The Smiling Grouch

The shriek I made at this part.

Middle aged dudes in love: a pirate story. I relate to Stede so damn much ;_;

Hi. I’m back. I have big feelings about Our Flag Means Death now.

KyuAnon

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Okay, Seriously though, with all my heart, fuck QAnon. I’m not going to get into it but JEEZUS CHRIST.

In a weird twist of fate, I went from a huge fan of Miraculous Ladybug to working at an actual French bakery cooking croissants and fruit tarts.

Life imitates art?

Jotaro Kujo latte

Needless to say I’m pretty fucking angry these days.

Jotaro’s stupid tan lines because he’s a dumb teen who brought one outfit and no sunscreen to Egypt to kill a vampire who’s got his great-great-grandpa for a body.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure operates at an 11 at bare minimum and at all times.

More protest art.

Smattering of protest art I’ve made from chipboard from Bristol paper pads and book board I had lying around.

Photos from Portland, Oregon.

The Multnomah County Justice Center, June 24, 2020.

The Justice Center (heretofore “JC”) has been the main focal point of the BLM protests. The tagging you see here has been painted over and subsequently freshly tagged. It was set on fire the first night of protests which is why it was boarded up. At one point in time it was fenced off, but the protestors dubbed it “The Sacred Fence” since even touching the fence would quite literally spark a violent onslaught of teargas and “non-lethal” rubber bullets from the police. Most recently the JC was the site in which 26yo old Donovan LaBella was shot in the head with “nonlethal” ammunition by a Federal Officer in which he had to have emergency surgery to repair his skull and as of this moment lies in the hospital in critical condition.

2. Downtown Portland’s Apple Store. June 24, 2020.

On the first day of the George Floyd protests, the Apple store and the Louis Vitton store were the target of the pent up anger and pain from protesters. The Apple Store has become the unofficial memorial for Black Lives lost to police violence. I am unsure if it’s been painted over yet.

3) Elk Statue. June 24th, 2020. David P. Thompson Fountain, or colloquially the “Elk Statue”, is located near the JC which can be seen in the background to the right in the photo. It is a great landmark and is placed between two park blocks: Chapman Square and Lowsdale Square (which were also the sites for the 99% Occupation Movement in 2011). The fountain is seen as non-offensive to my knowledge, but its proximity to the JC means it gets vandalized during protests and movements. It’s also the source of many protest selfies.

4) Elk Statue, July 14, 2020. A few days prior to this photo, protesters set a massive fire in the wells of the fountain (which were meant to water horses), causing noticeable damage to the granite. The Elk statue itself was removed for cleaning and to protect it from risk of being toppled or destroyed. In this photo I blurred out the faces of two protesters while a separate march happens in the background from a group that is widely criticized by the larger BLM movement for a variety of reasons.

So what do we make of this? Why do people loot? People in extreme pain who have been ignored or told to be quiet for a long, long time have different ways of expressing that pain, and one way is property destruction because it gets attention. Looting is similar and is the opportunistic moment for people to finally get the status symbols that have been waved above their heads all their lives. It is quite literally their only change to own high class items, and in the chaos, they take their opportunity.

I do not condone looting or property damage, but I get why it happens. Buildings can be rebuilt. Stores have insurance. Lives can not be resurrected to what they once were. Damage might cost money, but money can not bring George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, and thousands of others back.

The fact that a US state is occupied by FEDERAL TROOPS should be a national concern.

I know I have a lot of young followers, and I will say now: This is scary. I am an adult, and I am also scared. There is not much you can do as a kid or even as a teen, and that’s okay, but please, if you can do anything, even if it’s just art to express support for BLM or just reading and educating yourselves, please do it. If you’re going to be 18 come November, please for the love of yourself, your neighbor, and your friends, register to vote and vote in every election, even the non-presidential ones. Those are often the most important since local laws, leaders, judges, and budgets are decided then!

You are young and full of so much beautiful potential, and I see so much good from your generation already. I am proud of you, even if y’all dunk on me for being a Millenial. It hurts because it’s true, but hopefully by the time you’re my age, we’ll have left you in a better spot.

If you have questions, send them to me and I’ll answer as best I can. No promises, but I’ll try.

Keep learning. Keep loving. And keep being you.

Sailor Mars! She’ll punish you in high heels!

Made a little Patrick portrait on a block of wood I had lying around. Subsequently forgot to finish the date.

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Excerpt from “Letter from the Birmingham Jail”.

Protest sign and personal reminder.