The Penguin

 So! As you may know, I'm a sucker for trees and plants in general. What you may not know is, I'm also a bit of a mad scientist. While most of my "experiments" involve trying to grow plants as cheaply as possible (I.e. through seeds, clippings, and just finding things growing in ditches), I'm also dabbling in the "training" of trees...to be my minions. An "Espaliered" tree - from Deep Green Permaculture Y'see, horticulture isn't just about the anal-retentive pruning of roses and trimming hedges into bunny rabbits; it's essentially the world's first bioengineering. Things like grafting , coppicing , forcing, and Bonsai have been used for thousands of years to exploit the natural growth patterns of plants for human purposes. Coppicing, for instance, turns one valuable timber tree into a whole "grove", as shoots grow out of the stump and eventually become new trees themselves. Bonsai involves limiting tree growth through ...

Those of you who know me know that I'm a real nature buff. Since my days as a Proto-Rick I've loved bugs and reptiles and generally reading natural histories cover-to-cover. Lately I've been more interested in plants; I think it's been since the Pandemic that I've really fallen in love with trees. With me it's never been about "Trees" in general, or about "facts about stuff" (although I have plenty of those, as anyone who knows me will tell you). I'm not even that horribly concerned about classification - at some point, if you're microscopically examining root notes or counting bark scales, you have to start questioning your life choices. No, what interests me is the simple strangeness of each kind of tree: the little things that make me suddenly sit up and notice. For instance, within the past month - and I can't explain why - I developed an interest in ash trees, particularly... White ash  ( Fraxinus americana).  Considering tha...

 Just giving y'all a heads-up - The Die Kätze Collection  is now available! That's right folks, all three issues of the landmark trilogy are here conglomerated, as well as sketches, color covers, and a bonus promo comic. Supplies are extremely  limited, so don't hesitate to visit our Storenvy page and order your copy now! Shipping is FREE in the United States!

  Well, it's happened again. I drew these sketches during a Skype meeting with the...CEO? Some corporate guy...at the auto-parts shop where I work. What remained of the work force was gathered in the little cafeteria, watching the screen in dismay as our livelihoods were put on the chopping block .  Basically Mr. Corporate was there to inform us that we had lost our biggest contract, and now we had 45-60 days to finish out our smaller contracts before the shop closed. This wasn't like an asteroid strike - we didn't get blown up out of nowhere, in the middle of everything going great. We all knew this day would come eventually. The shop was teetering even before the Pandemic fucked up distribution and logistics. The shop is dirty and unkempt, with a near-constant pall of greasy haze; nearly all the machines have something wrong with them, and little money or will to fix them. We're now operating with maybe a fifth of our full-capacity workforce. Quality was a constant pr...

 My friends think I'm crazy for liking my home state. Michigan is not, how you say, "glamorous" - in the middle of the rust belt; gray, undifferentiated towns; swampy, mosquito-infested summers and cold, sloppy winters; even the big tourist pull, the Great Lakes, are pretty unappetizing once you get into them (seriously, they really  are just very large, fish-smelling lakes). Michigan seems to have just a little bit of everything all the other states have to offer, and doesn't do it half as well. You want sparkling snowscapes? Try Minnesota. Acres of picturesque farmland? Ohio's got that in spades. Gorgeous coastline? Try any other coast. Incredible rock formations? Arizona. In terms of sheer natural aesthetics, you might try the Porcupine Mountains, but that's about the one spot you can find it - if you don't mind driving for hours, and either wading through 5-foot snowdrifts or enduring barrages of biting insects. I'm not sure why I'm so attached...

Well folks, the New Year is here. I'm at my desk at 5:00 am, too sick to stand in front of a machine for 10 hours (don't worry, it ain't 'Rona...I don't think...) but too uncomfortable to go back to sleep, pondering as I listen to Mandy's cat lick itself. I like mornings because they're quiet, even the surprisingly heavy traffic on our corner is somewhat dampened; winter mornings, chill and snow-softened, have a special melancholy to them, where I'm alone with my thoughts in a very small, cozy way. The perfect time to reflect on the challenges and triumphs at the turning of the year. The Holidays (should be capitalized: THE HOLIDAYS) are finally over; we heave a collective sigh of relief. The midwinter hubbub, always bizarre, took on a new surreal quality in 2020. PSAs about staying home and staying safe are followed by barrages of holiday commercials, COME TO OUR STORE! BUY BUY BUY!!! But stay home, keep your mask on, don't gather in large groups B...

(I suppose I should call these my, "You haven't seen [insert movie title]?!" reviews; basically all the films everyone else is nostalgic for but I never got the chance to watch). My fiancée is an avid horror fan, and had seen Rose Red  fifteen years prior; I'd only heard of it in passing. Now that I've seen it, I can say it's one of my favorite horror films - definitely in the top ten. It might not be particularly horrific, but it's definitely a spooky, effective, and thoughtful take on the old haunted house trope. Rose Red is an ABC miniseries from 2002, written by none other than Stephen King, and inspired loosely by Shirley Jackson's classic novel,  The Haunting of Hill House . Rose Red follows paranormal researcher Dr. Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis) as she assembles a team of powerful psychics to investigate the mysterious, Winchester-like mansion known as Rose Red, a rambling house infested with paranormal activity. While the mansion at first...