Dear Mr. President,

2009-02-18-cartoon.jpg, originally uploaded by jonnyups.

Dear Mr. President,

As our newly elected leader, I call upon you to to lead us in America. You are a black man, leading the most powerful country in the world. As much as I would like to believe that racism doesn't exist, it does. Please do your part to make it disappear.

I ask this because this week a satirical cartoon was sketched out, and printed in a popular publication. A cartoon that depicts a chimp getting shot by police (for attacking a woman). A cartoon that also pokes fun at the ridiculousness that is the current stimulus bill. Now for me, I see nothing wrong with this. The point of these cartoons is to take current events and joke about them. But you see, Mr. President, many people are making a connection between the primate in the cartoon, the comment, and black people. This I find ridiculous. In 2009, this connection should not be made.

I ask of you to come out to the public, your people, and tell us all that a joke is a joke. A cartoon is a cartoon. Tell us that you personally feel that this is not racism.

With Great Respect,
JonnyUps

7

7, originally uploaded by jonnyups.

Ok, so I promised to blog about my appointment that I had on Monday with my new doctor from UCSD Medical Center regarding my health.

I am having surgery on May 15th, 2009.

The surgery is to remove any of the remaining harmful mucus in my stomach, and to ensure that it stays gone for a little while. Since what I have has no cure, this is just a big bandage on my future. Weak stomachs skip this next part:

The surgery SHOULD go like this:

-Sleepy Time
-Epidural Catheter (tube in my spine?)
-Cut Me Open (sternum to belt buckle)
-Clean Me Out (each organ gets a wipe down)
-Fill Me With Chemo
-Let Sit for 90 Minutes
-Clean Me Out
-Sew Up Stomach
-Staple Skin Shut
-Hate Life

It will be a 9 to 11 day hospital stay (on average) and I will be super drugged. No working for 6 weeks. My scar will be gnarly.

That's my update. Physically it's going to suck. Mentally it's hard to grasp. Ultimately I want to live a great life, and if this is what it takes to do that, then I'm all in.