Christian Love (The Grace of a Mountain Goat)

Apparently Proverbs 5:19 says: “Like a loving doe and a graceful mountain goat, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love.”

So… Christianity is fucking weird, you guys.

Then again, I sure could go for a nice girl with ]THE GRACE OF A MOUNTAIN GOAT and, like, really cool tits.

Anyone know how I’d go about getting baptized?
“”Christian Love (The Grace of a Mountain Goat)” 10/22/24. Pigment and alcohol inks. 8½x11″.

I stumbled across Proverbs 5:19 on the internet today. From the New American Standard Bible:

Like a loving doe and a graceful mountain goat, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; be exhilarated always with her love.

Some of the other translations aren’t quite as ridiculous but where’s the fun in that? My first reaction was only (ASSUMING MY READING OF THIS IS CORRECT): the Bible is much hornier than I realized! (Or at least remembered). I haven’t bothered to read the passages surrounding this for additional context, but it would seem to be about nothing more than ENJOYING BREASTS. If that’s not jarring enough, the fact that a line is somehow drawn to that from the grace of (of all things) a MOUNTAIN GOAT. …I can’t be the only one that finds this absurd, curious, and remarkably amusing.

My first draft didn’t have a girl’s head and the boobs were just slapped on the side of the goat’s body but, I figured, if THE BIBLE is gonna get horny with it, I might as well too. It’s much creepier this way!

And speaking of horny and creepy, I initially wanted to title this “Christian Girls” but…  that felt a little too horny even for me. Or rather, it felt too creepy for me at my age.

When I use the word “girls,” I’m talking about women approximately my own age. Maybe because I’m stuck in perpetual adolescence as a consequence of losing so many years to addiction, but the word “women” just feels strange to me. I feel awkward saying it. I’m not as uncomfortable with it as I am with the word “men,” which I really hate but – I’m at an age now where I’m gonna have to get used to it. Referring to my peers as “kids” worked a decade ago. Referring to my dates as “girls” worked a decade ago. But, today, someone might get the wrong idea, especially about “girls.”

Hey – what do you know? Seeing as all I’m presenting in this entry is a drawing that’s AS DUMB AS THEY GET, I was afraid I was gonna disappoint anyone who came here hoping for another overwrought story of mental illness and poor decisions but – CHECK ME OUT – I managed to get there all the same!

One last note (in case it doesn’t go without saying) “like, really cool tits” is not the way I talk (unless I’m trying to be funny). That’s me poking fun at the way God talks. (He wrote the Old Testament/Torah/Tawrat, right?)

“Let her breasts satisfy you at all times” – HILARIOUS!

Having said all of that, it’d be dishonest to not acknowledge that “there’s at least a grain of truth in every joke.” I mean, who wouldn’t go for a girl with the grace of a mountain goat and REALLY COOL TITS?

I’m only human. I’m just as God made me.


If you’d like to support me (even half as much as I’d like you to support me!) prints of “Christian Love (The Grace of a Mountain Goat)” are on sale now in the webstore. I mean, really you should probably buy one of my other prints but – hey – THE HEART WANTS WHAT IT WANTS and I won’t judge you. Thank you (as always) for your time and attention. Even for nonsense like this.


Ready When You Are

"Ready When You Are." 6/7/13. Oil pastel. 9½x12”.
“Ready When You Are.” 6/7/13. Oil pastel. 9½x12”.

It was Friday so I drove up to Tranquil Shores for my session with Tracy and my weekly expressive art group with the kids that were still inpatients. Earlier that week, I had found an apartment in Jacksonville. When I told Tracy, she was really surprised. (I had been talking about moving, but it was just a few days prior that I actually started looking for a place, so it all happened really quickly). “Seriously?” she asked me. “Well, let me get the papers for your discharge.”

Somehow that hadn’t occurred to me: that moving away would mean I’d be officially discharged from Tranquil Shores. My life was about to change and it was just now registering. It made me sad. It even made me a little angry, though I’m not sure with whom. (Probably myself). It was a really great afternoon; everyone at Tranquil Shores couldn’t have been sweeter to me or more supportive. But… I didn’t wanna leave. I didn’t want it to be over and I guess I was as caught off-guard as Tracy had been.

After my session, I went into the art room for group. I felt good overall, but had that little streak of darkness in me. I got an idea in my head of a sorta vulture and I liked it. I wanted to draw something that lived off dead flesh – something sustained by failure.

But still sorta comic and fun.

—–

(Especially relevant) status update: Heather’s friends are getting married in Englewood next weekend, so I won’t be too far from Tranquil Shores. On Friday, I’m going to drive up that way and meet up with a crew of kids I went to treatment with for lunch, and then I’m gonna go in for the expressive art group just like I used to. I’ve been really excited about it but am getting more nervous as it gets closer. It’s gonna be a totally new crop of kids. I’ll still know all the staff obviously, but it seems kinda strange to go to group with a bunch of patients I’ve never met before. I hope I don’t wimp out. I hope it goes well.

—–


Punched in the Dick By a Baby Gorilla

"Punched in the Dick By a Baby Gorilla." 9/21/13. Pencil and marker on vellum.
“Punched in the Dick By a Baby Gorilla.” 9/21/13. Pencil and marker on vellum. 8×10″.

After a couple of days, not having Adderall really drastically hurts my mood, energy, and outlook but – if I just miss a dose – the only consequence is… silliness.

Months ago, riding in the car with Heather back in Bradenton, I had gone longer than I should have without Adderall and I decided that (the idea that I’d been) “punched in the dick by a baby gorilla” was the funniest thing ever. I spent ten minutes finding any excuse at all to say the words, “punched in the dick by a baby gorilla.” Like, over and over again. It’s not really in line with my usual sense of humor, is totally stupid, and – it’s just absurd. Which is probably why I thought it was so funny at the time; it was funny that I’d even had a thought like that.

Last night, after I started to feel a little better, I spent a couple hours painting. Smoking a cigarette, looking at Instagram, I saw something my friend Trey made. I like my art a lot, but every now and then I wish that I actually had the talent to put an image on my canvas exactly as it appears in my head. Unfortunately, that takes practice. Which is what Trey’s sketch inspired me to do. For some reason, the baby gorilla thing came to mind so I went with that.

I realize that any high school art student could bang this out in two minutes or less but anything other than a cartoon Sam standing perfectly upright is still pretty tough for me. It took me two hours to get to the point where I was ready to color and outline this. It was good practice though and I had fun making it.


Buy your own 10×8-inch “Punched in the Dick by a Baby Gorilla” from the webstore.