Cecil The Lion

RIP Cecil the Lion. The world didn't know you before, but it does now. My one hope from this situation is that action is taken to prevent any other animal from enduring such a terrible, disgusting fate.

Let it be known that this dentist is just an example of the world-wide corruption and monetary greed within the human race. It is an example of how money trumps over the dignity and spectacle of mother nature, a man-made bait and tackle that prompts people to do whatever is necessary to make the next big buck.

Use your big buck to save this one planet that we have. Hollywood thrives off of our separation from nature, so let's make sure that Hollywood's take on the fate of our world is only a fantasy and not a prediction of our future.

http://wildcru.org
www.wcs.org
www.wildlifealliance.org

A Letter on Gay Marriage

To Christians of all denominations:

You can have your matrimony on the basis of your faith.

Let the LGBT community have their marriage on the basis of a Constitutional right.

There's no destruction of family values, slandering of the definition of "marriage" (because let's face it, there are so many words in the English language with more than just one definition or purpose), or war on Christianity. The gays simply want to be, well, gay and married to the ones they love under the court of federal law.

You can have your freedom of religion. Let them have the freedom to love.

Love,

a homo(sapien).

Coming Out Stories

Let me start this off by saying: Kristen, I'm sorry your mom outed you to the media, mostly because it is unknown if you would have done it yourself on your own terms. However, I'm not sorry about how happy it makes me, and how it is even better the news came from your mother. You are incredibly lucky to have not only a loving mother but a proud and supportive one at that. The world needs more people who think like your mom when it comes to acceptance and love, mostly because the world is in desperate need of acceptance and love. Congrats on having a wonderful family!

This can be applied to Miley Cyrus as well, what with her recent coming out story. She also comes from a supportive family, and in turn has used her status in the pop world to start the Happy Hippie Foundation to help homeless LGBT youth. It goes to show how individuals who live in a loving environment are motivated to ensure the love is shared all around. People need that, and it starts with acceptance in the family.

I remember when I came out to my mom I was terrified. I almost threw up because of the fear, and prayed that she wouldn't forever see me as a mentally diseased person (which I had thought of myself for a while before coming to terms with my sexual orientation). It wasn't an easy process at all, and it led to so much family drama. My mom, having promised not to tell anyone else besides my father (I wanted to tell my siblings one at a time), went and told everyone she thought fit to share the weight of the news with. The youngest was ten when I came out to her, and her mind was so innocent that she was furious and screamed how she hated me because she thought I had given her "the gay". Let me back this up: my youngest sibling loves musicals, and her obsession started at a very young age. One musical that she enjoyed at the time was RENT. So, taking from Angel's deathbed scene, she associated being gay with having AIDS, and that the disease was inherited in the bloodline. It's funny to think of her naive reasoning now, but her reaction made me incredibly upset. Everything kind of cleared up when I took time to explain to her how her favorite comedian at the time, Ellen DeGeneres, was gay and didn't have AIDS.

She's got a contagious dancing bug, though.

Overall, I wish there was more than just PFLAG for my mom to fall back on when I came out to her. I think if she had seen stories of parents accepting their child's identity, her process of coming to terms with my coming out would have been a little bit easier. I would like to think so. Nowadays, it's kind of hard not to see stories on the television or internet that revolve around someone's coming out or, as a shock-factor, of a teen's suicide due to lack of acceptance. Eleven years later, all that matters to my mom is my happiness.

Bottom line is it's great that there's a steady increase in coming out stories in mainstream media, with some of those stories coming from loving parents. The world needs to know that these parents are not ashamed or feel personally responsible for how their children identify. This goes out to all the mothers and fathers who are using any and all possible resources to show that any child who is gay, lesbian, bi, or trans is as normal as can be, especially if they are all raised with the power of love. Honestly, isn't that what creates a family in the first place? 

Everyone Is Brave, Everyone Is Bold, Everyone Is Beautiful

There's a lot going on with the news surrounding Caitlyn Jenner: how brave she is to come out to the public eye as the gender she identifies herself; how bold her announcements have been over the past few months up to yesterday's big reveal; how beautiful she appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. Despite all the praise from LGBT allies across the globe, there has been as much backlash over Caitlyn's huge, public coming-out. We can always count on certain news networks and outspoken conservatives to make just plain idiotic and insensitive statements during a time of celebration, ready to jump at a moment's notice to ridicule one's personal achievement, like piranhas picking at a raw bone.

Besides the usual suspects of insult and injury, there is one group that has been making a surge of shared meme's and photos over social media who are offended by Caitlyn's coming-out: wounded soldiers. They mocked the fact that Caitlyn's reveal was brave by exposing their lost limbs and artificial appendages. The soldiers pictured seemed to take great insult that a trans woman had more merit of courage and bravery than they did, and she was getting all the credit for sharing her identity in the public light.

While I celebrate the fact that Caitlyn Jenner's exposure in mainstream media is opening doors for the trans community, I am sure there are war veterans, currently deployed armed personnel, and people who lost enlisted friends and family who feel that any indication of national appreciation is being stomped to pieces by another member of The Kardashians. These servicemen and women put their lives on the line to ensure that everyone in this nation can live free to bully and hate on each other as much as they damn well please. Sure, let's take away this title of courage because all that Caitlyn Jenner did was risk everything in her life just so she can feel comfortable in her own skin, and will continue to face ridicule for years to come. These veteran memes, however, reveal a problem of entitlement within our country. This sense of entitlement comes from the veterans' side of the spectrum, and also from anyone else whose life experiences are completely different from the aforementioned.

Brave, if one was to look it up, has different meanings besides "possessing/exhibiting courage or courageous endurance". It also means "to defy, challenge, dare" and "make a fine appearance", which could be applied to Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair photoshoot. While one's understanding of a word may differ than that of another's, it doesn't mean that one definition of the word is the absolute truth. Everyone has their stories, their experiences, and their words to define what seems true in their life. What Caitlyn Jenner did was brave in her own world: she could have her show canceled, lose her friends and family, lose thousands of supporters, could be the victim of a physical hate crime, could be stripped of the legacy that she had made in the Olympics. However, she faced all those "what if's" by coming out. Her level of bravery will never compare to the kinds of bravery other people will face in their lives, but this was a big deal for her to carry through.

"More mean Tweets. IDGAF."

So while the public still reels over Vanity Fair's big story, let us not forget about the countless people who face adversity every day. Let's always acknowledge those who get beat up and brought down but always manage to rise above; who lose just about everything and have the determination to start over again; who are bullied relentlessly but find a way to channel that hatred into something positive; who put their lives on the line for all the people of America; who work the jobs they hate so they can give their children the opportunity to live their dreams. There are so many more, but it would take forever to type them down.

Have we forgotten that we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave? Even if we don't gain national attention, or receive public praise for our efforts, we are all automatically brave for whatever sacrifices we make in life. Francis Scott Key pretty much branded whomever is born in this country to inhibit courage and bravery. It's time we start celebrating that American truth rather than dividing it up.

Why So Serious? No, Really, Why?

With the latest leak in footage of DC's "Suicide Squad", there has been consistent uproar from fans regarding The Joker's appearance in the film. The Joker's debut image, with his entire body is decked out in tattoos, started the fire of disapproval among DC fans. I can understand, it's an iteration of The Joker that no one has ever imagined, and (more appropriately) cannot wrap their minds around.

A recent picture from this week revealed The Joker donning a very suave suit, with his tattoos peeking out from under the sleeve cuffs and between the jacket lapels. Once more, uproar ensued. "This isn't The Joker!" "I hate his new look!" "The tattoos are terrible! Especially 'damaged' on his forehead!" No, these aren't actual quotes, but this is the gist of how fans are reacting to these few images.

"Don't you dare damage my 'damaged' tattoo!"

While it stands true that the new look of The Joker stands apart from his other film predecessors and comic image, let's not forget one thing: this is a film adaptation. The image of an established character may change over time or with the choosing of the director's aesthetics, but it's still the same character. Maybe the tattoos are meant to show how unstable The Joker is as a person? Maybe there's no real reason behind the tattoos at all; maybe it was just something the costuming department thought would set this Joker apart from the others? Who the hell cares?

We've seen the worst that fans have to say about modern changes to their favorite superheroes and film characters, from Superman to Batman to Spider-Man to the X-Men: their origins don't match up to other films or the comics, their story lines change, their costumes are bizarre, too armored, or lacking the right color pattern. Adaptations are meant to reinterpret the text or source whichever way it seems fitting to the time the film takes place in. In a way, film adaptations of books and novels are like visual SparkNotes; they can only contain so much of the original material to fit in a limited time frame. One is obviously not going to get the exact same understanding of the material if one was to take on the abridged or altered version, but the original concept and characterization is still there. With "Suicide Squad", The Joker and Harley Quinn, despite their appearances, will still be the nutty, maniacal couple DC fans know and love. If they were to be anything else, then there's reason to get in a fuss with the film crew.

Retrospectively, the fact that not even pop culture fans can get over the controversial hurdle of change reveals a lot about our culture as a whole. One alteration, reinterpretation, or suggestion with something we as a nation are familiar with greatly offends the masses. Black president? The devil is in the Oval Office. Gay rights? Straight people's rights are infringed upon. Women who are plus-sized? They shouldn't be models because they aren't emaciated. Our nation's inability to accept any kind of positive change keeps throwing us back into the gutter time and again. People take any sort of change so personally, as if their very own existence is threatened by something that isn't status-quo.

I got news for those kinds of people: the world doesn't stay the same. You can see it with the recent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, rising ocean levels. The world itself doesn't sit still. Hell, our human history has drastically changed. Did we get to where we are by hiding in caves out of fear? Did we not excel, invent, and question ourselves to make our lives better?

One little costume change, and the nerd world erupts in outcry. How about we stay positive for once and see how the film actually is when it comes out a year from now? How about we see the positives in any change that is thrown our way in general? The world is already full of negative distractions; let's make it turn better with more positive reinforcement and belief.

Unpleasantness in Pleasantville

Anyone have those moments where, while listening to music, your iPod seems to have some kind of mind-reading ability and plays what you need to hear? Like the songs that keep playing one after another have some relevancy to what you're thinking or feeling? It's crazy, right? Or honestly, perhaps, just a very rare moment of coincidence.

I had been having a rough week, a very rough week. I struggle almost every day, to be honest, with where I'm at and the speed of progress. I should have achieved the perfect standard of my life at this point. Too often have I reflected (and had been reminded) that at this point in my life I should be married, have a good job, a lasting career, a place of my own, and be so happy with everything that rainbows are shooting out of my ears. Instead, I'm back to living at home with my parents and younger sister, I work a crap part-time job, I'm working for free to establish a comic company, and the thought of having a family of my own is nonexistent. In comparison to my four other siblings in their twenties, I'm on the lowest rung of the ladder when it comes to achievements. I have always wanted the ideal life, the "American Dream" of lives, but I have no idea why I haven't gotten it yet.

A place where there are freak rain storms, tree fires, and people making out in the street!

So the one day that I decide to actually sit down and watch TV, what's on? One of my favorite movies, Pleasantville. I remember watching it in my high school sociology class and being instructed to seek out the social injustice themes throughout the film. It is riddled with those kinds of themes, from racism and segregation to women's rights. However, what stood out to me the most was that the characters were struggling with something more than turning technicolor: they were realizing a different part of their selves. Their changes brought out the most unpredictable in them, and it showed through the vibrancy of color. They were so used to having lived strictly scripted lives that any change shook the very core of their existence. I never understood the ending or what it meant (three of the adult characters asking each other what happens next) until I had watched the film this time around. It felt like a big sigh of relief, how they were so unsure about the future yet they were comfortable with the unpredictability of it all. They had survived the worst of the ordeal of change, and now their futures were their own to write.

Pinnacle moment where change is just simply misunderstood.

I didn't really empathize with the film's characters up until this watch-through. They seemed to be all the more real to me because of how there was the pressure of living life in a formulaic manner; that was my life in Florida, where my days melted into one another because it was just work, eat, sleep, and nothing more. Just as they had realized their identities apart from the structure, so have I. The struggle of uprooting from what is familiar and instituted is always a daunting, difficult journey. Pleasantville reassured me that whatever changes come around in my life, there is always an unscripted future to look forward to. I've gone through the arduous task of discovering what kind of person I am so far, and there's now only moving forward to achieve my ideal future.

I'm one to believe in coincidences, and having my TV play Relevancy Roulette with me the other day made me believe in them even more. The universe is strange and vast, yet it somehow sends out little but impacting signals to guide us to our destiny.

Pretty Good Year

So this week marks a significant event of my life: I made a bold decision and moved back to my home to New Jersey after spending a few years living in Florida. Certain circumstances had prompted the hasty move down in the first place, but after a few years there I felt as if I was wasting away. I had a good full-time job, yes, but it took more time out of my days than anything else I have ever done before. The kind of work I engaged in was mostly customer service, and a knowledge of machinery (or just knowing when to push in a green button). All pretty basic and skill-less.

Therein lied the motivation of my move; I felt as if I was the tiniest cog in the machine. Most certainly, there were very limited opportunities for me to actually use my personal talents, which is art design. Not having studied graphic design in college did not help either; I don't have the proof that I have been professionally trained in the skill, so I have not been considered at all after applying for numerous art design positions. The only thing I could do in an immediate sense was become a trainer, coordinator, maybe a manager...but my true passion has always been art, not managing people.

In short, I moved away from that life with hardly a plan at all. Not a great move, but for a while I felt liberated, that I was able to do whatever I wanted to. Months later, I fell into a deep depression. I could not find a job that I felt was worth having, nor was qualified for, and job searching was becoming another self-worth reducing task. Also, breaking out of a routine like the one I had with my previous full-time job threw a curveball; there was no schedule, no order in my life, nothing to follow. (It's insane thinking about how our culture is basically conditioned to follow a strictly scheduled lifestyle, from the moment we set foot in school to the day we leave high school or college.) I basically had to learn how to pick all the pieces up again, find what I felt comfortable working with, and figure where I wanted to go with my life.

There were times where I slipped too far and almost lost myself - quite a few, actually. However, with support from friends and family -- and a lot of tough talk -- I managed to get my footing back on track. Those few friends helped me realize my potential, and eventually pushed me to dig myself out of the hole I had made. As a result, I helped form The Demon Hotel, a comic company that aims to be a little different than the rest. Heck, our opening statement on our website is "We all wear masks". It's sort of like how everyone has their demons, their fears, and our aim is to tell those stories to create a safe space for readers.

Our start was impressive; we created a massive universe with characters who are so real to us that we have a hard time thinking they're anything but. We created our website, Facebook page, promotional material, and first webcomic in about a month, right in time for New York Comic Con. Being the penciler and inker for the title comic series had put some pressure on me, a kind I've never experienced before. When I fell, everyone else on the team fell, and it took a toll on my self-worth. I lamented over my efforts, absorbed my failures, essentially withered down and had considered giving up more often than I'd like to admit. I thought too often that working on a comic full-time with no immediate rewards was not the life I wanted, and that I should consider going back to what had been familiar to me for the past three years.

Up until recently, I had been struggling like this. Coming up on the one-year anniversary of my big move made me realize all the progress I've covered so far with this team, and how successful I have been since then. I had survived the struggle of redefining myself and had created something I had wanted to do for so long. I was using my skills every day, and what's more is that they continued to grow. I learned how to manage my time between projects; I learned how to work closely with my team and how to be efficiently communicative; and I learned how to balance my personal and work lives.

There are still so many things that I'm learning how to improve, and I'm all the happier about it, because you know what? Life is about learning. It's about learning how to take risks and how to handle the consequences. It's about making results instead of giving up on them. The Demon Hotel has in a way become my new home, and it has eradicated the fears that have been holding me down ever since moving home. It has instilled hope in me, and it has shown many what I am capable of as an artist.

So in the past year, what have I done? I have found my purpose in life.

Visit thedemonhotel.com to view our comics "Kid Riot" and "Kid Riot and the Evolution" for free!