Connection Disconnect...

I just placed the following on my Facebook page:

Hey all you guys and goils-- I am online only on Mondays and Thursdays from here on out, so if there's a lag in my replying to you I'm sorry but that's why.

I've made some decisions about my computer usage, and have decided that I want my old life back. After the first three days of cold turkey some Beta waves actually came back to my brain again. The days got longer and I thought in a way I ha

dn't for many, many years.

I thought about FB, too--and for all the promise of "connection", which to some degree it does do, there's also a tremendous "disconnect" as I sit here alone in front of a computer.

I am sure this weird duality has a lot to do with why FB is so successful and popular, it appeals directly to the "Self" and then each self nurtures itself with a little piece of every other "self". It's like a school of Piranhas eating itself.

And as we all sit here alone and connected/disconnected, the Powers That Be make billions selling our information, as you may already know. What are we really getting back, except another freakin' habit?

I also contemplated this: if every online "message" (ad, email or FB posting, etc.) was a knock at the door, how fast would I stop answering it altogether? How about you?

And I asked myself: when was the last time I got an email that I treasured so much that I actually wanted to print out and keep, like a "real" letter? I'm not sure I ever have, so I want to try real letters again. I may send you one!

I really think that if I didn't have to use a PC to run my business I'd toss the thing in the trash. The way it is, twice a week to handle orders and emails is enough. I HOPE it's enough.

It's bold, and it's radical, but I am going back to Paper and long, quiet afternoons. If you care or dare to join me, I'd like to hear about your experience.

We're like astronauts, going where other fear to tread; going full in the face of fashion, trends, technology, against the tide that is sucking away our lives...

New Arrivals...

Here's some feedback on my recent Porn essays I recently received from a source who'll remain anonymous:

What's wrong with a little legal porn? There are a lot of people who don't have lovers at the moment and enjoy the visual stimulation. Yes there are some horror stories in the porn industry. But most of the actresses know what they're doing. They are not being exploited because they are being paid fairly. In fact many of these women end up owning their own production companies. God forbid you ever become single. No self pleasuring until you find a girlfriend. I don't think so. Plus scientific evidence shows frequent ejaculation wards off prostate cancer. Just another point of view.


Porn objectifies--all of it.  If it didn't, it wouldn't be Porn.

And there is no love in it, none at all.

http://pornaddiction.com/

Boob Tube Continued...

This image recently arrived from my friends at the MCBA, or Minnesota Comic Book Association, which is a non-profit organization that puts on conventions.  I like their shows and have attended a bunch of them as a guest.

"Fabletown" claims to be a sort of Comic Book Renaissance movement turning away from Superheroes.  This art could be Adam Hughes, I don't know.  I realize that most Comic fans would find this pretty innocuous, and certainly not "Porn" in the familiar sense, but take a closer look.

First, you get every "flavor" of woman:  blond, brunette (or brown), redheaded and black hair. All bases are covered there. And, not only are the women as slim and elongated as any fashion model, they also have massively pendulous breasts completely out of proportion to their body-types.  For their breasts to be this freakishly large would require either implants or some incredible rare genetics.

They are also depicted in bed, and their expressions reflect joy, exuberance or pensiveness.  You can fill in the rest yourselves without more ethics lectures from Hoffman, but my salient point is that this stuff is still more objectification and exploitation of women, and that fact that it's front-and-center as a promotional image doesn't say much good about the health of Comics generally or of this new- self-proclaimed "break" from the status quo, "Fabletown".

It's no break at all, kids--it's exactly more of the same.