Summer Projects Update

Today I strained the raspberry liqueurs. There's Raspberry, RasMint, and RasGinger. The golden stuff at the bottom there is the sugar syrup that will make them sweeter and thicker. They should be quite strong, but tasty. They should be ready at the end of the month. Stay tuned.

A Little Crossover

Does it count as fanart if it is your own stuff? I have no idea. Thanks to my friend, the Ardent Sluggard, I started watching The Mystic Archives of Dantalian. In Japanese, the title is much shorter, but I went with this one anyway. The main characters, Dalian and Huey...well, being anime, I probably can't sum it up as easily as you'd think. Basically, they collect books, especially a certain type, called Phantom Books that are essentially Grimoires. There is fighting and sweets and all the other things that go into animes of this sort.

The dynamic of the two characters (in the three episodes I have seen) is comparable to Alexis and Cain, although Lex is not a pushy princess Lolita. But books are involved, and I wanted to do some cross over fanart. I guess you could say it is my characters cosplaying as their characters.

For the record, this is picture I was mostly going off of:


And here is the owner and the one employee of The Opheliac:
Normally, Lex smiles much more than this, but I was trying to keep some aspects the same. Cain pretty much always glowers like that. There were shenanigans, and yet again I got sick of tweaking. This is why I am not a good artist, I'm not a perfectionist enough. But I still like how it turned out.

Some Not-Very-Good ECS Pics

I sort of apologize for this. I did the lineart around two am yesterday and every now and again, when I'm coloring in Photoshop, I go 'hey, that gritty/half finished look is actually pretty cool' and then come back to it and realize, no it really just looks like I half assed it, but by that point I don't want to fix it. SO...

PreTat Jael

Jael, as you probably worked out, is my Archivist, the Homo Gnosis Faustus of Emerald City Spiral. The purpose of this picture was actually cuz I was going to do tat and makeup shenanigans which clearly have no happened yet. So uh...sorry about that.



This is Matt. He has a tendency of telling some people his full name is Matthew and other people that it's Matthias. Matt does this because he has a problem. The Bible says that 'No man can serve two masters.' Matt would agree to this, with an added, 'Especially if one of them is a total bitch.'

Actually, in some ways, Matt got very lucky. As Powers go, the two HE'S forced to call Master are more sane than most. They just happen to play for different teams (which also isn't totally fair, since everyone is on their own team).

Like Ezra, Matt is a Tyr. In fact, Matt was made a Tyr specifically BECAUSE of Ezra Once Matt was a very competent-if-not-particularly-passionate detective. As you can gather from his current garb, that is no longer a profession he is able to pursue.

It is said the PowersThatBe do not make mistakes when they choose their warriors. Matt calls BS on that, because no way would a Warden Power intent on protecting the Mundanes from the homicidal madness of an Incarnadine pick a Vampire's familiar.

Matt is aware that his personal sanguinary boss is not the worst and is actually (worryingly) enjoying his work for her more and more as time goes on. But righteous defense is not something the Vampires are known for and his Master is no exception. She also has a rather cruel sense of humor, which is why he looks like that.

Thanks for tuning in. =)

The Killer and the Morlock

Two fresh pieces for you today, with absolutely nothing in common.

I have been watching a lot of X-Men: Evolution lately (thank you, Hulu), and Callisto recently showed up. I personally really like her, probably because I would like to think I can relate. Unlike the other Morlocks, she doesn't REALLY need to stay down there, she could pass on the surface. One gets the impression that she does because they need looking after and she is taking care of those that others won't. That's legit, in my book. So this simple fanart is for her.

Another reason I've always liked Callisto is she doesn't fit the normal 'female comic book characters' stereotypes. She's a big girl, tall, broad of shoulders, built without being beefy. Has something of the Revolutionary look to her, I've always felt, practical and maybe a little defiant. Obviously she's pale because she never sees the sun. I know her eye isn't always red, just when she's using her power, but I wanted to do it anyway.

And over here in Original Character Land...

Guess who totally had fun with patterns today? :D Technically, I suppose those bricks should be red, but I liked the contrast too much.

This is Ezra. He is a Tyr in Emerald City Spiral. That is not an arrow behind him, it's a rune (Tyr or Tiswar, depending on who you ask, the 'spear'). According to Nordic/Teutonic legend, Odin impaled himself with a spear upon Yggdrasil in order to achieve enlightenment. Likewise, the warriors of Thor and Odin had to slash the rune onto their flesh in order to enter Valhalla. When the Nazis were making a big deal about the Spear of Longinus/Destiny, they were linking it to these legends. Just as the farmer plowed the field, so it was believed the gods plowed/wounded the human soul in order to teach it and grant it wisdom.

This is all well and good, but what if such understanding was forced upon an individual? What if they didn't ask to be enlightened and the gods chose them anyway? In the eternal struggle between the various Powers That Be, warriors, avatars of their sires, are chosen to fight the proxy war. They are not given an choice. These are the Tyr.

As you might imagine, forced illumination frequently has...side effects. Like...homicidal insanity. Or maybe Ezra is just doing as his master bids. You never can be sure in these situations.

Sketchbook: His Chthonic Majesty Dreams of English Summer Rain

Saint Pandora

The first Homo Gnosis Faustus, patron Saint of those who would know that which is meant to be unknowable.

I drew this first in pencil but it didn't save, so I'm afraid I don't have it for you.

This was intended to look like the stained glass window of a church, and it will hang in the as-yet-unnamed Archivist's chambers. Saint Pandora was meant to have something of the Madonna to her, beatific yet distant. She looks down into her box, crying tears of acid, yet she smiles. It is better to know, her eyes say.

The original picture done with marker with a minimal amount of smudging for the fire effect. Protip: All those runes are important. Well, her rosary/necklace thing and the rune in the back. But that would be spoilz.

Was going more for a 'woodcut' look here. But it is harder to make out her smile.
Kind of a 'blown glass' thing here. I like filters, okay? And finally...


The actual 'stained glass' effect. not what I was going for, but as something like a 'chipped mosaic' piece, it kind of works.

Which do you guys think works best?

New Month, New Art!

Today I bring you the Duchess of Milan, from the sort-of-story I told you about yesterday.

Her name is Haidee. And she is the most dangerous little girl in Europe.

This is the first version. I am particularly fond of the lolita gasmask, though it needs depth and texture.

Today, I decided I would try to shade it a slightly different way. All the base colors are the same though, so the differences will probably be subtle.



With this one, I was trying to go for a simpler shading, and also to more strongly indicate with direction light was coming from (in this case, from the upper left hand side). It sort of succeeded, though clearly needs work.

Thoughts?

Black and White

Today, I have two simple pictures, one old and one new.

A Doxic Priest

As you can see, this was drawn on notebook paper and is basically a doodle I made at school. The world it comes from is still evolving in my head, and yet again, there's no actual plot, just characters and a premise.

At some point, air becomes toxic. The wealthy nations knew this was coming and made air filtration plants but pretty much refused to give them to the poorer nations. As such, whole populations were lost. Also, things like aeronautics becomes quite difficult. This is essentially an excuse for why the story focuses on the Eurasian continent and why I'm not going to worry about America or Australia. I am forcing an oversimplification on the world. As I continue to think about it, I add more and it becomes more complex so those sorts of things will undoubtedly be modified. But one thing at a time.

There are two superpowers...because I like contrasting dichotomies. In the West...that is, the Western European nations that still exist, government has reverted to city-state republics, ruled by Dukes, Duchesses and so on. Regressing (or re-progressing?) to an eram uch like the Renaissance, a kind of intellectual arms race has sprung up, a competition to have the best minds in one place. The greatest rivalry is between Florence, Venice and Milan. The Vatican is yet again a major player in politics, though nominally uninvolved. As you can imagine, there is frequently tension between the ruling nobles and the Vatican, but no one can really move against them.

In the East, they do not have this problem, as everyone knows and accepts that the Princes of Rus are subject to the command of the Patriarch leader of the Doxic church, in this case, the Pontifex Primarquessa Erzebet of Muscovy. There is no division between Church and State. As you can imagine, the apocalyptic reality hit the east harder and most of the continent has become an arid wasteland. The only people who live beyond the control of the Princes are nomadic warriors that bear a suspicious resemblance to Fremen and Mongols. As such, the Doxics are a hard and utilitarian people. Where the West is done in jewel and metal, the East is steel gray. It would be like if Renaissance met the Soviet Union.

This isn't to say there isn't hella court politics between the Doxics. The Princes of Rus constantly backstab and undermine and Erzebet herself has a problem with her own sister, Kateryna of the Volga.

Everyone has to wear breathing masks, but in the West, they wear full masquerade masks, and it's considered a sign of intimacy to actually show your face. Really elaborate ones. In the East, they are very utilitarian and straightforward. That being said, there will be some fun designs on both sides.

As the Pontifex is ruler, most roles are filled by priests. The color of the armbands the priests wear indicate their affiliation. Pro tip: You don't want to cross the blue ones. Or the red ones. Or the grey ones.

The point of the story is to conflate history. That is to have characters heavily based on real people interacting, even if they didn't necessarily exist at the same time. Part of the inspiration came from reading a 'What If' book written by prominent historians. One of the situations was the Mongols assaulting Venice and one of the statements were 'One shudders to think what they would have done with Leonardo.' Not only do I not shudder, I think that is an AWESOME idea.

I like this picture because I so rarely draw with pen and it actually came out pretty much exactly as I wanted. You should expect to see more from this universe in the future.

Probably the Most Emo Picture I Will Ever Post, Promise

This is undoubtedly, a very cliche type thing, and I'm sure I could find a dozen similar images on DeviantArt, but I don't care. I think most of us have felt like this at some point. It is a complicated thing. The cracks, the wounds are real, and they don't just go away, but we put a smile on and tell them that it's okay, and we mean it too, at least to the extent that we're not consciously lying. We're okay but we're not.

I was going for a doll look, and tried to make it purposefully androgynous because like I said, I think most people, male or female has been in this position. I was originally going for a porcelain doll look, hence the cracks, but also a little bit of Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. I especially like how the broken smile came out, because it leaves open the question...is it forced? If it is, who is it trying to convince...them or you? Or do you mean it, but doing it still hurts? Nothing is ever simple.

Materials: Sharpie. I did the background and text bubble in photoshop obviously because I wanted the contrast but everything else is just simple ink.
Sketchbook: Such Mad Hope From The Gates of Horn and Ivory

Two-Fer!

I swear, I didn't forget yesterday's update, but I had to run errands and by the time I got back, it was just not happening. SO, to make up for it, I have both updates today.

Echidna

Echidna is one of my favorite mythological figures. The Broodmother, the Mother of Monsters. Is there a scary being under your bed? It probably popped out of her. You can read more about her here. I'm also including the link for the purpose of full disclosure, so you can see that I used a bit of a reference.This is actually not how I usually draw her, but I wanted to focus on the 'nymph like' aspect, the alluring seductress who needs your seed to continue her race of creatures, rather like Grendel's mother.

Originally I wanted to put up the line art, and then contrast it colored in Photoshop as opposed to markers but Photoshop was being a butt. So...this is what you're going to get instead.


Photoshop Lineart



Markers


Attempts at shading were clearly...well, attempted, with varying degrees of success. I'm sorry I didn't draw scales, I did not feel like it would really help. I don't hate it, And some things worked better than I expected, though I imagine I will do another version eventually.

Sketchbook: His Chthonic Majesty Dreams of English Summer Rain

Kahlan




This is actually something of a redo from some pictures I put on Deviantart a few years ago.

For those in the back, Kahlan is the second main character from Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series. Both of these pictures are inspired by the second book, 'Stone of Tears.' It was extremely good and extremely traumatizing to read, which is why I haven't finished the series. I'm not even kidding, this book shaved years off my life. The top comes from a battle scene in which Kahlan leads a small band of Mud people (that's what they're called) against the armies of the Bad Guy. She rides a horse naked, covered in mud and pretty much pwns face. I obviously did not draw her doing that. This comes directly after the battle as she is wrapped in a wolf-cloak and staring out at the carnage. I like this scene because it is Kahlan the Defender, the Warrior, protector of her people.

The lower half comes later. I don't want to say too much because it is one of the major climaxes of the book, but as you can see from the link, it's called 'The Gratitude of the Masses,' so that should tell you something. This is Kahlan the Mother/Guardian, the Servant, at what is probably her lowest moment. Well, no, there is one other time, and I would LOVE to draw it as a stained glass Triptych, but that will take more art skillz than I currently possess.

I love this character because she avoids so many aggravating tropes. She IS strong, but not at the expense of her femininity, she is smart without being abrasive, caring without being weak. And she's pretty. And Richard is one of the best protagonists. Really, I should just finish these books, assuming my heart can take it.

Sketchbook: Such Mad Hope From The Gates of Horn And Ivory

NEW ARTZ

You know, if I actually do manage to keep up this posting fing, I may have to make a whole new blog. BECAUSE I'M COOL. Or I could get around to ever posting anything else here. It isn't like I don't think of things.

To contrast yesterday's much older art, I bring you something I finished today, hopefully contrasting that I suck slightly less.


Today I have two original characters, only one of which is mine. They come from totally separate universes and the only things they have in common is warding sigils tattooed to their skin and the fact that neither of them have names yet.

As you can probably guess, the one on the left is one of my characters from Emerald City Spiral, a kind of urban fantasy that I play with every now and again. Think of her as the Intel Analyst of the supernatural, whose job it is to know what other people don't or can't for the sake of their own sanity. Needless to say she has a lot of vices, mostly drinking. And she's a little crazy. Funfact: She dyes her hair blue because the color it naturally is now disturbs people. That's right, the electric punk color is her doing YOU a favor as the LESSER extreme.

On the right is an Inquisitor from the Warhammer 40,000 universe dressed in the equivalent of a plainclothes police officer. I won't give any details because it isn't my character to spoilz.

Materials: Pencils, inking pen, Photoshop
Sketchbook: Such Mad Hope From the Gates of Horn and Ivory

Summer Art: Cheating with old stuff

I have a totally cool piece of art for today, but I have to ask permission to use it first, so while that happens, plz to enjoy this concept art from Wasteland: Earth, which you can still read by following the link at the right hand side even though I haven't updated it for months (in my defense, the computer it was saved on blew up).

I should really recolor this now that I suck slightly less at Photoshop, but it is good to see whee I came from.

I would describe the character and story, but seriously...the link is right there. There's only like ten chapters, it won't take long.

Line art:
Colored profile:






Materials used: Pencils and Photoshop
Sketchbook: On Her Once White Wings, the Raven Wheels Above The Wasteland

Summer Art Cont...

This really needs no need to explain this.
Materials: Waterproof meant-for-kids markers
Sketchbook: Such Mad Hope from the Gates Of Horn And Ivory

Summer Art

Because he is infinitely cooler than me, I'm going to see if I can emulate my good buddy Holden who posts art he has made every day, sometimes new stuff, sometimes old stuff. You can check it out (and I strongly urge you to do so), here.

Today, we have some characters from the Ivory Tower.

The Ivory Tower was/is a concept I'm still mucking with, but as with most of my ideas, I enjoyed the conceptualizing and pretty utterly failed at the execution. The basic premise was the anthropomorphic personifications of academic subjects. The point was to explore the relationships between them. Humanities students don't identify with Math students who don't identify with Art students, and so on. And within the basic houses, there are huge differences.

I once walked in on a furious debate between a History student and an English student about who had to write more papers. The argument was silly to begin with because so much depends on what teachers you have. Some teachers assign 3 papers a quarter, which determine your whole grade (I HATE that, for the record). Others require a page long paper every week. And of course, the KIND of writing is different. While obviously, most English students can and do write research papers, and History students can and (though less often) do write creative works, the emphasis is still very different. But I didn't want to introduce a Quantity Versus Quality dynamic to what was already an asinine discussion.

Engineering students frequently don't relate to Physics students, even though there's so much overlap. Drama kids rarely get along with band kids. The point is, there is a culture to subjects, at least on the university level if not throughout academia, and I wanted to represent it with characters. Of course, all of this is through my perceptions of said subjects, and others have totally different ones, which was why I had wanted it to be a rather collaborative effort, and indeed, got a lot of tips and ideas from various individuals.

So the Ivory Tower itself is a giant...castle/private school. Rather like Hogwarts now that I think about it. It is presided over the rarely seen Polymath and broken into the 3 main houses mentioned above: Humanities, Sciences and Art. Of course, even here, there is some difficulty. The Physikies...Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc...disdainfully look down on the Softies...Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology (triplets), Political Science and so on, which bounce between Science and Humanities as the Social Sciences. Mathematics and Physics don't get along because they are the two big guys in the little sandbox and they're just alike enough to hate each other and just different enough to not merge into a crazy amorphous blob. No one knows what to do with the art students. Or the philosophy students, but for the most part, they stay out of everyone's way.

So with that longwinded introduction over, here is the first couple Students I worked up.

Statistics is that girl everyone kind of hates, but also wants to be with. Sociology has a huge crush on her, but since they're so often in the same study group, he doesn't say anything because he doesn't want it to get 'weird.' She's the kind of girl who actually runs for the ASC. And wins. Her brother, Mathematics, particularly avoids her because she so often tries to one-up him and twists his words around in knots. She never goes steady with any one person for long and frequently makes rounds among the Softies. Her younger brother, Probabilities is always trying to tag along but he just mucks up her scene and she's always trying to distance herself from him.

Speaking of...



Meet Probabilities and his best friend Quantum Theory. Quantum Theory is Physics ginger-step-brother. Literally. But he doesn't let the weird stares or the nearly universal awkwardness and sidelong glances get him down. Probabilities and Quantum Theory hang out a lot, mostly because they get ignored or shunted by everyone else, and because they're a little young, they don't always relate the same way the others do. This, however, leads to lots of (truthfully, hilarious) pranks and shenanigans as they try to get everyone to just lighten up.

Materials: Pencil, .4 fine point pent, Photoshop.
Sketchbook: His Chthonic Majesty Dreams of English Summer Rain

Summer Projects: Part 1(?)

I'm not gunna lie. My back hurts. My legs are sore. I'm extremely tired. I've spent over a hundred dollars and worried it will be an epic waste, which would really suck because that's not exactly money I have to toss around. I've set my stove on fire, yelled at my cats, walked to and from base, twice (making it about a four mile trip, carrying groceries), and frequently found myself going, "WHY did I think this would be a good idea?"

All for these.



What, you may legitimately ask, are these infernal contraptions? Eyes in glasses? Toenails? Have I taken up some dark magics?!



My answer to all that is: I bet that would be easier.

Frankly, I blame Amazon. They had this huge digital sale, tons of books under four dollars. And one of the 99 cent ones was 'Make Liqueurs as Gifts!' and I was like 'Hey, I'm not really drinking anymore but totally have this booze left over, I bet it'd be swell to have homemade gifts of teh alcohols to give away!' It helped that I had recently been wanting to paint glass jars for no apparent reason. I had thought to make candle holders but this seemed so much cooler.

I'm going to share a secret with you, kittens. It takes a FHTAGN TON of alcohol to make liqueurs. Mostly vodka. I think I went through a 1 1/3 liter. I also polished off a bottle of gin.

If I had been smart and really thought this out, what I would have done was pick a relatively easy recipe, and tried it. If it worked out, I would have branched out, tinkering as I went.

I am neither smart, nor good at thinking things out.

What I did instead was by about six different kinds of fruits, nuts, spices, extracts...plus jars, a strainer, and coffee filters.

Those bottles are the main bunch, but there are another three in a closet, because they need to be kept in a warm dark place. So there's close to a dozen of these suckers. And, continuing my trend of idiocy, I decided to experiment straight off. I tried to keep detailed measurements and whatnot but there's a disturbing amount of 'approximately's written in my journal. I also got a giant At-A-Glance calendar to let me know when to shake this bottle, turn that bottle, strain this, etc.

What I should have done when I realized I was going to burn through alcohol like a fratboy was taper down all of the recipes. So what if I would have leftover fruit (which I do anyway)? Good snacks, way to be healthy. And truthfully, I did start really paring it down as we went, but it was still a lot.

So if this fails, it's going to fail epically.

But if it works...



...this could be the beginning of the Opheliac line. I've already started naming them. The above bottle will eventually be Incarnadine. I'm also designing labels, but these will be relatively simple and of course dependent on them not totally sucking. The above bottle again, has to sit without being moved for three months. My raspberry ones for pretty much the same amount.

So...I will keep you in the loop on that. Honestly, it was really fun, just stressful because I realized after it was too late to really stop that it probably could have been handled better.

Oh, and sugar syrup sucks to make. Just throwing that out there.

I had thought about making a whole new blog just to focus on different summer projects (art, writing, this, etc), but since I haven't done anything on this blog for awhile, and it would just get shut down once I start working again, I figured this was best.

Hit me up with your thoughts.

Early Morning Philosophy #2

Whenever I watch a movie that features Arlington National Cemetery, I won't lie, I fight the urge to tear up a bit.

Not simply for all the alabaster graves...though there are SO many of them...but for all the people I know aren't there...including those once thought our enemies. I have seen many war memorials now, and though I am grateful for a new kind of war that doesn't involve lining up on hilltops to fire at each other 'like a good sport,' it grieves me that our non-traditional wars are not really conducive to memorials as we understand them. And the people we tend to fight now would never be able to afford them anyway.

I am sad for all the families in the arid nations of AK's and sand and oil. I've been accused of being unpatriotic for this, but I consider quite the reverse true. If the adage: "With great power comes great responsibility," is true, I believe we, as Americans, have the highest responsibility to be respectful of fallen fighters on all sides.

I am adamantly opposed to violating the dead. When Achilles killed Hector, that was fine, that was his right as a warrior, and it was an honorable battle. But when he towed Hector's bleeding body around Troy's walls, there was an almost ubiquitous dissaproval...even from the gods.

I do not believe anyone to be my enemy. I have wished harm upon individuals, but only in moments of anger, and always because they have threatened or injured those close to me, and usually, much of the ire is born out of my own incompetence at defending my loved ones. I do not hate any group of people.

This is one of the reasons...perhaps the biggest reason, war is a horrifyingly soul-raping, wretched endeavor. I believe there are things worth fighting for. I believe there are things worth dying for. While I am more than a little hesitant to claim there are things worth killing for (because it is hard for me to conceive, let alone justify such a claim), I recognize that sometimes easy choices are simply not given to us, and I do not judge those who fight. Despite my own deontological moral philosophy, I absolutely believe there is honor in being a soldier, and it is totally appropriate to respect and honor THEM for their service.

The dead have no enemies (unless of course, the Zombie Apocalypse arrives, in which case, I'm going to have a LOT of moral paradigms to rethink). An enemy is someone who wants to harm you in some way. I do not believe the dead wish ill of anyone. As such, when someone dies, they cease to be an enemy. I'm not suggesting we suddenly forgive or forget. All claims to objectivity aside, history will always be replete with at least passive judgments. But this does make desecration of the dead a moral sin. The most justly won victory can be completely tainted by such behavior, the most righteous defender brought down to the level of the basest of villains.

But I am not a soldier. I have no enemies. I have never fired a weapon, I have never been fired upon. I have never watched someone close to me die, knowing their killer was still alive and it was within my power to do something about it. It is simply not a position I have ever occupied, and so I cannot, in all fairness, pass firm judgment upon it. I have what I believe, and I believe it to be right, and someone would be hard pressed to convince me of any justification otherwise. But I will not pretentiously flout high standing ideals, safe in the comfort and security afforded me by the very individuals I would be lambasting.

I hope that all those people who were once considered enemies find peace in whatever afterlife they find, should they believe in one, and peace in the nothingness if they believe that instead. I hope their loved ones have a place to go to remember them, to honor their ideals if they are worth honoring them, to honor the individual if he or she is worth it to them, or at least to mourn the tragedy that was their life and death. And I hope that as best as we are able, we respect those who fight for causes not our own and that when the fighting ends, and the issues resolve and the wounds began to heal, we put aside thoughts of 'enemies,' and return to being just people.

Early Morning Philosophy #1

Most people think that optimists--hopeful people, people who choose to focus on the good--turn a blind eye to the realities of the world. That they live in houses made of fuschia glass, incapable of facing truth. I disagree. In my experiences, people of hope are more aware of the world than most, because they look at each moment. They refuse to sweep all negative events into a sweeping, 'Well, what do you expect these days?' generality that the pessimistic and the despairing do; instead, they believe that each victim, each sad tragedy is worth being mourned in and of itself, and not just part of some overarching (and therefore ignorable) whole. They refuse to let themselves become desensitized, and so, feel each sadness fresh each time. It easy to shrug off sadness, easy to act as if it is to be expected, and after all, what could *I* have done about it anyway? It is much harder to refuse to accept that as the rule, to strive instead to make it the exception. To focus on the good is to encourage it...Evil is the greatest, and original troll which thrives off the attention it gets. Optimists don't claim the world is great. I don't even think it's that good. But the potential for good is there, and to trivialize it by considering any such encouragement as juvenile does no favors for anyone. Pessimism is an easy way out because it gives those who do wrong an excuse, a cop out. "How could you have expected me to do the right thing?" they ask, "When the wrong thing was so much easier and practically EXPECTED?" I am willing to accept, though not agree, that optimism is probably foolish. I will never accept that it is weak.