Rynling R&D

I guess, for me, part of my recent fascination with ruins has to do with my everyday environment. Philadelphia is a fairly densely populated city (especially for a city in the Rust Belt), but there are still a ton of empty houses and buildings here. My neighborhood in central South Philadelphia is home to many vibrant and thriving communities, but also, I'd say that 25% of the townhouses are vacant. 25% doesn't sound like a lot until you think about what it looks like for every fourth house to be abandoned.

So this is the abandoned funeral home at the corner of my block, which anyone can just go into if they want...

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...and this is the overgrown backyard of the abandoned townhouse adjoining mine, as seen from my own tiny concrete-covered backyard...

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...which someone should really do something about at some point. But not me, because I like it.

So maybe it's problematic to say that there are a lot of overgrown ruins in Philadelphia, but also, there are a lot of overgrown ruins in Philadelphia. And I'm not saying that I wouldn't prefer home ownership laws to be changed to allow people to buy, sell, and inherit property without incurring debt from legal fees. Of course I think everyone who wants to live in a house or open a business should be able to, especially when there are so many vacant buildings in such densely populated areas. But, given that my ability to affect this situation is limited to voting in local elections, I have to live with it as it currently stands.

And I think it's worth saying that actually, it's kind of nice to share urban space with luxuriant plant growth.

With all due respect to ChatGPT, I think I'm going to draw a weird mutant deer.

I have reconsidered my evaluation of "normal" culture on Instagram, and I've decided that I'd prefer to be uncanny and offputting.

Eh, fuck it. Money isn't real. I bought a Steam Deck.

If Our Lord and Savior Jesus the Risen Christ did not want me to play video games and be happy, he wouldn't have invented credit cards. Quod erat demonstrandum.

Someone recently invited me to do an email interview about my history with zines. This was for a project that most likely won't extend beyond the graduate class they're taking, so I thought it would be okay to share my answers to their questions here. I'm not sure if this is of interest to anyone besides me, but it's a nice little snapshot of a small part of my creative life.

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Philly Mayor’s Office Learns Not to Mess With Librarians
https://www.phillymag.com/news/2024/02/07/philadelphia-libraries-mayor-cherelle-parker/

Through their Instagram accounts, some local libraries began a rather amusing campaign calling out the Mayor’s Office for this silliness. By Wednesday morning, it appeared that said campaign had been effective. A quick survey of the Instagram accounts of other local libraries show us that things are, indeed, back to normal.

It’s long been said that the first rule of Philly mayoral politics is: Don’t cross the labor unions. I think what we just learned is that the second rule is this: Don’t mess with the librarians.

...by the way, if you click on this link, you should be aware that the top story about librarians is followed by a short blurb titled "Philadelphia Police Investigating 'Unusual' Incident at Mütter Museum." I laughed for a minute straight when I read about this, but it's really morbid, and maybe you don't want to look at it if you're squeamish.

If you're not familiar with the Mütter Museum, it describes itself as "helping the public appreciate the mysteries and beauty of the human body," but really it's a beautiful old Victorian building filled with horrible things in jars. Back in the day, I was offered a job there under the auspices of a good friend, and I was like: No.

I should probably say that my husband's family, despite living in an insane part of the Middle East, is totally normal, and my relationship with them is totally normal. I'm not, like, crying alone over the holidays because my family doesn't love me or whatever. It's just that, because I'm surrounded by good and decent people, I sometimes forget just how weird and bigoted other people can be.

And there's not much to be done about this, you know? If nothing else, being kind and friendly and agreeable to bigots doesn't really seem like the way to go. Idk, I kind of want to start drawing art with a cartoon version of myself saying things like ✨ I LOVE ABORTION ✨ and see where that gets me.

Books Read: 125
Graphic Novels Read: 52
Japanese Manga Read: 45
Video Games Finished: 33
Zines Reviewed on Etsy: 84
Illustrations and Comics Posted: 48
Illustrations and Comics Commissioned: 27
Posts on Gingko Books: 49
Posts on Digital Fantasy Diary: 68

2023 was a difficult year bookended and punctuated by painful rejections.

Everything that I could do on my own, I did with flying colors. I’m proud of what I accomplished, from publishing my first full-length short story collection to publishing my first minicomic zine. Despite the gradual collapse of various social media platforms, I still experienced small gains in followers and engagement. I sold almost four hundred copies of my zines on Etsy this year, as well as another hundred copies at various in-person small press events. Hundreds of copies were downloaded from my new page on Itchio as well. I published a good two dozen articles and reviews on various websites, almost all of which were linked to and promoted by larger websites. I’ve enjoyed some really positive and successful collaborations with artists, and I’ve seen gradual but substantial improvements in my own writing and art.

Every time I needed support or acceptance from a gatekeeper, however, the door was slammed in my face. The social anxiety I’ve experienced as a result has been painful and debilitating. I’m not sure how to handle this moving forward, but I guess there’s nothing to do except to keep trying. Best of luck to all of us in the coming year!

> Fingers crossed that she accepts my project!

She accepted my project!!!!!!!

I want to talk briefly about another reason why I have so much anxiety recently, which is the gun violence in my neighborhood. Content warning for real-life homicide under the cut.

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I am currently simmering in an anxiety hell of my own making, so I want to chill out a bit by telling a story about my two-year-old corgi, Lola.

Like most corgis, Lola is extremely cowardly. Things she is afraid of include: rain, plastic bags, bikes, people opening their car doors, cats, birds, people sitting on their porches, the wind, and tennis balls.

Lola is also afraid of books. This is a problem because I like to read. When I'm reading, Lola wants to sit on the bed or the couch with me. Unfortunately, she's afraid of the books, so she'll cower on the floor and whine.

Despite being cowardly, Lola is fairly intelligent and eager to please, so I taught her the command "little lick." What this entails is that I'll put something in front of her face and say "Lola, little lick," and she'll give it a tiny little kiss. This is the only way she'll consent to tolerate objects that scare her, such as the PlayStation 5 controller.

So now, every time I want to sit down and read, the corgi has to touch her cute little nose to every single book, generally along the bottom edge of the pages. I apologize to the university library, but honestly, my dog is cleaner than most undergrads. Anyone who finds themselves in possession of a book consecrated by Lola should consider themselves lucky.