Cartoons and Social Responsibility

My aunt asked me if I do the cartoons you see on the blog. Sigh, no way. My favorite cartoons come from Neil Skorpen, Andy Singer, and the occasional beauty from Jeff Mallett (like above). Since this all published artwork, I'm linking to their art instead of republishing it. This also means that the links could die. Ah, c'est la vie. I have hundreds of these as screen savers, and as I find ones I like (that are currently published), I'll add them as time allows. Oh, heck, here are a few more...





Be sure to check out the rest of the work of these artists; they're truly fun.

Anyway, I get a ping from a robot at facebook saying that my daughter's ex-boyfriend had mentioned me in a blog entry.

I went to look at it, and it appears that he had a bit of free time and went on a comfortable long ride across the city (Vancouver). He noted how pleasant it is to ride your bike (the endorphin high and all), and says that he's going to name his bike "Jason".

I told my family about this, and said that I wasn't sure how to take it. Rachel: "I'd go with creeped out". Yeah, well, that's why he's her ex boyfriend .

Seriously, I guess I'm at the point in life where I want to leave a legacy: mentor someone to write better software, get someone to turn off their television set and get some exercise, or just plain make the world a better place for my children and grandchildren. I do think this is a function of age. I look at my kids in their 20's and I can relate to how I was at that age: "we are only immortal for a limited time" as the song by Rush goes.

I've seen some interesting speculation in the last couple of years about longevity (or even immortality) and its impact on the individual. L.E. Modesitt, Jr. suggests that even with near miraculous technology (nanites and the like), "no one lives forever--there's always the freak accident." Kind of sobering to think that the daily activities we take for granted (taking a shower or swallowing food) could, in the aggregate, be the proximal cause of one's demise when other factors (such as heart disease and cancer) are removed.

Another author wrote a fairly forgettable novel wherein well-to-do individuals could elect to undergo a rejuvenation process, and most elected to thereafter wear an earring that marked them as rejuvenated. "The young are so callow", one says, explaining why she preferred individuals of her own generation.

Then, of course, there is the current wave of supernatural fiction, where some writers try to give a sense of what it must be like for those people who live extended life spans.

Anyway, I'm beginning to see that the emotional and intellectual viewpoint of people change as they age, and in odd and surprising ways. I think that if someone lived for hundreds of years, their outlook would be, well, inhuman.

OK, back to play with people my own age. Take care...