rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
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...

Read more... )

...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.
rynling: (Terra Branford)
At a certain point I got old. A lot of my "radical thinking" these days boils down to "perhaps we as a society should pay a living wage to bus drivers and sanitation workers."

But like, listen. I don't have a pension, or any savings. My family (such as it is) doesn't have money. I'm continually in debt. I don't have many options, so my retirement plan is to do domestic ecoterrorism.

Sometimes I think about the incredible environmental cost of machine-generated art and writing, and I think about what it takes to create and maintain server farms. And I think about how no one would get hurt if those buildings were bombed. It's a victimless crime, really.

That's still many decades away, though, and I'm not sure what sort of physical condition I'll be in. So who knows. I might have to settle for spray painting rainbow-colored dicks on the Antonin Scalia Law School or smashing the window in the National Cathedral with the Confederate flag.


...to the FBI agent reading this, please remember to leave kudos on my stories on AO3, thank you.
rynling: (Gator Strut)
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.
rynling: (Default)
Me: Hi ChatGPT, I'd like to draw some artwork to print as stickers. Can you give me ten suggestions for simple objects that fit the theme of "cottagecore"?

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Now that you don't need to be signed into ChatGPT to use it, I've gotten into the habit of asking it questions when I need to do what I call "a normalcy check." In other words, if I start getting weird ideas about something, ChatGPT can help put me back on the straight-and-narrow. For example, I was considering making another sticker design, but all I could think about were fungus-infested raccoons and Dark Tower style mutated deer. Probably "a friendly bee hovering over a cluster of honeycomb" is a bit more sane. But, I mean, por qué no los dos.

Please don't think it's weird that I speak politely to ChatGPT, btw. I've always wanted a robot friend.
rynling: (Gator Strut)
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.

Uncommitted

Apr. 7th, 2024 07:39 am
rynling: (Ganondorf)
Uncommitted PA
https://uncommittedpa.org/

A large majority of registered Democrats are frustrated, disappointed, and horrified by the Biden administration's unwavering support for Israel's genocide in Gaza. Biden won Pennsylvania by just 80,555 votes in the 2020 presidential election. We are using our votes to demonstrate to the Biden-Harris Administration that their support is dependent on their ability to stand with the majority of voters in their calls for immediate and lasting ceasefire in Palestine. Let's show the Democratic Party and Biden that they're actively losing their base that they need to win the 2024 election by not calling for a ceasefire.

I have no experience with politics, and I'm not sure what good this is going to do. But people need to say something, and people need to keep saying something, and I might as well be one of those people. I've been on a constant email and message campaign to my elected representatives since the beginning of the year. Each new petition and each new atrocity gets a new set of messages, and all of the Democrats always write back with some variation on the same response: We're not going to stop killing children until we're done killing adults. At this point they're not even denying that it's a genocide. And don't get me started about John Fetterman

I would probably die before I talked to another person on the phone or passed out flyers. I did get a bunch of signs printed, though, and I'm about to leave to go staple them up in the parks around West Philadelphia. Wish me luck!
rynling: (Mog Toast)
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.

Read more... )
rynling: (Gator Strut)
Read more... )

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m not much interested in stories about heroes these days. All things considered, I’d much rather write stories about monsters.
rynling: (Default)
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.
rynling: (Mog Toast)
Read more... )

I was so violently shocked during that interview that I probably lost a year off the end of my life, but I still think about what a nice summer that was. I’m also still friends with many of the people I met during the program. I got what I came for, and I made a lot of warm and interesting memories in the process.

I’m still baffled by the mentality espoused by everyone in the program, though. If you’re so miserable and exhausted that you’re literally experiencing visions and time loops and tears in the fabric of reality... you can just leave?
rynling: (Mog Toast)
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.

Gay Wrath

Jan. 7th, 2024 08:01 am
rynling: (Gator Strut)
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Gay pride is all well and good, but I wish there were more of a sense of gay loss. Or gay “there’s a hole in your life where your family should be, but they hate you because you’re gay.” Or gay “you don’t get to have security in your religion or ethnic roots, because they don’t accept people like you.” Or gay “good luck affording anything as an adult with no financial support.” Or gay “you better not fuck up, because there’s nowhere for you to go if you fail.”

I’m not trying to be a victim or play for sympathy; rather, what I want to say is that the sort of commercialized Gay Pride™ that doesn’t have any darkness behind it feels kind of hollow, to me.
rynling: (Gator Strut)
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!
rynling: (Mog Toast)
I unapologetically write fiction and tell lies, but this is a true story. It happened in January 2022.

Read more... )
rynling: (Terra Branford)
> Fingers crossed that she accepts my project!

She accepted my project!!!!!!!
rynling: (Cool Story Bro)
More thoughts on AI art:

- It's something of a relief that my own art is so shit that no one will ever confuse it for AI.

- Human art is absolutely worth paying for. I just redid my monthly budget and sent a request to a long-admired artist who opened commissions earlier this afternoon. I'm in awe of the unique creative sensibility she brings to illustrations, and I need serious professional help designing a character. Fingers crossed that she accepts my project!

- I maintain, however, that machine-generated pokémon mashups are valid.
rynling: (Mog Toast)
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.

Read more... )
rynling: (Default)
Today is Rosh Hashanah, and my father-in-law sent me this on Whatsapp:

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My only question is, What's Santa doing there??
rynling: (Gator Strut)
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.
rynling: (Mog Toast)
Speaking of secret underground tunnels.

I live in Point Breeze, a neighborhood of South Philadelphia where hipsters like to do poverty tourism. It's not actually that bad; and, save for the lack of plants and trees, I really like it here. Still, it's a working-class residential area with a lot of warehouses. Most of the warehouses aren't sketchy because they're in constant use by contractors who need a place to store things like lumber and tiles and forklifts and so on.

But there's one warehouse that no one ever seems to use. I got curious, thinking that maybe it's one of the "abandoned" buildings where telecom companies house servers in urban areas. Instead, when I drove over to get a closer look, I found a small metal plaque with the University of Pennsylvania logo. I did some digging this past week, and I discovered that this warehouse is where the university hospital's cancer research center stores its biowaste. 🙃

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