Early morning Rakko.

This is Rakko. He wakes up early in the morning, well before you. He usually has molluscs on his mind. This morning was no different.

Do you know Ikizukuri? It means living sashimi. At some sushi restaurants you can order octopus, needle fish, jumbo prawn or snapper alive. They bring to your table and you can enjoy eating it while it still moves, and watches you. They charge a high price for ikizukuri. When I told Rakko-San about this he laughed.

"Who would pay for such things?" He said, and he smashed a rock into a small red clam he had just brought to the surface.

He wouldn't let me have a bite.

A framed life

What must it be like to live a framed life? Mary Gertrude Bellwether has dwelled inside of a 7.5 by 11.5 cadmium yellow picture frame since birth. It occurred to her immediately that the world was collapsing in on her. And so, she has spent her entire life trying desperately to keep the walls of her 7.5 by 11.5 frame from crumbling down upon her and crushing her to death.

Mary Gertrude Bellwether has lived a mostly solitary life. During her first day on this Earth, she was joined by a small brown dog. His name was Chester P. Dog, here-fore to be referred to as "the dog", and he was painted on a scrap of Arches water color paper. After appearing on the paper, the dog was cut out by the painter with a pair of Wusthof brand culinary scissors. Having been sipping on a glass of 2008 Norton Argentinean Malbec the artist was rather careless in his cutting of the dog and severed a portion of the dog's left hind paw.

The artist placed the dog in the frame , just to the right of Mary Gertrude Bellwether, but he soon determined that the severed paw was distracting and the dog was removed within seconds. That was Mary Gertrude Bellwether's only taste of companionship. Mary Gertrude Bellwether never saw the dog, for she was too busy holding up the wall in an attempt to save both their lives.

Perhaps she sensed the dog's presence.

Or perhaps she did not.

All that is known for sure is that Mary Gertrude Bellwether continues to hold up the wall beside her, and thus far, she seems to be succeeding. And that, in a very small and auburn colored nutshell, is the framed life of Mary Gertrude Bellwether.

What sort of framed life might you lead?

New Shirts for Comic Con

It's comic con again and I've got lots of new shirts available in these designs. They are all hand silk screened by me. They are available for order here.http://kentanaka.bigcartel.com/ But you need to message me to tell me your size and color. Mistaken Bear isn't listed on the site, so just click andy design and ask for Mistaken Bear. For info message me at kentanakala att gmail dot com SHIRTS ARE $18 PLUS SHIPPING. I SHIP EVERYWHERE.
CAT VS LION
MISTAKEN BEAR
REGULAR STYLE