Zazzle This USB Flash Drive

Here I stood, just bought a PS4 and frustrated trying to copy recorded game play onto a USB flash drive that just wouldn't connect. It would save me so much trouble to take game play through the PS4’s DVR and into a flash drive; transfer it to my computer and then edit it from there. However, seeing the USB stick I had wouldn't connect, I decided to go onto Zazzle and create one of my own featuring my drawings. Per usual, I picked a random image and came up with this one…

From 8 to about 36 (I bought the 16GB), Zazzle offers an array of GB sizes (prices rise in accordance with size) and colors for their USB flash drive products.  I chose this pastel pink because it went well with the image.  The drive comes in a nice, clear plastic envelope.

Here is the drive semi-swiveled out.  There’s also a hook piece to attach the drive elsewhere.  Say, like to a lanyard.

I chose a fuller image perspective for the other side to keep “variety” in the piece. After pounding on discounts given by Zazzle, I paid $9.95. As for the shipping, I placed the order on the 24th and received it on the 27th (as a Black Member, standard shipping is free). It came unexpectedly. Unexpectedly fast. 

Give me a couple of days to add USB flash drives to the store. In the meantime, you can visit everything else I have to offer HERE.

Once again, thanks for all the support. Stay strong and motivated, people.  And for all my gamer follows, be on the lookout for my gaming channel.  Sub HERE!

Spotlight: Food for Thought

There are debates as to whether Willie Lynch was an actual person, and to be perfectly honest I lean toward myth by his name alone. Nonetheless, since I read the book anyway, I have to say that The Willie Lynch Letter and The Making of a Slave is a 30-page book consisting of a speech given by a white slave owner from the West Indies. 

Delivered on the bank of the James River in 1712, the purpose of his speech was to coach American slave owners on how to restrain, tame and destroy the minds of African slaves.  Chiefly those newly arriving into slavery. His argument was “[If] You are not only losing valuable stock by hangings, you are having uprisings, slaves are running away, your crops are sometimes left in the fields too long for maximum profit, you suffer occasional fires, your animals are killed," then he has the “foolproof method for controlling your Black slaves.” His speech became a sort of outline for slave owners to generate profit and remove economic blocks.  And this consisted primarily of creating divisions among the slaves themselves, with one via their differences in skin-tone.  Furthermore, Lynch suggested the removal and dehumanizing of the black male as the leading family member.  This, in turn, will "create" lasting acceptance and conformity to life as a slave for men as well as women and children generations and beyond.  

The majority of these "ideas" spun another inner ding concerning Lynch's myth, considering his "methods" were a common practice as is. Nevertheless, “FEAR, DISTRUST, and ENVY” are strategies used to control. And all three were proclaimed by Lynch to keep the Black slave under control for over 300 years.

With the addition of horse breeding analogies to illustrate “Cardinal Principles for Making a Negro," the book also contains small pieces of annotations given by Frederick Douglass and Charles Johnson. However, I believe the truly provocative area comes toward the end of the book, through a contemporary essay titled “Dear Black Americans."

Which I’ll share here:

~ 2. Back to High School - Towel-Style ~

Here we are with the next five pages.  Click HERE for the first five.  Or you can follow the labels at the end of the post.

Obviously I made my pages super busy.  Busy, packed and hectic.  Nevertheless, that's how I saw a lot of manga pages; busy and occupied.  I suppose I was just copying, but to an extreme.  I wish I had the skill to tell an efficient (as well as effective) story without too much fuss.  Maybe if I tried to do this these days I could get it right.

Once again a busy page.  I didn't have an manga screens (though later I started to print pictures on tracing paper and go from there), so I had to do all of my backgrounds and effects by hand.  I used what I had.  That's why I always tell people to just start wherever you are and enjoy the process.  

I love Towel and Clip's teacher in the top left corner.  "Break's over!  Let's go!" he says.  And as always, Towel decides to call him a "patty mouth dog."  I don't know what that is.  Should I ever get the time to write her these days, she would never say something like that.  It's not clever enough.  Nonetheless, here her and Clip continue to peep the new girl.

I remember showing this page to a friend of mine and he made a comment about the top panel character's (if you didn't catch it, her name is Miino) expression.  He was pretty direct in his observation that the character looks as if she's about to do something salacious.  I'll leave that to your imagination.  Nonetheless, what I want to point out is how the teachers always seem to be yelling at Towel.  Even this female teacher on the left is yelling at her to take a seat.

Towel's trying to be friends with the new girl, Miino.  Instead, Miino is more interested in strangling Towel.  The scene transitions over into the gym area where Towel and Clip reunite to discuss the new girl, as well as some of the male students playing ball topless.  Said boys have taken a liking to Miino–naturally.  This makes Towel even more curious as to who this new girl is.

I don't think Japanese female students wear bloomers anymore for gym class.  However, this is another obvious testament to my love of the shojo manga genre.

The bloomers again.  Other than that, here is where I introduced another male character (other than Towel's best friend Cornbread).  I'm cringing here as I revisit this particular page.  Why?  Because while I was shaky, I don't like how I drew this guy at all.  I think my drawings of him will get better.  But yesh!

See you guys in the next post...

Asa or Forrest

After the death of his parents, five-year-old Forrest “Little Tree” Carter found himself adopted by his Cherokee grandmother and part-Cherokee grandfather. His grandparents own a home deep in the hollows of a mountain, and that's where Little Tree follows them to learn the ways of the Cherokee.  Said ways are about living off and respecting nature.  

Honoring one's ancestors and finding encouragement through their stories also takes part in Little Tree's lessons.  Little Tree also learns/experiences the often problematic nature of his heritage, and how it relates to the white man’s view of Native Americans and their history/role in the America. A book with little to no conflict, The Education of Little Tree is mostly a romanticized example of what it meant to be Native American during The Great Depression as well as growing up thoroughly connected with Nature.

Sounds like a bubbly and syrupy summary, right? Well, the truth is that I don't know how to take this novel, after reading the history behind the author and the book itself. And it’s really, truly funny because I was about a quarter away from the end (having not researched a thing about the book/author) before I decided I was tired of feeling like there was an undertone of patronization taking place. It turns out, I was on to something. That niggling feeling wasn't there for no reason.

Here’s what I learned about this book, published in the late 70’s:

1. While the book is (or was upon its initial publication) touted as an autobiography/memoir, the author is not Native American.

2. The author was white, and apparently a ku klux klan member

3. The author was somewhat forceful in his segregation views. Which isn't much of a surprise when you take in Little Tree’s encounter with black people in the book?

And that’s just to name a few nuggets of information I've gathered. If I hadn't plucked the book from the non-fiction section at Barnes & Nobles, I may have been more or less baffled. I jumped into it thinking it was a memoir of a young Native American kid learning some hard and heart-filled lessons surrounding his heritage, but instead I got an illusion. A lie. However, halfway through I started to pick up that something wasn't right, and then, as I said, a quarter away from the end was when I felt like the voice was sort of patronizing.  It was an almost condescending and kiddy-glove approach to illustrating Native American culture. Everything seemed too charming. Too surreal. Too vividly told, yet simple at the same time. And most of all, a touch too stereotypical.

So I don't know where I stand with this book. I liked it enough that from a storytelling standpoint, it won me completely. But I honestly just… don't… know….  There's speculation as to the author's intent (his real name is Asa Earl Carter).  However, I don't have it in me to figure it out.  So I might as well move on.

~ 1. Back 2 High School–Towel Style ~

Now this is hilarious. It started out really quite simple: I needed an eyeglass repair kit–but not for eyeglasses. I needed to replace my cell phone’s USB charger port and had all the equipment in one kit, including a useless micro screwdriver. So convinced that I had another one in an eyeglass repair kit, I scoured my room searching. Eventually, I dived into my closet, pulled out a couple of plastic storage crates, and ran across this old comic I drew back in my junior year of high school. It’s where I started to develop and understand this character that’s been in my head all my life. Her name is Towel. (Nicknamed if you will.) She’s young. Highly misunderstood. Stubborn. A romantic. Senseless and often times forgetful. However, most of all, she’s a hero. She’s lived and manifested in many different forms and appearances. Many different races. Many different occupations. Nonetheless, she’s always been influenced by my love of Sailor Moon, Buffy and a variety of other forms and medias that represent women in power.

So it took me a while, but I finally whipped out my scanner, thinking it would be cool to share some of these scans just for the hell of it. It’s rough. It’s hard.  It's random and confusing.  It’s impulsively drawn. But it’s here. So be tickled.  And sorry that some areas are cut off. My scanner isn't that large.

And no. I never found that eyeglass repair kit. Therefore, I was left making a run to the Dollar Store for one.  However, eventually I got my phone repaired.

I’ll release these in a series of 5 per posts...

What other way to introduce Towel other than to make her late for school?  Why was she late?  Because she was busy admiring a dress.  Heavily–and I mean heavily–influenced by Naoko Takeuchi and Miwa Ueda's work, I placed her in a sailor-style uniform just like Japanese students.  Which only exacts her locale.  

While I was rarely late for school/class, I will say that I was not liked by a couple of teachers for other reasons.  Like Towel, I kind of didn't have a filter on my mouth.  I remember one English teacher calling me out because I proclaimed "this sucks" during one dull, boring class period.  It really was boring listening to her read out of some book.  However, school was like that for me; I was always bored.  And though I've always tried, I find it hard to hold back how I feel.  Especially when it comes to the urge to create.

While she may be located in Japan, Towel definitely had my Southern wit.  I also want to mention how, as it regards manga/anime, characters who have blond hair and blue eyes are not necessarily considered white.  In fact, you'll know when a white/foreign character is present in either form, because of the difference in his/her appearance and behavior.  However, the obvious is a silly caricature of say an American or Russian.  

I never really saw Towel as white, mixed maybe.  Eventually she became a black character who dyed her hair blond.  Why blond?  Because Minako/Sailor Venus is yellow-headed of course.  Plus, the color is so light that it's easiest to product and hide mistakes over.

I've always loved these little character introductions in manga.  A quick, running page of information regarding the star and her buddies.  Clip (later changed to Klip) and Cornbread (we'll talk about him later) were always the characters I had in mind as Towel's best friends.  Both have changed tremendously over the years.  Something I'll realize more and more of as I re-read these early introductions.  

Nonetheless, back to Towel.  I wanted Towel to be sporty, unlike myself.  So I made her a basketball player (like my sister at the time) and a gymnasts (so she could do flips like the original Pink Ranger).  She loves to write, which is something that did come from myself.  Ultimately, I shot for well-rounded.

And here enters a character inspired by Naoko Takeuchi's Rei Hino (my second favorite senshi), or other known as Sailor Mars.  She becomes Towel's school rival and later something else entirely.

Perhaps now's the time to ask that you stay tuned for the next half...

#ReadSoulLit ~ Sisters in Crime

#ReadSoulLit is a Black History Month project organized by booktuber, Frenchiedee.  When Frenchie reached out and asked did I want to contribute to the project, I didn't hesitate.  I most certainly did.  And when she asked what I would do my video on, with so much ease I said black women writing black women in crime fiction.  And what a project this turned out to be.  I stressed for about three weeks, then one day got tired and decided to just jump up and do me.  Now, I have to share the videos here with you all.  I've drained myself a little putting this one together.  So I hope you all enjoy...

#ReadSoulLit ~ Sisters in Crime 1: Where I'm Coming From...

#ReadSoulLit ~ Sisters in Crime 2: Their Stories...

When Bored With a Book...

...Buy more.  That's right.  I'm bored to tears with Chang-Rae Lee's On Such a Full Sea.  If Obsession in Death hadn't released to interrupt the process, I may have walked this week finishing absolutely nothing.  Nonetheless, I've bought plenty and think it's time I put Lee aside for the time being.  No, seriously.  On Such a Full Sea is boring.  Though it's an interesting look at the dystopian theme, it's kind of hard to really connect with as it's told through the first-person plural.  However, it's led by the character of a sixteen-year-old girl who you never really have access to her consciousness throughout its telling.  So I'm on the fence.  Part of me wants to power my way through.  Part of me wants to just give the whole thing up.  Part of me is upset because I loved and was captivated by The Surrendered and hoped this book would be the same.  Nonetheless, I went to the bookstore Friday.  Grabbed the laptop and hung out for awhile before my cousin and I went to our favorite Asian restaurant in the area.  I browsed exclusively in the non-fiction area and walked out with these...

India Calling by Anand Giridharadas substituted for my actual desire for Maximum City by Suketa Metha.  I decided to go into India gently, I suppose.  Hitler's Furies just caught my eye and interest.  Women killers during the Holocausts.  Ouch.