The Gulf of Reason

 

It boggles the mind that the Orange Menace wastes time demanding we call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. It serves no purpose. But then again nothing in the vast wasteland that is the MAGA brain makes sense.  Of course, I posted this t-shirt design and Red Bubble is reviewing it.  

But you can't fix stupid.

Everything comes with strings

 

I posted this design on Red Bubble yesterday and it was pulled for a review. I haven't a clue why it was pulled.  Though apparently Sony has a trademark for a computer game software called Strings Attached. Seems as though everybody wants to plant a flag on everything. 

Though since I am just using this image for a t-shirt and other sundry merch, I don't think Sony can claim copyright infringement.

I'll wait to see what the Red Bubble lawyers say. They may say the design already has strings attached.

Free, free, free

 

I am alphabetically in the "F's" with uploading my designs on Red Bubble.  I feel so free.

More hearts for Valentine's Day

 

Just something to get your heart going for Valentine's Day!

You've got to have heart

 

This is another one of those images I thought I couldn't use for t-shirt designs because they would say it violated the copyright or trademark for Heartbreak Hotel. But I search for trademarks and there were none. And it is Heartbreak Motel, not Hotel and it doesn't imply anything about the song. So I posted it on Red Bubble. I just think it was too cool not to run with it.

Now this one probably wouldn't fly. But I think it is super cool, too. It's good enough for a king.

I thought I saw a pudding tat

 

It is National Plum Pudding Day (which makes no sense since it is also know as Christmas Pudding). But none of the National Day days make much sense.  And I know that this tattoo of a bowl of pudding isn't plum pudding. I couldn't lead with my "proof is in the pudding" design because I'd already used that headline and image back in November.

Pudding made me think of Tweety Bird and Sylvester the cat and Tweety always saying "I thought I saw a puddy tat." So you get an image of a pudding tat.

But I suppose that doesn't mean much to you.

Things as they are

 

"Things as they are / Are changed upon the blue guitar."

-- Wallace Stevens

 The poem, published in 1937, explores the transformative power of art and imagination, using the blue guitar as a metaphor for artistic interpretation. It was inspired by Pablo Picasso’s 1903 painting The Old Guitarist.  It's an appropriate image for National Guitar Day, because it expresses how I feel about my guitars...well, just about any guitar.

Pity this is also National Shut-in Visitation Day. Even a blue guitar can't make that cheery.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

 

It was all Green Tags $1.99 day at Goodwill today. I have learned that you can find some pretty great deals on the $1.99 day. A couple of months ago I found a brand new John Wayne Cast Iron Grill pan that Goodwill had been selling for $29 with the color of the day on sale for $1.99. So I got it for $1.99 and sold it on eBay for $32. 

Today I found an IBM Selectric II electric typewriter that Goodwill was trying to sell for $99. I bought it for...you guessed it...$1.99. And it works. Or at least it powers on. And why would I want a Selectric II electric typewriter? Because I only had to pay $1.99 for it. So if I can't resale it and have to take it back to Goodwill I'll only be out $1.99. 

Plus there was the nostalgia factor. I learned how to type on one of these when I was in high school. And when I was a Journalism major in college, that's what we typed stories on in the college newspaper offices. They were the precursors to word processors. They just had sheets of paper instead of screens. But they beat the hell out of writing something by hand. Oh sure, you made mistakes typing, but that was what white out was made for.

So what if it weighs a ton and there is no way in hell I'll be able to sell it on eBay because the shipping would be through the roof. There is always Facebook Marketplace. Who cares if there are ten or so of them already on there. Since I only paid $1.99, I don't have to get much for it to make profit. 

I am such a shrewd business person.

Super Bowl Sunday is great for pigskin

 

And it so happens that it is National Pork Rind Day. So enjoy your pigskin play and chew the fat with friends. You'll be happy as a dead pig in the sunshine! 

Souvenir Du

 

I saw this wood carving at the local Antique Mall today and it peaked my curiosity. At first I thought it was a souvenir of a place called "Du." So I asked ChatGPT and it explained to me that "Souvenir Du" is French for "Memory of" or "Souvenir from."  So I took a photo and shared it with ChatGPT and it suggested that this carving was very likely from Haiti because they speak French in Haiti (or a Creole version of French). 

So I bought the carving because it just seemed odd that someone would carve the words "Souvenir of" and not of where. I conjectured that the artist started carving the words and then realized they ran out of room for the "of where." 

When I got home I decided to ask Gemini about the carving. And low and behold, Gemini says the carving is from an African country called Djibouti in the Horn of Africa because it looks like something they would carve and they speak French in Djibouti. I suggested to Gemini that perhaps the carving was from Haiti and it poo-poo'ed me and gave me several strong reasons why it was more likely from Djibouti.

I love the battles of AI. But I'm leaning towards Djibouti because it seems more exotic than Haiti.

Don't let them gum up the work

 

Of course, today is Bubble Gum Day. And it is national Fettuccine Alfredo Day.

So it's linguine and not fettuccine. A noodle is a noodle.

Diz-dress for Diz-cess

 

I am very impressed with the options Red Bubble offers for products for my designs. Because once the world sees that they can wear a Dizgraceland dress, the world is my oyster. And speaking of oysters, don't you think pearls would look great with this dress?

And how about this?

Who would have thought that a Dizgraceland mini skirt was even an option? These should be flying off the virtual shelves anytime. 

So far I am glad I discovered Red Bubble and they haven't totally rejected me yet. Zazzle took a shit load of time to load products on and I basically sold nothing. 

Of course, I haven't sold anything on Red Bubble yet, but something tells me it is only a matter of time. I may just buy me one of those Dizgraceland mini skirts for myself and post a few photos on Blue Sky to start the feeding frenzy. The caption will read something like, "Buy my stuff or I will post more pics like this."

Laughing the loudest

 

I'm kind of enjoying posting my designs on Red Bubble.  It doesn't make you create each product one at a time. You load a design and then apply it to shirts, hats, clocks, mouse pads, aprons, bags and whatever. I've had several likes. But no sales.

Maybe I'm too conventual for people's tastes.

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble....

 I heard back from Red Bubble today about my design that was under review.

Great news! The review process has been completed and your work is available for purchase on the marketplace.

Some things to keep in mind:

• You will receive your full artist markup from your sales of these products.
• Your work may be reviewed again at any time.

Your work:

Butt Who... https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/168312800

If you’re wondering why your works are flagged for review, or have questions about the Fan Art Program review process, please have a look at the following help center articles:

• Fan Art FAQ's
• Why has my work been temporarily suspended?
• How can I avoid artwork reviews in the future?

Thanks again,

Redbubble

I read some of the FAQ's and the article about how I can avoid artwork reviews in the future and the essentially said they couldn't tell me because they weren't my lawyer.  They are much nicer than the AI lawyers at Teepublic who were pretty snotty about reviewing material. The odd thing about their review letter is that they showed the other "Butt Who..." work that wasn't flagged in the first email they sent me saying my work was under review.

Butt who nose.  

 

No ifs, ands or butts...

 

I was trying so hard to not violate Red Bubble's rules, regulations and community standards. I avoided anything that reeked of intellectual property, copyright or trademark infringements. I have kept the off color stuff to a minimum and avoided offending any community standards. Butt who nose what will trigger the whatever it is that triggers the algorithms that set off alarms about such stuff.  So I loaded this image of the Butt Who Nose.  And I got one of their, "you design is under review, but don't worry," emails. That's what Teepublic used to say and then then deleted my account. 

I've tried guessing what could be wrong with this design. Okay it says, "Butt." But seriously, is butt profanity. Then I wondered if it is because the nose looks like a nose from a Buddha statue and they think it is racist. But please, look at what is going on with the pretend president who is spewing racism with almost every executive order the Orange Menace proclaims. 

I also posted this:

And they didn't freeze it and send it into review.  So I don't know what to think. All I want to do is share my art and incredible wit with the world. 

Butt who nose.

I'm all in

I decided Zazzle isn't really dazzling me with sales of my designs, so I'm trying Red Bubble.  And yes, I know they are owned by the same company that owns Teepublic. But I'm being very careful with everything I load on Red Bubble. Because I don't want them to burst my bubble. They have a much easier interface than Zazzle and they have lots of different products. 

I hope I'll be seeing green with Red Bubble.

 

Are we having fun, yet?

 

In reality, more often than not, I do have fun at work. But as Jean-Paul Sartre said in No Exit, "Hell is other people."  But as my good friend ChatGPT reminded me, Sartre wasn't really saying that other people make life miserable. He was saying that self-awareness and judgment come from how others perceive us.

I agree with that. Though I also think other people make life miserable, too. 

Speaking of ChatGPT, it doesn't seem to care that I've been hanging out with Deep Seek. This morning I asked Deep Seek what Dizgraceland was and it told me it was a "blog or website created by Tim Hunter, who is a writer and artist." I corrected it and said it was a blog by Time Waits and it thanked me and said some very flattering things. Though I think it derived most of them from how I describe my blog online.

I asked ChatGPT who Tim Hunter was and it game me the name of a director, a hockey player and and fictional character in a Neil Gaiman book.  Then I asked ChatGPT what Dizgraceland was and it told me it was the name of my blog and asked me if I wanted to discus a specific post, them or idea related to it.

It didn't tell me how good it was. 

Hell is other AI's, too.

Palms Red...Red Drum...Drum skull

 

The future seems a bit sketchy right now. The Orange Menace is still reeking havoc with the country. I would believe he is the Anti-Christ, but I always envisioned the Anti-Christ was at least mildly intelligent. I can't say that about the Narcissistic Moron. 

He is definitely marching the country to a different beat.
 

Deep thoughts for Deep Seek

 

This is an abstract image of Deep Seek, the Chinese AI app that I asked Gemini, Google's AI app to create.  Although Gemini is pretty lame, at least it can create images. Deep Seek told me it couldn't but described how I could create an image in Photoshop. I don't need AI to do that.

I had just read good things about Deep Seek and was hoping it would do all those things Gemini and ChatGPT couldn't. So far I am not impressed. I tried loading images and it says it can only extract text from them. Then I asked it why it couldn't generate images and it said it could if I switched models. I did and it still didn't work.

Gemini is beginning to look pretty good.

It's no ChatGPT, though.

Because I can

 

The chaos that is rippling through the country created by the Orange Menace is both terrifying and laughable. The surprise that people are expressing at why he is doing this is the most laughable. He is a demented narcissist without shame with a bent on vengeance for being booted out of the White House in 2020. He doesn't need any other reason than because he can. He has created the perfect storm that no one seems to be able to stop.

The first time he was in office people just tried to laugh it off. He is a buffoon and everyone knows it except for the other buffoons who idolize him. But now he is a dangerous buffoon in power. The backlash of the conservatives attached to the buffoons butt like lampreys on a shark is even more frightening. It is not a good time to be woke. The conservatives prefer a lazy slumber of bigotry that no one will try to shake them out of.

All we seem to be able to do is shake our heads and hope this eventually passes. 

I'm forever popping bubbles

 

It's National Bubble Wrap Day.  This is significant to me because on January 26, 2010 I wrote a post marveling that I was older than bubble wrap that had just turned 50.  So 15 years later, bubble wrap just turned 65 and I'm still older than it is.  And if the Orange Menace has his way, neither I nor bubble wrap will get social security.  Because what does a narcissistic asshole like him who has never had to truly work a day in his life care about social security.

And meanwhile his Elon Musk Ox continues to glorify the Nazi's.

 I posted this image on Blue Sky and didn't get a single like. Then it dawned on me that very few people who are not older than bubble wrap don't know about the movie "Dr. Strangelove." 

That just burst my bubble.

Where there's a Goodwill, there's a way

 

Since returning to the office three days a week, I don't get much time to go to Goodwill on my lunch break. And one thing I've discovered about thrifting is that you need to go regularly to find the good stuff. They actually add new stuff several times a day as donations come in and are priced. 

So the weekend becomes my time to make up for lost thrifting. But it is also the busiest time of the week. Still I had a good time hunting and finding. Pretty amazing stuff.

This sculpture represents a Yaksha as a Buddhist Temple Guard, also known as a Dvarapala. It is about 13 inches tall.  

I also found this.

It is a vintage Japanese Gosho Doll  depicting a man with baby. Gosho dolls (御所人形, Gosho Ningyō) are traditional Japanese dolls characterized by their chubby, childlike appearance, white skin, and cheerful expressions. These dolls originated during the Edo period (1603–1868) and were typically given as gifts from the Imperial Court (御所, Gosho) to loyal retainers or distinguished guests. This association with the court gives them their name. If mine had been one of the traditional ones from the Edo period it would have been worth $100. But mine was more likely from the mid-20th century made when Japan was making these things for export. Still, I hope to get $80 from it.

I found random things, too.

These were apparently souvenirs from a Chinese Ancestry Temple that was dedicated to a Chinese sea goddess call Mazu. They are so obscure I had a hard time figuring out where to sell them on eBay. That can be good or bad. We'll see...or we'll sea.

Regardless, it was a good weekend for finding things, just not selling. Apparently people aren't back into buying yet after the Christmas rush. Let's hope Mazu brings me good fortune.

Irish Coffee

 

According to the National Irish Coffee Day people: 

"On a cold, wet day in 1942 weary travelers to the small Shannon Airport in southwest Ireland found their way to a restaurant and chef Joe Sheridan. To warm his guests, he served them hot coffee, spiked with whiskey and topped with whipped cream. The passengers asked if the beverage was Brazilian coffee. Sheridan responded that it was Irish coffee."

Sounds like a load of Blarney crap to me. 

Which gave me an idea for a kid's program with a green dinosaur named, "Blarney."

Of course is drunk all the time because he drinks Irish Coffee every morning.

Don't you just love stereotypes.

A backhanded compliment

 

It's National Compliment Day! And these nuts compliment it perfectly. It's an old joke, I know. But I am still nuts about it. 

It's also Beer Can Appreciation Day. So the best I could do for it was:

At least I didn't open up a can of worms.

Not my president

 

Not that it matters what I say or think, but I will never acknowledge that buffoon as my president or leader or anything that comes close to respect. I didn't vote for him. I don't have any respect for anyone who did. So electoral college or not, I don't acknowledge him.  

I remember when he somehow made it into office the first time. My moron brother had this sign in his home office (which was difficult to see because my brother is a major hoarder). The sign read, "I Stand With Our President!" I knew my brother was stupid and more or less right wing, but it was the first time I realized he had voted for the Orange Menace. 

But the "I Stand With Our President!" sign inspired this:

Not that I will do anything with it. Right now everyone seems hunkered down waiting for what is going to happen. And Trump the Rump is giddy, his ego fueled and stoke by his toadies and return to the once again soiled Oval Office. So he is on a rampage, fulfilling all of his egomaniacal fantasizes.

No one really wants to be a target, so selling a t-shirt that says, "Not my president" really has too much "kick me" vibe about it to be a best seller. 

Unlike all of my other designs.

Book 'em Dano

 It isn't actually Dewey Decimal System Day. It's Library Shelfie Day. And I really don't have the energy to create a whole design around shelfing books or taking photos of books or whatever Library Shelfie Day. My first job was shelfing books at a public library. So I know all about shelfing books. I used to have nightmares about shelfing books. It was a mind-numbingly boring job that soured me on books in general. This is sad because I used to love to read. Now I am pretty much content to just look at my phone.

I feel so spineless.

Squirrels and hugs

 

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day (which has me feeling pretty squirrelly).  So I dug out several of my squirrelly designs. It is also National Hugging Day, so I'll start by saying you should not try to hug a squirrel.

Keep in mind that squirrels are very playful but are not very good at bluffing and they aren't very good losers when they play poker.  So use caution if you play cards with them.

And be patient if you are flying First or Business class with squirrels and watch your nuts carefully. Because they are real nut jobs.

And finally, if you are thinking of hugging anyone or anything for National Hugging Day, ask permission first.

Not everyone likes to be hugged. Me for example, and there will be consequences.

Buy, buy America!

 

The Trump has been inaugurated. It is truly a sad day for our country. I hate that his narcissistic ego has been gorging on the attention. The best thing we could do is ignore the asshole. But he is like a spoiled child doing outrageous things to keep the attention on him.

In addition to the Orange Menace being inaugurated, it is National Cheese Lover's Day.

Cheesy joke, I know. I hope it doesn't grate on your nerves.