I saved a few childhood toys over the years…

…and have now turned them over to my kids… who are slowly destroying them one by one. Honestly, I don’t care. That’s what kids do, they destroy shit. I’m sure I destroyed my dad’s, I don’t know… totally racist Native American action figure from back in the day.

Anyway, recently, their destructive path tore through my Masters of the Universe collection. Specifically, Tri-Klops…

…who is so much more evil and scary looking without his trademark eyes.

Wonder what Fisto is hiding under that giant fist of his,

-Shady

Shady’s Shorts: “The Pink Note”

I spend much of my day writing. Or at least trying to write when I’m not chasing kids around and changing diapers.

Lately, most of my writing has been on long-form projects. Because of this, I sometimes write a short (most times comedic, other times not so much) to break up the monotony of those longer projects. But while these shorts are fun to write as an exercise, nobody ever really gets to read them.

To remedy this, I’ve decided to share them here. I’m doing this for two reasons:

1. I like to share! And it’s better than having them sit on my laptop.

2. It’s my hope that someone might be inspired to actually do something creative with them. Want to film one as a short? Awesome. Interested in animating one? Go for it. Feel like performing one live onstage? I dare you. All I ask is that you give me credit and send me a copy of the final product.

The forty-eighth of Shady’s Shorts is called The Pink Note.

Unlike almost all of my previous shorts, this one is not a comedy. It’s a dramatic short that is based on something that, unfortunately, actually happened in Bellefontaine, Ohio back in 2015. This short is similar in approach and tone to This Is Where I Get Off, which I wrote a few years ago.

Download the short by clicking below, and then click here to learn more about the real (and tragic) event that inspired it.

DOWNLOAD “THE PINK NOTE”

Number forty-seven,

-Shady

“The Pink Note” is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Created by Justin Shady, ©2020.

Wrapped…

…Brave New World a bit ago and am now on to Chuck Palahniuk’s Haunted.

Obviously, the Minnie and Daisy stickers are a Grey Danger addition.

I like Chuck’s work, but for some reason I had never read this one. It’s weird, I definitely prefer factual, more historical books, but I’ve been on a bit of a fictional kick recently. My next one is fiction as well, which will make three in a row. Very odd. I barely recognize myself anymore!

Anyway, if you get a second, let me know what you’re reading in the comments. Other than the Bible, of course.

Fictual should be a word,

-Shady

Hello, 2020. Bye, Facebook.

I joined Facebook sometime in 2007 because, honestly, everyone else was doing it. Yep, I’m a lemming.

Anyway, soon after we moved to L.A., and Facebook kind of became a nice way for me to keep track of loved ones who were now living 2,000+ miles away.

But since then I’ve become, at most, a casual user. I never find myself mindlessly scrolling through my feed. To be honest, I usually log on, post something, then immediately leave without reading even one word from any of my 800+ e-friends. And 90% of the time, my posts are just links to articles on this site.

In addition to my almost complete lack of interaction on Facebook (or at least as much interaction as one can have online), let’s be honest, Facebook is pretty awful. Zuckerberg is a greedy, opportunistic ghoul (at best) who has no problem selling people off to the highest bidder. Or any bidder for that matter.

But it’s totally worth it for all those targeted ads for tires and toilet paper and toothbrushes, right? Nah, not really.

We thought social media would bring us closer. We were wrong. It made us pick sides, and I’ve been just as guilty of encouraging and engaging in tribalism as anyone. I loathe what Facebook has made us as a whole, but more importantly I’m grossed out by what it’s made me.

As many of you know, Mr. Fabulous passed away three weeks ago, and the outpouring of love and support that people expressed on Facebook during that time was amazing. But with another election cycle right around the corner, I feel like Fab’s passing is a good place to stop. A bright light at the end of an excruciatingly long, soul-sucking, and time-wasting tunnel.

Since I no longer feel invested in the massive online community that is Facebook, I’ll be deleting my account on Monday, January 6th. If anyone is still interested in keeping in touch with me you can always follow me by subscribing to The Blarg or hit me up on Instagram. (And, yes, I know Instagram is also owned by Zuckerberg, but there seems to be something much less repugnant about sharing images with the world rather than opinions.)

I may also delete my Twitter account (still weighing the pros and cons), but haven’t made a final decision yet so, at least for now, you can follow me there.

I’ll also be deleting Grey and West’s Facebook accounts. In hindsight, it was stupid of me to ever start up those pages.

I hope you all have a great 2020. And if I don’t hear from some of you ever again, I sincerely hope you have a great life. I just feel that, for my own betterment and sanity, I have to log off of Facebook for good.

Much love,

-Shady

Our 2019 Krampus ornament…

…from OddLikeUs came a day after Christmas (totally our fault as we ordered it late this year), but it’s still gonna hang on the tree for a few more days.

Number six,

-Shady

QUOTE BOARD #109: Hunter, 12/3/19

Back when I was living in Columbus, Ohio my friends and I started a quote wall. Whenever a bit of brilliance (or otherwise) poured out of someone’s mouth, somebody would yell “Quote!” thus nominating it for Quote Board status. The quote then had to be seconded by someone (it almost always was), and then it would be written down to be forever immortalized on the Quote Board.

This is the modern-day equivalent of that classic piece of my past.

QUOTE BOARD:

“Bush was like a hand job. And this is like a skull fuck.”

– Hunter, 12/3/19

Been saying that for three years now,

-Shady

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Much love,

-The Shadys

Finished…

…The Library Book a bit ago and sent it off to my good friend Cesar.

I’m now about halfway through Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, which is a book I was supposed to read in high school but somehow never did.

To be honest, there are a lot of books I was supposed to read in high school but never did because, you know, I was a slacker who had an aversion to homework.

Anyway, I’ll be wrapping up 2019 with this one, and then jumping into something a little different in January.

Now going by Justin the Savage,

-Shady

QUOTE BOARD #108: Emily, 11/17/19

Back when I was living in Columbus, Ohio my friends and I started a quote wall. Whenever a bit of brilliance (or otherwise) poured out of someone’s mouth, somebody would yell “Quote!” thus nominating it for Quote Board status. The quote then had to be seconded by someone (it almost always was), and then it would be written down to be forever immortalized on the Quote Board.

This is the modern-day equivalent of that classic piece of my past.

QUOTE BOARD:

“Nope. I’m not coming over if you’ve got a pig and a squirrel.”

– Emily, 11/17/19

Totally want a house pig,

-Shady

 

One of the highlights of the holidays…

…is getting a card from Paul Reubens.

Cooler than Santa Claus and/or Baby Jesus,

-Shady