Mundane Nirvana

Ha ha, an update at last, and it posts just in time for the author to leave for the land of dial-up...

_{(That's right, Kitty's gone home to visit the family. Everyone wish her luck.)}

But anyway, the new update...it came out of my Classics of SciFi class, wherein we had to read Beggars in Spain, which was quite good, and then watch Gattaca, which was also quite good, and thus engendered many conversations on the idea of fetal genetic modifications. Would you or wouldn't you, and if so, what specifically would you mod and what would you leave to chance? Interesting things to ponder, I thought.

_{And no, I wouldn't give a baby elf ears. What if they turned out to have more of a dwarfish personality? That would just be awkward. ;)
Not to say that I would be displeased if my mom had done so for me, of course!}

But anyway, trusty readers, your thoughts?

Okay-- seriously.. this only shows a tenth of the disappointment I think we all felt.

Aaand, is it just me or does this strip kind of remind me of the one we did about the Star Wars Holiday Special? I just thought it had a certain resemblance.

Ugh.

Today seriously sucks. But, at least there's a new comic up.

K.

Oh crap, sorry I didn't post here when the strip went up...but there's a new one!

It's not my fault, though. LadieL told me she was posting this time.
_{I trusted her to post! It's not my fault! I trusted her to post...stupid deal-altering Sith Lords...}

Anyway, in summation, the new Star Trek movie was really good.
I've only seen literally a handful of ST things before (although I have assimilated a great deal of knowledge about the various shows through general geek osmosis and my work at the comic store. Not enough to catch easter eggs or anything in the movie, but enough to know that it was awesome on its own merits, as well as an appropriate Trek story. Enough to geek out like a spazz and appreciate the excellent job they did designing a new look that stayed faithful to the old. Whoever they had in their concept department were geniuses.) LadieL saw and knew less even than I did. Basically, we were very much not Trekkies. Didn't have anything against it, just didn't know it. And now we're both in love.

And I really really really wish that this movie was the kick-off event to a new series that was on TV right now because I want to watch more. Now. I mean, at least everyone's signed on for two more movies, but that's not right now. You know?

_{On the upside, have discovered that SciFi channel is rerunning episodes of STNG, which I've never seen any of before, so that's cool...}

Also, after our second viewing, LadieL declared me Spock. I'd have argued the point, because I prefer pointy ears that don't have that Vulcan curve to their tips, but...I really couldn't.
It would have been illogical. ;)

So, because the author demanded it...and I thought I might as well share her ridiculousness brilliance with all of you...we have two shirts based off the previous strip.

Because that's what ladielazarus  really, really wanted.

So, I say in the update that it sends her into giggle-fits? Yeah, well. It does. Literally. I told her to check the update today, and she almost died of asphyxiation. For everyone else who will be less amused but hopefully still entertained by my attempts at chibbification, I apologize, but I give you a new update.

Also, if you have not seen Red vs Blue, I suggest you do so, because it is quite funny. And this won't make sense without that. So I apologize for that, as well.

Oh well. Enjoy.

Apparently Amazon has decided to engage in a special level of failure.

Amazon Rank

Spread the linkage, people, like so: instructions and explanations here! And more information here, in a delightfully well-written letter to Amazon. Tell your friends, tell your teachers, tell your students, tell your enemies...and tell Amazon to stop frakking around. >(


UPDATE EDIT: There's a petition going around now that will be sent to Amazon. Sign it here: PETITION, because censorship and books are NOT a good pairing, and trying to hide prejudice under the guise of "consideration towards the customer" is the most obscene part of their "adult" policy.

UPDATE EDIT 2: Looks like the "mainstream" media is finally starting to catch on: LA Times online.

UPDATE EDIT 3: "Why #Amazonfail Matters" a very well summarized account of the debacle, and several good points.

Jezebel keeps up-to-date. Amazon's based on the West Coast, so the timezone should be rolling around soon where we should be getting some actual answers. Also, Amazon's share price is down about 1.5% at a time where the market average is down about 0.8%. Coincidence, or fallout? I know what I'm hoping for...

UPDATE EDIT 4: This blog does a good job of linking to/encapsulating the various details of the debacle. Excellent compilation for those trying to catch up/sort out the details.

UPDATE EDIT 5: This is how to boycott. Anything, really, not just Amazon. Good information to keep for all later events, not just #amazonfail.

UPDATE EDIT 6: Excellent entry from Salon.com on the whole fail, with some interesting hypothesizing on how/why/what. And apparently GLAAD has managed some contact with Amazon, and they are confident that Amazon will be fixing things appropriately (scroll down to the end of the article to see the update). Also, Amazon's shares are now seemingly down to 2.16%. And if you've missed the whole thing, here is a timeline that sums it all up nicely with linkage.

UPDATE EDIT 7: Interesting. Looks like "actual" information may actually have started trickling through...be nice if Amazon gave out something official, though...since the West Coast is awake now, and still there is nothing from their PR department? More fail!

UPDATE EDIT 8: Oh-ho now, what is this? An explanation? Not a real apology, but an explanation at least, and a promise to fix it...nice, but will people buy it? Doesn't seem to line up with all the facts, and it still means they were implementing widescale censorship (I have no problem with them making a filter that can be used on searches to drop out "adult" material, that's a cool idea, makes the internet more kid-friendly although of course I do not support making internet programs your babysitter and letting your kid go wild without supervision, and then getting pissed when the safety filter lets something through, same as fail!parents do with TV, but I digress...anyway, no problem with a filter, but making "adult" titles no longer ranked or visible appropriately in everyone's searches is censorship that offends me, so I'm thinking that I'm still not going back to Amazon, shame as that is, if they're going to be engaging in that sort of "we protect the world from things it does not want to see! Oh, and also sell books and crap too, yeah" tomfoolery), so not so much a fan of it, although less offended than if it had been deliberate persecution and not just idiocy. We'll see.
(Full explanation.)

UPDATE EDIT 9: OUTCOME Well, things are indeed settling down, it seems. More than 57,000 books were affected overall, according to Amazon, but as of 9:25 this morning, "A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality" is still the first title that pops up on a search. Doesn't seem like things have been "fixed" yet, but maybe it's just taking them a while. That's a lot of books to correct, after all. But if it really was a glitch, why tell people in February that it was policy? Just bad inter-company communication?

Whatever it all boils down to, I'm severely unimpressed with Amazon. Not so much angry, just unimpressed with their fail. Especially because, "ohmigosh ohmigosh we screwed up, massive error, ohmigosh!" while being a nice admission of their frak up just doesn't sound to me like an "we apologize to any customers who were offended by our recent errors, and assure them that such discrimination is not in any way Amazon policy, but just inaccurate perception that was the unfortunate result of recent programming problems." You know, saying "sorry that it looked like we were giant ass bastards, we really aren't, promise!" As far as I know, nothing like that has come out yet...I don't know if Amazon just doesn't realize how genuinely offended people were at the perception of discrimination that this "ham-fisted error" created, or if their PR department really does just suck that much.

What I am impressed with, believe it or not? (Just a little bit.) Twitter. Waaaay less inane and useless and pointless than I anticipated; it can actually be useful, who'd have figured? I suppose instead of being cross with LadieL for finally dragging my shebs into the blackhole of internet time-waste that is twitter, I should thank her for finally dragging my shebs into twitter just in time to catch #amazonfail.

FINAL UPDATE: Chilling, insightful, and thought-provoking post here. Yeah, I think that's it for Amazon for me, thanks.



_{*TRD, for those of you of a less intensely geeky nature than myself, is "Trench Run Disease," and gave many an Imp needless nightmares for years after the destruction of the Death Star.}

So, Kitty is Starbuck. It’s unanimous, and that is all.

Doubtless a strip will be forthcoming. Eventually.
Brace yourselves.

So yeah. I got this sweatshirt. So I had to put it in a strip. And yes, there really was a choir of angels singing in Mando'a when I saw it. Only cool angels, like Duma and Lucifer, not the rest of the dorkwings.

And this post is so much later than the update because I thought LadieL already did LJ commentary on these. Oops.

Although in reality (how boring, I know!) I was shopping for mithrastide gifts for my little brother with my mom when I spotted the sweatshirt of awesome, so she got it for me for my birthday. Because MarvelMom is awesome, and was totally amused by my geektastic sqeeage in the middle of Macy's. (It was the last one! The only one! It was meant for me.)

Oddly, the next strip was also drawn pretty much directly from reality; the only change, actually, is that my friend Liz was the other participant in the scenario, played here by Adrian because she likes his floofy hair, and there is no "Liz" equivalent in MN.

Anyway, the sum of all this is to say, I really love my beskar'gam sweatshirt. :)

No, you've not gone mad(er). You really did see a zombie apocalypse on Mandalore as our latest update. You can blame our friend Liz, and too much time spent at Angouleme sketching in the company of crazy people such as she.

And Karen Traviss. Because she's brilliant, and it's her fault Liz loves clones and Mandos.

_{(There's no one to blame for my love of Mandos. That was a pre-existing condition long ago. KT just made it more awesome.)}

So, been a little while...but we're back, for a bit at least! Say hello, internet!

Anyway, this latest strip was inspired by my statement during our class trip to Angouleme (er...did I mention I'm in France right now? Because I am...have been all semester, in fact...about to come home in a week or so, in fact...uh, bonjour?), when I was suffering from a very long van ride and crappy accommodations and a serious deficiency of tea.

So don't blame the author for most of the next couple strips. Because she's innocently in Savannah, and this is all on me...and me dragging a sketchbook around when I'm sitting around and waiting for things to start or people to show up...so brace yourselves?

_{If you don't get the reference, you need to watch more Stargate: SG-1. ;)}

Grar...it's way too early to be up... stupid work...

Anyway, this comic actually happened. Well, happened in the sense that I killed the spider, it got up, I killed it again and my first instinct was to separate the body parts so that it couldn't rise a second time.

It also made me rethink my decision to watch Buffy straight through from the beginning.

....Hahaha... reading it in comic form makes me feel like an even bigger geek than usual.

Oh well.
Have a good day, kids.
K.

There's a new strip up, and yes, your friendly neighborhood author actually did do that! (Well, she didn't actually pull it out of her purse, but the visual gag wouldn't have worked if you didn't know what she was freaking out about grabbing, y'know?) And yes, that is what you think it is!

...And yes, she will kill me for actually drawing and posting this, but it'll so be worth it... ;)

Hey, anyone remember this strip?

Well, now you can share the leather-thong-love with everyone else! Leather Thongs!

http://mundanenirvana.comicgenesis.com

OMG... poor Adrian. That must taste like a combination of every sandwich from Mrs. Devon's First Grade Clas. :x

Okay, I have to say this. Rhys really eats these sandwiches. Seriously. And honestly, it confuses and concerns me.

I mean, I might be in the minority here, but I don't need my lunch to come with an insulin shot... ick.

Please pray for her. She needs all the help she can get.

...again I say ick.


-K.

New strip up! (A few days ago. Oops.) Welcome back to the Ren Faire.

And I really, really want these guys to be real. But alas. :(

New Strip up, that LadieL forgot to mention, so I'm letting you all know about it a bit late, sorry.

( And cue rant. )

http://mundanenirvana.comicgenesis.com

Okay, so today's comic actually inspired by our dear friend Liz.

I think it's funny. She actually cut the pizza like that and I was severely confused. Okay, also, sorry about not posting an update until today, but Comcast are fucktards and can bite me. Seriously, I dare them to fuck with me or Rhys again. Ever. Ever.

...Ever.

Okay... so new strip up. I suppose I'll link to it since my partner in crime always does.

I am very proud of the fact that I actually said this. I really am, but total apologies to Admiral Ackbar. Seriously. Sorry. You're awesome, and I won't eat you.


...I would also like to point out that my actual request eventually became for a Mon Cal and a dish of Teriyaki sauce.


God, I really want sushi. Seriously. I might have to get some take out today... Sadly, I cannot afford it. Good fans, feel free to send money for the sushi fund. ;)

Okay, that's all for now. Just letting  you know that I'm back to the update-y-ness.

:)

K.

New strip up, here, and I apologize for not mentioning it earlier; I forgot I hadn't posted the news of the new strip in the journal yet, for those of you who keep track of the new comics this way. For those of you who've checked the site itself recently, you've already seen it, and I thus apologize for getting your hopes up inaccurately.

But I should point out that this is based practically verbatim on actual events. I went shoe-shopping with our friendly neighborhood author to help her pick out footwear that would be appropriate for her new residence in cobblestoned Savannah, and yes, she did indeed utter the words "I don't pay that much for shoes I haven't seen in Vogue." Once I peeled myself off the floor and managed to stop laughing long enough to breathe again, I knew I had to share the moment with all of our loyal readers. ;)

New strip up finally: here
"The Perils of Bookstore Explorations" and, like it says, based quite closely on a terrifying experience that actually happened to me as I was innocently wandering Borders one day...*shudder* I still have nightmares...

And for anyone who wants more fun, I'm currently posting a short story I did for an anthology my friends and I put together to take to San Diego and hand out this year, over at Dark Welkin called Why You Don't Shoplift From Demons. Check it out!