AN ASTOUNDING AUGUST INTERLUDE

The bureaucracy gods granted us a day off together. It started raining as we pulled out of Kiss the Cook. It had clouded over in the night. Wasn’t quite as hot in Phoenix . . . yet.

It was significantly cooler up toward Flagstaff. At first, I was doubtful about Emily’s suggestion that I wear a long-sleeved shirt, but she was right. And I was soon rolling down those sleeves.

It was still raining when we got to Walnut Canyon. The trail down to the cliff dwellings was wet and slippery, but doable. We weren’t the only people there. It seemed light-years from superheated Phoenix.

The forest smelled great. There was no need to run the car’s air-conditioner.

Lots of datura bloomed at the roadsides.

We headed down to Sedona and had the world-class Cowboy Up Burgers at the Cowboy Club.

While walking around, we passed an enlightened ape with a peeling gold paint-job in front of a “wellness cafe.” What is a wellness cafe? Did the proprietors think the whole thing was as funny as I did?

As we left Sedona, an indigenous angel with floppy wings and a horned buffalo cap blessed us.

We visited the Highway 89 elephant on the way home.

We got into a couple of traffic jams, and Phoenix was blazing, but we were feeling great.

CHICANONAUTICA UPDATES A WEIRDO SUMMER

It’s in one weird place, heading for another in Chicanonatica, over at La Bloga.

How weird is it?

Heading for education:

And judgment:

In a brave, new world:

SLICES OF A SUMMER

My wife just said: "Holy crap, the black widow got a lizard!"

The final scene of my dream was a dystopia in clay animation.

The concrete islands in the asphalt desert next to the ruins are being colonized.

Do androids run with electric bulls?

Bats and dragonflies flit about as the sun sets.

Still free to have tacos on the 4^th of July.

“Here’s some duct tape if you need some,” she said before leaving for work.

The smoke came from a parked car, its hood up, and flames leaping from the engine.

Sometimes you have to stop and smell the sunset.

CHICANONAUTICA FACES SUDDEN CHANGES, GONZO STYLE

When the going suddenly changes Chicanonautica gets gonzo, over at La Bloga.

The changes keep coming:

More than we can handle:

Some folks think they have a final solution:

You just gotta laugh:

A SINISTER URGE

 

It’s hot. And surreal. And transmogrifying into grotesque.

 

Basically, I’m an artist—a cartoonist, if you want to get persnickety—passing for a writer. I start with images, then arrange the (“compose” of you pardon the pretension) them into stories. Nobody has ever noticed this, but it may be why some folks think I’m doing it all wrong.

I never could land a lucrative art/cartooning gig. It's amazing how people want you to knock yourself out making stuff for them, then weasel their way out of paying for it. Especially if your stuff ain’t pretty.

Still get the sinister urge to draw.

It’s coming a lot in this summer of grotesque spectacle. Some folks get horrified, I get inspired.

So, I’m making an effort to stop neglecting my sketchbook and cultivate my long-lost habit of compulsive, spontaneous cartooning. What the hell, I can always post it here and on the social media.

Could be fun. Heh-heh.

Are we grotesque enough yet?

 

CHICANONAUTICA CELEBRATES AN APOCALYPTIC INDEPENDENCE DAZE

. . . on Chicanonautica, at La Bloga.

The U.S. of A is another year older:

We avoided traditional rituals:

Do we need cosmic impacts to change our society?

And the evolution goes on:

BACK TO ARTSY-FARTSY COWBOY LAND

Emily and I went out on an overnight jaunt to get away from the soaring temperatures in Phoenix and the all-night setting off of explosives that have become an Independence Day ritual in our neighborhood. Why not Artsy-Fartsy Cowboy Land, Sedona, the New Age Mecca? It was cooler than the Valley of the Sun. We could go to some of our favorite restaurants, and poke around the streets that seem more like a theme park every year. 

There were flags, but they seemed subtle in this town where surrealist Max Ernst once lived and the ghost of P.T. Barnum would feel at home.

The big night was quiet. Not a sparkler or firecracker.

What do artsy-farty cowboys do on the 4th?

We passed a place called the Vortex— not the Vortex, but a place that sold “activated” tonics, juices, smoothies, and coffees. I wondered how they activated them. I imagined a device out of Dr. Frankenstein’s lab. According to their website, “Adaptogenic herbs and superplants” are activated with a “Proprietary Hand crafted ultra high vibrational substance” that has “Rose Vibes, Shilajit, Love, Magic, and some other powerful ingredients.”

Like the Firesign Theater said, “there’s a seeker born every minute.”

After breakfast at the fabulous Coffee Pot, we cruised Oak Creek Canyon, checked out the Midgley Bridge stickers and graffiti (an interesting 21st century tradition), and stopped for iced tea at Indian Gardens. Nothing Adaptogenic, but great for the blood pressure.

Then we headed for Cottonwood. Em’s phone rang. We had left a bag of clothes at the hotel.

We groaned, but decided not to let it get to us, turned around with smiles on our faces. Turns out it wasn’t our bag—it contained swimsuits we had never seen before. The universe may have had a reason for us to go back. Maybe it was just a reminder not to take shit so seriously.

Finally, made it to Cottonwood, a genuine, hippie-dippy, artsy-fartsy cowboy town complete with an Iron Horse Hotel, a Hippie Emporium, antique stores, and much, much more. There was a meditation center next to a Mexican restaurant, but if you’ve got good Mexican food, meditation is redundant.

And there were murals!

It was a lovely drive back. Only a little bit of an end-of-the-holiday-weekend traffic jam.

We’ll return to Artsy-Fartsy Cowboy Land in the future, being seekers of a sort.

In Chicanonautica, over at La Bloga, I’ll do something about the darker, political implications of what we saw . . .

CHICANONATICA SPIES ON THE WILD, WILD BORDER

Chicanonautica, at La Bloga, is about trouble at the border.

As fantasized in an old TV show:

The proto-steampunk, Wild, Wild West:

James Bond in the Old West:

With “Hispanic” villains:

AMERICAN DREAMING ON THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS

Happy Fourth, folks! When you read this, I’ll be on a romp across the wilds of Arizona with Emily. A great way to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I’ll be taking photos and notes for a travelogue. Stay tuned.

But it’s kind of bittersweet now, with an especially bizarro election looming. What’s with all these people calling themselves patriots but wanting to trash the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights? Do they know what the words they’re throwing around mean? Do they understand English?

And it’s not just here. All over the planet, people are warming up to the dictators.

Raging ignorance. Cult thinking. Argh.

And the world is in the hands of people who can’t make up their minds. At this point the election is about winning them over. Working with people who don't agree with you. Y'know, democracy.

I understand. There never seems to be a candidate that is in line with my view, but I’m a wild and crazy vato with far-out ideas. I learned long ago that me and politicians aren’t going to get along.

I’ve long considered voting to be like a pinball game. You whack away, hoping the ball will go where you want. Sure, often it doesn’t, but if you don’t whack, the assholes win and you didn’t do anything.

I’ve already made up my mind to vote for Biden, or whoever  may be running against Trump, who does more to make me want to vote against him every day.

Yeah, I know about the wars, and Biden is starting to look like the new LBJ, but Trump–who ain’t no peace freak and hates protesters–is worse than Nixon ever was, and is promising a full-blown dystopian nightmare if he wins.

Did I mention that Democracy is teetering on the edge of the abyss?

I know about protest votes–I’ve done them. They don’t do any good. I’ve always regretted it afterward.

Don’t worship politicians–I honestly don’t believe you should worship anything–they are pawns in this important game. Vote for them, but you don’t have to follow them. More important, vote against them, don’t invite the batshit crazy vampires into your front door, much less into the White House (again). Sacrifices must be made, as the Aztecs knew well . . .

And the day after the election, feel free to protest your ass off. One shitstorm at a time. Think strategically.

It’s awkward, and difficult, but far better than letting the monsters run the world.

Meanwhile, try to have some fun. I’ll be back with some weird, silly stuff soon. I promise.

 What's that? Immunity . . .

CHICANONAUTICA HANGS WITH ALIENÍGENAS AMERICANOS

Don’t know how legal they are, but they’re out of this world, from a book reviewed in Chicanonautica, at La Bloga.

We’re talkng UFOs:

Over South America:

And Mexico:

Plus chupacabras, and more: