This past week or so, I've been - as the kids call it - crashing out. I'm 46 and a dad, and I feel like a real shithead when the money gets this bad. Just can't take this anymore. Really need more money & to get back to Japan so we can both work again.
(Ok just had to vent. Back to lettering now.)
I thought they'd already gone out, because I thought they'd have gone out at the same schedule as usual. Not this time. I've been in hell trying to finish up my current book to get ANY money coming in, and also putting other bills on my credit card, so I don't zero out my bank acct. Fuck this.
PS: Spoke too soon about "Not as bad as I was expecting." I paid some big bills the week before (mortgage, etc) which came out later than usual from my bank. They came out the same day as my initial tax payment. I was an idiot & didn't double-check. Now under $200 in my bank account this past week.
GAMEST １９９０年９月号 （東京都 めめくらげ君）★いわゆるひとつの、ほあっとあ まっど ゆにばーす！！ パロディウスだ！
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior promotional artwork from Capcom artist Akiman.
A screenshot of the CNN homepage from April 14th, 2026. A black & white x-ray (MRI?) photo of the cross-section of some human thighs. The headline reads "Ultraprocessed foods are turning human thighs into well-marbled steaks". Above the pic is a call-to-action blurb that says "CHECK THESE OUT".
CNN dot com trying to get our minds and palates ready for the post-societal-collapse cannibal lifestyle. 😨
It’s fun to load up the alt text with extra stuff! I don’t now if you’ve checked out Corel Gallery Clipart ( @clipart.bsky.social ) but the alt text there is like pure art. Adds a sinister post-apocalyptic backstory to a lot of the 90s imagery.
Oof, you're breaking this Michigander's heart!
But yeah, I'm stoked that it's good enough weather for long walks again. I was feeling pretty cooped-up.
I was up in northern Michigan this past week and it was a steady 0C most of the time. Kind of a shock to the system since it's been getting a bit more pleasantly warm here lately in Toledo. (22C today!) You'd have loved it. ❄️
(I love winter too, in moderation, but spring is my favorite.)
Now it'd be nice if my hard-earned, much-needed money was going to national healthcare, education, infrastructure, and a general social safety net, instead of lining the pockets of war profiteers in a psychotic war of aggression, but that is sadly something I have no control over... 🙃
Well, it's finished. Not as bad as I was expecting (in the four digits, as opposed to five.) Last year had a lot of business expenses, so that helped, plus having a kid, & the earned income credit. More $$$ than I have right now, but it'll be at least a more manageable payment plan than I feared.
I hope you don't end up owing much! 🤞
I should try to spring for an accountant some year, just to see if I they can save me more money somehow. I've been using Turbotax for almost 20 yrs, but I worry I'm missing opportunities to lower my tax burden, just due to my own ignorance.
About to do my taxes. Preparing myself for the crushing wave of sadness that'll follow. The little waves are already washing to shore ahead of the tsunami. Year after year it's gotten harder to make it financially, & this is the year I'm really *not* making it. 😑
Hope you're all hanging in there.
If you have Angelfire or Tripod webpages, or Angelfire email, back it up now. A shutdown within the next 27 days is coming but they have not given us an exact time yet.
I miss Japan every day, but especially in the springtime. 🌸
hollerin chudlet
<cue Apollo 13 theme>
My wife cutting some chocolate roll cake while our son watches intently. (Clearance bakery section at Meijer since we are penny pinchers!) She is wearing a bright red cardigan and the walls are a warm reddish tone. The table has a white & aqua geometric diamond pattern.
🎵
Keep on rollin’
Keep on rollin’
Keep on rollin’
Roll with the roooollll caaake
🎶
Not fancy, but yummy. Used to eat this stuff all the time back in Japan and it’s been too long. I like uzumaki cake.
Thanks! Awesome, I’ll have to check out that Manben. (And more Manben in general, since I’ve only seen one.)
Thank you! 🙂
That book looks bonkers from what I’ve seen of it. Looking forward to eventually reading it!
Thank you! And yeah I’m gonna check out a variety of his books. From what I’ve been so far, he has a really interesting art style and a subversive / sometimes depressing side that tends to intrigue me in stories.
But also today I turned 46, and am officially in the latter half of my 40s now. That brings its own sense of melancholy, since time keeps ticking, but it was a pretty good day. Saw a lovely sunrise. Read manga. Went shopping. Fit into smaller clothes than expected. Ate some chocolate roll cake! 🍰
Not gonna lie, “Downfall” put me into a bit of a melancholy mood at the start of the day, but that’s what I was expecting. Great book. I love it when manga makes me feel things.
Two manga books. volumes 2 & 3 of “Mujina: Into the Deep”, by Inio Asano.
Spoiler alert: after I read Mujina 1, I immediately ordered the next two volumes!
Two manga books. “Downfall” and volume 1 of “Mujina: Into the Deep”, both by Inio Asano.
Got my first two Inio Asano manga books & read them. Guess I’m gonna have to buy this dude’s whole body of work, huh?
