5 Times Ross Geller was the Worst

I feel like Ross Geller is perpetually at the bottom of the favorites list when it comes to the six Friends. I’m not going to pretend he’s not a good person or he has his good moments. But his bad moments are awful and cringey. As we’ve been watching Friends again (not like we ever stop watching it) I’ve taken note of some of his worst moments. Maybe they’re the same as your list.

Obnoxious call with Julie 

So right after he’s come back from China and started dating Julie, we see Ross being mushy on the phone with her. That would be bad enough, but he starts to do it in front of Rachel… literally in her face. That would be bad enough if it were just anyone being annoyingly mushy. But if I were Ross, I’d have never done something so ridiculous in front of a girl I’d liked. The only thing I can think is that he’s going over the top to prove to himself he’s over Rachel… but still.

Phoebe and Evolution

In the episode when Mr. Heckles dies, Phoebe claims she doesn’t believe in evolution which drives Ross crazy. He spends the next several days trying to logic his way into believing in evolution. As if anyone has changed their major viewpoints that way. It’s like arguing with a stranger on the internet; it’s going nowhere. And in the end, Phoebe makes a good point, that as a scientist Ross ought to open his mind to possibilities. It’s not even about evolution anymore; it’s about being open-minded. The world could use more Phoebe in it.

“We were on a break”

Every time the discussion is posed “Were they on a break?” I struggle. I’ve written about this before, but it doesn’t matter if they were on a break. If they weren’t on a break, as Rachel claims, then Ross was cheating on her. Straightforward. If they were on a break, as Ross argued for seven years, then Ross was severely insensitive. Even Rachel points out sarcastically during their argument that he found a great way to mourn the end of their relationship. 

Sandy the Manny 

Now we get into the ones that really bug me. When Emma is born and Rachel goes back to work, she and Ross need to find a nanny to take care of their child. There are a few truly awful candidates, but then they find Sandy, who is perfectly qualified and Emma takes to him right away. But because Ross has his skewed ideals of masculinity, he ends up firing Sandy. In many ways, I feel like my personality is similar to Sandy, so when Ross makes his homophobic comment that Sandy must be gay or that his emotions make him less manly, I get defensive for the nanny.

Crush on his cousin

During one episode, shortly before Monica and Chandler get married, Ross and Monica’s cousin Cassie visits. She’s a beautiful girl and we know how Chandler gets around beautiful women (she is 100% his type) so it’s natural that she took him by surprise. Also, it’s very natural that Monica would feel uncomfortable with how her future husband was looking at her cousin. As if that weren’t bad enough, when she goes to stay with Ross, he realizes how good she looks and spends the rest of the episode fighting off feelings for his cousin. Gross! My wife and I don’t often skip episodes of our shows, but we definitely skip all the scenes with Ross and Cassie.

Agree or disagree? Is Ross the worst or no? This isn’t even my full list of awful Ross moments These are just the ones I narrowed it down to. All the same, his idiocy won’t stop me from enjoying Friends over and over again.

Joe's Inktober 2021

Inktober is an artist challenge held every October online. A set of prompts are released each year, one for each day, that must be finished in some sort of ink. Artists post their results to the internet to see what everyone did with the same prompt, creating the feeling of commodore I love in online artist communities. I've participated in the challenge for years, adding my own overall theme to the daily drawings. This year my wife suggested that my overall theme be ghosts, which given the month and my personal affinity for the macabre I jumped at immediately. 

So without further ado, here is my Inktober 2021 pieces. :)

1: Crystal

Ghost plus crystal to me lead me immediately to Madame Leota, the crystal ball medium from the Haunted Mansion. May've helped that Muppet's Haunted Mansion was about to come out and I was building a Haunted Mansion themed Dungeons and Dragons game at the time so she was naturally on my mind. The hardest part was the metal stand, which I feel I got the basic idea but could've been far better. 

2: Suit

I didn't want to show how the ghosts died, because then the piece becomes about the way they died, so I left the ghosts ambiguous. Suit was more about a nice suit with something obviously not alive inside. When I was done I thought it looked a bit like a burn victim but I like to think that the corruption within caused the ghost to look like that.

Or a witch doctor shrunk his head. 

3: Vessel

So this one's a little bit of a stretch. 

The "vessel" here is the poor man trying to stop the voices of the dead. He's full of the voices of the spirits, like a possession. 

Makes sense? No? Moving along..

4: Knot

This is the first one in the set to have an alternate title, being "So We Don't Lose Each Other Again". I liked the idea of two people who cared about each other finding each other again as ghosts and tying their shrouds together so they wouldn't lose track of each other again. I see ghosts as being confused creatures, trying to understand what happened to them and what their existence is like now. What if they found someone they knew in that state? Wouldn't it be nice to know you aren't alone? Wouldn't you want to make sure you're not alone again? 

5: Raven

The alternate title for this one is "Please Tell Them I'm Okay". Ravens are messengers and are associated with the dead, so I thought: "What is one thing I would want my loved ones to know?" and the alternate title was the answer. 

6: Spirit

So this one is a stretch... It's supposed to be the "Spirit" of Halloween, meaning children excited to dress up. I tried to make the kids as cutesy as possible, channeling the Halloween coloring books I had as a kid. The ghost in the back is a bit more like the basic ghost model but with the fun shadows and obviously floating, meaning that these kids Halloween spirit has attracted a real spirit. 

7: Fan

This is partially based on the famous Falling Man photo, a ghost photo that has yet to be explained. I liked the idea of seeing this creepy thing on your fan and not knowing if it's stuck or is going for a ride.

Weeeeee! 

8: Watch

It's that head turn that makes it creepy. Yeah, the guy doesn't know there's a ghost behind him, but it's the way the ghost is turning his head that makes it unnerving. 

9: Pressure

Sleep paralysis is the phenomenon of waking up unable to move. Scientist contribute to some chemical malfunction in the brain but for centuries sufferers have claimed to have beings sitting on their chests keeping them from moving. The idea that while you sleep something comes in and holds you down is creepy enough but the thought that it might not even be alive is even worse. 

10: Pick

How do you link pick to ghosts? I still don't know so I just drew a cool looking dwarf with an enchanted pick, though if you look close there's little ghost faces around the tip of the pick so there you go. 

11: Sour

In the book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the crew roll up to a ghost party where they see a table covered in rotten food. Ghosts pass through it with their mouths open and claim that they can almost taste it. I would think that any extreme taste, like the sourness of a lemon, would have a similar effect on ghosts. 

12: Stuck

Alternate title for this is "I Just Want To Leave". Death is supposed to be a release from the burdens of life but... What if it isn't? 

13: Roof

If a house is haunted, do you think the haunting extends to the roof? Is it the property line or the area? If you could sit on the roof and look at the stars wouldn't you? 

14: Tick

Alternate title: "How Long Have I Been Here?". What does time mean to the dead? What do you do when you can no longer interact with the world of the living? The boredom would be excruciating. 

15: Helmet

Another Dungeons and Dragons inspiration, here's a fun cursed helmet for your next dungeon or family get together. 

16: Compass

Alternate title: "I don't think it's working I'm still lost". A being lost between worlds would never stop looking for its way, either back to the living world or onto the next. 

17: Collide

This is actually inspiration from real life. One night I was turning all the lights off and was in my basement alone when in the dark I saw the form of a man in a long coat and fedora walk past me. I was shocked to see it since I was home alone.  

18: Moon

This was me flexing my super artsy side. Only the parts illuminated by the moon are visible on the ghost. This picture actually killed three pens. 

19: Loop

It's hard to draw movement since drawing is a stationary medium, but I did try to give the impression that the ghosts were doing figure eights around each other. I like how the fringes of their shrouds came out. 

20: Sprout

Alternate title: "Is It Really Alive?" to one that's been dead for so long, seeing new life must be an event and a wonder. 

Also ghosts like this look odd close up. 

21: Fuzzy

I don't know if it's a big bear or a tiny ghost. Either way I like this one because the cuteness of the bear is in direct opposition to the creepy faceless ghost. 

22: Open

Alternate title: "I Think It's Time For Me To Go". Ultimate goal for a ghost I think would be to finally move onto the next life, going to the true afterlife and not be stuck aimlessly wandering around the earth scaring people. 

I have no idea though why this ghost has Deadpool eyes. 

23: Leak

The ghost is leaking out of his shroud. 

I don't know, it was either this or I draw a Farfetch'd ghost. 

24: Extinct

A ghost dinosaur just sounded stupid so I just drew a cool dinosaur skull. I love drawing dinosaur skulls. 

25: Splat

Well if they literally can't see you crossing the road what do you expect? 

At least the other guy's car is probably fine. 

26: Connect

When someone passes it means we can't connect with them in person again. We try what we can, visiting graves and remembering the person, but it's never the same. Those on the other side may have the same wants, and the same problem. 

27: Spark

Mimikyu is one of my favorite Pokemon. Here he's taking imitating Pikachu to a new level, thanks to the help of a taser. Tell me you wouldn't want to see him use this on Team Rocket. 

28: Crispy

Ghosts probably can't tell when a marshmallow is done. They probably don't care either. 

Who built the fire though? 

29: Patch

As morbid as this is, I picture me doing this as a ghost. My favorite jacket is covered in patches so it's not a stretch that I would cover my shroud in them as well. And catch me without sunglasses, it never happens. 

30: Slither

You try to make a ghost slither...

31: Risk

Alternate title: "Can I Play Too?" the risk a ghost has to becoming known to humans is weather or not they will be accepted. That's why I think they often appear to children and become their imaginary friends, because children are always happy to have another playmate and are less likely to start screaming. 

Thank you for letting me flex my Inktober this year. Let me know which one was your favorite? 

-JOE

Come further in! Come further up!

Near the end of the book "The Last Battle" in the series The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Aslan invites:

"Come further in! Come further up!"– Aslan, The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis

As I remember the story from when I read it in childhood, Peter, Edmund, Lucy and many other characters from the books follow Aslan on a chase through Aslan's country and find Narnias within Narnias, each one more beautiful and real than the last. This, to my reading, is a narrative about how our understanding of the Gospel deepens and grows over time as we learn line upon line.

As a young man, I knew that Jesus Christ lived. I loved the Gospel. I even thought I understood it. I knew everything in my head, and some in my heart, but my understanding was cloudy and veiled. I "[saw] through a glass darkly" (1 Corinthians 13:12), but had so much more to learn. That learning has been deeply painful at times, but the insights and understanding I obtained, along with the compassion I gained for others, has been breathtaking.

The grandeur and beauty and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ's Gospel, of the Plan of Happiness of our Heavenly Father, is enormous. It is beyond my capability to put into words. Joseph Smith once said in a letter to William W. Phelps:

"Oh Lord God deliver us in thy due time from the little narrow prison almost as it were total darkness of paper pen and ink and a crooked broken scattered and imperfect language"– Joseph Smith, Jr.

It is because of this limitation of language that reading, pondering and praying – not in a hurried way, but in a quiet, contemplative way – are so important. Only through the Spirit can we really learn the deep principles of the Gospel. Or rather, only that way can we have the Spirit with us so that as we move throughout our day the Spirit can guide our understanding to deeper and more heartfelt insights.

One of the ways I have found that I learn best is by observing others - sometimes in person, but also, quite often, in fictional stories that deal with real-life situations.

For example, I recently finished reading "The Undaunted" by Gerald N. Lund. It is a piece of historical fiction which follows a family that participates in the real-life trek from Cedar City and Panguich Utah to the San Juan, Four Corners area of Utah. Through reading the story, I gained a better insight into what a Zion people really looks like and how they treat each other. The narrative emphasized the importance of truth and honesty, coupled with love and caring. It clarified and amplified the complementary principles of love and truth. Most interesting to me was that as I read examples of these principles in the book, I continued to stumble on additional scriptures, conference messages, and newspaper articles that reinforced the principles I was learning about.

As another example, much of my understanding of the Gospel has come through reading C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. One of my favorite passages that stuck in my heart as a child is a story in the last book in the series.

In "The Last Battle", Emeth, a Tarkaan and a follower of Tash instead of Aslan, finds himself in Aslan's country. He encounters Aslan and subsequently recounts the experience:

"Then I fell at his feet and thought, Surely this is the hour of death, for the Lion (who is worthy of all honour) will know that I have served Tash all my days and not him. Nevertheless, it is better to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc of the world and live and not to have seen him. 

Emeth is certain he will be destroyed for worshipping at the wrong altar, but he was pure in heart and was seeking truth. He continues his story:

"But the Glorious One bent down his golden head and touched my forehead with his tongue and said, Son, thou art welcome. But I said, Alas Lord, I am no son of thine but the servant of Tash. He answered, Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me.

Because Emeth sought to do good and was pure of heart, Aslan counts the service he did to Tash as service to Aslan. Emeth begins to understand:

"Then by reasons of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one? The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said, It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath’s sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted."

Aslan then checks for understanding, and clarifies what he means when Emeth doesn't yet quite grasp it:

"Dost thou understand, Child? I said, Lord, though knowest how much I understand. But I said also (for the truth constrained me), Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days. Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly."

And then, Aslan says what is perhaps my favorite line of the entire passage:

"For all find what they truly seek"– C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

This idea - that all have access to truth, and can find it if they seek with pure heart and real intent, and that those who do not have the chance at receiving the full truth in this life will receive it later - is core to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is further fleshed out by numerous ancient and modern scriptures. I love that C.S. Lewis came to understand the core of this truth even without being a member of the Lord's restored church. Of course, exactly how the Lord enables this infinite reach of the Atonement is not understood by Lewis in these passages, but it is miraculous that he understood as much as he did and is a testament to the Lord's desire to flood the earth with knowledge of Him.

I understood the core of this truth as a child by reading the stories in the Chronicles. That truth has only grown and deepened as I've matured and weathered many storms in life.

Truly learning and understanding the gospel in our minds and hearts is a long, and often painful, process for everybody. Some of it we learn through reading the scriptures, some of it we learn through personal experience, and some of it we learn through stories we read and hear. In fact, I think that most of it has to be learned through experience and stories, not through traditional, western-style learning. So much of what we need to learn really isn't possible to communicate through direct words. I think that's part of why Jesus Christ taught in parables, and I'm certain it's why much of what is taught in the temple is taught through symbols and rituals rather than words.

Though my memory of the story I opened with is not quite accurate – there is only one Narnia within Aslan's country, not multiples – I have found that the symbolism contained in that story true. As we follow Jesus Christ, his Gospel and the vision of His land - Zion - becomes ever more clear and beautiful. Just as Emeth found himself in Aslan's country because he sought with pure intent, if we keep our eyes and ears open, and our hearts are honest, God will pour pure knowledge of Him into our hearts and minds.

All God's children who truly seek Him will hear His voice and find Him, whether they receive a fullness in this life or the next. God is not a respecter of persons, nor does he hide all his truth in one spot, reserving it for the lucky few who find it. Rather he spreads it as far and wide as he can.

"Come further up! Come further in! … For all find what they truly seek"– C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

Unpopular Opinions: Star Wars

Since last year I’ve been slowly working my way through the Star Wars universe in chronological order. I just watched Solo, so Rebels is next on my list. Watching the story like this has given me an appreciation for Star Wars that I hadn’t felt in a while. But as I watched Clone Wars, I felt it coming back. In honor of the love we have for Star Wars, I wanted to share a few potentially unpopular opinions. 

Prequel trilogy is good

I’m not sure where the idea came from that the prequel trilogy was sub-par. We knew it’d have a tragic end, as it’s established as the prequel to everything that happened to Luke, Han, and Leia. Maybe it’s the nostalgia I hold from seeing these movies in theaters with my dad and brothers, but I was excited for each movie to come out and I genuinely enjoyed them.

Sequel trilogy isn't that bad

When Disney announced they had acquired Star Wars and were going to start a sequel trilogy, I was as excited as anyone. When I went to see The Force Awakens, I was excited to see the return of classic characters and new characters interacting with them. Like any sequel, it was never going to be perfect, but I liked it. I’ll admit that the overarching story of the sequel trilogy didn’t really mesh well as a trilogy. However, as three individual movies, I still liked them. Even went to see The Last Jedi for my bachelor party.

Disney didn’t ruin Star Wars

People will complain that Disney ruined the Star Wars franchise. But for those who don’t have the time or the access to read all the books, Disney saved Star Wars. At least as far as content is concerned. Before Disney, there were six movies and an incomplete Clone Wars series. Even if you don’t like the sequel trilogy, if it weren’t for Disney, we wouldn’t have any continued Star Wars content. Because of Disney, we have The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch, Rogue One, and other fan favorites. Also, we wouldn't have Galaxy's Edge at Disney Parks.

The Mandalorian Season 1 was too slow

Now speaking of fan favorites, I really struggled with The Mandalorian, at least during season 1. It was the nature of the old west-ish vibe they did, I think, but the series moved slowly. Maybe it’s like how I didn’t care for much of the Netflix Marvel series… it’s kind of hard to watch a 13 hour movie (or 8 hour movie in the case of Mando). Then again, I enjoyed season 2. And that was before I even knew Ahsoka or Bo-Katan. Maybe I’ll enjoy season 1 more when I rewatch it.

The Clone Wars was too complicated

I’m not sure what Cartoon Network exactly had in mind when they started this series. In true Star Wars fashion, episodes were not aired in chronological order. This made it really hard to watch in some ways (I had to keep close tabs on the order of episodes closely). There were also so many moving parts in the series with countless Jedi, Sith, Republic, and Separatist forces. If I ever watch this show again, I’m going to just pick one character and watch their story (there’s a good chance I’ll do this with Ahsoka before her series airs).

At the risk of inciting controversy, put your Star Wars unpopular opinion in the comments. May the force be with you.

A Tribute to Conner Kent

Warning: This contains spoilers for Young Justice 

Before we get started let me briefly explain who I'm talking about. This isn't Johnathan Kent, the son of Superman which recently made headlines. This is also not one of the twins from the series Superman and Lois, nor is this the Connor Kent from the comics who did die at one point during Infinite Crisis but was brought back by... Reasons... I'll be talking about the Connor Kent/Superboy from the show Young Justice, in case the spoiler warning didn't give it away. 

Okay, let's do this

Passing of A Hero

In the latest episode of Young Justice: Phantoms, Connor Kent was killed trying to save the populous of Mars from a terrorist attack fueled by Apocalyptician technology. Long story short: Young Justice is complicated and diverts from the regular DC timelines. Now granted super heroes are not known for staying dead if mileage can be found from their miraculous resurrections, no matter how stupid the premise is. 

Despite death being a swinging door, Young Justice has done a great job of killing off characters and having them stay dead, including fan favorite Wally West/Kid Flash. While Connor's death in the comics was reversed by... I'm not getting into it... Young Justice has a track record for making its deaths both visceral and permanent. 

Why This Superboy Is So Great

To get into why this death matters I have to take a quick backstory of this Connor. I'm not going to do the comic version, let's just say oh the 90's. 

Connor first appeared in episode 1 of Young Justice in the Cadmus labs, a secret research facility that was using cloning and gene manipulation to make monsters. Centerpiece to their collection was Superboy, a clone of Superman and a mysterious, then unknown, human. Superboy, as he was first known, was taught everything via telepathy having never been allowed to experience the real world for himself. He was rescued by Kid Flash, Robin and Aqualad and was adopted into the team. 

Superboy was at first angry and confused because while he was strong and tough he didn't have all of Superman's powers. Adding to his teen angst his unwilling DNA donor Superman had no idea what to do with him so he basically shut him out for the first season. So a mentorless newborn Superboy had to figure out how to the navigate the world with a group of other teen superheroes. 

This character is so rich because he's relatable. He doesn't know what to do with himself, since he's supposed to be a replacement for Superman should he ever die, but how could he replace Superman if he couldn't even fly? Worse how could he learn how to be like Superman if the Man of Steel wouldn't give him the time of day? Already we had an interesting character to explore. 

The Highlight Reel

Some of Connor's best moments from the series included: 

*Him finding out that his human donor was actually Lex Luthor, and that Luthor could control Superboy with subliminal commands implanted psychically into Superboy's mind. Luthor tempted Superboy with a type of performance enhancing drug that gave him his full compliment of Kryptonian powers, in exchange for promised favors later. 

*Connor began dating Miss Martian near the end of season one, but at the beginning of season two it was revealed that they had broken up, and the audience learned that it was because Miss Martian was using her psychic powers to tear information out of the minds of her enemies and leaving them in a vegetative state. The final straw was when Miss Martian started altering Connor's memories so he'd forget their arguments ala Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The most interesting character beat from this wasn't that Connor didn't trust Miss Martian, but how he eventually forgave her and they began dating again, eventually going so far as to nearly marrying her. 

*We don't get much Superman/Superboy interaction, but what we get is fascinating. Batman has to have a heart to heart with the Man of Steel about how to have a sidekick, an interesting role reversal since it's usually Superman trying to teach Batman how to be human. Superman eventually accepts Superboy, and refers to him as "brother". It's rare that we get a story with Superman having a character flaw, and having Superboy bring it out creates a fascinating development for both characters. 

Legacy

Recent incarnations of Superboy in the comics have taken some traits from the Young Justice version. The 90'sness of old Connor has been all but scrubbed clean, now giving us a more interesting broody character who is trying to find his place in the world. Connor is an example for the argument that while it's fun to see our favorite heroes in live action Hollywood blockbusters, TV can give characters the chance to breathe and come into their own, giving us better realized and fully fleshed out characters. 

Weather Connor Kent comes back or not, I'm grateful for the story the writers gave us from watching Connor be born to his last heroic sacrifice. 

-JOE