I know it's been a while since I last posted. Didn't realize it was quite that long ago, though. I just wanted to let you know two things.

First, I'm going to die on June 22, 2051, most likely of cancer, heart failure, or homicide. Thought you'd like to know in case you wanted to send a card to my wife or something.

Second, I had a pretty lousy experience that reminded me that there can be no fellowship of light with darkness, and that to be a friend to the world often means being an enemy of God.

I attended a 24-Hour Challenge event at my school. In this, you spend 24 hours straight creating artwork - the original form of this challenge was created by Scott McCloud; the challenge was to create a 24-page comic. A page an hour. I've only tried it once before this, and I made it through 13 hours before I had to quit due to a headache. Still, it was an exhilirating experience, and somewhat mind-bending. I did it alone the first time, and I was looking forward to doing it with a room full of artists. I thought that I'd feed off the creative energy and we'd keep each other awake.

I got the latter - I could have made it the entire distance if I hadn't decided to quit and go home. They had music playing, which wasn't so bad, except that everything they played was about explicit sexual acts and insulting/demeaning attitudes toward women (mind you, some of this stuff was being played by women!). By the wee hours of the morning, they pulled out the big guns, and started playing comedian routines. I use the term "comedian" in the loosest possible sense, because they weren't in any way funny. Dennis Leary was first, and he talked about how great drugs are while making loud sucking noises on the microphone. That's it. That's all he talked about. The next guy - whose name I never learned - spouted political dogma and mocked Christians and their wacky Biblically-based beliefs. I mean, Rumsfeld actually believes in the devil! Can you imagine? What a knee-slapper! Who could possibly be so backward and moronic that they would believe in the existence of something they'd never tangibly experienced with their physical senses?

Anyway, overall it was so disspiriting, distracting, and downright oppressive (most of the room was yukking it up with every Christ-bashing joke) that I packed up and left at hour 15. I literally had no creative energy left - it had been sapped out of my mind - and I was left with only a desire to be with my wife. It's not a mistake I'll repeat.