I can’t blame anyone visiting this site for getting the impression I was being deliberately misanthropic. While putting it together, I began having that impression myself; it’s a sobering experience.

I’d like to share how the site came to be, and how my thoughts about it have evolved in the process.

Back in 2011, I registered the domain name as a kind of play activity … a way to blow off a little steam, brought on by the time I spent consulting in a work environment I found increasingly irritating.

My first layout was nothing but a cluster of empty frames; I didn’t have the drawing ability to execute the kind of caricatures I had in mind. The idea stagnated, and I let the domain registration expire.

About twelve years went by, and a lot of things changed. I left the nine-to-five “lifestyle” behind, and while the cash flow wasn’t quite what it had been, there was enough … and I now had time for the personal creative work that had (supposedly) been the ongoing reason behind working for others, instead of for oneself.

Life is – actually – a lot better.

Which brings us to the present (as of this writing, the last days of 2023). Recently, I started playing with an AI called Stable Diffusion XL. With a minimal amount of effort, I was getting interesting results … and then I remembered the old website I abandoned a dozen years ago.

Since the domain was still available (I guess there’s not much commercial potential in a site that features the f-bomb) I ponied up my $12.95 to re-register it. The structure of the site came together quickly; all that’s left is to write the meat of things: the description of each character, and the attributes that – if they are as universal as I suspect – resonate with each reader’s experience.

Twelve years ago, I felt no hesitation about gleefully flinging invective at the targets of my animus; after all, one doesn’t apply a description like “Simian Thug” to a person (real or imaginary) unless their deliberate actions left a blot in one’s memory, and by design.

But for years now, I’m been far removed from any environment where abuse can conveniently go unaddressed. Even these artificial simulacra of (possibly) real-life personae draw my empathy, instead of my venom. Life is hard; who can know the actual nature of their daily struggles?

(to be continued)