Comic 28: Back to Square One

Comic 28: Back to Square One

At the airport the other day, I saw a man using an iPad 2 to play…solitaire.

I had to fight the urge to snatch the device out of his hands. Of all the things he could be doing with this breakthrough piece of technology…he’s playing Solitaire?

On an iPad or any other device, I always get a feeling of existential angst when I see someone playing Solitaire. What could be more depressing than a repetitive game of luck that you play by yourself?

Playing solitaire is like drinking yourself into oblivion at a bar, except there are no other patrons and the bartender is an Intel chip. It’s like watching the supercomputer trying to beat itself at Tic-Tac-Toe in War Games.

Chutes and Ladders, though, that shit is FUN.

I gotta go: they’re boarding Group B for the next ladder to square 52.

- Sandeep

PS. Alan Watts always says it best

Episode 10: The Half-Life of Gratitude

The children sit on sofas, drink alcohol, and often discuss subjects such as “identity” and “fulfillment”. The elders cradle cups of tea, as their children explain suspicious formulas for happiness. They begin to grin when they hear one of their progeny describe what it would require for her to “feel fulfilled” or “find the right balance”.

“Why does this make you laugh?” ask the children, “Didn’t you want the same things?”

“Yes, I guess we would have, if we wasted this much time thinking about them.”

- Sandeep

PS. Post-Nup will be playing at the Davis Film Festival. Do you see the obvious trajectory?
San Jose > Davis > Cannes.

Comic 27: Reincarnation

Comic 27: Reincarnation

Comic 26: Nuancing is Caring

Comic 26: Nuancing is Caring

Nassim Taleb, author of the Black Swan (not that one, this one), offers this aphorism:

“You will be civilized on the day you can spend a long period doing nothing, learning nothing, and improving nothing, without feeling the slightest amount of guilt.”

I imagine that this aphorism was partly inspired by watching people nervously grasp at mobile devices, desperate for a little tidbit of something To varying degrees, we all fire up the informational one-hitter, hoping that it gets us through the next five minutes. Some people advise “media diets” to cope with this sort of addiction, reporting a better sense of well-being when they check out for a while.

However, when it comes to current affairs, our insatiable desire to know gets coupled with a feeling of guilt, as if our ignorance could actually impact revolution in Bahrain negatively. “There’s a revolution going on, motherfucker! How could you not even stay informed?”

So, we inform ourselves, carefully nuancing our Thomas Friedman with some Fareed Zakaria.

And now we know, I guess.

- Sandeep

In another aphorism,Taleb tells us to “Read nothing from the past one hundred years…”. So since he and I are still alive, nevermind all of the above.

Comic 24: Fakebook

Comic 24: Fakebook

Okay, so I never actually looked at that photo album you posted. I just “liked” it because I thought that would make you feel, I don’t know, incrementally more liked.

You are right that when I commented “Looking great!”, I didn’t actually see a picture where you, in fact, looked great. I simply inferred that since you were on vacation, you must be very relaxed, and therefore, probably looked great.

Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that there were no pictures of you, but rather, just of the surrounding flora and fauna (which, may I say, did indeed look great). I mean, people could have construed my comment as if it was directed to all of Hawaii, but you’re right, it would be weird to compliment a whole state, especially one that must already have high self esteem.

Next time, I will be more authentic in my liking. I’m sorry.

- Sandeep

Episode 9: Mammals and Discovery Channels

I’m in India right now, land of IT programmers and sensationalist newspaper headlines. So, at first, I assumed that the protests in Egypt I was reading about in the Indian press must be exaggerated. I soon discovered that you can’t really exaggerate when it comes to full revolution.

But, you didn’t open this email (or read this Facebook message) to hear about protests and revolution! I know, and that’s not what we’re here to talk to you about. This episode of Post-Nup is about sex-having (warning: it’s kinda sorta NSFW).

It’s just that sometimes I wonder about the connection between sexual repression and, well, shit getting fucked up around the world.

Ladies, please do what you can for world peace.

PS. Sex expert Ruth Westheimer disagrees with me when it comes to Egypt: “I gave a talk in Egypt. There were 250 couples of the Muslim faith. The questions I got from them, about who should initiate, about premature ejaculation, about inability to obtain or maintain an erection, about sexual satisfaction of women, were the same questions that I get here (in the US).”

PPS. Her sample is skewed by who would show up to a sex talk in Egypt, and she’s wrong.

Comic 23: Chick Lit for Dudes

Comic 23: Chick Lit for Dudes

A friend and I were recently talking about the rise in men’s groups, male cosmetics, metrosexuals, etc. He said that it was only a matter of time before male novelists started writing light beach reading (about relationships, sex, friendship, etc.) for men. Chick Lit for men. Dick Lit?

Makes sense, especially since there are already Dick Lit films.

Male schlub struggles, meets woman of his dreams, somehow courts, proposes, breaks up, or realizes he doesn’t need her despite being a pathetic schlub, and also finds his life’s purpose. Usually starring Seth Rogen.

This week, Omar realizes he may be playing the lead in his very own Judd Apatow film.

- Sandeep

Comic 22: 1000 Awesome Things

Comic 22: 1000 Awesome Things

Neil Pasricha’s divorce and loss of a dear friend lead him to do what anyone in that predicament would do: start a blog.

His blog, called 1000 Awesome Things, is a tribute to all of the little things in life that (should) make us happy. Some of my favorites include #342 [Finding good reading materials in someone else's bathroom], #365 [Getting dressed out of the dryer or laundry basket], and #536 [When you're being chased by zombies and suddenly find a stash of guns and ammo].

This blog made me very happy, as did his inspiring TED talk (which has a moment where he has his parents stand up to just thank them for everything – add that to the awesome list).

I wonder whether successful marriages rely on a shared appreciation of the same types of little things. This week’s comic is about whether expressing that shared appreciation matters.

- Sandeep

Comic 20: Smart Phones

I’m excited about 2011.

Why? Because with a few caveats, every decade has gotten progressively better for the skinny Indian man.

Hunting and gathering is not for the skinny Indian man, for both skinny and Indian reasons. Early agriculture was back-breaking work. Even if you were a landowner or a member of royalty, you impressed the world with military force or acts of strength, rather than with feats of IT engineering.

So before you ask me to put my smart phone away at the dinner table, please understand this: my smart phone is probably smarter than yours. I don’t want to be mean, but it’s not just that I do this shit for a living; it’s also that I’m mad skinny and mad Indian. I’m already hip to your hipstamatic and angrier than the angriest birds you know.

With that said, I’ll put my smart phone away so that we can get back to dinner. What the fuck were you talking about again? Yeah, I already downloaded that app. It sucks.

- Sandeep

Comic 20: Mistletoe Belts

I heard a story about a convent in Nashville, Tennessee yesterday.  The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are bucking the slow death of most convents around America.   The average age of a St. Cecilia nun is 36, four decades younger than the national average!   These nuns play basketball and say things to NPR interviewers like “being a nun is better than someone leaving a message on your Facebook wall.”  Like, totally, nun.

Maybe this Tennesse convent is a sign of a nun resurgence, which is awesome for Jesus, because apparently, being a nun means “you are a spouse of Christ.”

That means Jesus Christ is the biggest pimp of all time.

It also means that a lot of women get to celebrate their husband’s birthday on December 25th.  And look, if you give up sex with all living men for a dude who died centuries ago, you have every right to celebrate.

The rest of us?  We have no clue why we’re celebrating.

Merry Christmas!

- Sandeep

Comic 20: Mistletoe Belts

Comic 19: Open, As In Closed

Comic 18: White People Problems

I was driving through Berkeley when I saw this bumper sticker on the back of a suburban mom’s minivan. (more…)

Issue 18: White People Problems