Burned at the Stake

30th of May, 1431, Jeanne d'Arc was executed for the crime of heresy by burning. Her preceding interrogation was thoroughly documented and provides posterity with a richer account of her early years than any other person living at that time. Funny things that happen when you make a martyr. Well documented as well is 19-year-old Jeanne's extreme piety, up to the moment of her immolation. It's this evidence that led Pope Callexitus III to reopen her case and overturn her conviction, 24 years too late. 509 years after the fact, Pope Benedict XV canonized her.
I cannot pretend to know what was in St. Joan's mind as the flames reached to hold her. It would be absurd to literally compare anything befalling me in my life to date with the incredible waste of the passionate young woman. But, as I am fired from my comfortably unsatisfying job on her death-day, I feel a kinship with the patron saint of all of us who were useful and then cast aside.

Skunk-Ape

This image is intended as a preview and, hopefully, appetite-whetter for an on-line comic I'd like to start serializing on my ComicSpace page this summer. It's a sensitive tale of a young girl and a Skunk-Ape beating the crap out of each other. Huge shout-out to Durable Danny Green for all of his able assistance on coloring this image and his tireless tutorial in Photoshop basics.

http://www.comicspace.com/jettboy/

FIGHT!

Monday begins the first ever, Fist-a-cuffs Round 3 Pre-Tournament Rumble Royale. First ever, Round 3? I'll admit, that's awkward phrasing. This will be the 3rd FACA Fighting Tournament. Due to the number of participants, this tournament will be divided into two events. Before the regular tournament, eleven fighters will square off at once in the brand-new, Rumble Royale free-for-all format battle. A fighter I trained, (NOT PICTURED ABOVE) will be competing in the Rumble, so I am very excited. The winner is decided by audience votes, so I want everyone who loves me to check this thing out. The tournament rules prohibit me disclosing which fighter I am sponsoring, which is right and fair, so don't ask. Once again: NEITHER FIGHTER PICTURED ABOVE IS COMPETING FOR ME IN THE FACA3 TOURNAMENT OR RUMBLE ROYALE!

Fist-a-Cuffs

He would be 89 today

Happy Birthday to Richard P. Feynman! He passed away February 15th, 1988, leaving the rest of us a little stupider.
"Physics is like sex; it may give some practical results, but that isn't why we do it."

A New Start

This is my new hairstyle. For people who might read this who have not met me in person, or who have not known me long, it is likely not all that impressive. Let me just say, though; at age 14, in the summer between my high-school freshman and sophomore years, having decided that NJ ROTC wasn't really doing it for me, I grew my hair out past my shoulders. So it has been, with only the briefest and most minor interruptions, (Mohawk here, sides and back shaved there, all of it just barely short enough to spike up for half a summer...) ever since. I kind of assumed I'd keep it long for as long as I could keep it. Many different colors, sometimes in corn-rows, once in micro-braids, mostly in a pony-tail, I think I understand now that I kept it out of laziness. I have the straightest, finest hair. It almost never tangles. It also never stays styled. When I could tie it up behind my head, that was it, I could ignore it. I'm impressed now with how bizarre it is to be acutely aware, at all times, of the exact position of every hair on my head. OK, maybe not the exact position, but I'm certainly aware when any hair is not in the position I had assigned it. How does anyone accomplish anything? It is incredible that civilization has not collapsed around people's hairstyles. From now on, I'm only trusting pony-tails, dreadlocks, and bald heads to get anything done.