his exponentially increasing skill. I hope this means his success trajectory is skyrocketing! I was sad to see he wasn’t at the signing after the show, but I did run across him on the way to the bus. It was exactly long enough to hand him art, but where I just moved to it is catch a bus or stay on the street in a crappy area of town until morning. So.

Aaaand on to the headliner!

Maron and his growing pile of detritus.

I assume by now if you are a fan of comedy or podcasts, you’ve been listening to Marc Maron’s podcast. I was pretty excited to see him just do his thing. Really, from the time Drucker got on stage to the end of Maron’s set I don’t think I stopped laughing. With Maron’s show, I find it appealing on so many levels, it isn’t just funny, but there is something much deeper in terms of anger and frustration and the many ways in which he presents it. Too often anger in comedy feels a bit hollow and more spoiled-brat than a fully formed emotion, but the way Maron presents it… I understand it, and it only makes it that much funnier. I’m also glad that his new romance is learning (well, I assume she must be) to separate the act from the man’s life. My partner has joked many times about wanting to make a webcomic based on our daily lives, but boy oh boy could I not handle that! It’s hard to let someone else make art based on you – and then show it to the world. The way Maron talks about his new relationship feels a bit like a missing piece to his anger puzzle. ^_~

I’m also a little sad the audience didn’t push for an encore. They were so close to tipping into it! I wonder if this is just The Neptune effect. It seems like people get really, really excited there, and eager to show the love – for which I am glad, as it may entice people to perform out here more often.

And of course, after the show I gave him art (including the one I made specifically because of this show!).

P.S. Sorry about the number of click throughs you need to do to get to full sized photos and art. I’m not sure how to improve that on the back end of this. Eventually!

This evening I went to see w00tstock Presents: Wil Wheaton vs. Paul and Storm. T’was spectacular, as everything with everyone always is! It is why I get excited and make stuff!

Anywho, here’s some (not the best, sorry) photos from the show (and misc. babbling of excitement on Twitter):

I also got to deliver art to everyone (much of that fan art was previous posted here and here).

The only one I hadn’t posted here yet was this! It is John Roderick, based on this episode of Ken Plume’s Bit of a Chat.

Good times! Much and sorely needed good times, too.

I am having to move very suddenly. The building we’re in was doing earthquake retrofits and renovations, but things went sort of sideways, and I had about a week and a half to try to find a new place, pack, schedule movers…. CRAZY TIMES. Anyway… the move is requiring quite a loss of stuff and storage space. Some features also differ, making needs for some items where there hadn’t been before (oh, and while on a bus line, I am no longer near ANYTHING where I can “go run and pick up” stuff). Obviously I am short on funds, and cleaned out everything I had doing crazy things like paying the phone bill. EXCITEMENT! So, should you be in a very giving mood, here’s a buncha stuff I’ll need in the new place (and I do this so you can buy a thing directly if you are vastly uncomfortable sending funds to me):

Moving Wishlist.

Now, certainly I am going bonkers trying to figure out how to get stuff like this so I don’t have to live out of cardboard boxes forever (it’s cute when you’re 25 and able-bodied, not so much when you’re 37 and not so able). There MIGHT also be something coming up in a month or so* where you’ll want to buy stuff from me. OH THIS TIMING CURSE. So, please choose accordingly, pass it around. I need everything I can get to help. I already have a growing list of needs I cannot keep up with (like a winter coat, the gauzy long shirt I have ain’t doin’ it, and a back-up drive so I don’t loose data if my system fries, as it seems inclined to do if I can’t get it fixed), and I desperately want to get organized for my sanity and health.

I also plan an eBay batch when I get settled. I have so much art I never need to see again and I cannot afford the space. – I could practically fill that giant file cabinet on the wishlist.

UPDATE #4: We cannot afford a vacuum, and we will really need on in a couple of weeks. I know the one I choose seems pricey, but it really takes care of all the needs and challenges I have in keeping the carpet clean.

*About this thing. I cannot say yet – particularly as it is not completely confirmed, I can just say it could make for some tantalizing holiday shopping. I am a temptress, yes. (Please be laughing now, I sure am!)

Also, I will be back online after Monday.

Alrighty! Enough pleading today! ON TO ARTS.

The lovely, the creative, the kind Chicazul!

Based on the episode of A Bit of a Chat with Ken Plume with John Hodgman making his 4th appearance (special surprise moments long guest Paul F. Tompkins ). This is based on discussion of an alternate Plumiverse that they discussed.

On another episode of that podcast, Molly Lewis had a 5th appearance in which they talked about a potential roller derby name. “Molly Bloodyfingers, Queen of the Uke”.

Based on a line of lyrics in a favorite song. Speaking of John Roderick…

“Sexy John Roderick is just John Roderick in a mini skirt with furry ears.” – John Roderick

You taunt me, sir. You taunt me!

And this is what Paul and Storm say Marian Call does in Alaska – Breakfast with Bears!

That is all for now!

I am so, so lucky! For my birthday I got a ticket to see The Long Winters!

You’ve seen by now my plethora of fanart of John Roderick, and last night I finally got to deliver it! I got just as many hugs as I gave arts! I think I’m sticking with this plan for life, you guys. He is hilarious, amazing, and incredibly, incredibly kind.

The Long Winters band for the evening was comprised of 16 freaking awesome kids from the School of Rock, and Sean Nelson. I think my heart burst when John and Sean played “The Only Boy Living in New York” for the encore. The show was even better than I hoped it could be (and I was hoping it would be FANTASTIC). So, so grateful that I got to go! I really needed that. Emotional survival +1.

Here is an awesome video on YouTube from the show.

Also, if you did not know, John is doing a hilarious podcast with the fantastic Merlin Mann. You might want to give it a listen. It is the only podcast I listen to that makes me talk back at it while listening.

For the next few weeks, I will be especially sporadic as I am apparently moving on very short notice. Please bear with me, and if you are feeling generous, donations would help the move be a lot smoother! Shoestring budgets were not meant for sudden plans of this scale!!

My little post-con collage.

So, Steamcon was excellent. The costumes are just so fabulous and prolific. I loved all of it! The event was in Bellevue, and will be again next year. I have to say, it is a much better venue. I was physically able to navigate it, partially because towers make for a lot less space to traverse. Anywho… you aren’t here for my chatter!

Some quick snaps from the group photo session. Apparently all the attendees decided to show up for it!

That first one is me with Pandora Wrigglesworth (also a link here to see some of what she makes) (taken by the only pro photographer they had this time, who was using an old instant camera where she had to duck under the fabric cover.). The latter two are my Giant Jellyfish costume.

More detailed coverage of my costumes:

The tentacle fabric is one that I designed: http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/707232

If you want to share the photos of my costume, please use one of these links:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jadegordon/6253050446/

http://www.mobypicture.com/user/jadegordon/view/10979610

http://www.mobypicture.com/user/jadegordon/view/10979603

http://jadegordon.tumblr.com/post/11563092547/http-moby-to-z2hluv-via-steamcon-jellyfish-by

And now, a little more Pandora! She worked really hard on her costumes, and I think she looks pretty spiffy!

So yep, it was pretty awesome!

If you took photos of me or Pandora, please let us know! We’d love to see them!