An Alternative Interpretation as to Why Babies Cry

Gray Area: Cry

I don't like kids, I didn't even like kids when I was a kid. There's something about those little brats that make me want to coerce people into getting sterilised. Last week I went to this place in the slums where all these women were having a meeting. A few of them brought their children along because there was probably no one home to take care of them. I waited just outside the room where everyone gathered and with me were those few women with fussy kids who wouldn't stay quiet during the course of the meeting.

I don't remember much of how it was when I was 4 or 5 years old but it's kind of baffling to try and figure just where the hell these kids get their energy. They would run about and scream and jump and Jesus fucking Christ it was exhausting just to watch them so I leaned back as far as I could on the chair and buried my face deep into this book I brought along with me. The book was so hard to read too, even without all the noise and hyperactivity going on about me. What the hell Inoue Yasushi? Writing beautiful prose that's almost impossible to decrypt! It was like I was stuck in the land where time stopped.

So anyway, I was talking to my sister the other day and she told me about how all babies do in sleep and cry and they seem to be happy (maybe I should follow suit?). But babies really do fascinate me in the sense any animal fascinate me. I don't know how either of those creatures work on a psychological and emotional level.  I once saw a baby getting kissed on the forehead by its mother and it smiled so wide. Why? Is is possible that the child understand the warmth and happiness we normally get from a kiss or a hug from our loved ones? I've always thought that although there are biological and chemical explanations behind how we feel certain feelings, most of it comes from the values with which we were brought up. The things that make us cry like the end of a really good TV series because it's what has stood in for companionship in your miserable life for the duration of its airing don't really have much of a scientific explanation if you ask me. The human psyche is fascinating but I wonder if babies have a similar workings as the rest of us because they have yet been polluted by the traumas that come with our upbringing.

Do you wonder sometimes when they stare at you (and babies seem to stare at me a lot so I stare them back, thinking, "Yeah? You like that? Not so nice when people do it to you is it?") they understand what you're doing or saying and are secretly judging you for it? That's how I see babies and children generally. And I think there is a dark side to them that we don't really comprehend ourselves but the little bastards are so good at hiding any signs worthy of suspicion that they always pass under the radar. But I know, little babies, I know just what kind of deep and troubling thoughts you have in them pretty little heads of yours...

That's how I thought up the idea for this strip. That and the inner philosophical turmoil I've been having myself after reading shit Kierkegaard says.

Happy long weekend everyone and for them Christians, Happy Easter! I thought Easter was on April Fools and boy, does that change things!

Copulate Thineself!

Gray Area: B Minor

I'm not the most talented guitar-a-playin' youngin in the world. Hell! I'm not even the most talented in the room and my room's only other inhabitant is a moth that flew in through the window yesterday afternoon. Be it as it may, it's part of my short term goal to learn how to play a musical instrument of some sort, and since the guitar is already there at my disposal, why not? Because my fingers are stupid, that's why not!

I've been listening to a lot of folk as of late and the simple chords (or at least that's how it looks at first glance, those sneaky bastards) that caress your ears as voices of greats like Peter, Paul, and Mary and the Bob Dylan chant pure poetry was the other thing that made me want to pick up the ol' guitar again. It's infuriating that I'm still trying to work on finding a sense of rhythm but we're getting there. Currently learning how to play Boots of Spanish Leather in finger picking style, which happens to have the same keys as Girl from the North Country. Consequently, the two chord that Billy is trying to play above are the first two of three chords in said songs.

Gray Area: Conscience

A few posts ago I was bitching about how I haven't been able to draw. I'm still not quite certain why that is (apart from sheer laziness) but it's really getting to my head. What do you do when the one thing that can make you happy instead makes you want to cry and eat bowls after bowls of ice cream? I DON'T EVEN LIKE ICE CREAM! You push through, just stop thinking and push through. Doesn't matter if it sucks balls, just rip it up to a million pieces and burn the remains to a crisp before anyone else can see it.

I can't believe I'm actually going to tell myself to think less! Didn't even think that was possible...

I had a dream once that was narrated by Gilbert Gottfried and when I woke up I was a complete bitch to every moving thing that passed my range of view. By that I mean more so than usual. Isn't that just a new sort of hell though? As if the little voice inside your head isn't obnoxious enough. So stop thinking, drown out the godawful voice forever.

The point of this post is: I'm drawing again, fuck you, society!

Marriage is a sham!

Gray Area: Life

I remember when I got the Game of Life my sister went batshit insane because I could've gotten Monopoly and saved $2. Unlike Monopoly that's completely endless because I wasn't ruthless enough --when the odds are in my favour-- to bankrupt my friends by periodically loaning them money with reasonable interest when they can't pay for my 3 hotels, the Game of Life ends in death (or retirement? Depressing either way, what does it matter?) and there were rules that I still never really understood like purchasing stocks, getting married, having babies if you landed on certain squares --which was frighteningly accurate in depicting the real life phenomenon that most if not all babies are the result of chance and accidental miscalculations, and buying houses that you can't actually afford. But because like Monopoly it involves currency, cleaning up and setting up the game was a bitch which is why it now sits under the stairwell as well as inches of dust bunnies --like every other forgotten childhood memories-- where it has stayed for a good 5 years or so.


Here's the thing though, I don't remember if you really had to stop to get married before you can spin and go again or what, but that could lead to some serious conversations, can you imagine playing that with your girlfriend who has been waiting for you to pop the question for the least 2 of your 5 years together? So much for game night...


More importantly, politically correct people are the worst!

Double: A Tale of Sword Edges and Standards

Here's the thing, I'm a very sarcastic person. I know this, everyone knows this, and that was nothing if not a mere blatant state of a fact, but I've sort of noticed that it might cause problems. Often times I find myself in situations where my sarcasm is so advanced that people just assume I'm dumb. But other times my stupidity is so advanced that people just assume I'm being sarcastic.

That's the funny thing about it though, a lot of times I think people actually end up overestimating my intelligence, which is a rookie mistake if I ever saw one! It's a double edged sword really, and I feel like the only lesson to be learned here is that you shan't underestimate a person but you also shan't overestimate him. In fact, don't even estimate people, just walk in without any thoughts or expectations whatsoever, just walk. Focus on the walking in. You might notice that the floor is kind of superbly tiled.

But here's a random, completely irrelevant comic:

Gray Area: Double Standards

It used to semi-sicken me that bondgirls would just throw themselves at him like they didn't have self-respect but I feel like if I'd met one of the Bonds (back in their youthful days) and he asks where the bathroom is I'd just stand there in awe before shouting "I'll show you the bathroom... in my pants!" at his face like some socially inept frauen who lives with her 38 cats and counting and has never felt the touch of a man. So much for self-respect, right? But in my defense, I never claimed ever having one.

Gray Area: Life Choice

"Why is the school nurse a woman? Are you implying that nursing is a feminine job?" oh hush, nobody likes to hear feminist crap on a Friday!


I couldn't help but wonder if I would be a different person today if one thing didn't happen of if I had taken a different turn at the crossroads somewhere. I know it's a terrible thing to think about the what if's and live in regret because that's supposedly just a road towards certain despair but it's curious isn't it?


Then again who knows? Maybe absolutely nothing will change, maybe we really have no real power over the choices we make, maybe our lives have all been predetermined by some greater force but that same force also gave us this idea of freedom of choice. Maybe our lives are narrated by John Hughes and at some point we would all meet in some random library and have a wonderful epiphany about the meaning of life under the influence of marijuana before dancing together to some random 80s song.

Conversationing

Gray Area: Conversation

Let's just do that yeah? Let’s have conversations and blog posts that consist solely of tweets. Wait, seriously? It’s 150 characters already? Motherfu

Gray Area : Funny

"In the quiet of the railway station running scared. Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters where the ragged people go, looking for the places only they would know"

~ Simon and Garfunkel

Some people are just...

Gray Area: Cliffhanger

Here's what I learned from my first year of university: take advantage of any idle time to do whatever you like to do because they come one in a hundred.


You know how there are those types of people who suppress any feelings or memories inside? Or at least until they crack and completely lose it and proceed to go on a killing spree. I feel like that's the group to which I belong so this sort of acts as a premonition for the day when I have to drive people around in our trips and junk. Because I know people complain about absolutely everything even though there's no point in complaining about them (like how the weather outside is frightful when it's only slightly unpleasant) mostly due to the fact that I'm normally the whinger in the back seat. What's worse is I can feel my antisocial tendencies rising again because everything people do seem to annoy me, and the things that people I hate do seem to be even more annoying. Which brings me to my next point:

I said I was stupid on my last post but I'm not completely obnoxious about my stupidity so people who are piss me off.


But on a completely unrelated note, have you met Fabienne Delsol? I'm not sure if it's due to my recent watching of Pulp Fiction that rekindled the flame of desire within my beating heart for 60s Pop-Garage music but I love the style of her songs, a lot of which are covers that I think don't completely butcher the originals but you be the judge.

Cordial Strangers

Gray Area: Morning

Sometimes I overlook the impact that strangers could have on our lives. Sometimes I forget that everyone is fighting their own battles because I get so preoccupied with being a complete bitch for no real reason. Sometimes we all forget that and we think everyone has their own hidden agenda and don't even consider the idea that sometimes people say nice things and do nice things because that's just how they deal with their problems. We spit at their faces, asking them with a condescending look, 'what's wrong with you?' and we make them feel like shit because we feel like shit. Well sometimes, the world is just shit and sometimes the shit you're going through is nothing compared to the explosive diarrhea that the person you just dissed was going through.

Sometimes I forget that, hell perhaps even more often that I wish and for that I apologise. I am sorry if on a really rough day I said or did some things that upset you just because I was a bit down, I know I can be a real bitch at times (if not all times!)

---
This is probably one of my favourite strips I've ever drawn so it's kind of a mix of confusion and heartbreak seeing that it might as well be the one with the least responses. I know that most of the time the things you find hilarious people don't budge at because it might be too much of a personal reference than one hopes. I really have to work on that!

If anyone cares, I just saw Clueless for like the gazillionth time and their playlist is just legendary! I'm listening to Supergrass' Alright which I absolutely love probably even more than the actual movie. I feel like everybody loves that song as well, even if you think you have never heard of it, YOU HAVE.

Sleep is serious business

Gray Area: Sleep

Based on a semi-real conversation I had with my parents. Mother said how her students sleep in class and that it's basically the same thing. In return I said 'it's absolutely not the same thing, reps are there for the people. They're supposed to represent people's aspirations, which they can't do when they're asleep. Students are in school and uni for personal gratification, they don't have any real moral obligation to be there or pay attention in class' and I forgot what she said but surprisingly she didn't mention how most students (with the exception of graduates) still use their parents' money to pay for tuition so in fact, those students have a moral obligation to learn 'em some education! Ha I whinge so much, I don't even know how my parents have not taken me in my sleep, put me in a box and chuck me into the river, I totally would if I was my child.

It's actually kind of like how I complain about the odd use of taxpayer money. That people working for the government seem to get awesome cars, that weird posters and banners are spread all around town, that people seem to think they need new DPR buildings and study trips overseas for reasons that still remain trivial in every way. All the while we don't have fire hydrants by the road, no real solution to the constant flooding and people in post-disaster areas are still living in shit as rehabilitation progress is slow if at all existent. And I don't even pay tax.

Misogynying

Gray Area: Misogyny

Ok, it was earth day and I had no idea. Is it no longer cool to care about the environment so people got stingy when it came to informing the masses or did I just not get the memo? Well, I didn't use the car at all today, I spent the whole day in my air conditioned room with the music playin', phone a chargin' while I was a sleepin' so how is that for contribution? :D

This strip actually deals more about women's right because it was Hari Kartini on the 21st and though I find it a bit ironic that we celebrate the mark of women emancipation in Indonesia by having parading girls dressed up in traditional clothing which seems a bit demeaning to me. Also, don't we still have a long way to go before we can celebrate? Women still have lower salaries compared to men doing the same job, some aren't even allowed to leave the kitchen let alone work, and something tells me lots of women are sexually harassed at work a la mad men.

And in case anyone is wondering, no, I still can't drive straight. At least not without causing serious damage to the city and/or people's body parts. Also, I am not a misogynist, repeat, NOT a misogynist.

Buh Duhhhh Graduationing?

Gray Area: B

I've been asked this question by various people all the time: How did you graduate high school? And I tire of having to answer them individually. I don't really blame them, I'm not exactly the brightest bulb in the pack, in fact I'm what you call a damaged good, you know the bulb you send back to the factory? Only in this case my parents can't just return me to the manufacturer, apparently my mother's womb doesn't work that way. So to avoid further vivid images of my mother's womb and people's curiosity, this is exactly how I graduated and got into a university. It's called slipping through the cracks, the cracks of the education system is just larger than one expects or wish it is but all we can do is just sit back, relax and deal with the fact that people like me are contaminating your society.. ya'll! You can hate me all you want, but in my personal opinion, it would be better to hate the system instead.

On an unrelated note, I hope imported movies are green lighted again, I so look forward to Hanna. It's directed by Joe Wright who is ah-mazing and Saoirse Ronan who I think is one of --if not-- the best young actresses today. AND CATE BLANCHETT!! For the love of.. please, please let that show in theatres here!!!

Current Affairs, Schmoorent Affairs!

 Gray Area: News

I wish I could say that I'm well informed, I really do but then I'd be lying and I don't like lying. There's always too much cold sweat, skipping hearts and judgmental eyes upon discovery when I lie and I'm not a fan of any of those things. And as much as I'd like to blame the news for being too unappealing for readers with small attention span --like yours truly to read, that would just be plain awful of me to not take responsibility over any of my self inflicted negative traits and I don't like being awful, there's always too much cold sweat, skipping hearts and judgmental eyes upon my self hatred for me to enjoy any of it. So instead of blaming the ugliness of newspaper paper or blaming myself for being an ignorant prick, I will choose to justify my dis-well-informed-ness by saying that it's depressing, especially recently when wherever I see there would be news on the air raids going on in North Africa, the rallies all over the Middle East and Pakistan, the possibility of Rebecca Black releasing a new single (lol I'm totally kidding, that would be epic shit! I so look forward to that) the nuclear leaks in Japan, the reviews of Justing Bieber's movie (you know I actually went to the bookstore the other day and his memoir is on the best sellers rack along with a book about Hitler, Lenin and Stalin, I don't know if I should laugh in delight or woeful irony because he's on the same par as mass murderers or popular political figures at this time of year), the abuses of certain groups basically all over the freaking world, Liz Taylor dying! I mean, why can't we have happier news anymore? Why can't newspapers be filled with puppies in a field of flowers under a perfect rainbow where leaders of the world would sing Kumbaya hand in hand as unicorns soar above, dancing in sync with the horribly flat singing. But that would be a lie by the media, and I don't like lies by the media. There is always too much so and so you get the rest involved.. 

But I digress, I will start reading the newspaper and watch the news when I hear about more potentially happier things happening in the world, and when they get a more appealing makeover. Maybe less Times New Roman and more Comic Sans. Problem?

Foreign Affairs, Psychological Disorders, Fashion and Management: The story of how I understand none of those things

What's with the missiles eh brother? How do you save people when you chuck explosives at them? But hell I got a submarine, you got gasoline, I don't wanna talk about wars between naaaations! Not right now...

Instead of studying about management (along with the irony of reading the section on time management I've been putting off since last year) I decided to read this site about psychology, can't remember what it was right now, and there was this analysis on child abandonment issues. Then I kept reading, and reading, the emotional trauma, the 'lost child' the iceberg, the false identity. It all seems a little closer to home than I wanted it to be! So now I'm freaked out that I might have a mild case of abandonment issues because if I did, a lot of things make sense. How I have no backbone, how I never try to cross mum, how I always insult people as a way to interact with other humans. Then again, the credibility of a website is always, always questionable these days and I am by no means in the position to diagnose people --furthermore, myself-- of having psychological disorders.

But here is something I made concerning another psychological trauma I suffer from. The burdens of shopping and the judgmental nature of shopkeepers....

Gray Area: Price by yours truly

Do the dresses on display in the background look familiar to you? If it does, it's because they're what I remember of the Lanvin x H&M collaboration last year. Please don't sue me :') Obviously I don't know first hand what people are like in the industry but people seem to like portraying them to be complete assdouches and I don't want to picture my favourite artists turn out to be assdouches (2 have turned out to be and it's quite heartbreaking to be honest..). But shopkeepers, eesh, are you trying to sell anything to us or what? Maybe they need to learn management and customer service more than I do!

Confound it! that reminds me to go back to education.. Err management is amazing! :D

Day Off!

Since the beginning of this week I'd been wishing for a day off and finally, it's Friday (click on the link, I dare ya) and I got my day off! My only class today had been canceled, take that education!

Day offs are strange things, they either pan out to be...

 Gray Area: Day Off by yours truly

or...

Gray Area: Also Day Off also by yours truly

But I didn't do either one of those things, instead I got to sleep (Oh sleep! Glorious, glorious sleep...) in and recharge the ol' battery and stay away from books that make me cringe. People keep telling me how sleep is a privilege and how I'd have gotten more sleep if I'd done my assignments earlier instead of letting it pile up and doing it at the last moment but there's never any fun in that. Where's the 'oh will I finish it in time' excitement? Where's the 'why would the printer run out of ink at this moment' adrenaline?

The only thing that could have made my day better was if we had a bathtub but then I would still be in the tub, listening to Billie Holiday over and over again since 5 in the afternoon instead of writing this post.

ASSignment

 Gray Area: Assignment

I always wind up in this type of situation, I wake up one morning feeling all overwhelmed with the many things that I had to finish in a short period of time and they always lecture me on how I have terrible time management and say 'how many times do I have to tell you this?' when obviously the answer to that question is 'one' whether I choose to actually take that advice and implement it in my lifestyle is another different ordeal. But for the record, I'm as bored of hearing it as you are saying it so don't go off playing the victim here. If anyone is the victim, it should be me! Not only do I have to listen to your nagging about my incompetence, I also have the crapload of work to finish. Have a heart guys, all I need is a pot of coffee and some sympathy.

No, but seriously, I think it's interesting how there's always that one person in everyone's lives who will lecture us on the whole stop complaining and get the work done speech. Geez, like I just want to sit down and complain every once in a while you know?

Worst Job Ever

Gray Area: Accounting

 

By God, be thankful for digital information systems!

Hey, I calls it as I sees it. This is the absolute truth to how I feel about the job, I can't imagine anything worse than having to sit down for hours looking at financial transactions, analysing them and recording them over and over again inside a cubicle. To have to constantly be so meticulous and dedicated to something that is basically like a ritual for modern society. Or is that migrant labourers? I get those two mixed up... :\

In the Days of Auld Lang Syne....

...A new year unfolds

something I drew in 2008, still applies don't you think?

Let us review this year's resolution shall we? To cut down on the incessant comments, I'll just cross out the ones I failed to do and put a happy face ( :D like so) on the ones I succeeded.

1. I will cut down on my consumerism habits, spending less than all of my allowance per month
2. I will cut down on the whinging if possible, stop altogether.
3. I will work harder on my studies so I can get into art school  AND sadface :c

4. I will exercise more :\
5. I will cut down on the lounging around in front of any screens :D
6. I will care more about the world and its problems :D
7. I will be nicer to all those around me who aren't a complete bitch
8. I will stop calling everyone bitches
9. I will reduce the vulgar nature of my language
10. I will stop using 'shit' as different adjectives because of my small range of vocabulary :'DD
11. I will start eating healthier (and gain more weight dammit!!!) :'DDD
12. I will stop condemning smokers to death! :G <-- I don't even know what that is
13. I will stop condemning ignorant people to death

6/13! :'D

New resolution:

MUFFIN TOP NO MORE!!!!!! D:<

Though really, that's more for the holidays. I know I sound like one of those skinny bitches who complain about being fat when she isn't. What's that? Real women have curves? I have curves, I have too many bloody curves that I have to freaking draw in class... frigging econ. I don't think I have a muffin top, even though admittedly my pants are getting tighter. Seeing as I have the mileage of a chainsmoker, I just want to get fit.

Coping With Exam Woes

 Gray Area: Cheat

A lot of times during finals you will see people come out of the exam room wondering to themselves where they went wrong in preparation. Luckily, I knew exactly what I did wrong so I could go straight to the beating-self-up-for-being-a-complete-tard phase of the post traumatic stress. Here's what happened...

Last night when I should have been studying, I ended up watching part soccer, part Sky High --which as much as I hate to admit is actually not too bad a family-friendly movie-- here's the catch: I hate watching soccer, I never get what's going on in the game, it's like.. wake me up when they kick a homerun you know? But at times, when I lack motivation to do other things or feel like being one of those jackasses who switch loyalty and become instant patriots when the occasion is convenient, yes, I do in fact watch soccer. When that was over, I went upstairs to hit the books --well book actually, we just have the one but it could very well be 3 and it wouldn't have made the slightest difference-- only to instead find myself practicing how to tie a windsor knot with a tie that I got for high school but never really wore, followed by the experimentation of using many different fabrics, including my towel, as an ascot tie. Then I slept through the morning.

So 8 hours, 2 rainstorms and 3 pages of handwritten bullshitting later, I have made peace with the fact that probably I won't graduate with a first. Darn society and their ridiculously high standards! And once again, 30 Rock has made the coping much easier. Good show!

Opiate of the Masses

I guess Mr Watterson hadn't seen t3h InTErw3bz! lololololzlolroflwaffle

 Gray Area: Trash

I just realised that most of the shows I currently watch are reality shows. And I don't mean the animal planet reality, I mean awful dancing, singing, cooking, modeling, weird match-up, talent competitions. Then the occasional E! THS... How sophisticated am I? 

--lookie here what i can do with ma thumb!--

Like the only openly scripted shows I watch are.. Family Guy.