What if my kid LARPs?

Or, for you gamers, what if my kid doesn't LARP?

What if he's somewhere in between?

And now that he's gonna be a New Yorker . . . 

I got other problems.

Like hair styles

Full slideshow for March on the right.

Visits from Beyond the Womb

More from the backlog of my pregnancy sketchbook -- you can now see a slideshow for February on the right.

The Lizard Brain of Impending Parenthood

So the idea was (not mine) to do a drawing every day from Jan. 11 until the Little Samosa gets dropped off by the Baby Industrial Complex.  In the spirit of tapping into the lizard brain of impending parenthood, I don't edit these or censor myself or erase.  So they're pretty rough.  Below are a couple more from January.  A link to the full January gallery is on the left.  February to follow.  Click to expand, as always.

I will delve deeply into this beautiful conversation soon. 

Yeah, So . . . We're having a baby

I've been doing a drawings a day about being pregnant since Jan. 11.  Here's a sample.  I'll be posting a slide show with more later today and then updating as we go.

Exciting New Project: Filibustery from Newsbound

Filibustery: Episode One from Newsbound on Vimeo.

Filibustery is the first endeavor of Newsbound, a new voice in the news media environment that wants to slow down and take a deeper look into the issues behind the headlines.  Filibustery is a series of short video presentations examining the US Senate's filibuster, its history and its current abuse.  I provided the original illustrations for the video.

The inaugural episode is up and running now.  Stay tuned for further updates and new episodes exploring the filibuster in great detail and other issues in the news.

You can subscribe directly to the Filibustery site, follow it on Twitter and Facebook, and sign-up on Newsbound for updates.

What is this "Standing" Business?

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal heard oral arguments in the Prop. 8 case yesterday.  If you heard or read any of the news reports, you likely heard about the issue of "standing."  In a case that raises big meaty constitutional, philosophical, and moral issues surrounding marriage--same-sex marriage in particular--you might be surprised that the key issue appears to be basically procedural.

So what is this whole "standing" thing, anyway?  Basically, "standing" means that a party to a law suit actually has an interest in the controversy; i.e. they actually suffered an injury because of another party's action.  It's not enough to simply not like something, or to simply be offended by something someone else does.  You have to actually be injured in some way.

Why does this matter?  At the top, it's about practicality.  Lawsuits consume a lot of time, energy, and money--none of which are limitless--so the legal system has to create some method of limiting the number of potential lawsuits.  If we could all sue anyone simply because we didn't like what they were doing, the courts would be even more backlogged than they already are.  The important cases would get lost in the mess; collective injustice being the result because the courts' ability to redress genuine wrongs would be essentially nonexistent.

That would be bad enough on its own, but there is a deeper issue at work as well.  Standing is also about liberty.  If everyone could sue without showing standing--proving they suffered a real injury--then no one could live freely.  Your personal liberty should not be curtailed unless the exercise of that liberty harms others.

Consider the standing issue in the Prop. 8 appeal.  Supporters of Prop. 8 brought suit to keep same-sex couples from marrying.  The court wants to know how same sex marriage actually harms anyone?  Clearly, if there is a fundamental right to marry that the people of California cannot deny same-sex couples, those same-sex couples are injured by Prop. 8's enforcement.  The same cannot be said of people who oppose same-sex marriage.  Sure, they may not approve but that is thin ice in terms of injury.  Essentially, the court is asking Prop. 8 defenders, "where's the beef?"

A Big Belly Rub to Start the Day

Saw this guy on my corner this morning, just standing in the sunlight rubbing his big belly.

Sell-Out Tuesday

The California Bar Exam is a Monster . . .

. . . and I killed it.

A Beer Snob Is As A Beer Snob Does

Economic Propaganda in Comics!

The good folks at Planet Money inform me that the Federal Reserve published a comic book about monetary policy.

Contrary to legend, the X-Men don't spend all their time battling Magneto.

There's also this 1945 "comic" (really just illustrated bullet points) about how war time economic policy can lead to facism, courtesy of General Motors.

Or maybe you join the party for their artificial elbow implants.

In the spirit of equal time, here's another "comic" about the "Money Myth."  It's long and, well, stupid, but worth checking out if you like your fools raw and unfiltered.

The Evil Banker Oliver Demands Repayment.

A Bike Mechanic's Best Friend

3 A.M. is for Brooding

Torture? What Torture?

Watching the Giants in the Mission

I Don't Really Feel Old Enough for This . . .

Taking the parents to Napa and Sonoma today.

The Handshake

Hipsters Anonymous

Somewhere in the Mission or Williamsburg . . .

Rich Iott: Idiot

Rich Iott is running for congress in Ohio's 9th District on the GOP ticket.  Iott was recently exposed as a happy member of the Wikings, a WWII reenactment group that spends long weekends dressing up as Nazi soldiers and playing with guns in the woods.  Iott is clearly an idiot.


Good to know that conservative family values are still intact -- that's right, Glenn Beck thinks it'd be fun to play Nazi with your son.

Folsom Street Fair: Pluralism Baby

Last weekend was San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair.  For the uninitiated, Folsom is a celebration of the leather arts.

My wife and I were on our way to the East Bay during the Fair and passed this Auntie buying fruit while some fair-goers waited for the walk signal.  Two guys in assless chaps and leather cod-pieces didn't faze her at all.  I love San Francisco.