Matthew Inman is a Monkey Hugger

Todays’ Guest:

Matthew Inman (www.theoatmeal.com)

Matt Inman

How Much Money Do You Have in Your Pockets?

$4.00 or so.  I only carry cash on Thursdays, those are “tranny hooker night” at the Oatmeal household.

What is the funniest Text on your phone right now?

If u don’t stop texting me poetry about the anus of a buffalo I’m gonna file a restraining order

Have you ever pretended to be someone else on the phone?

When I was a teenager people would often mistake me for my dad when I answered the phone, so one time I just ran with it.  It wasn’t until they started asking questions about carburetors that the jig was up.  I’m not into autos, and I’m pretty sure my car runs on space juice, so my ability to keep up in the conversation didn’t last long.

What happens when you hit a ninja with a car?

I veer out of the way and run over a bunch of old people instead.

If you could have chosen you own name what would it be?

I want a name that combines a force of nature with a reproductive organ, such as ThunderPussy or HurricaneBalls.  CockLightning would be acceptable, too.

If you could only have one type of sandwich for the rest of your life what would it be?

A bald eagle sandwich; they’re both delicious and patriotic.

Anything else I should know?

When I was in elementary school we used to play this game where we’d stretch out our arms out and run around the field while producing sounds like an airplane.  The game was appropriately called “airplanes,” and it was really fun until the day a giant horsefly flew into my mouth and got stuck in my throat.  I spent a good 30 seconds trying to hawk it up, meanwhile it was buzzing and crawling inside my esophagus.  Eventually it shot out of my mouth and went on to what I imagine was a charmed life.  For the remainder of the school year, however, my classmates referred to me as “that kid who ate a horsefly” rather than my first name.

If I were the man then that I am today, I’d personally force feed crickets to all those moon-faced little brats.  My name is Matthew, you little assholes – remember it well.

Matt is Internet infamous for his ribald comics about everything from things you should know about coffee to eating flies. You may notice a striking similarity between the comic that Monkey-Hugger Matthew  “oatmeal” Inman put out yesterday and his answer to my last question. That is because Matt is a salivating velociraptor when it comes to comedy and couldn’t wait an extra day to post his quote unquote comic to the Interwebs. I am feverishly formulating a an emoticon to express my feelings….unfortunately I can’t come up with anything that properly evokes beating a koala to death with a bag of unicorn dung. (Maybe Matt can steal that from me too!)

PS. Buy his comic book

Women Love Handles

Today’s Guest

Rose (its one word like Cher)

How Much Money Do You Have in Your Pockets?

Do bobby pins count as money?

What is the funniest Text on your phone right now?

“Chuck Berry! I’m watching the second season of SNL and he’s playing Johnny be good. It’s totally sexy!”

Have you ever pretended to be someone else on the phone?

Yes

What happens when you hit a ninja with a car?

Everyone knows that’s impossible.

If you could have chosen you own name what would it be?

Ferguson. Or Violet. It’s probably for the best that I didn’t name myself.

If you could only have one type of sandwich for the rest of your life what would it be?

Bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado

Anything else I should know?

I’m thinking about you naked right now

I am excited to know that there are people in the world other than me pretending I am naked.

Let’s Play Interview Roullette!

Tonight’s Guest:

Aviel Ginzburg (www.untitledstartup.com)

aviel ginzburg

How Much Money Do You Have in Your Pockets?
$1

What is the funniest Text on your phone right now?
“Did you rick roll me at three in the morning last night? Via phone?” – I was messing around with the Twilio.com API

Have you ever pretended to be someone else on the phone?
Bob Hope

What happens when you hit a ninja with a car?
Nothing.

If you could have chosen you own name what would it be?
Gaius

If you could only have one type of sandwich for the rest of your life what would it be?
Tuna fish sandwich with wasabi.

Anything else I should know?
The tuna fish sandwich could also have bacon on it.

I enjoy my time with Aviel. He seems like a sport. He once claimed that he would help me find a tambourine. To give you some perspective on how successful that adventure was I am still looking for a tambourine. I don’t hold that against him though; tambourines are surprisingly hard to find used.

Also, if he changes his name to Gaius Ginzburg he would be like Paul Wolfowitz, both vaguely scary AND vaguely jew-y.

How To: Sexting

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Creative Commons Licensecredit: annais

Text flirting, or sexting, is all the rage in the media. Unfortunately they are focusing on amateurs, like teenage picture takers and celebrities.

Let’s use Tiger Woods as an example. What Tiger said, “I will wear you out…when was the last time you got fucked”

Rose sums up the Tiger’s issue pretty well:

While this is probably not an isolated sext. I suspect they’re all this weak, which is the problem with celebrities. They think they don’t have to work at seduction, and they’re too often right.

So, how do you sext your way to seduction?

Your best option is to practice, but don’t practice on your phone. Practice with paper. The beginners course is formulas that you can use to get started and find out where you have the best traction.

Sexting 101: Mad Libs

Remember that these text are about them. Specifically the things you want to do to them because of the uncontrollable desire they produce in you. Start by using I want. Once you have that down pepper your messages with synonyms, like need, have and must. Also, avoid emoticons and ellipses, they water down your message.

Parts:

  • I want to put my__(Body Part)__in your__(Body Part)__.
  • I want to put your__(Body Part)__in my__(Body Part)__.

Action:

  • I want to__(Verb)__ your__(Body Part)__.
  • I want to__(Verb)__ my__(Body Part)__(over|in|through|against) your __(Body Part)__ .

Combinations:

  • I want to__(Verb)__ your__(Body Part)__with my__(Body Part)__until you __(Verb)__.
  • I need to__(Verb)__ your__(Body Part)__with you up on__(Large Object)__in the __(Location)__.

A note on body parts: remember you are trying to be sexy so steer away from medical or juvenile naming, unless you are trying to be funny.

Sexting 202: Free-form and Similes

Now that you are comfortable with the basics stop restricting yourself to body parts. You can use any noun, however there are some nouns that are better than others. Consider the picture that words paint:

  • Pickle vs Cucumber
  • Little General vs Conquering Soldier
  • Curtain Rod vs Garden Hose

Also, start adding modifiers:

I want to_(Verb)_ your_(Noun)__with my__(Noun)__until you __(Verb)__on my floor.

Similes, like statements, are another way to spice up your spicy texts. Start off simple and then try mixing them in with your other skills.

Simple:

I want to__(Verb)__you like a__(Noun)__.

A bit more flowery:

Your__(Noun)__feels like__(Noun[s])__(Verb-ing)__my__(Noun)__.

Sexting 303: Have Fun, But Be Smart

Now that you have some patterns you will quickly learn the limitations of the formulas. You will definitely find that adding modifiers to your Nouns and Verbs help paint a better picture, but don’t modify everything. The best modifications are sensations: warm, salty, firm etc.

Remember that sexting is mental. So, consider your goal and audience. Are you trying to be sexy or dirty? If the goal is dirty go with explicit. If you want better sexy results be implicit, rather than graphic, because engaging your readers mind makes it sexier.

Implied action:

  • I want to wear you like a tight fitting coat.
  • I want to wrap you around me.
  • I hope you have been stretching lately, b/c I just learned something new on the Internet.

Explicit action:

  • I want to hump you into a puddle.
  • I’m going to plow you like a new england field.
  • Go buy a beach towel. Tonight you are going to get messy.

Additional Resources

See What Other People Sext

For another perspective you can watch James Lipton’s advice on sexting:

And if you just can’t do it on you own I will write one for you.

Am I A Racist

He's back - and he didn't even bring us a present!
credit: foxypar4

Recently it has been implied that I am racist; based largely on my post on monkeys hating white people. I also realize that a while ago I suggested that we should invade New Zealand.

I want to put to rest any questions you may have about my possible bigotry. Racism is the belief that some group of people is superior to another. Those that prescribe to race being a valid distinction often break it into 9 genetic clusters.

  1. African
  2. Amerindian
  3. Arctic Northeast Asian
  4. European Caucasoid
  5. New Guinean & Australian
  6. Non-European Caucasoid
  7. Northeast Asian
  8. Pacific Islander
  9. Southeast Asian

There isn’t that much genetic difference between “races,” mainly just superficial things.

I see people in a very different way. There is me and there is everyone else. So, until such time as I am cloned and qualify as a group I am not a racist–just self-important.

Spent Time Lost in a Jungle

A cow [15/365]
Creative Commons Licensecredit: publicenergy

When I was 19 I dropped out of college. It was a difficult decision at first. Most people that I talked to were against it– they thought I would never go back. Ultimately, I asked someone I didn’t know very well what I should do. She said it didn’t sound like I had much of a choice. That made me happy.

I didn’t really have much of a choice: I was clinically depressed after the death of my dad and I was in and out of the hospital with what turned out to be ludicrously misdiagnosed mononucleosis. In the end I had surgery to remove my tonsils and went to Costa Rica instead of college.

When I arrived I had the idea that I would go camping in a couple of places and go to a wildlife reserve where there were sea turtles. By the end of the week I had ditched most of my camping gear and was staying at a hotel in Boca del Torro Panama. I had a weird convergence of events I met someone who lived a few blocks from me in Portland, a woman who new one of my closest friends from college, and a guy that worked at the same gas station as me in Las Vegas.

I decided I would drop out of Costa Rica too.

So, I took a trip to David, a mountain that was supposed to have good hiking. In David I stayed at a hostel where I met a guy from Ireland and a guy from Ohio. They were planning to take a common hike from a little outside of town to another town where we could catcha a bus and be back by dinner. This seemed like a fun idea, the path seemed very clear on the map and there were other people who would be takling similar trails. But, as you can tell from the title of this story it did not work out nearly that well.

The first hour was really great we walk along the road toward a farm, the view was verdant and gray-blue. People smiled and waved, we ran into some other hikers that were taking a similar trail. After terning off to the farm the trail became more interesting– weaving through the jungle. Up and down past streams an back into the sun. Around the one-hour mark there was a steam that we decided to rest by. I took off my shoes and put my feet in the water.

The other people forged ahead leaving Ohio, Ireland and me behind. As we crested a hill the trail opened out into a field. Tall grass surrounded a medium sized shack. There was a clear opening in the trees. We continued ahead on to the obvious path thinking we would soon run into the others.

Three-and-a-half hours later we have seen no sign of other people. While we were talking we failed to notice we were doing more tree dodging than path walking and the path had gotten less “common” and more jungle floor. Maybe we should have figured we were in the wrong place when we started seeing cows. Seriously! Cows in the jungle. Something was wrong. Ireland pointed out that if we were to catch our intended bus we should have arrived 30 minutes earlier.

Clearly we had made a mistake. As we were discussing what to do I heard a loud crack of gun fire. Ireland and I looked at  each other. Ohio smiled, oblivious to what was going on.

“I think we should go back the way we came, clearly we are on someones,” I said hoping they would agree.

“I think that’s best,” thankfully Ireland agreed.

“Why not just keep going this way till we find the road,” Ohio did not share our pragmatic nature.

“Well, we are surrounded by cattle and someone just shot a rifle. So, either we are on someones land or someone is trigger happy either way I think we should head back the way we know.” My normal optimism was consumed by a base desire for survival. Ireland spent about 30 seconds explaining that, yes, in fact, the noise we heard was gun fire.

So, we set off for David– now over four hours into a three hour hike.We decided to eat lunch once we were a reasonable distance from the cattle and possible shooter. This rest was a great relief, both the food and sitting down. My respite was cut short. In mid-bite I felt an intense sensation, like having a match put out on my arm. A purple and blue hornet-y thing was jabbing its ass-parts into me with great, and repeated, resolve. Aching, burning and tired I set out again with Ireland and Ohio– we were still over three hours from home.

We did, eventually, make it back to the shack and field. As we approached the road we came in on one of them saw a small sign 6 by 12 inches in a bush pointing the direction we were supposed to go so many hours earlier.

As we finally flopped out on to the road we were able to catch a final group of workers leaving the farm and convince them to give us a ride in the back of their pick-up. Now almost 8 hours into a 3 hour hike we rested shortly as the truck bumped down the road. That night I found the only place in David that was still open and would make me a milkshake.

And that is the story of getting lost in the jungle.

Projecting

I have been working on the various books from the last post, but I have also been preparing for a move and some serious projects at work. So, no images yet from the books.

But, I do have an image about a book:

How I Remember It.

Click it to see the full size. This is a mind map of how I would probably tell the story of my life. Realistically the college bubble is in a purgatory between remembered and told. Certainly I remember being there, but I have also been told a number of things that are pretty funny/absurd about my behavior.

I have been thinking about expanding the Take Part in Art to a prose project when I am done with the graphic version. Telling stories the way I understand them, remembered or told. If there was ever a story that you wish you knew from someone elses perspective, like the first time they saw a bird or the first time their heartbroke this could be a chance. Maybe I should just try to write the story of each of my “Things I’ve Done” from the about section. Although, that might not be as interesting. I should kick off the project with some of those stories, it is easier to maintain a blog telling stories than making art books anyway.

So, I promise more regular posting via telling some sories rather than the big gaps caused by the Art project.

Take Part In Art 2

  • The Grass Is Greener
  • Digital vs. Print
  • Culture vs. Instinct
  • Things Overheard
  • Dehydrated Mouse
  • Birth; Life; Death
  • A Five Year Old Mind
  • A Diary of Machine Gun Testicles
  • And Exploration of Orange
  • Fungus Multi-Media Explosion
  • Square
  • My Abduction Notebook
  • Origins
  • Everyday Heroes
  • Pros/Cons of Power
  • Inner Children
  • Alternative Endings
  • Opposable Thumbs
  • Hats
  • Anthropomorphic Food
  • Non-Existent Museums
  • My Left-Breast
  • Cock Fights
  • Jesus Saves
  • Unrequited Love
  • Bi-Polarity
  • Dim Lights
  • GG Allin
  • Mundanity
  • Stalking
  • Mad Max
  • Fear of a Clown/Fish
  • Archetypes
  • A Curious Case of  Narcissism
  • Baths and Wombs
  • A Room Full of Blanks
  • The Black Plague
  • Flags
  • Infrastructure
  • Accessories

Wow! Great ideas.

I have decided on

  1. The Grass is Greener,
  2. Archetypes
  3. And Exploration of Orange
  4. Dehydrated Mouse
  5. Non-Existent Museums

Look back in the near future to see what these themes turn into.

Take Part In Art

Moleskine Cashier Plain

Today I bought 5 Moleskine note books. I am going to fill them with writing, drawing and pictures. I need a theme though. That’s where you come in. I am going to take your suggestions for themes. My five favorite themes from your suggestions will be commemorated in art book form and displayed on this site with YOU referenced as my muse. So, give me your thoughts. What, or who, do you think deserves to be an objet d’art?

Educational Stimulus Package

Saving is for wimps!  I have a plan for affordable housing.
credit: woodleywonderworks

Someone recently suggested that part of the Economic Stimulus Package should be be the absolution of federal student loans.

I like this idea, beacuse I have student loans. I’m not really sure how much money the government has tied up in these loans, but I don’t think they make up a huge portion of the money collect each year. About 23% of US adults has a degree, so there is a good change that they have some amount of debt associated with it. Let’s guess that half of them owe the government some amount of money.

In terms of getting money circulating adding $50 – $250 per month to the budget of 11.5% of the population could be phenomenal. Because, of course, those people skew young they are less like to save the money and more likely to spend extra money on entertainment or general consumption. That crucial 25 – 35 age group (which I am part of) is young enough to be frivolous and old enough to be earning money. Plus, the likelihood of these people defaulting on other debts will be decreased significantly, meaning less stress everywhere else. Also, it implicitly encourages education and makes my debt to income ratio good enough to qualify for a loan.

So, I want to float the idea that President Obama should pardon my student loans, so I can get a friggin’ line of credit.