A tail of woah!

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Ok, if I'd had a keyboard as a kid I'd have, well, let's just say that my writing had the usual three sentences merged into one and looked like a clumsy scrawl (still does). So, I'll let my brain talk and my fingers flow ok? Urf, bio... Ok, during all this remember that past is past, it ain't emo crap, and right now I'm stronger than I've ever been. Where to start, well how about this?
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... TREADS.jpg

I have no idea how old I am in that picture (guesses?) but the book is the McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Space, 1967 edition. I still have it. Had the usual crap beaten out of me in for using skool werds and naturally enough, often felt like dangling keychains in front of my school-mates and going "Look! Shiny!". Nice educational system we got eh? I was physically assaulted twice by my 6'th grade science teacher for correcting him on simple optics and something about steam and gasses. In grade 8 I got a C- for making a vapor chamber and photographing atomic decay. My teacher thought I'd just drawn some lines on paper and made some stuff up. Oh, I was also prevented from taking advanced math courses because I hadn't passed phys-ed. Naturally, my only friend until I hit grade 10 was this beautiful baby, which I still have of course.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... cope05.jpg

Sweet eh? Great tracking mechanism. I got rather adept at following a paramecium around. To continue! Well, when I was 15 I worked for a summer in a biochem lab. At 16 I finally ran into a group of fellow social outcasts, the local suburban punk kids. Naturally enough I latched on and fell in with the wrong crowd. My best "friend" at that time was quite the criminal psycho and by the time I was 17 I was tagging along on various nefarious activities. (Note: Buddy ended up on heroin and blowing his head off with a shotgun. Lovely!) At 19 I was living in an all-ages punk club, postering during the day and fetching beer, pizza, and weed for the bands at night. I'd finally started hanging out with a few truely great people though and was spending most of my time at my mentor's used record/bookstore. Still though, I'd sunk into a long stretch of reclusive alchoholism, only breaking out to hit a party once in a while.

Next phase! Had a great break when I moved into a band house. It was the central practice space for a rather excellent jazz/blues band, and with all the action going on I opened up quite a bit. Come to think of it, I've got some of their stuff stashed online. *digs*
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/atomicat2001

There we go! Check out the "Urban Gorilla" directory. Oh, did their CD cover too (although they didn't credit! *grrr!*).
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... c5copy.jpg

Ouf! Get traveling! Ups and downs. Nice contracts and dry desert. I'd always been more than excellent with computers and tech of course, but could never.... well, here's where common experience is the only thing that will speak. I was doing raytracing and rendering on a 386-25... and couldn't convince people that 3D graphics would be useful. Typical. Tried to start an ISP in our city when the university was the only institution with bandwidth. Internet? Never heard of it. Geeks and weirdos. It'll never catch on. *sigh* So, small contracts, small gigs, artists portfolio work, graphics, Autocad, lots of little bits and pieces. Oh hey, here's one for all the Canuks on here... See this?
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... trofit.jpg

*bows* Yah, I got what... $600 for that blueprint job! Woohoo! Ah well, I can still walk into almost any store in Canada and say, hey, I did that. (Note: Admitted arrogant bastid!) Fast-forward! Started getting rather ill in 2001 or so. Massive case of shingles that was a harbinger of things to come. Sum up? I got weaker and weaker, until finally in the spring of '05 I collapsed in hospital with a collapsed lung. Final stages of pnumonia brought on by long term HIV. Yep! Turns out 115 lb computer geeks occasionally, on rare occasions, hook up with cute bass players. Must be all that sophisticated charm. I was in a coma for over a month and given a 1 in 10 of pulling through. Guess what... So, on my birthday last year I looked like this...
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... re210s.jpg

And this is what I looked like now (or thereabouts)...
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... oks31s.jpg

Branches branches, were to go. Well, I'm still unable to work and it's doubtful that I'll be able to in the future either. One thing about this though is that it leaves me with only one option, the thing I've dreamed of all my life. This whole thing in a way, has cut off possible branches that I didn't want. Hell, I've never held a job longer than a year anyways. The dream? A modest dream. I've always wanted to turn this country property of my parents' into a bit of an artists creative workspace and colony. So I moved up north and installed myself in an insulated room in the barn. Yes, I was raised in a barn, and I'll thank you to remember that next time I spit on your floor accidentally. Beautiful! Nothing but a dial-up net connection, books, and the nature around me. Silence! Ever heard a vole sing while it's eating? Yah, I'm teaching them table manners, the cornerstone of civilization.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f21/A ... arm113.jpg

So here I am! I've set up workshop space and am now looking for people to use this space. I've always been as interested in the arts as the sciences, so I'd like to fuse the two. Damn... the curse of writing these things, overuse of the "I". So, kinetic sculptures, animatronics, sculpture in general, whatever strikes my fancy. Upstairs is, well, the library. I've always found that you can learn a hell of a lot about a person by what they have in their stacks, here's a run-down on mine. LiveJournal has been an excellent space for me to meet people so I've given the tour before. A bit of a read but I'm sure you'll find it interesting.
http://atomicat.livejournal.com/59306.html

Phew! Ok, back-track. Today I got a batch of medical records from the last year. In them was this quickie psych evaluation they'd given me last january. This was the first time I'd seen it and, needless to say, it was quite illuminating. They'd pegged me as having Asperger's (What a surprise!) and a few other assorted twists. Well, I've always described myself as slightly autistic but it was interesting to see it in black and white. We've decided we have a label for you! Thing is, it was somewhat embarassing seeing it set down like that and I'll tell you why. In certain circles this diagnosis is used as a convenient out for your average lazy computer geek who'd rather spend his time watching anime and playing videogames in their parents' basements. One of these circles is the somewhat notorious "Furry" community. Ever heard of em?

I'm not so much one of them as they're one of me. I've always had a love for cartooning, animation and anthropomorphic art. Animals have always seemed much more honest to me as I can read their body language and understand them. So, with this in mind, is this my ego or an alter-ego? Warning: I'm about to become a complete camera whore.


My friend painted this jacket for me when I was 17. It's now 23 years old.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... y072as.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... ty072a.jpg

What can I say? I'm an old punk and yes that's a steel mohawk.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... ty080a.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... ce022s.jpg

Urban sophisticate perhaps?
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... ume51s.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... ume53s.jpg

And of course, hunting humans for sport.
http://atomicat.livejournal.com/34981.html

Hmm... how to end because all things must come to an end, or do they? Future-tech junkie! My greatest fear is in not seeing the future. I've been living through all this with that destination in mind. No matter how bad things got (and you ain't heard nuffin'!) I've always held onto that promise. I'm firmly convinced that someday we'll be uploading ourselves to surf around in a world of mind. We're already there socially. What else is this? I haven't the faintest idea what most of my friends on the internet look like. How to say this... In many ways we're becoming more human because of this. Given the anonymity of the internet, people can open up far more than they normally would. I'm hoping to find here some minds of similar bent, creative folk looking for a place and a space. My trials have given me a drive I never knew I had and have made me determined to make this place succeed. I call it "Strange Attractor", nice ring to it eh?
http://atomicat.livejournal.com/14125.html

Must crash! Been an interesting evening. I'm glad I found this site, look forwards to chatting to y'awlll, and hope I haven't put you to sleep (but I'm egotistical enough to doubt that).

"The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and do."
- Michelangelo

"I don't like to dream when I'm asleep. I like to dream when I'm awake."
- Atomicat

Not sure why nobody has responded yet....maybe a bit long for ADD folks?Maybe you are a bit to hip?Anyway....I enjoyed your post and the pics....tigger hunting...lol....When you say your a "furry" is that a person who likes classic cartoons,critters or are fur fitishist(I am all the former)...You present as a very intellegence person(I am tech moron)but intellectualy curious and an avid reader....saved me from suicide more then once...Do you read anything besides tech and Sci-fi?I will read anything except westerns and romance but like fiction with some historical element and social satire, actually anything with some humor,just about the only time I laugh out loud except when watching my cats or bunnies ....they are a roit....

Anyway.....welcome,welcome...hope you stick around because I like reading your posts

Didnt read it. To long. Im to hyper. But hey and welcome to Wrongplanet..

What? No obsessive maniacism? Is that a word?



"Too hip for school, too stupid for the real world."



Yawp! Tex Avery is god! Learned physics from watching Coyote/Roadrunner cartoons. Guess that explains my driving record. Got my taste for political humor by puzzling out what Pogo was all about. Nah, I lie... just liked the bunnies. *grin* Oh no, wait! Poetry!
http://atomicat.livejournal.com/34203.html



Ouf, suicide... At most just tried to get myself sick as a kid just to avoid school. Later on though it was always music and the promise of the future that kept me (and still keeps me) going. Never had any music around as a kid but in my late teen years I exploded. Wonderful/terrible times walking the night streets rather homeless with the Velvets or Billy Holiday in my head. I've got excellent recall for music so I've never bothered with Walkmans or such thingies prefering to just listen to it on my internal jukebox. Besides, I don't like the idea of someone sneaking up on me. *grin* Man, reading... *sigh* Haven't been for ages because of the long slow slide I guess. I can't seem to get into it unless I've got a bit of peace in my head and there's been none of that for a long time. Generally it's been sciences and the basic news and politics online. Time time and energy, but mostly peace of mind.

Ah satire! Humor is my main bent. I've got a few sides to that. First off, my seriously dark side of humor comes not from cold cruelty or anything, but rather a sensitivity to pain and such. That's also why I believe satire should be as deeply dark and vicious as possible because it comments on the worst we see around us. Favorites? Swifts "Modest Proposal" of course! I think we need to turn it around though. The poor have been eaten for far too long. Definitely time to eat the rich! I propose a system of taxation that would see the top 0.01% earners put into some sort of death-sport games every year. Wanna earn a hundred gazillion dollars? Fine! Just gotta beat up that big-ass lion over there with a switch-blade. A friend of mine pointed out that such a system would seriously increase charitable donations at tax time due to people furiously trying to divest themselves of surplus wealth. Great! Personally, I just think it would be kinda funny.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/A ... ross01.gif
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/A ... AMINE1.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/A ... AMINE2.jpg

And then there's the absurd. All the stuff that has most people going "I don't get it". Well what's to get? Kliban's gotta be my fave for that and I think I'll probably start a thread in the art section to post a 'toon once in a while. I'm sure a lot of folk here will latch onto his bizarre sense of twist. The man was an absolute genius at finding twisted little relationships, puns, wordplay, and just plain well, what can I say? He's less than one of a kind so to speak. Here's an example of well, Kliban! Endlessly hilarious!
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... bsurd1.jpg

Mmmm... Animals are a lot of fun to watch eh? Does it have something to do with, well, I mentioned before, knowing their language, their body language, their motivations, etc. Fairly transparent, not like these armpit-scratching hyoomanz. *sigh* The vole I rescued earlier this week fled the coop this morning. Took him from closed eyed and squirming to, well, escaping. Guess that's a good sign eh? Hoping he'll integrate himself with the local vole community. At least I got one decent pic of him before he split. Damn... I was gonna use him as my cash vole, making me money on programming contracts.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... Vole01.jpg

Well, time to switch tracks. Think I'll head on over to the art forum and blow some minds. Favorite hobby.

Atomicat

Lovely vole....I use to live in a garden level apt.and left the windows open so my cats could come and go at will....I would come home from work(over nights) to find live chipmonks hiding under the furniture and a cat staking them out...after kicking the cat outside and spending an hour chasing the scared critters around,I tried to keep them as "cat TV"...in an aquarium....I couldnt get them to eat anything I gave them(pretty sure it was "hunger protest",like the prisoners in Guantonemo,but it stead of force feeding them interveiniously,I let the little buggers go...)There goes my dream of building the New and Improved pyramids....I make a lousy slave owner.

Poetry scam....I am shocked!!That quote from shakesspear should have been a dead giveaway...all the genious in his writting and that was the best quote they could find(TS Eliot for that matter)...What do I know....I actually LIKE Sylvia Plath....oh well,I really think you should contact an alternative press(something from SanFransico)and do a Horaldo style uncovering of this scam....sell it aas frelamce..maybe the paper would pay your expenses....also would make a great "reality show" following the "contestants" through the process...one of those shows where you dont know if you should laugh or cry...They have one calles "show biz moms" on Bravo.....its spooky....

Welcome to WP. The photograph of you as a child reading the encyclopedia is beautiful, thanks for sharing that.

Thanks. When I was putting together the upstairs here I couldn't resist doing an "after" picture.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... tRead2.jpg

...or was I just stuck on that one page all this time?

'tomix

Welcome to Wrong Planet! I like your cartoons.

I had a horde of mice coming into my place last fall after they reno'ed this old bakery next door. Caught em in a live trap and kept em in an aquarium. They spent every waking moment bouncing up and down trying to escape. Eventually I put up a sign inside the cage reading "Welcome to Shawshank Prison" and set Sylvester to guarding them.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d72/A ... Stalks.jpg



Well, thing is it's not really a "scam" in that they do exactly as they say they will. It is a scam in that what they're giving you is completely worthless. I'm sure that these writing "seminars" that you're invited to are yet another few bucks out of your pocket, and look at the price for the weekend! $600? Yikes! So yah, they string these wanna-be writers along with the promise that they're gonna be published, gain fame and fortune etc. Um, sure. That is about my favorite poem though for many reasons, mostly because of the story line. It's from the McCarthy era and Churchy la Femme (Turtle) is being tried for sedition and treason because nobody can understand his poetry. Beautiful!

Heh, yah, that Shakespear quote is pretty bad. Must have used the first pretty thing that came up from a Google search.

Atomicat