I have a crush on Reza Aslan. He is the author of No God But God and also writes for The Daily Beast. He also has his own web site, of course: www.rezaaslan.com.

I like the way he thinks.

The world is becoming a very scary place for comic strip artists. Many alternative weeklies and newspapeprs are cutting comics to save money. We need to support their work by writing to the alt-weeklies. Here's one of my favorites comic artists, Red Meat by Max Cannon. (click on the strip to enlarge)

Ironic, since I'm a vegetarian, but it's not really about meat. Check out his work here: www.redmeat.com.

Can we just all say thank you for president Obama? Here he is after signing the lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration act into law. It's the first bill he has signed, it's fucking awesome, it's about time.

Just found this short film on YouTube while I was doing research for class tonight. Amazing. Heartbreaking, in a way. It made me cry.

I am slightly obsessed with abandoned seating. That is, I love the idea of couches and chairs left on the side of the road. I sometimes take pictures of them. My plan is to compile a lot of pictures to make a photo essay about abandoned seating. Here's one that is currently across the street from my house! Lovely.

The fabulous Roadside Scholar alerted me to this artist, Grant Haffner. Here is one of his paintings, entitled "Head of Pond Road." He is soon to have his first print ever, available at www.povevolving.com.

I love this stuff.

Someone asked me once why my blog is called innocent donuts. The answer is that it is a reference to a very beautiful and haunting scene in Cruddy, one of my favorite novels of all time.

Another amazing trend from Ashley Goldberg and Drew! Ashley and Drew have decided to create these incredible porcelain hanging pieces with their wonderful artwork. I love them--and I'm happy to say I'm the proud owner of this version! Check their Etsy shop for more versions . . . sublime!

I found another incredible artist on Etsy. Her name is Kat Hannah, and her work is beautiful, luminous, and just a little bit creepy. I'm often attracted to art that has a tinge of melancholy. Check out her etsy shop, too. This piece is called Defiant.

Now is the time for joy! President Barack Hussein Obama . . . Yippee!

I have been waiting for this day for a long time--and by this day I mean the LAST day of the Bush regime. And now I have something much more exciting to look forward to than just Bush being gone--I have an intelligent, calm, progressive new leader. But first, a small tribute to getting rid of George Bush! This comic is by the amazing, smart and prophetic Tom Tomorrow. Check out his work and blog at: www.thismodernworld.com.

This is what happens when you have a nice ribbon rainbow hanging thingy and forget to take it down for winter.

Being from California, acknowledging the Rose Parade is a tradition I'm ambivalent about. Sure it marks the new year, yes, there are lots of pretty floats that are obviously created by very talented people who put in hours of labor, but--the rose Parade also has a tradition of being viewed by virtually everyone across the U.S., unless you're too cool or too hungover to watch it, and of course what people see besides the damn floats and the marching bands is the fucking amazingly beautiful weather. It is unfailingly sunny, mild, and just overall fabulous on New Year's day, just so the zillions of people in the frigid northeast and midwest can see the people in shirtsleeves and sandals enjoying life OUTSIDE on January first.

Anyway, I'm not a big fan of the parade, but invariably I have it on every year so I can catch a glimpse of the City of Burbank (where I grew up) float. This year, I had to watch the stupid parade like THREE times to see the damn thing.

Usually a day or so after the parade the float people deposit the Burbank float in the parking lot of Verdugo Park (aka Verdruggo Park when I was in Junior High) so people can come and see it up close and personal. I took some pictures. Here they are. Happy New Year!