I'm a new man.

Well, not really. I am a man who got a lot off his chest, though. It feels fucking good to remove that weight that was granulating my lungs and causing Crush Syndrome. Shit I expected to happen happened. And I'm happy it ended that way. C'est la vie. :)

My rotten, apple core of a heart has always harbored a soft spot for, besides puppy grinders, BDSM, Coleman Hawkins, and extremely large sharks, Calvin and Hobbes. My fondest childhood memories were reading about the antics of that whippersnapper Calvin and his cynical tiger Hobbes. My little, underdeveloped mind was endlessly amused with the double act of Calvin and Hobbes, and being the little bastard I was, I laughed only at the extraordinarily imaginative scenarios Calvin got himself into and the ways he tried to avoid trouble.

Then I picked it up a few years later, and was sucked back into his world. I was overwhelmed by the subtleties, the sophisticated jokes, the social criticism, and the witty and pithy writing of Bill Watterson. I thought to myself "This is really interesting, amazing how he can fit all of this thoughtful bullshit into the framework of a simplistic six year old and his imaginary friend!" And now I've always viewed Calvin and Hobbes as the standard, the stick everyone should judge their shit by. The strengths of the strip also lies in the characterization that Watterson evokes, thought that's almost always the case. Strong storytelling, great writing, and a fresh premise is a formula for Winrars.

There are very few things in this world I think are perfect (Calvin and Hobbes being one of them, the Kill Bill movies, George Orwell novels, Hideo Kojima video games, and anything with Hugh Laurie in it are others), but this comic is more than just silly pictures and words; it's a fucking work of fine art, a big compliment in this large sea of shit we're forced to wade in.

Of course, I'm not very good at treading water, so I guess I'm fucked.

PS. I want to go to an Opeth concert in October, but I also don't want to die. Tough call.

PPS. Holy crap 20th entry. Now it is time for celebration!