Another example of this is my latest T-Shirt design:

Actually, I think syphilis could be an interesting target for therapeutic research. The stuff already seeks out destroys tissue. It would be fairly interesting to develop a strain of syphilis that would specifically seek out and devour cancer. It just might be possible.

This Design is mostly the idea of a friend of mine. Chad, you’re sick, but hey… so am I. I totally give you props on this one. At one point this was Chad’s myspace name. I was so amused by it that I just had to put it on a t-shirt. Note that the figure is both trashy and androgynous. Thusly, it can be enjoyed by any gender! I drew this while sitting in a starbucks coffee place (these things are everywhere! what’s up with that?). I got a nasty look from an old lady who just glanced at the image (without the text). I can’t wait to see the looks on people’s faces as I go shopping with this shirt on.

Now, I am not making light of those who have had cancer. In fact, every single one of my grandparents have had cancer. Two of them died from it. There isn’t really much that’s funny about cancer. However, we have a saying in our family “if you can’t laugh at it, you’re taking it too seriously.” I like to think that every one of my controversial designs has a meaning behind them. This one… is just absurd. No meaning… just absurdity.

Oh, and hey, if you didn’t know that I sell T-Shirts, go check ‘em out. There are other shirts that are fairly funny/controversial, including the infamous “Sometimes…Puppies Just Die” T-Shirt. I at least think they’re cool. I really do get a laugh out of most of them… the one’s that are meant to be funny anyhow. I suppose that’s what really matters. Oh, and the money, I like money. :P

Type to you later,
~Nathaniel

The modeling and animation was all done in 3DS Max and the editing was done in Adobe Aftereffects. Special thanks to my lovely wife for lending her voice to both characters in the scene and sounddogs.com for the royalty free twinkling magic noise in the background.

This is what you get for taunting the little guys. I would imagine the ferret runs off with that wallet and heads straight for the closest vending machine.

I figured some people might get a kick out of this, especially ferret owners.

On a side note, this little car is awesome! I paid $685 tax/title/everything. The air conditioning still doesn’t work quite right but I get by. It has ghosts in the electrical system and a few other minor quirks… but I can live with it. Especially considering the benifits:

1. The car is mine, I own it, I do not make payments on it. Owning your own car is pretty awesome.
2. The crazy little thing gets 58 MILES TO THE GALLON! Yeah, that’s right, I made it from Lubbock Tx to Tuscon AZ on one tank of gas (8 gallons). Not even the hybrids can beat that… and certainly not for $685! The downside is that it gets no horse power from it’s three banger engine. Oh well, it gets me to work anyway.

I love that car. My wife hates it though… after I moved and she had to spend almost a whole 24 hours in that tin death trap. She was even reluctant to take the reference photos for “AIR” because of the trauma of that trip.

Well, I hope everyone else’s car works at least as good as mine. Just be glad if you’ve got good air.
Type to you later,
~Nathaniel

There is also the issue of the gothic fashion genre. These kids wear mostly black and often have elaborate costumes and makeup that must take hours to prepare. Yet these kids say that they don’t care about their appearance or what people think of them. Now, I live in Texas and it is fairly hot down here. When I see a “runny goth” (my phrase for a goth whose makeup is running from all the sweat), I know that they don’t suffer through that heat in all that black because they enjoy it. Trust me, if given the choice between walking to work wearing all black, or wearing bright pink, I would pick the bright pink because I would rather not have a heat stroke. One of the most amusing days of my life was when I went to Edgefest. There where a ton of borderline goth bands there and there was no shortage of “runny goths” I just found it HILARIOUS that these kids where so vain that they would risk heatstroke under piles of black leather and metal studs so that they would look “cool”. Well, let me tell you, there is NOTHING cool looking about a runny goth, it’s actually quite pitiful.

What’s more funny is that these extremely vain kids want to turn around and bash the “preps” for being so vain and caring about their looks. That’s just hypocrisy. I would argue that the goths that spend hours putting on their makeup and “costume” are MORE vain than the prep that spends 2 minuets putting on his Tommy Hilfiger outfit.

Lets recap:
The things I don’t like about SOME goths are as follows: Exclusion, forced conformity to gothic stereotypes, limited and impractical wardrobe, vanity, and hypocrisy. I think that pretty much sums it up. If you consider yourself a goth, or rather, if you identify with the gothic subculture, please, don’t do these things. Not because I don’t like them, but because it makes you look like a stupid jerk kid. BE YOURSELF!!! if that includes wearing all black, listening to death metal, having tattoos/piercings, being fascinated with death, etc… then more power to you. If you’re vain, that’s you’re problem, I’ll just laugh at you when your makeup starts running from the heat. It’s not healthy to dress in all black in the southern states, if the heat doesn’t get you, the rednecks will. For those of you in the northern/colder areas of the US and the world, go for it. I would wear black every day if it wasn’t so damn hot. Also, if you are depressed, seek help. If you want you can even contact me and we can talk about it. I also suggest http://www.samaritans.org/ they’re a free, non-judgmental non-profit organization that specializes in emotional support. You can call someone up, or email them 24hrs a day, 365 days a year. They’ve actually helped me through a few rough spots.

As far as my frustration with these supposed goths goes, I decided to create a piece of artwork that pokes fun at this particular type of goth. We’re all PINK on the Inside! is a direct stab (pun intended) at this particular facet of the gothic subculture. If you’re a goth and don’t like “skin goths’ or if you’re anyone who just doesn’t like goths you’ll get a kick out of it. Also, if you’re not against wearing a bit of pink, you can buy these as t-shirts (in a variety of colors and styles).

Let me reiterate: I am not against goths, I do not hate goths, I am against conformity, labels, exclusion and vanity.

That about covers it for now,
Type to you later,
~Nathaniel