I had been getting kind of cynical over the last few years:  “Ohhh,” I said, “I’m not sure our institutions and leaders can really influence what goes on in the world - It’s all proceeding according to the vague, impersonal rules of economics, technological development, and international dick-wagging.”  As despicable as he was, at least Bush showed us that what modern leaders do actually matters.  And now - I dunno if I can say it, I’m too excited - we’ve got the Coolest. President. Ever. He makes Bill Clinton look like Steve Urkel:

Get it? (It’s because he has big ears.)

Speaking of ears (not really!), before I moved out of Madison, I painted a mural on local comedian Chris Waelti’s wall (that’s him in the photo). It was an interesting exercise since I hadn’t ever done anything that big before, and the layout of the room was such that I couldn’t get far away from the painting to see the whole composition. In this photo you can see the left half of it, but the only way to get the whole thing would be stitching some photos together, spy movie style:

I was given license to just go nuts on it, so it ended up being pretty surreal and filled with monsters and little characters in every nook and cranny - Yes, I do like Heironymus Bosch. Actually, ever since I was a little kid, I would fill up pictures with tons of tiny, cavorting characters like that (Lemmings vs. Robots was the recurring theme). It’s something I’d like to get back into, but it’s definitely a time commitment to do it right. Even if it’s just Lemmings vs. Robots.