Round about a year ago, I wrote this about Jason Walz’s Last Pick:

You’ve been there, when the teams are picked and every kid is carefully scrutinized for what they’ll bring to the team and somebody gets left until last, the sting of uselessness hanging over them.

What happens when you’ve got a whole society — a whole world — of last picks?

As Roast Beef could have told you, you get a bunch of folks with a gigantic and deep-seated fury at the world, one which will kick just rich amounts of [alien] ass with a remarkable style.

A year later for us, a year later for Sam and Wyatt, it’s time to check back in on Elizabethtown, Kentucky and some alien world for Last Pick: Born To Run, a review copy of which was sent to me by :01 Books. Needless to say with the middle book of a trilogy, discussing this one will necessarily involve spoilers for two books. Proceed as you wish.

Actually, Born To Run suffers far less from middle book syndrome than you might expect; although Sam and Wyatt are split up — she taken by the aliens so that we may discover what befalls the kidnapped population of Earth, he leading the resistance and setting plans in motion back home — we get a remarkably efficient catch-up of book one in the form of Wyatt’s notebook¹ that doesn’t feel contrived at all.

Wyatt’s found himself that which he least wanted to be: the leader of a resistance group, and therefore the center of attention, which threatens to overwhelm him constantly. The one person that can keep him on task, Harper, is deaf; his ASL isn’t great, she has to write a lot down, the slowness gives Wyatt the

space

to

decompress

and bring his focus back where it needs to be — not overwhelmed, not stuck on minutia, just working the problem.

This small detail is a recurring theme in Born To Run: the aliens don’t want Harper or Wyatt because they’re broken and useless. But Wyatt’s a technical and tactical genius, and the very reason that the aliens disregard Harper is not only the key to unlocking Wyatt’s potential, but also the means of communicating with the remaining population of Earth right under the noses (or whatever) of the aliens. See, the aliens learned human languages so they could boss around those they took, and every town has its share of collaborators. But the useless? The broken? Ignore ’em.

There’s not an alien on Earth that knows sign language².

Meanwhile (and believe me, that meanwhile is doing a lot of work), Sam’s on another planet, part of a vast prison complex of humans that are doing alien dirty work. The sickness from book one isn’t from being on Earth, it seems; it’s a random thing throughout the alien worlds, and when you get sick, you mutate. But there’s a treaty that says one member of the alien society can’t kill another, not even a mutant. That’s why they steal the populations of other worlds — to carry out genocide.

Sam’s resisting for the sake of being a pain in the ass to her alien overseers. Her friend Mia is resisting because she’s the only one that grasps that what they’re being forced to do. There are humans that have been at this for years now, and for every one that’s died at the hands of mutants, guards, or an unforgiving environment, there are others that have managed to stay alive by being conscript murderers. A better metaphor might actually be child soldiers.

If they ever get their freedom, if they ever get back home, there is going to be an epidemic of PTSD and existential guilt. If humanity survives their liberation, I suspect it will only be because the last picked know what it’s like to need intensive therapy. Heck, the long march to freedom gets started because Wyatt and his fellow neurodivergent kids figure out what a month’s worth of their brain meds pooled together would do to anything that ingested them all at once. Time and again, they strike back because they have a different POV than the aliens are willing to consider.

And the last picks have a message for the conquerors:

You’ve looked past us because we didn’t seem useful. There might have been a time when we believed that ourselves. We might have believed that our worth was based on the views of the ignorant and cruel. We were scared of what would happen if we fought back.

But not anymore.

If that rallying cry is stirring, it’s also got a rebuke for everybody here that ignored or degraded those who were different before the aliens. All of humanity is going to depend on learning the lesson that the aliens refuse to acknowledge — that everybody is a person, no matter how different. Not everybody got that lesson, but Wyatt’s here to remind them:

We’ve all lost people in our lives who saw us more than those labels. And for once in our lives, it might be good that the things we’re up against don’t see us that way. Because now we get to tear up those labels, and save the human race.

Last Pick: Born To Run by Jason Walz releases on Tuesday, 8 October to bookstores everywhere. It’s appropriate for tweens and up, and probably has some decent lessons for those quite a bit older. The conclusion, Last Pick: Rise Up, is due next year.

Spam of the day:

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Welp. Screamy Orange Grandpa has gotten into the spam/identity theft game. Ain’t nobody else that does word salad like that.

_______________
¹ A fan-supplied sample of which may be found at Walz’s website.

² Yes, I know — there isn’t one sign language, and the likelihood of enough people around the world knowing American Sign Language is a plot hole. The metaphor still works.

It’s a time that we look towards the 10 o’clock position of North America, and catch up with what’s happening in that corner.

Firstly, if you look around the social media networks, it appears that Emerald City Comic Con has started building up their show floor and Artists Alley for 2020, with what seems to me to be an unusually high number of I didn’t get in-type postings from people that are local, have exhibited previously, or are relatively big names. From my remove (it’s on the far side of the country and I’ve never been), ECCC seems to have been on a yo-yo trajectory since Reed!Pop bought it, with some years successful and some years terrible, and no two creators necessarily agreeing which years are which.

We’ll see how the waitlists shake out, or who splits booth space with whom, but with NYCC just around the corner and that show having shifted nearly 100% away from comics to broader nerd interests¹, it’s not a surprise if EmCity follows. The show under Jim Demonakos’s leadership was a marvel of comics focus, but we all knew that’s not where the money R!P is chasing is.

Anyway, if you decide to make your way northward and westward in the months prior to Seattle’s long weekend of nerdery², you’ll find some nice comics-in-the-community going on in Vancouver these days. From the fine folks at the Cloudscape collective:

Comics In Transit has been an ongoing project that takes one-page comic stories, enlarges them, and installs them in bus shelters for people to read on their daily commute. Each series features artworks based around shared subject matter, often leaning towards education and social issues. In 2017, Comics in Transit featured stories told by refugees about their hardships coming to Canada.

This year, Comics In Transit focuses on stories of Indigenous family history, written and drawn by Indigenous BC comic artists. This series will be displayed in Vancouver bus shelters throughout October 2019, and an additional art exhibition of the series will be hosted by the Red Gate Art Society from September 26th — October 15th.

The astute among you will recognize that was yesterday that the exhibit opened, so there’s no point in me telling you about the reception that took place, but I’m certain it was super dope. You can still catch the exhibition for another two and a half weeks, featuring the work of featuring Alina Pete, Cole Pauls, Gord Hill, Michael Yahgulanaas, Chenoa Gao, Kyle Charles, Tim Linklater, Raven John, Stephen Gladue, Whess Harman, and Ocean Hyland. The Red Gate Arts Society is at 1965 Main Street in Vancouver.

Spam of the day:

NEW Web-App Allows You To Legally Hijack Traffic And Authority From Wikipedia AND YouTube To Earn Affiliate Commissions In 24 Hours Or Less – in ANY Niche!

Any time you are trying to conflate “hijack” with “legally”, I’m going to suspect that you aren’t really getting the best advice possible. Like, stop listening to Char Char Binks.

_______________
¹ I don’t think me making fun of Reed!Pop for giving a huge chunk of Javits floor space to Chevrolet made them drop me from their press list the next year. I do think that becoming the sort of show that would give a huge chunk of floor space to Chevrolet would logically lead them to conclude that a member of press who’d be over in the Artist Alley just about exclusively, talking to the few remaining webcomics folks isn’t really promoting the show that they’re putting on.

² At least, the one that isn’t PAX.

That is, the New York Times has, after nearly three years, righted a grievous wrong:

Today The New York Times Book Review announced changes to the Best-Seller Lists, in print and online. The Best Sellers team will begin tracking Mass Market Paperbacks (genres including romance) and a combined list for Graphic Books (fiction, nonfiction, children’s, adults, and manga).

I cannot think of another situation where gatekeeping fell by the wayside in such a bullshit manner. Allow me to sum up:

You will recall that in January of 2017, the Times decided to discontinue the feature that we thought of as Raina Telgemier presents the Graphic Novels Bestseller list featuring Smile¹. The fact that the Times has come around surely has nothing to do with the fact that Raina’s newest, Guts, showed up in the #1 best seller position at USA Today yesterday, a week after launch.

Not #1 in childrens, or #1 in graphic novels. #1, period, above the latest from Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Malcolm Gladwell, and Delia Owens in positions 2 through 5 respectively.

The Times can’t ignore her, but they can’t put her in Children’s Middle Grade Hardcover, since Guts mostly isn’t. Can’t be in Children’s series (although Gale Galligan is there for her continuation of Raina’s work on Baby Sitters Club) or Children’s Picture Books since it’s not either of those. If they don’t bring back a list for graphic novels, she’ll end up sullying the regular old Fiction lists with her stupid fake books for loser kids.

You know, the fiction list that mysteriously shows King, Atwood, and Owens in the top three positions. Hmmmm².

Previously tracked by the Best Sellers franchise until 2017, these lists are returning due to continued reader interest and market strength. These monthly lists will begin publishing on October 2 (online) and October 20 (in print).

All Best Sellers lists are available at nytimes.com/books/best-sellers.

In other words, waiting two full weeks after Guts launched, and you know what? She’s still going to show up there, and her other books are still going to sit there. But now they can include her again without acknowledging that she’s outselling and outlasting the real books. But those of us that look down on neither the MG/YA space, nor graphic novels know the deal. Raina can’t be ignored, and a bunch of other folks will get to join her on the list, where the imprimatur actually does catch the attention of libraries and booksellers, a promotional tool they’ve been lacking for 33 months now.

And speaking of welcome returns, Angela Melick³ is making one:

Wasted Talent is BACK… on Webtoon! https://buff.ly/2m1xwLc The BEST OF Wasted Talent — from the very beginning — will be updating on Tuesdays and Thursdays from now on. More: https://buff.ly/2noMIT1 Thank you!! :))

Smart move heading to Webtoon for discoverability, but those of us that still go to individual sites, Wasted Talent dot CA is also showing the reruns, starting here. I think I’m gonna add WT back to my RSS feed and update the links over there to the right. We missed you, Jam, welcome back.

Spam of the day:

The solution to your hair problem It uses LED light and infrared waves to stimulate hair growth.

So … heat? You’re selling a warm comb?

_______________
¹ It’s sorta like Precious: based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire, only with Raina regularly occupying at least two slots and frequently as many as six.

² To be fair, Amazon has Guts at #4 in fiction this week. Point stands — different channels with different methods of calculation, and only one doesn’t include her at all instead in right next to Atwood, King, and Owens (in that order). Also Gladwell is in Nonfiction, which is sort of hilarious given the way he pulls things out of his ass.

³ Engineers 4 Lyfe, yo.

They’re getting a little clogged, you see. And what with Screamy Orange Grandpa ranting his face off today and declaring Nancy Pelosi no longer the Speaker¹, comics news is mostly pushed to the side (apart from the welcome news of Lynda Barry’s MacArthur Fellowship). So let’s make fun of some spammers!

Spams of the day:

15 Discounts For Veteran Eyes Only

Not a veteran. Next!

Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us offers a deep nostalgic dive into the minds behind history’s most iconic toy franchises, as they discuss the rise (and sometimes fall) of their billion-dollar creations.

Nostalgia is a toxic impulse. Next!

[Are you ready?] Become a millionaire or be a loser

Between the fact that I’m a homeowner in suburban New Jersey and the fact that I’ve been dutifully contributing to a 401(k) for decades, I’m going to have to say you’ve got nothing to offer me. Next!

The Tactic AIR Drone features dual cameras that can be used and viewed simultaneously or independently

I like how you almost managed to work the word tactical in there, in a transparent ploy to appeal to my fragile masculinity. However, my EMT training has taught me to not look tactical, and to keep several large, solid vehicles (or perhaps a building or two) between me and anybody that does look tactical, on account of they’re either engaged in an unfortunate exercise of 2nd Amendment FREEDOM!!! or there to deal with the first guy. Next!

sexxxlisa946@gmx.net referred you to this post: We invite you to our new website for quick SEX DATING

Sorry, I don’t know anybody named sexxxlisa; I did know a friendlyhuggglisa in college, though. Next!

I’m Zlata, living in Ukraine. To be honest, I live in a village and we have no job. That’s why I can do it for a little money: send you a video of sex with an ex-boyfriend (if you don’t put it out there!)

Sorry, Zlata, I think your ex-boyfriend deserves the same expectations of not having the video shared that you’re asking of me. Next!

The largest search engine for airline tickets in Russia.

Check me on this — aside from the very unfortunate 737 Max 8 disasters, isn’t the only commercial airline in the world that regularly crashes Aeroflot? Not really interested in taking my chances. Next!

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Why is this giving me a Jeffrey Epstein private-island vibe? Please go away.

Push the “Download Now” button to download Battery EEPROM Works crack keygen for windows. It will just take a few seconds. ?????°?‡?°?‚?? EMS SQL Backup for SQL Server ???µ?????????‹?? ???»???‡ ?? ????????

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
No.

_______________
¹ Shit, if I knew that was all it took, I woulda done so months ago in favor of AOC.

It was a week ago that I wrote about Unhealthy from Sarah Winifred Searle and Abby Howard, and the journeys that each of them has had through not only the experience of fatness, but the mental health implications of their size. I mean, it’s not just being told by society that you don’t deserve to exist that leads to disordered eating and self-destructive behavior, there’s the whole coupling between brain chemistry and gut¹ that we’re only just beginning to understand.

Speaking from the experience of growing up in a chubby family², my father would always experience serious brain fog if his weight got too low (in this case, still well into the range that is diagnosed as morbid obesity), to the extent that he was as slow and labored to respond in conversation when at his thinnest (in his late 40s)³ as he was after a stroke he had (in his late 50s). What I am saying is, our mental state is intricately integrated with the rest of our bodies, and trying to force one in a particular direction will necessarily tug on the other.

And today, we have a look at mental health from another point of view, from Erika Moen. I’ve dubbed her Hurricane Erika in the past, because she’s a force of nature, one that’s willing to share the highs and lows of her life with brutal honesty, which exposes her to griefers and jerks of every stripe, but which also likely reaches people who are vulnerable and desperately need to see that somebody else understands their own struggles. Today’s Oh Joy, Sex Toy is about both the latest variant of the Magic Wand vibrator and mental health.

In fact, it’s mostly about mental health. Starting in the comic and continuing into the blogpost below, Moen recaps her bipolar diagnosis (for the benefit of those who haven’t been following her ever since the Dar! days), shares the story of her recent interaction with an intensive outpatient program Space Camp, and her future plans for a six-month behavioral therapy program. The purpose of all of these is to figure out management strategies for adapting your life to your particular set of mental health challenges. She doesn’t sugarcoat things — it’s not a cure, and there probably is no cure.

But you can reduce your suffering. And no matter how unlike yourself you feel, making (letting? allowing?) yourself to feel physically good can help with the brain trubs.

If you’re hurting, she’s been there. She’s not a therapist and she’s especially not your therapist, but she’s been there and doesn’t want you to be there a moment longer. She knows that getting to the point of not hurting is work, and requires more effort than those of us without brains lying to us will likely ever understand. She’s helping to destigmatize mental illness, and she is a godsdamned rock star that will save lives because she’s brave enough to share. The only thing I’d disagree — politely — with Moen about is the bit in the comic where she says:

My mental health has never been great. I mean, you could probably guess that. Look at what I do for a job.

Sorry, I don’t think that getting to explore all the myriad experience of sex and test drive a buncha sexy toys/sites/experiences for review purposes makes you broken. I think it means Erika and Matt won at life. I mean, they got a fuck couch⁴ out of the deal!

Sorry, I got a little distracted. Read today’s update. Do a check in, make sure you’re okay, and that the people around you are okay. Anybody that’s not okay, follow the links she provides for resources and that structured help that’s needed. And if OJST has ever brought you amusement, or understanding, or information, or led you to a kind of personal pleasure, maybe drop her a note of thanks. Even forces of nature need a metaphorical pat on the back.

Spam of the day:

unique domains backlinks package

I can’t wait to figure out what kind of sites you’d offer me for SEO purposes that make any kind of sense. I’m talking about family medical history, mental health, and fuck couches on the same page.

_______________
¹ All those brain chemicals that you learned about from Radiolab? Turns out as much as 80% of your body’s stores of them are in your stomach and your intestines, not your gray matter.

² Those of you that have seen or met me know that I’m rail thin; I’m also adopted.

³ Not to mention he felt like crap all the time when he was merely overweight. Constant colds and aches. At his resting weight, healthy as a friggin’ horse.

⁴ To paraphrase a wise observer of such things, When the universe offers you a free [fuck couch], YOU DON’T TURN IT DOWN.

Last week had its ups and downs, huh? I will note with some grim satisfaction that Ida Hatke’s memorial page has been overwhelmingly supported by generous people. I’m sure that Anna and Ben and their daughters would prefer anything to the reality of Ida being gone, but I am glad that they needn’t add lifelong debt or bankruptcy to their heartache. The need persists, even after the Hatkes begin to heal, so if you have it in your means to donate, please do so. Requiescat in pace, little one. We love you and will miss you.

On a badly-needed lighter note, I’ve decided to check in with Bob The Unsettling as he slowly deflates; the most unsettling thing is not that he’s smaller, it’s that his head keeps rotating further back, Exorcist-style.

And getting back to comics, let’s check in with the Cartoon Art Museum:

The Cartoon Art Museum welcomes Kim Dwinnell, creator of the popular Surfside Girls graphic novel series for a presentation and booksigning on Saturday, October 12, 2019 from 1:00-3:00pm. Dwinell’s discussion and booksigning are free and open to the public.

Sounds good. Anything else?

The Cartoon Art Museum presents an exhibition of original comic book art from the heyday of storied publisher EC Comics, Pre-Code Horror: Scary Stories And Ghastly Graphics from EC Comics, on display from October 12, 2019 through March 1, 2020.

There’s no announcement yet, but the mounting of an exhibition like this usually features a reception with food and/or booze. I’m guessing sometime adjacent to Halloween for thematic appropriateness. Keep your eyes open and don’t go down to the basement if you hear weird noises, just in case.

Spam of the day:

[deleted]

Every single one of you lowlifes that tried to spam last Friday, you’re trash. I’ve locked the post so Ida never has to compete with you.

I’ve mentioned Ben Hatke many times on this page; he’s written and illustrated many, many great books, including one just two weeks ago. We know each other from Camp, which is where I also met his wife Anna, and youngest child, Ida. They are all the best, warmest people; I was continuously impressed that a toddler could travel across the continent and be thrown in with 80 strangers and still be in a continual good humor. Joyous would be the correct word. Vivacious would be the example set by her parents.

I’ve just learned that she was injured by a horse this past Sunday and has since died. She was four years old. I cannot imagine the grief they, and their other daughters, must be feeling now. Anything I say will be insufficient to the task, but it feels like there’s a hole in the world right now.

Friends of the Hatkes have started a fundraiser to defer medical and funeral costs, which you can find here. If it is in your means to help in this tragic time, please do so. If you pray, they would appreciate that. If you don’t, keep them in your thoughts and try to do something generous, something adventurous, something good for Ida.

Hey, folks in the Greater New York City region, you know that it’s the Brooklyn Book Festival this weekend, right? And that in addition to being free, BKBF will have events and talks and interviews and discussions all over the borough, which may include not only erudite discussion of the events of the day, but also some of your favorite comics folk? If not, then let’s talk.

Comics-related people at BKBF will include Ebony Flowers (off her Ignatz win last weekend for Promising New Talent), Melanie Gillman, Sarah Glidden, Lucy Knisley, MariNaomi, Dylan Meconis, Ben Passmore, Summer Pierre, Frank Santoro, and Magdalene Visaggio. There are others whose names I don’t recognize, and some of them will show up below.

One of the great things about the BKBF bio pages is it links you direct to appearances by the folk in question, so you may want to check out the following events (all on Sunday):

There’s plenty of other events, with start times from 10:00am. There’s also plenty going on Saturday, and points to BKBF for making Children’s Day the start of the festival, instead of the end (as seen in so many events). Luminaries such as Mo Willems¹ and Jon Scieszka will be paneling, and there’s a session specifically on making comics at 1:00pm with Ivan Brunetti. It’s largely different venues from the comics talks on Sunday, so plan your travel accordingly.

And heck, I should point out that events have actually been underway all around the city since Monday (including a panel on translating Japanese, European, and Brazilian comics, tomorrow night at 6:00pm at NYU), continuing until Monday next². Much more information at the BKBF site, with a map of the Sunday venues³ available for your perusal.

Spam of the day:

Thanks for Registering at Acvark Fire Equipment

There’s a little too much Russian in this email for me to click on anything from what purports to be Jamaica’s #1 supplier of fire extinguishers.

_______________
¹ Willems is also this year’s Best Of Brooklyn Award winner.

² When we’ll see if Lauren Duca can recover from that Buzzfeed profile wherein she pitched a major wobbly, via the occasion of her book launch.

³ Drawn and Quarterly will be at booths 234 and 235, and Iron Circus at booth 122. But please note that the Heliotrope and Baffler listed on the vendor page are not the ones you’re thinking of.

Sometimes, the stars just align and a whole bunch of stuff happens at once; today, for example, the redoubtable¹ Jim Zub sees five different comics from three publishers², including two series premieres. Zub’s an incredibly varied and skilled writer, and while I’ve generally enjoyed his original work best, you know that he’s always going to do a good job with premade IP — it’ll make perfect sense if you don’t know the characters, and have a million deep cuts for those who’re up on all the continuity. Keep him in mind as you visit the shops this week.

Also of note for your pull list today: John Allison’s latest miniseries, Steeple. While not explicitly part of the Tackleverse (it takes place in the far corner of England), there are some offhand references, and anytime Allison gets to write British characters, we’re in for a delight. By Night was terrific, but American characters don’t allow Allison to use all his powers, and with Giant Days about to wrap up for good, we can use something to fill the void. And hey, maybe this will be the latest Allison project to go from miniseries to longer miniseries to ongoing, if we’ve all been good and Father Christmas smiles on us.

• If Kickstarter thought that ditching people involved in the unionization effort³ would blow over quickly, they thought wrong. I really wanted to hear what C Spike Trotman had to say, and she’s unambiguous in her feelings over Twitter way:
  

  Kickstarter is such an inherently democratic platform. Seeing the people currently in charge of it stoop to such transparently anti-democratic measures to deny their staff basic protections is incredibly disappointing.

  And Tyler Moore (one of what we may as well be calling the Kickstarter Three) answered a question that had been going around in a reply to Spike: in addition to the creators petition, there is a second petition for creators, backers, former employees … anybody with a relationship with Kickstarter. I’ve signed this one as Gary Tyrrell, 125 project superbacker, over US$7650 paid to creators, and if you think what the Kickstarter Union is trying to do is worthwhile, I urge you to consider doing likewise.

• That being said, I want to stress one last time that the Kickstarter Union is not, at this time, asking creators to forgo or withdraw projects from the platform, or backers to withhold pledges. So you should note that Spike has a new Kickstart going for the latest Smut Peddler collection. All the usual hallmarks apply — funded quickly, a day or so in, pay raises have been secured for creators and more will surely happen, it’ll appear in your mailbox when promised — along with one surprise.

  See, the collection is themed around the idea of maturity and experience, and tell me that’s not Jeff Goldblum on the cover. It’s totally Jeff Goldblum, and if you can come up with a better way to sell the idea of gettin’ it on with hot, hot older folks, I’d like to hear it. Everybody wants sexytimes with Jeff Goldblum. That’s why the FFF mk2 is predicting a final take of US$56K to US$84K when things wrap up in just over two weeks.

• Lastly, and it was getting to be a bit of a close thing so thank glob for the end-of-campaign bump, it appears that KC Green’s print collection of He Is A Good Boy has funded with just about two days to go. It was an unusually high-goal campaign, featuring reward tiers for physical items above the US$25 most-common-pledge-level-on-Kickstarter, for a smart, sprawling work that is (to be fair) not Green’s most accessible work. I get it, people want Dickbutt and This Is Fine and the easily memeable from Green, but he has these enormous ideas that may take hundreds of pages to see the whole picture, and that’s a challenge.

  But did you notice all the cartoonists that have been supporting Green and pushing this project on the sosh-meeds? They know that if you’re going to have somebody that is untrammeled creativity personified out there doing everything from short gags to massive ruminations on identity and the nature of good/evil, it makes comics as a whole a stronger, more expansive medium.

  Plus it’s a 444 page book. In a pinch, you could defend yourself from an attacker with it, a thought which I think would amuse both Green and Crange the titular Good Boy. I’d say you want to hop in and grab his magnum opus before things close on Friday, but knowing Green, he’s got something bigger, more important, more dense with meaning on deck for next Tuesday which will be his masterwork until the one after that launches. Don’t ever think you’ve seen his best and most important comics, they’re always coming at you sometime the week after next.

Spam of the day:

After only 29 days of mental training activities, her brain scan came up clean!

This is from a spam that claims Big Pharma is suppressing news of a cheap, simple treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Only thing is, the first paper that showed it’s even possible to see the amyloid plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s via imaging (instead of postmortem dissection) was published on 2 April of this year.

There is no fucking way that anything resembling treatment has been developed since then. You identity-thieving assholes are playing on the emotions of people who are watching loved ones slip away before their eyes, and you can’t even be bothered come up with a plausible lie. I hope you die in either a single very large fire, or a sufficient number of smaller fires.

_______________
¹ So don’t doubt him unless you’re also willing to redoubt him, buckaroo.

² Okay, so one title is a co-publication of two companies, don’t ruin this.

³ Although, the more I think of it, the more it seems that nearly everybody outside of senior management is in on the unionization effort.

This is going to be brief, not because I don’t have lots to say, but because what I have to say is ultimately unimportant. The words you should be reading aren’t mine.

At SPX, I had the privilege to talk to Abby Howard and to tell her how much I enjoy her work. I loaded up with all of her stuff that I didn’t already own, most notably Unhealthy, a pair of autobio stories by Howard and Sarah Winifred Searle. The subtitle is Two Stories Of Mental Health And Body Image.

It’s a gut punch courtesy of two women that are willing to lay bare their relationships with their bodies and the lies that their brains tell them, lies born from our society instructing us all to hate them for their fatness. Instructions that lead to self-hatred and destructive behavior, because as we all know, anything is better than being fat.

Fat means you’re lazy. Fat means you’re stupid. Fat means you’re obviously wrong and bad and unlovable and need to be shunned so you don’t get any on the rest of us because then we would be lazy, stupid, wrong, bad, and unlovable.

That entire paragraph is bullshit.

If you never thought about it in those terms, you need to read Unhealthy. If you have thought about it in those terms because of your own body, or the bodies of those you love, you need to read Unhealthy. Every high school health class should have copies of Unhealthy next to the nutrition posters, people should be handing out copies of Unhealthy outside Weight Watchers, and it should be required reading in medical school.

Searle and Howard have sacrificed and bled¹ to be at the point in their lives where they could tell these stories, to teach us the smallest bit of what it’s like to be them. It’s equal parts cri de coeur and selfless gift and at the risk of repeating myself: We don’t deserve them.

Oh, and today is the launch day for Abby Howard’s third Earth Before Us book, Mammal Takeover! I’ll be obtaining my copy as soon as possible for review, but I’ma go out on a limb and say it’s at least as good as Dinosaur Empire! and Ocean Renegades!, which is to say excellent.

Unhealthy is available for download via itch.io or in physical form from TopatoCo.

Spam of the day:

The price of one million messages 49 USD. There is a discount program when you purchase more than two million message packages. Free trial mailing of 50,000 messages to any country of your selection.

You’re spamming me to sell your spamming services? How very meta.

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¹ And, because a certain percentage of society can’t exist without finding somebody to be cruel to, they have likely opened themselves to further hatred and harassment for daring to point out that they aren’t lazy, stupid, wrong, bad, and unlovable.