My Work :: Part 9: AngstyBishy Touya

I apologize for ignoring this blog lately, and not posting info on insirational design or manga into like I used to. I will remedy that ASAP. But for now, here is my next in the AB series, Touya!

This is what I wrote at my DA link, that basically sums up how I feel about tha Touya angst:

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Ah, Touya. A simple, levelheaded Go prodigy until he meets Hikaru, who unwittingly unleashes in Touya his dark, competitive, obsessive Go side. In other words, his inner angst, which is vast and glorious. Besides L, probably one of my fave manga chars ever. (Though I do wish he would stop letting his mother dress him and get a wardrobe that reflects the true bishy that he is. Oh well.)

As always, for more info on this fanart check out my art blog. And as always, done in pencil (but not mech this time, ooh I'm shaking things up), scanned, and then traced with the pen tool in Illustrator. Pencil comp can be found in my scraps section.

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Touya was stress to sketch but cake to Illustrator. I kept obsessing I got his hair wrong (I'm still not sure it's perfect but it's basically correct), but once I scanned him in he came together speedily. Which is good, because I couldn't find the Wolverine pics I needed for his AB icon, so I bumped Touya up to the front of the list this week to compensate. (I now know my friend wants the X-Men Ultimate costume, so I can finally get proper pics of Wolverine and hopefully have him done for next week.)

With Touya, I simply stole lots of already-made lines from other AB's (Ed's coatsleeves, etc.) and arranged them on top of the Touya sketch; the only original parts of this AB are the hair and the hem of his uniform's jacket. That's all, I'm not kidding you.

I obsessed over his hair, but since I made it solid black I didn't have to obsess as much as usual. Why the obsession in the first place? Because Touya's hair is strange yet fun: very Heian pageboy, with bangs that are boring from the front but nicely break the monotony from the sides. So I had to make artistic decisions on how to break up his hair and keep it from looking helmetish. And yes, for all Touya fans, I did contemplate making his hair olive like it is in the anime. But at the end of the day, his hair is really black, as Obata has made clear in the manga, and I'm not going to argue with follicular canon, espcially when Obata's decisions make my work a heck of a lot easier. If you go to the scraps section of my DeviantArt account, you can see the original sketch and the lines I did make in his hair, but thankfully did not have to draw.

Funnily enough, it wasn't until I added the crease on his school unform pants that he truly came together as Touya; funn how little details work like that. I was afraid I might need to add a travel Go board or something, but hopefully those who have read or seen Hikaru no Go will be able to tell instantly who he is. I wasn't sure originally which costume to put him in, since he does multiple clothing changes, but I noticed in my Google search that a lot of the jpegs of the manga had a specific collar style. I found out from cosplay photos that the collar was from none other than his school uniform, so Tada! Costume choice finalized. I hate that the AB pose doesn't allow you to see the collar, but trust me that it makes the jacket look truly awesome.

(As a side note, Elicia didn't like the cosplay costumes of Touya's uniforms that I used as references, but personally I found most of them to be awesome. But why would you pick a fabric for a school uniform jacket that wrinkles? Silly cosplayers. Elicia is very snobby when it comes to fabric choices for cosplay; she plans to post about the subject soon, and when she does I will post a link to that discussion here, so that she may properly educate us all. =) Don't be offended if you use incorrect fabric choices; she is majoring in costume design, so it is vital in her work to be picky like that. But trust me when I say that, as her sis, it gets extremely tiring sometimes.)

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Happy upcoming Memorial Day everyone! I am heading into the mountains for the weekend, to swim, relax, and hopefully corner Elicia to get a diathesis of our untitled monster manga written up. We shall see.

My Work :: Part 8: AngstyBishy Inuyasha

Yay for AB Inuyasha being up, and for me sticking somewhat to my schedule!

He turned out really, really well and was very fast to do; either I am geting better at this or Inuyasha was just uncharacteristically easy. Not that the AB's are super hard to do, since they just seem to flow in the sketching process. But that I have been dissatisfied with the little details of the previous AB's, and Inuyasha is not giving me that kind of grief this time around. I'm not going to overanalyze why; I'm just happy that it is so.

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I am having DeviantArt stresses. They gave me a free week of the deluxe account, which I was super happy about, but it's giving me some problems. DA was super slow yesterday; what should have taken me 10 min tops—submitting a couple of icons and sketches, and quickly scanning new deviations—took me over an hour to do. >( Very not happy. But I don't know if it was a server problem or the account. And today I thought it would be fun to make AB Inuyasha an available print, as long as my free acccount is giving me this option anyway, but I messed up submitting it and think it is only available as a coaster or something. I may need to read in the FAQ's about submitting prints, because I found the process to be confusing.

Oh well. Here is what I wrote to go along with my poster print:

"Poster of AngstyBishy Inuyasha. AngstyBishy is a satirical look at the super-serious, super-hot, super-disturbed men and women of manga and anime fame. It is a way to poke fun of and celebrate my fave bishies simultaneously. Used pencil for preliminary sketch and Illustrator CS to finish. Inuyasha as an AngstyBishy was completed May 18, 2006."

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I also added a post to my DA comments section about acceptable AB requests. I did this because a friend of mine posed an interesting request. She is not a big anime/manga fan—she likes some of them, like Escaflowne, but is otherwise not as engrossed as say, Elicia and I. But I guess she likes my AB guys, and she is a huge X-Men fan, so she asked if I would be willing to draw Wolverine as an AB. My first reaction was to say no, since he is not in an anime or manga, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense.

Think about it: Wolverine may be an American comic/cartoon character, but he contains all the essential elements of a true AB. The eye-catching costumes! The wild good looks! The mysterious, horrific past! The pining for Jean Grey! The angry outbursts and sarcastic comments! In short: he is perfect. So segregating Wolverine from AB status simply on the basis of his medium seemed wrong. Besides, I'm no anime/manga snob; I love them to be sure, but I also love well-done American cartoons, comics, etc.

So I decided to open up the field to characters from all mediums: anime, manga, cartoons, comics, video games, etc. I commented on this at my DA account, and I wrote up the guidelines for an AB request. I liked my requirements so much that I am going to include my post here as well:

"Another update on the requests:

A friend of mine requested I do Wolverine from X-Men as an AB; I had to think about this, as he is not an anime char, but I decided Wolverine does fit the bill as an AB (I will expound on why in my art blog), so look for him within the next few weeks.

Because of this, I'm now opening up the AB requests to all comic and/or game characters that can meet the guidelines of an ideal AB. Guidelines are as follows:

:: Are characters in an anime/manga/comic/cartoon/video game/etc. No live action AB's (at least not yet) will be accepted.
:: Are smokin' hot or at least remotely attractive in some way.
:: Typical attitudes and emotions consist of being dismissive, pensive, surly, withdrawn, unfriendly, inwardly dark, proud, irrational, and/or distant most of the time. Random fits of anger, wistful pining, and/or sobbing (i.e. anything angsty) are also acceptable.
:: Have a tragic past that helps to justify and/or endear them to fangirls everywhere.
:: Have wicked, mad skills that make them somewhat useful to the rest of the story's characters and make up for their hissy fits and emotional uselessness.
:: Undergo significant character development transforming them from their initial angsty state into an actual human being. This is not necessary but is highly encouraged. Development can come from friendship, love, worldly experience, knowledge, and/or other typical forms of character development.
:: Have a unique look, from clothing and/or hair choices that also contributes to their overall appeal (and will make them more fun for me to draw.)
:: Any other obvious traits of an angsty bishie that I can't think of at the moment.

If your character can meet most of those requirements, then they will be a worthy candidate and will be AB'd ASAP."

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That's all I can think of to talk about for now. Look for Wolverine soon, hopefully next week. My friend wants me to do him in his newer blue suit, not the yellow spandex, so I will oblige, but might draw up a "classic" Wolverine anyway if I have time. I am also planning on doing Touya from "Hikaru no Go" soon, since I love him, and Elicia has requested Wolfram from "Kyo Kara Mao" so look for him coming soon as well. He was a lot further down on my to-do list, but since she is so insistant I will indulge her. =)

My Work :: Part 7: AngstyBishy Sanzo

Well, here is Sanzo, late but done.

There are so many things about him that bug me I could scream, but hopefuly no one else can see them. My sketch was great, but I didn't clearly finalize the lines. So when I went in to trace and Illustrator him, disaster; all my pretty lines got messed up somehow. Meh. But I think the week off was a good thing; I came back with fresh eyes, that immediately noticed mistakes and therefore made for a better image. Sometimes when I am stuck with unknown problems, that is the best way for me to find them, and luckily this time it worked. And I don't know if I like the color scheme, but I'm not sure how to fix that since I folowed the colors from Saiyuki. (Sigh.) And I did two versions of him in Illustrator: the one with his kimono fully on (original version) and this one, with it off and the arm gloves or whatever they are called visible. I chose this one in the end because the AB pose covers up all the defining features of his fully-clothed costume: the breastplate, the scroll, etc. At least in this version you have the arm things to help identify him. And the hair of course; the glorious iconic Sanzo hair. That was fun to raw, even if I like my sketch better. I will so redo him, but much much much later, after all the frustrations of doing him have subsided.

I think I will eventually post my original sketches of the AB guys someday on my DeviantArt account. I also plan to get the alernative version of Sanzo, decked in full kimono, up soon as well for comparison, so look out for that.

It Was the Best and Worst of TV Times...

Unlike my dear sister, whose snobbery of all things anime grows daily, I actually believe that there are some shows on American TV worthy of my precious time and mental energies. Not many, but enough to merit repeat viewings and, dare I say it, obsession. As a designer, it is my duty to keep up with the modern pop trends (one friend of mine writes off her cable bill on her taxes for this very reason), and as a potential American manga artist, I need to stay in touch with the American zeitgeist. To neglect this would mean artistic suicide.

So dilligently, albeit often disgustedly, I scan shows to get an overall view of their styles and themes and overall goodness. Even if the show disgusts or insults me, I at least try to figure out why it was created, greenlighted, and now watched. It is often a waste, but occasionally this process helps me find a gem of a needle in the bloated, moldy haystack of American Television.

Best of Times: On Sunday/Monday I watched happily, then disgustedly, but always excitedly, the finale of a show I can't believe I love but do ever so much, Grey's Anatomy. I even got so bold as to post a comment on Pop Candy about my feelings on the finale, which are posted there but I will also include in the comments section of this post, if you don't want to dig through all of Whitney's comments.

Worst of Times: Then I found out this morning, cruelly, that in the shuffle of the fall lineups the CW will not be picking up Everwood for another season. My rage knows no bounds. They finally redeemed Ephram from his little pissy snit and had him grow up splendidly, made the show interesting again, and this is the thanks they get? To further rub salt in the wound and then poke it with a big stick, the cloying Seventh Heaven just had its series finale, yet they are bringing that sappy oversimplifying show back, and yet they let Everwood bite the dust?! Further proof that life is not fair (like I needed more proof, thanks,) and that UPN/WB/CW/All TV Networks wouldn't know a good show if it bit them on the. . . well, you get the idea. My scant hope is that another network will pick it up, or that if I write an endearing enough letter to these addresses they will change their minds, but I think it is a lost cause. Very very sad day. I should drape my black sparkly shawl over my head in grief; a whole bunch of fictitious yet arrestingly real friends are dying, and all I can do is mourn at their graves. And buy the DVD's. I should do what Andy Brown did: start my life over again in a small town in the Rockies. . .oh, wait, I've already done that! =) Yes, I must use humor to withstand the pain, it is the only way.

However, all is not "Lost." (I am going to ignore the booing and hissing about my hideous pun; how dare you lash out at a woman in grief!) Luckily my fave TV show is in no current danger of cancellation, and I have the season finale to look forward to. Desmond coming back? My heart soars.

This was shaping up to be the perfect summer, and probably will still be (once I recover from being shot through the heart by the CW.) Perhaps I can use the downtime until the fall to get caught up on shows I've been meaning to watch: Grey's Anatomy season 1, Veronica Mars (Yes this relationship will probably end in heartbreak too, since CW only ordered half a season, but I've heard too many good things to not watch it), The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Venture Bothers, and get reaquainted with the entire series of Gem. (Yes, I slipped some catooons in there, so sue me.)

(Off topic: does anyone know if "The Evidence" made it to a second season? Because I actually liked that show; it combined the detective whodunit mysteries I crave with the forensic intensity of CSI, minus all of CSI's nauseating and sensationalistic storylines. But I have a sneaky suspicion it bit the dust as well.)

I'm not sure how far to go with this subject, but I hope you will forgive my indulgence as it has been a tense TV week. TV choices can be divisive, so if I dismissed or criticized your fave show in the course of this post, tell me off in the comments section and let me know why I am dead wrong. Also, let me know what shows aren't on my must-see list that I should check out, if any, because it is a long summer ahead and I am dying for fresh material to see.

Other plans for the summer: work (duh), write and draft manga stories with my sis, take a road trip to a Shakespearean Festival I've beeen meaning to check out for years, usher for the local operas and plays (so I can see them for free, sweet!), catch up or rewatch my fave anime and manga, and make AMV's. And continue doing AngstyBishy of course. =)

Confessions of a Slacker

I am such a bad chicken; I'm so sorry I didn't get Sanzo up last week! I went out of town on Friday, and didn't have time to get him done satisfactory before I left. But I'm back now , and will get him AND Inuyasha up before the week is over. Again, sorry for the delays.

How are Elicia and I going to get a page a week or more done, if I can't even get a simple ilustration done on time? Answer: Veeeeeery slowly, if at all. We will see.

(On a high note, I had probably the best family reunion in ten years or so last Saturday. And had lots of fun throughout the week, thougth I did manage to squeeze some work and manga stuff into the vacation. So basically a perfect week, woo hoo.)

Birthday Wrap-Up, Diary of a Cartoonist, and Podcasts, Oh My!

:: Birthday ::

Yesterday evening was an awesome ending for my birthday. My mom made healthy curry for dinner, which is always super-good and made up for us not going out to celebrate (Elicia had final projects to obsess over, so we changed plans.)

My grandma knitted me a blanket in my colors, blue and brown, which will match my apartment perfectly. Mom got me battery-operated tea lights (which I have been eyeing for a while, so as not to burn myself up in the pursuit of lighting my crazy candle holders), and linen-colored sheets (so Elicia can finally make the Asian-inspired drapes I've been wanting. And yes, I have noticed how bizarre my presents must seem, but I love them so hah!) And Elicia got me a Borders gift card!!! =) Like she said, it would be a cop-out of a present, except I have banned myself from frivolous spending so the card gives me a chance to buy something fun, just for me. (V. excited, but I haven't decided what to buy yet.) And apparently my dad got me art books for my birthday, always an excellent choice. Some women collect shoes or manga, and some men collect cars or action figures. I collect art books, yum. And no, I cannot stop my addiction any time I want to; I am too far gone for that and I don't care. So there. =)

And Elicia bought Host Club 5-6 and Deathnote 4-5!!!! So I had some fun reading yesterday. =) Bisco Hatori had some great asides in her mangas this time, as always, so I will be including those soon. (Sample reveal; she does do digital art, how cool!)

I also watched the Eyes of Nye and Everwood, two shows that I love to death but will never admit my love anywhere except here, because it is far too embarrassing. And I watched a bit of Sleeping Beauty, my fave Disney movie because of the dancing scene by the lake, and because Maleficent is like the best villain ever. Man, I love her. The eerie walk up the staircases, when Rose follows the green light, frightened me to death as a child, every time. I still get a delicious chill every time I watch it. =)

So all in all, it was a very low key yet sublimely perfect day for a somewhat older (yet I suppose no more mature) me.

:: Diary of A Cartoonist Videos ::

Speaking of manga and comics. . .

There is a cartoonist named Mike Johnson, who has an online comic called "Extra Life." He also does these video journals called "Diary of a cartoonist," which you can find at YouTube (I've posted one below.) He shows the process of how he does the cartoon, from sketching to markers to Photoshop. (He uses masks, which is a good idea, but I don't know why he doesn't just make selections and color in those; it would save him from all the erasing and only takes seconds. . . well, only takes me seconds anyway. I shouldn't critique, really, because all artists use the programs differently. And besides, since I am such a messy artist I would never dare to post video of me drawing on the internet for all to see, I'd be too embarrassed. So kudos to him for being far more courageous than I.)



:: Podcasts & InDesign Rant::

Mike also has podcasts, which I plan to check out soon.

Can I say how much I love podcasts? I watch Lost, and the podcasts are a great addition to the show. I also listen to the podcasts from my local radio music stations. Jack Black is doing "confessional" video podcasts from the set of "Nacho Libre," so if like me you are a fan of his I'd suggest giving them a glance. (His expression from when he gets his chest waxed cracked me up.)

Another podcast I love is one a friend of mine hooked me onto: the podcasts of This Week in Tech (TWiT), which are fun and make me feel very smart tech-wise afterwards. And every now and then they talk about tech stuff I understand and care about.

For example: this week they get into an aside on the trend of designers transferring from Quark to InDesign. I won't start a soapbox on the subject, but I will say that 1) since this trend has been progressing for years, it is not breaking news in the slightest to any active designer, so while I don't know why they mentioned an old trend it is still fun to hear about, and 2) It is a very smart move for any designers who haven't switched yet to make. I mean, it is a cheaper program and is far more intuitive, since it has the same layout as Illustrator and Photoshop. And InDesign is already bundled into the CS package, whereas with Quark you have to buy this expensive program that comes with no additional software as far as I know. Personally, I think Adobe should have offered the program for free at first, as an extra enticement to get stubborn designers to switch publishing platforms.

Ack, I did do a soapbox, I'm sorry! It's just that I hated learning Quark, and after I using InDesign I knew there was no going back for me ever. Rant over.

Back to the topic at hand: I am not a big podcaster yet, but I love a lot of the ones out there. My iTunes automatically downloads casts for me every week, so if you have iTunes and a good server I suggest going that route. Actually, all of the aforementioned podcasts can be gotten from iTunes, hooray.) Later on as I listen to more and more podcasts, I will have to post my faves. And post your fave podcasts in the comments section of this post, as I would love some good recommendations.

Golden Posts & Soapbox 2: Ever-Pounding Waves of Immigration and Hostility

Happy May Day Everyone! Coincidentally, it also happens to be my birthday, and my 50th post to this blog journal! Too bad I can't find a maypole to swing around in celebration.

Apparently I share a birthday with John Woo, Wes Anderson, Kirsten Dunst, and Calamity Jane. And according to Wikipedia, Important events occuring on my birthday include the Opening of Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro," the forming of Great Britain, the dedication of the Empire State Building, the premiere of "Citizen Kane," the naming of the planet Pluto, and the suicide of Joseph Goebbels. Yay. Bad thing to occur on my birthday: the first ever spam e-mail was sent; I had nothing to do with that, I swear!

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Of course, today is also the "Great American Boycott," or whatever, with the hispanic/latino people boycotting everything. . . white? American? Can you forgive me for not being able to tell the difference? I can't say I am supportive of the boycott, because frankly I am confused about what message is that the protestors are actually trying to send. And I hate to seem rude or disriminatory, because I do love the hispanic and latino cultures and am proud to have them in our country, but I do not get where this hostility they have for us "gringos" is stemming from. I used to be very supportive of immigrant rights, because I myself am descended from recent immigrants, but the way they are going about this is turning me off from supporting their misrepresented cause altogether.

Are they trying to say that we do not appreciate the impact of immigration in our country in general, or just hispanics/latinos (h/l) in particular? Because of course we appreciate the impact of immigration, and to imply we don't is frankly insulting. This country is a nation of immigrants; we all came from immigrants and so hopefully we already appreciate the sacrifices those immmigrants endured to get here and to thrive. I mean, if that is the true point of the boycott then the entire country should be shut down, since we are all immigrants from South America/Europe/Asia/North America/Africa/etc. My maternal grandparents are immigrants; they came here from Switzerland in the 1950's, after WWII. Do I appreciate the sacrifices they made to get here? Every single day, believe me. So I don't think that is the point the protesters are trying to make; I think instead they are trying to say instead that we don't appreciate the specific sacrifices the h/l's in this country have made to get here. And that is where I get even more confused.

Are they trying to say that they are upset because they feel unappreciated for doing a lot of the menial labor in this country? Because the menial jobs are there for anyone to do, but typically they are shunted to the poorer, less educated members of our society. H/l immigrants fit that description today, but only because they are the main current of immigrants today. Not so long ago in out history, it was the Asian and European immigrants filing those positions. And like the immigrants of today, it was also a very difficult struggle for them to assimilate into the American lifestyle. My grandmother had a degree in horticulture before she came to America, but once she arrived her degree was considered worthless. So to make ends meet, she took on a lot of thankless jobs, including janitorial work, to clothe and feed her growing family. But one of the good points about america is that you are not stuck in those jobs forever; with education, hard work, and luck, you can give yourself and/or your posterity the chance to rise to a higher level. No one is handed the American dream, everyone has to work at it.

Are they upset because they feel Americans are unfairy racist against h/l's? Because as the movie Crash shows, racism is unfortunately everywhere, it is not specifically reserved for just one society of people. And again, if the h/l are being unfairly discriminated against—and I will go so far as to say they are—I believe it is because of the stereotypes that all newfound immigrants have to face, not just the h/l population. All immigrants in every era of American culture were accused of being lazy, uncooperative, uncouth, filthy, and/or having too many babies. People used to believe that a person of Irish descent would never be able to attain the Presidency, because people were too prejudiced against the Irish. But John F. Kennedy proved them wrong, and since then a lot of once-scorned nationalities have ascended to the highest ranks of every facet in America. I would love to see a h/l president someday, and I believe we will. And while I feel that the h/l populaiton is often unfairly treated, I strongly feeel that this boycott is not the way to go about getting the respect they so deserve.

Are they upset because of the way American citizens view and/or treat illegal immigrants in this country? That I can understand. Respect for illegals? Absolutely; I think the way illegals are treated is abominable. They are human beings, after all and so do not deserve the abuse or improper treatment that many of them receive for fear of deportation. But at the same time I don't think it would be fair to the legal immigrants who work dang hard for their citizenship and green cards to just hand all the illegals a free pass to American citizenship. My sis's best friend is Chinese-American; he was born in Hong Kong, and his family now lives and works in the U.S. It has been a nightmare for him to get citizenship; some of his siblings were born in Hawaii, and they have been spared the legal woes that a green card contains. But my sis's friend is now more American than Chinese, and he loves it here and wishes to stay. Is it fair that he gets passed over for citizenship but an illegal immigrant from Mexico or Latin America can? I say no. There is a reason for all the citizenship classes and schooling it takes to be a citizen, and circumventing those laws does not make it all work out for the better. If anything, granting all illegals citizenship would set a bad precedent.

Do the h/l people feel that they are unfairly expected to give up their heritage in order to become a citizen? Because anybody descending from immigrants or studying American History knows this not to be the case. In the past, yes, there was a pressure to discard the "old ways" and try to become as American as possible. But nowadays, people recognize the importance of their heritage, and openly celebrate their differing ancestry. My grandparents are still fiercely Swiss, even to this day, the pride of which has been handed down and instilled in us grandchildren. Our family celebrates the Swiss in us in a lot of ways; two examples are the daily foods we like to eat, and in the Swiss concerts we attend annually. Both my mom and I have traveled back to Switzerland to see our culture and relatives there, and one day we will bring Elicia too and show her the true meaning of being Swiss. We as Americans, no matter our backgrounds, are all justly proud of our unique heritages and the strengths that they bring to our country. But at the same time we all as Americans have to be willing to assimilate into the broad heritage that is America. Being an American was so important to my grandparents. They learned English, worked very hard for everything that they have, and my grandmother even had her labor induced early so she could attend the ceremony that made her a full-fledged citizen—being an American was that important to her. No one person or culture in this country is exempt from the americanization of their culture, and they shouldn't be. And it is the same with whatever country you choose to live in. If I wanted to move to Germany, for example, I had beter learn how to speak decent, if not fluent, German, and learn the German culture and modes of behavior if I wish to be fully accepted into German society. I would have to change my American ways—not eradicate them but modify them, in order to say I belong. Sometimes it seems that certain h/l's are not willing to do that here—that they want all the promises of America without having to assimilate and accept the responsibilities of being American. And that is what truly irks me. It doesn't matter to me what country you come from, as long as you are not afraid to try to find your own way of being American in America. Your ways of being an American will be different from mine, but we should both be proud of our shared cultures and accept them. To me, that is what it truly means to be caled an "American."

Here are my solutions to the problem: I think that we either need to allow the illegals work permits but not citizenship, open more slots for immigration from Mexico and the Latin American countries, and/or bring back the work-sponsorship permits that allowed my grandparetns to come here but for some reason were disbanded. (They had someone from America sponsor them, basically vouch for them and find them employment, so they could come to America and work here and gain citizenship. There was potential for the sponsors to abuse their charges, but as long as that is fixed I see no reason to prevent this form of work-sponsorship from helping countless millions of immmigrants to arrive here legally.) And I think the laws they are trying to pass to make it a felony to be an illegal are silly and should be stopped. Yes, illegal immigration is a problem, but it won't stop the flood of illegals and will just cause headaches for the courts. And what do you do with the children of illegals who had no say in coming here; just throw them in prison too? Silly.

Man, the whole immigraton thing is a mess, isn't it? That is my final thought on the matter.

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Forgive me for ranting on a non-design topic. But I consider citizenship and nation-wide politics to be just as important a topic as design or manga (shocking, I know.) And I hope that my rant doesn't too deeply offend anyone, because that is not its intent. I just wanted a chance to blow off some steam on a timely issue. If you truly hate what I have said, just chalk it up to to much sugar for the birthday girl (I am not a big sweets person, and I indulged in far too many sugary confections yesterday), and forgive me my occasional non-design outbursts. I promise you I will return to a regularly-scheduled design comment or rant for my next posts (there is a certain Pearl Jam cover I am gearing up to bash.) And if what I have said truly angers you, post me a message why—I would love a nice, respectful debate on the subject. I love talking over issues with people and debating, so that would be an awesome birthday present. Or you can just wish me happy birthday too—either way is good.)