____________
The pain came on very strong within 90 minutes. I thought it was the late night chicken I put in the toaster oven (so fucking hot out, why run a big gas stove?). I pooped just a tad, but the pain above the left side of my hip persisted. Then I noticed the few drops I peed were just blood. Scary and mortifying. That was around 11:30 PM Sunday night.

I sweat profusely, like I was outside in the humidity and sunlight. Guess I'm used to strong pain, so I haven't thrown up yet, though the urge is there. Luckily, I had a full strength Vicodin pill left over from my back surgery, otherwise, I would not be able to type this now. I have some half strength stuff with acetaminophen, but I have to watch how much of it I take. These pills only last for a little while - they peak and taper off quickly.

Called my sis and she called my bro, who's had this happen 3 times before... looks like I'm breaking the family record for holding onto a stone, since the longest he had one was for 5 hours. I've had the pain for 5 hours already |:

That's what I get for sweating my testicles off outside... because I know if I come in the house to cool off and hydrate, I ain't going out again till I stop sweating, and that usually takes over 1/2 an hour.

Ow. This really sucks. Hope this passes. It's just past 4:30AM. I really don't want to have to ask the neighbor to bring me to the hospital I can't afford.
___________
5:30pm - Oh this fucker burns man!!!
___________
Just after midnight... pain stopped. Didn't realize it, even as I managed to sit down and watch canned content, without severe discomfort. Didn't want to jinx it, so I finished watching, then went downstairs to pee in a cup. And I did! Caught some bits of stone, and the rest of the urine went into the john. Had I known how little urine I was holding, I would've drank more, but I guess I sweated most of it out :|

Hopefully, that's the end of this insanely painful and paralytic saga. Almost a full 24 hours of internal pain.
To anyone who's gotten kicked in the kidneys or the testicles: felt like both and then some.
____________
HOPEFULLY, THE LAST WORD ON THE SUBJECT: Almost precisely 6 days after the first signs, I guess I passed a solid chunk of stone, while taking a healthy tinkle. Halfway through weeing, there was a noticeable restriction, like someone ran over my garden hose! Definitely felt something GTFO, binging off the sides of my urethra.

That pesky thing was hiding out this whole time!!! The rock basically shed some of its parts, to appear as though it had left my body. Took me completely by surprise. This is what I get for watching too many sci-fi and submarine movies - a piece of rock that knows the art of war O_O Hope I can spot this little bastard in the ceramic bowl.

Got tough stains in the toilet? Try using a false teeth cleaning, fizzy tablet.

The End

Today's the day we remember how our nation got started. Considering all the the things that could have gone wrong, one could truly say, it was divine providence the United States of America, was born at all.

Since our very beginnings, we have inspired Earth's people to justly rule themselves, in absence of royalty, forms of privilege and a stratified citizenry. In time, we made good on our founding promise, to recognize all human beings as being created equal.

However, the same things that drove us to rebel against a foreign king, are driving to rebel against a covert government now.

In this short episode, you will see some reasons why. The cartoon Liberty's Kids was based on a book (of roughly the same name) of collected stories, written by the two main, juvenile characters in their later years. A great deal of it is historically accurate, though, the winners do write the history books, don't they? Children were often used by the American rebels as spies and couriers.

This will open the embedded video, on this page. Enjoy!

It might have been cool up under the hood of the truck, but it cost this kitten it's life. He always got into places he shouldn't have. The stainless steel strips didn't keep him out of the disused flower bed (pictured below). All the fucks I had to give today, are gone. Sure I've shot lots of animals, even feral male cats, but they were all pests. I haven't killed a pet since 1991; on a back road, I ran over a cat that shot out in front of me.

It sucks when someone old dies, but it truly sucks when the young die, before they had a fair chance to live.
________________________________

That was Monday. Today, Friday, his sister was the one one sucked up into the cruel engine. I pulled her out, but have no idea if she'll live. Her one eye is blood filled and her back foot is slashed deeply along the top.

I added more Green Slime to the tire that's been leaking since my brother came here and used the damned truck. I left for physical therapy. 2/3rds of the way there, the tread on the opposite tire lets loose. I pulled into a private parking lot, got the spare with the bent rim down, got everything ready..... only the 1/2" ratchet I needed to get the damn jack working WAS NOT THERE.

It was a long trip back home at 15 mph.

Why? I even banged on the truck before I started it, and I didn't hear a thing.

Discovery, is the ultimate high, and that's a big part of any good story.

April 1st: Get invited. Really?
April 16th: Brother and Sister arrive to 'liquidate' the family farm, on 2 days notice. They freak, and start wasting money and scrapping real antiques in the mad rush. As the youngest kid (40 y/o), my boots-on-the-ground advice is dismissed.
April 22nd: Inadvertently infected a bad tooth by over brushing my teeth. Not realizing it, I let the infection get out of hand, to the point where I couldn't sleep for more than 2 hours at a time.
April 25th: Sister told me I could not use the truck to go to Pico Day, which was well North of Philly, and perfectly safe to commute to on a Saturday.
April 27th: After my sister missed the turn to the train station, I barely made it onto the Keystone Express to Philly. If I had more than 2 hours of sleep, I would've gotten more familiar with the guest list... and route to the station(s). I managed to find locals and SEPTA employees, to properly direct me to the proper trains... websites can be so imprecise :\ "Glenside! Glenside next stop." It was gorgeous out, and Glenside was not unlike Princeton or any other American, upper-middle class town.

After I grudgingly accepted that the sun was indeed east of me, I turned around on Glenside Avenue and headed West, looking at street signs, on a stunningly bright comfortable day. "Harrison, yeah... Lismore, yes!!", then I saw the Google Street View image of NG HQ. I relaxed even more, crossed over and lurked the facade, enjoying my smoke. This was the place I was promised.

I saw a man with his back turned to me, sitting on a red couch, in a small garage. I ceased worrying and thinking, to listen to the modestly volumed music... sure as shit sounded like something I heard in the Audio Portal alright. Noddingly, I turned around, pitched my smoke into a storm drain, and tried the front door. The address for Newgrounds was locked. Through the glass door, I saw a pebble covered square room, with a split staircase going up.

I tried the next door down, which was in the same building, but under a different number. Also locked, but on the other side, I saw fresh stocks of toilet paper, printing paper and other assorted supplies.. not the hallmark of an abandoned building. I put my knapsack and satchel of gifts on an empty table.

There were more people in the largest room, to the right of the mini-garage. I smiled and nodded my way past the couch guy, and a few others on my way into the party theater. There were a string of unlit yellow construction lamps hung from the ceilings perimeter, the long line of shades on the right were closed, and looked like they always were. The second floor was supported by some impressively close steel beams. Once I made out who Tom was, the atmosphere mellowed, this was the guy who sent for me.

"Happy birthday Tom, thanks for inviting me." He squinted at my dimly lit, self-made name badge, which I made the night before, in the last 5 minutes before the libraries computers (and printers) would be shut down for the night. Luckily, my bee-keeping librarian friend was able to navigate the slip-shot networking just in time. 50 cents a page for color, 10 cents for b/w.... I handed over my tribute to the Mystery Boxes, and set aside my other presents.

After Tom introduced me to the artist I passed on the couch (Sherbalex), he invited us up to the office level. We took the stairs nearest to the make-shift apartment and garage. Tom lovingly toted over a Tank award prototype, to the older craftsman at work. The pleasant fellow remembered my name 10 hours later, right before I took off for the last train out.

Tom crossed his arms, "So, what do you think of the Under Judgement pod, under the Top 5? Do you use it, look at it?"

I was kinda ambivalent about it, since I usually go to right to the classic Portal, to nail down the UJ stuff... "Does that start at the bottom of the list, the entries almost out of Judgement?" It does, sorta. That pod lists the oldest entries still Under Judgement, the one that need voting on the most.

This was the moment. I had so much input to give, questions to ask, and statements to be made... which I did as tastefully and promptly as possible. Would've been the perfect time to get a picture of me alongside "The Creator".

Once we took the other set of stairs back down to the party room, I opened Tom's birthday present before of him: a bag of Toll-House chocolate chip cookies, made the night before. They had been slightly over-cooked and gummy, the worst batch in a damn long time :| Tom looked down into the bag, much like someone would look at a small pet or child, urinating between his legs. I apologetically closed the bag up and put it on the side table, near the coffee.... he couldn't think I was trying to poison him, could he? I never got banned, or took offense at any admin before :P
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While there, I met many an amazing people. Tystarr, JakBaronKing, Emily-Youcis, Sherbalex, Louis (who tried to give me a hug, with my stupid ball-cap on), Stamper, Tim, Wade, Evark... and many, many more. I was especially impressed with the young game developers, barely out of their clouts. How could I not stare at these makers-of-games? I played Pong, Dragon's Lair, Pac-Man, all when they came out.

I was especially taken by Tim, the all-in-one-tool of Newgrounds. Someone who can cook frozen burgers, admin the web-stream on Chat, and attend to other matters, all in the course of an evening, says a lot. It says love. Love motivates exceptional action.

Krinkels was also a shockingly impressive fellow. The guy who invented (his words, not mine) grey murder dolls, seemed a self-made man of incredible depth. It's not often you meet a man who has such a pair of rocks at the center of his being. This man had rules in his life, a staunch perception of center, that few people exhibit.... Aspirational.

Emily was another extremely special individual, of the sort I previously described. Though she may speak in ghetto-anecdotal tones, her mind is exceptionally brilliant and sharp, poetic in the most sublime. I would give 10 years of my life, to experience her version of clarity. She's quite short and sexy too :3 To me, the sexiest thing on a woman, is her mind.

Mike I recognized from my research (thanks Luis!!), and was just as brilliant as I expected. I asked about Swivel and smiled my butt off. Codec algorithms. Man I woulda asked him about that, but my mind was double-digit hours spent O__O. I've run into enough techs (with the certs under their belts) to know when I've met a genius. Mike seemed the sort who could dirt bike like a hillbilly one minute, and solve a exception error the next.

Luis Castanon is a mystery unto himself. He is an artist of emotion, and a traveler of societies great and small. Social, but aloof. Friendly, but distant. The journey defines this man, the destination, an oyster to consume. I haven't met many traveling men... most were hustlers, convicts. Luis is a jet-setter in the old, 20th century vein: urbane, poised, seasoned. Underneath it all, lies the child adventurer, who looks towards the next horizon.

Tom Fulp seems a very centered person, but so affable, you might overlook his strong gift of.... just listening. George Washington's secret was, what he didn't understand, he learned. Tom's still got a bit to learn, but his accomplishments since the 2007 peak of NG, have been epic. He is the pinnacle of "indie", the height of integrity and a fellow I'm very, very proud of... even if he is younger than me... Actually, almost all the ppl there were younger than me :\

While trying to get some face time at the Chat terminal, I backed up into a woman roughly my own, short height. I apologized, saying 'we short folk must look out for one another' (or some such). Not long after I made my way home, I found out who this exceptional artist was!

I was kinda disappoint at the fact that many Chatters comments were ignored while this Pico Day thing was going on. The webcam shoulda been another 2 feet back :|

I never caught the guy's real name, but Tystarr was the light of the party. I;m pissed I didn't meet the likes of Timmy, the dude behind 'Stealing the Diamond', or the guy who makes beacon a meal and art to cry for. But the brief company of Rig, MindChamber and Stamper, will live in my memories for the rest of my life.

Stamper was an especially warm, and playful person. He's the one person, I'd would've liked to have known better, and I forgive you for scaring the fudge out of me, while on the roof of NG HQ, begging for a lighter in the darkness :| Did Sabsy share any of those flat, sticky cookies with you, or were they re-gifted? Coffee makes any fat n' sugar go down a treat :)

I messed up RicePirate's real name upon first meeting, but the guy is every bit the man I thought he was, and more. It takes a special sort, to embrace the wilderness (he came from NYC, I believe) for the less traveled portions of the world, when his actual career, meant going back to the urban environs of his youth. He knows what's hot and works diligently at it. He also knows what his talents and time are worth, and that's certainly a respectable quality.

A contingent of Canadians came, well after the second round of meat servings were made available. There were a lot of fashionably late attendees... which did me no good, considering the depleted state I was in.

I had 3 full cups of "Booty Juice" and a glass-kept beer or two. I cringed when tHiS got played O__O Thank Gob Tom was checking on Tim's shredded pork... last years Pico Day stream was definitely a PG-13 matter. I fucking applauded the shit of Emily's music video!!1 You get over a certain age, real art is evident :)

Although I glared at my watch for the last trains departure, the dark hours were magical with surreal communion. I had packed a light jacket, but it was unnecessary... I had even thought, a young woman would be in need of such a thing. Vidgamedude was an especially active participant in the days festivities, and suggested, he might crash at Stampers, despite the fact Stamper was thoroughly fagged out, at home, allegedly passed out.

The last train out of Glenside was less than 10 minutes away. Amazingly, Tom was still around and conversing. I said all my goodbyes, and bolted back the way I came :\ Being without a vehicle and in a strange urban environment, compelled me to run, when I should've stayed and been myself.

Luckily, 3 Newgrounders of undeniable descendantcy, guided me to the hotel I had reserved by debit-card, few days before. Had it not been for these fellows, I would've taken a different, incorrect path to the place of refuge, in a strange but civil, joyous city. On the train out, I asked them if they had gotten any of the first run of NG stickers... I had two to give them, and I did, out of love and envy for their relationship. And the journey.

We had a very pleasant trek to the Best Western. Being the unattached elder, I would've happily laid down my life to protect these kids. My 9 LED bulbed flashlight turned out to be handy, as the girl in our foursome had no shoes :o It was still an urban, rubbish strewn landscape, despite the municipal upkeep. I did everything in my power to make the conversation wistful and joyous. Regardless of their guidance, the journey with them, was as if we were righteous, holy pilgrims on the homeward bound, basking in what was. Their names are a mystery to me now (I'm such a turd for names), but I revered them as comrades of the highest caliber. Thank you all.

"As long as the card goes through, I don't care about much else." I have instinctively learned to ask questions (or perform actions) that reveal intent. It's my way of coping with undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome :p The room had several burn marks and several sprinkler heads. Luckily, the double occupancy, smoking optional room, was the same price as a single non-smoking room (about 100$). I had hoped to shelter someone... even a single female attendee, maybe? The shower was great, but the full bodied cigars from a certain bearded individual, as well as a few unwrapped stogies from Luis, stayed in my damaged sinuses till early Monday morning :)

I set the alarm clock's time, but not it's ringing function... perhaps a subconscious action to gain restorative sleep. Had to get up several times, to swab my tooth infection with q-tips doused with rubbing alcohol, simply to numb the pain. Under normal circumstances, it would've killed the infection within hours, but I had let it go too far and too deep :\ The previous weeks unsettling chaos and meddling, had ruined me utterly.

After turning in my room card, I asked for the number of a cab company they deal with (everyone likes kickbacks, don't they?). While waiting outside, I ran into Vidgamedude, who had his own odyssey to the hotel last night. I was one stop late, for getting to last train out of Pennsylvania, thanks to my oversleeping by half an hour.... The cab driver was an old wizened sort, and I did my best to match his conversation, despite my dry and tired throat. Older folk were meant to be courted and learned from. But most of his speeches were of his professional, livery life.

My previous adventure at the 30th Street Station, prepared me for the acquisition of the proper train birth. The man ahead me confirmed my departure route, "I'm going on a two week vacation to 'The City'". His virtual steam-trunk would be ample storage for his stay in New York City.

After finding a seat and stowing my lightened gear, I noticed another young threesome sitting across from me. It got my mind to thinking. How could I express the love I have for Newgrounds, in one sentence, to a bunch of young strangers, ogling their smartphones and trading gossip? If I had a business card of the websites address, my explanation would be simplified to the point of a sure sale.

For that moment, the joy of Newgrounds was all my own to relish.

Despite all the shortcomings, my attendance was a red-letter date in my so-called life. Over 12 years of membership, and I finally met the man (men) behind the curtain :) How often can you say something like that?

Sixty (60) crappy Pico Day Pictures.
Luis' Party page of the event (plus or minus a few attendees).
Internal Situation Report: The Viability of Newgrounds

Oh, and I got really drunk while writing all the 'character descriptions'... just thought you'd like to know.

June 16th, 2013 - Check out this sweet gif I got for Father's Day! Not really a dad IRL, but I'm proud to be one here lol!

April 1st: Get invited. April 16th: Brother and Sister arrive to 'liquidate' the family farm, on 2 days notice. April 22nd: Inadvertently infected a bad tooth by over brushing my teeth. Not realizing it, I let the infection get out of hand, to the point where I couldn't sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. April 25th: Sister told me I could not use the truck to go to Pico Day, which was well North of Philly, and perfectly safe to commute to on a Saturday.
April 27th: After my sister missed the turn to the train station, I barely made it onto the Keystone Express to Philly. If I had more than 2 hours of sleep, I would've gotten more familiar with the guest list... and route to the station(s). I managed to find locals and SEPTA employees, to properly direct me to the proper trains... websites can be so imprecise :\ "Glenside! Glenside next stop." It was gorgeous out, and Glenside was not unlike Princeton or any other American, upper-middle class town.

After I grudgingly accepted that the sun was indeed east of me, I turned around on Glenside Avenue and headed West, looking at street signs, on a stunningly bright comfortable day. "Harrison, yeah... Lismore, yes!!", then I saw the Google Street View image of NG HQ. I relaxed even more, crossed over and lurked the facade, enjoying my smoke. This was the place I was promised.

I saw a man with his back turned to me, sitting on a red couch, in a small garage. I ceased worrying and thinking, to listen to the modestly volumed music... sure as shit sounded like something I heard in the Audio Portal alright. Noddingly, I turned around, pitched my smoke into a storm drain, and tried the front door. The address for Newgrounds was locked. Through the glass door, I saw a pebble covered square room, with a split staircase going up.

I tried the next door down, which was in the same building, but under a different number. Also locked, but on the other side, I saw fresh stocks of toilet paper, printing paper and other assorted supplies.. not the hallmark of an abandoned building. I put my knapsack and satchel of gifts on an empty table.

There were more people in the largest room, to the right of the mini-garage. I smiled and nodded my way past the couch guy, and a few others on my way into the party theater. There were a string of unlit yellow construction lamps hung from the ceilings perimeter, the long line of shades on the right were closed, and looked like they always were. The second floor was supported by some impressively close steel beams. Once I made out who Tom was, the atmosphere mellowed, this was the guy who sent for me.

"Happy birthday Tom, thanks for inviting me." He squinted at my dimly lit, self-made name badge, which I made the night before, in the last 5 minutes before the libraries computers (and printers) would be shut down for the night. Luckily, my bee-keeping librarian friend was able to navigate the slip-shot networking just in time. 50 cents a page for color, 10 cents for b/w.... I handed over my tribute to the Mystery Boxes, and set aside my other presents.

After Tom introduced me to the artist I passed on the couch (Sherbalex), he invited us up to the office level. We took the stairs nearest to the make-shift apartment and garage. Tom lovingly toted over a Tank award prototype (hazy picture below), to the older craftsman at work. The pleasant fellow remembered my name 10 hours later, right before I took off for the last train out.

Tom crossed his arms, "So, what do you think of the Under Judgement pod, under the Top 5? Do you use it, look at it?"

I was kinda ambivalent about it, since I usually go to right to the classic Portal, to nail down the UJ stuff... "Does that start at the bottom of the list, the entries almost out of Judgement?" They are, and from your own Favorites list too.

This was the moment. I had so much input to give, questions to ask, and statements to be made... which I did as tastefully and promptly as possible. Would've been the perfect time to get a picture of me alongside "The Creator".

Once we took the other set of stairs back down to the party room, I opened Tom's birthday present before of him: a bag of Toll-House chocolate chip cookies, made the night before. They had been slightly over-cooked and gummy, the worst batch in a damn long time :| Tom looked down into the bag, much like someone would look at a small pet or child, urinating between his legs. I apologetically closed the bag up and put it on the side table, near the coffee.... he couldn't think I was trying to poison him, could he? I never got banned, or took offense at any admin before :P

Sixty (60) crappy Pico Day Pictures.

I had planned to simply drive to the Best Western, take a train to Glenside, walk to Tom's office, get fed/smashed, then take the last train back to the hotel, likely with other members as well.

Only to get there, I had had planned on taking the pick-up truck, with does suck teh gas, but it's only a 70 mile trip each way, and sure beats the shit out of mass transit to another state. I could rent a cheapie car, but that's expensive, and my sister should be okay at home (without a car) for a full day.... right?

All of the sudden, she doesn't want me to take the truck. I had this planned since April 1st... in that time, she only called twice, briefly. Once just to check in, and the second to say she and our brother and his wife, will be arriving in 48 hours, to scrap the junk, tools, materials and farm equipment, and sell the farm :| What followed didn't go well, IMO.

Are any Pico Day attendees gonna pass by 8A on the NJ Turnpike (assuming you're driving there)? Yet again, I got less than 48 hours to make decisions/arrangements. I'd have to rent a car for 2 days! And new car stinks fucks with my brain... and stinks up clothing to no end, and worse than my crappy homemade smokes. God forbid I get a rental.... I would drive that thing into the asphalt, with no mercy!!

Update: I haven't used train service since I was 10 or so.... went into Philly for the Ringing Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus with my folks. After an hour or so online, I found a short route, and hope this all works out. I got a double occupancy/ double bed for Saturday night, so if anyone needs a place to crash, look me up while I'm at the event.

Second Update: The refrigerator finally died, and my brother threw out the spare one the day before... though the odds of myself fixing it without him, would be quite high (brother flew out a few hours ago). So the day before Pico day, I have to find some classy pants, swap out refrigerators, pack my gunna and gifts, take 1 1/2 to create a gift(s).... I ain't cooking dinner tomorrow :\

Final Update: All packed. If I don't make it back from this thing, tell the media where I was going! Newgrounds needs all the free press it can get, and I don't mind getting dropped, if it'll do someone some good! Peace!

Pico Day notwithstanding, I had a lot of things scheduled for this time of the year. With two days notice, my brother, his wife and my sister (who are 20 years older than me), have flown in and started tossing the family farm, where I had been quietly living and recovering from lower back surgery. The appointments and schedule has tripled. Methods and ideas that would have panned out, are now debated and....

Uh, happy 4/20, and excuse any weirdness I may have typed this morning :) Please do PM, but I'm emotionally drained and tryin to make the Pico Day journey go as smoothly as possible (considering I'm not much for urban travel lol), and to get about an acre and a half of man-made crap, sorted and auctioned off, so the farm can be sold, and before us kids run out of money to pay for the taxes and insurance on this big place.

My, what a good start to the week. The War on the American peoples guns is in full swing, the Gold market is collapsing, and the rest of the markets are sure to follow. My sister, brother and his wife, will be staying here (with only 2 days notice), to 'administrate' my father's farm.

There will be plenty of talking down to me, hot air, and an irritating California mind-set, projected by Baby Boomers, regarding my role in all of this. Good thing I have some vicodin left over from my back surgery 2 months ago... supposed to go for physical therapy, but I'm gonna have to settle for a less preferred guy closer to home.

The tenant next door has been keeping dire problems with the house, away from me... leaking roof, furnace took a a shit, and the mailbox that was decimated by a school mini-bus, well, the new one doesn't close properly, and the Seinfeld mailman can't seem to close it properly. He told me the mailbox height was just right, that phoney. And the shower titles are so shot to hell, not to mention their rough handling of the diverter leaks, so they shut the hot water line off downstairs after they shower :|

Yay, Pico Day? No, well, maybe later that evening.... don't wanna sleep in the truck, but...

Please take the time to monitor the fall of Western civilization to the international bankers. The value of your money is about plummet, and the information you see here, could save lives.

I do wonder about the actual origin of the phrase "The American Dream".

Click above to get the latest info on the Boston Marathon Bombings and other breaking news.

Drugs are good, um-k?

Comprehensive list of mass violence perpetrators and the drugs they were prescribed.

Got a call from the phone company this morning, saying, at no cost to me, they would install a fiber optic connection to the old farmhouse. Bullshit. They would only do that to save money. By ridding themselves of the copper wire (by selling it), they can make more money by limiting bandwidth and electric costs in one go. Plus, it's a foot in the door for TV and internet. God, how I hate those high-priced bundles....
They pulled the same shit with cable TV, by giving us more expensive converters, to broadcast more channels by fewer content providers. There were more cable broadcasters and independent programming in the 1980's than there are now!

I'm really just pissed at the march of big business, at the expense of little people who made them who they are. And since they're the ones who get (or elect) the governments ear, we are at the mercy of these 'businesses'. All the interconnectivity we now have, only serves their stranglehold over our liberty: tracking what we buy, say, go and do. The infrastructure is there, and Infraguard is watching. They have a junction box, the same size as the phone company, just up the road. They have cameras at traffic lights, major businesses and town centers.

The NSA have high bandwidth ears in every major telecommunication hub. I've talked to employees who have seen these devices in very secure areas. Before you can see a doctor, you sign a piece of paper saying your records are subject to Federal snooping, even if it's a doctor of psychology. They also take your picture. The bank does now too. You can be denied employment, legally, if your credit score is too low. While we're worried about gay marriage and the price of steer meat (both manufactured crises), our country has become a prison camp. Our country is now the ultimate Fascist state. Facebook and Twitter are part of the Snitch Network.

It's no wonder everyone became sheep, while the wolves wait for the next event, which will give them even more power to lord and watch over us. We the people gave them inventions, medicine, and infrastructure - now we are their numbers: to slave for their existence, to die in their wars and to die in their plagues.

Fuck the rich for letting this happen. Even they will not be immune to human nature, which they try to control.

I'm sure newer fans will be appalled at the rant above. I try to make these sparingly :) Here's a kewt pic.

Being a member here for 12 years isn't much of an accomplishment. It's like saying, "Woo-hoo I didn't die yet!" I was too stubborn to make a new account when I couldn't log on in the mid-2000's, mainly to show I've been here since the beginning. If I did make a new account around 2003, I'd be Level Uber-Cool and have a blam-to-save ratio to die for. Whatever right?

Here's 10 things that happened since my last Newgrounds Birthday/Anniversary in 2012, in no particular order.

1. My Pop pulled his Aortic artery. The aneurism was so big, they operated 24 hours after walking into the ER.

2. After 2 1/2 months in the hospital and 3 major operations, the last one amputating his leg, Pop expires with my sis near him. Lightning stuck when he passed, despite the clearing conditions.

3. Had surgery to remove a 2 cm long clump of cartilage disc, that was never gonna get back under the bone. Still recovering. Op went fine, but there were other complications....

4. Found 3 Asterix comics at the library that I've never read before! Still missing a few of the newer ones...

5. 4 kittens were born to the stray mama calico, we started feeding after the house guests and their dogs vacated 3 years ago. She was old when she started to get friendly to us - had seen her sulking around years before.

6. Mama calico died a few weeks after Sandy. Her two last sons preceded her, who were also born sometime after my 11th year of being here. Her 2 orange kids used to follow me everywhere, even down to the road :(

7. "Super-storm" Sandy kicked the power out for a full week. Pop had transferred back to the hospital from the halfway house, hours before it struck. Had an oil lamp and a gas stove, but no heat. Radio was okay.

8. I kept a 2 acre garden alive during a drought, yielding dozens bushels of produce no one bought. It was chucked and I was still poor. All the roadside veggie stands are gone, and the auction costs 75$ to sell at. Foreign food rips us off!

9. Saw a lot of family and my Pop's friends at his funeral, Sis stayed here for over a month, brother and his wife visited 2 days. Cooking and cleaning constantly in a claustrophobic house.

10. The cleaning and organizing and chucking of the things that were Pop's, proceeds. Sticking to the house while my back mends. I can't bend over for a month and have to wear a girdle :|

Oh, and as for all of my posts/blogs, AMA (ask me anything). Life's too short not to get a straight answer.

3/1/2013 -- Having trouble with PayPal, so it might take another day or two to get things sorted and properly started. I do not like how everything seems to be dependent on banks! I will be contacting various artists here at NG for commissions very soon! Another hitch: ancient Lexmark scanner (drivers, of course) is giving me a headache with getting additional reference pictures up :\

My only reason for living at this point :(