Monthly Archives: May 2007

Old Friends

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I haven’t really read a comic book since I was nine or ten, until a friend told me about the new Buffy season eight in comic book form a couple months ago. I read the first two, and was hooked, though, admittedly that has more to do with Joss Whedon’s writing than with the medium.

Today, we went to Lone Star because Wednesday was when Buffy #3 was released, and we hadn’t had time to get it then. Jeremy had informed me via IM that today was also Free Comic Book Day, which is apparently an annual event. I didn’t feel entirely stupid, as Fuzzy hadn’t ever heard of it either, and he’s got several thousand dollars of X-Men comics in boxes in his den.

We came home with the Buffy books we’d gone there for, plus two game books for Fuzzy (never mind that he doesn’t actually PLAY tabletop games. If it makes him happy to have the books, he should have them). We also snagged four selections from the table of selections for Free Comic Book Day: DC’s Justice League of America #0 2007, Dark Horse’s Umbrella Academy Zero Killer Pantheon City 2007, IDW’s Transformers the Movie Prequel # 1 2007, and Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man Swing Shift 2007. Over dinner at Cracker Barrel, we each read the free books – Fuzzy read Spider-man while I visited with the Justice League…and I do mean “visited,” because after all this time, catching up with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman again, as well as about twelve other DC heroes, some I didn’t recognize, was like spending time with old friends.

I’m not planning to start buying old issues, or anything, but it was a nice journey, made even more so because it was free.

Go ahead, laugh!

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gURL.comI took the “The Nine Muses“ quiz on gURL.com
My muse is…
Thalia
Thalia is patron goddess of comedy, may be the reason. Her name means “The Flourishing” because she brings fame to those she favors. She is often depicted with a comic mask and a cane (perhaps to drag un-funny people off stage…). Read more…

Who is your muse?

In all fairness, the second time I took the quiz I picked other answers that were equally appropriate and got Calliope.

Friday Five: Tex

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  1. Whether you’ve ever been there or not, what are your thoughts on Texas? After living here for two and a half years, I’m still torn about whether I like it or not. I miss the California climate, and the more liberal politics, but I like the Southern graciousness and the special brand of spunk that seems to be native to the region.
  2. Who was the last person you sent a text message to? If you’ve never sent someone a text message, is there some reason?The last text message I sent was a Twitter update before Spider-man 3 started last night.
  3. Who’s usually the first person you go to when you have a tech-related problem, especially for computers? If I can’t answer it myself? Fuzzy.
  4. What was the best textbook you were ever assigned? I have fond memories of the writing book we used in my Freshman expository writing seminar at USF, and of an ancient blue SRA reader I had in pre-school.
  5. What are your thoughts on techno music? I have no particular thoughts. It’s not my favorite style, but in a club it’s fun to dance to once in a while.

Thursday Thirteen – 0705.03

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Thirteen Things about MissMeliss

13 Things That Begin with E

  1. Earl Grey: I was drinking this tea long before I ever saw Captain Picard make his trademark replicator order of “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” I like that you can smell the bergamot in it as the leaves first begin to steep, and I like that it’s strong, and distinctive, and still more refined than say, Lipton’s Orange Pekoe. I take mine with milk and sugar.
  2. Easter Eggs: As a very small girl, one of my favorite things to do was color Easter Eggs with my mother. I have such vivid memories of watching the tablets from the Paas kits fizzing away in their vinegar water, of dye-stained fingertips, and of the magic you can do with a white crayon and a little bit of patience. I didn’t color eggs this year, because it felt silly to do it just for me, and I really wish I had. But I like Easter Eggs of another sort as well – the surprises that you find on a DVD if you play with the menus enough. While these are often just credits, sometimes they’re pretty cool little digital trinkets.
  3. Echoes: Acoustic magic. Enough said.
  4. Ectoplasm: This comes up because I’m dabbling in a story about a romance between a human and a ghost (well, poltergeist) but it’s always been an intriguing word to me. It rolls of the tongue so readily, carrying with it an air of mystery and a spark of something sinister.
  5. Education: Formal or not, education is crucial. I don’t believe that all answers are found sitting in a college classroom. Personally, I felt stifled in school, even among the “gifted” kids. It’s not an environment in which I ever thrived, or could thrive. But I read constantly, I try to stretch myself (improv, writing, exploring places), and I have no patience for stupid people. Ignorance, after all, is curable. Stupidity is not. It’s more than just knowledge though. Education extends to cultural awareness. I think it’s the height of arrogance, for example, to visit another country and not at least attempt to learn and use the local language – I’ve seen so many of my parents’ ex-pat friends who refuse to learn Spanish, and it frustrates me.
  6. Eggplant: I think you have to be Italian to truly appreciate the eggplant. Oval, and delightfully purple outside, cool green and pale ecru inside, the eggplant is a fleshy vegetable that offers a distinctive flavor. Breaded and fried for parmegianni, or chopped up and stewed into ratatouille or caponata, it’s a taste I grew up with, and one of those things that just equals “home” to me. Also, love the color. Eggplant purple always makes me smile.
  7. Elderberry Wine: Robert, this one’s for you: “Well, dear, for a gallon of elderberry wine, I take one teaspoon full of arsenic, then add half a teaspoon full of strychnine, and then just a pinch of cyanide.” — Aunt Martha, in Arsenic and Old Lace.
  8. Electronics:Give me my Zen, my laptop, my cell phone, or knock me unconscious. Electronic toys are my second most favorite playthings. (The absolute favorite is words.)
  9. Elements: In the weather sense of the word. I like weather, for the most part, when it is wild – wind, rain, that sort of thing, but there’s something to be appreciated in a hot sunny day, as well. In the more traditional sense – earth, water, air, fire – it’s all about balance. I could use more of that.
  10. Email: Nothing – NOTHING – is better than an actual snailmail letter, but email is fabulous in its own right. I love the immediacy of it. I love that it costs next to nothing. And I love that it doesn’t waste paper.
  11. English Muffins:Technically, I suppose, there’s nothing English about them, but these wonderful breakfast breads, toasted to crunchy perfection and slathered with butter and maybe a little marmalade, are one of my edible guilty pleasures. I love the sourdough version, but the raisin kind, with sharp cheddar cheese melted on them, are great for an afternoon snack on a rainy day. Also, they go great with Earl Grey tea.
  12. Entertaining: Whether it’s hosting a dinner party or playing on stage, I get a kick out of entertaining. It doesn’t have to be “funny” either – a story can still entertain when it’s dark, after all.
  13. Erasure: Erasure’s music was an integral part of my college experience. Truly. To this day, they’re tunes are scattered among the files on my Zen, and on my hard drive, and I have a couple cd’s of theirs as well. Kicky electro-pop with a ‘tude is always welcome on my playlist.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Rambling

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Sometimes, you just have to ramble.

I was up with the birds today. I’d say “up with the sun” but as we haven’t seen it in days, I’m hesitant to use that phrase. Fuzzy had an early meeting, and I had a project to finish – it’s now essentially finished, and since it was the project from hell, I’m glad to have it behind me. I’ve been whining about it for two weeks.

My lungs and head have been feeling pressured all day, and finally around five when the tornado warning was announced (yes, another one), I realized it was a reaction to the atmosphere. Rain, wind, thunder lightning. I used to love these things – I still love these thing – but my head and lungs don’t agree today.

By 6:30 or so I was convinced we’d get nothing – the warning had expired, we were down to a watch. And then the leading edge hit – winds clocked at almost 100 mph, driving rain in voluminous quantities – another half inch and my pool would have been overflowing – and the screechy sound of things sliding around outside.

As I wrote in my LiveJournal, I’m not generally afraid of weather, and, in fact, once the very worst was over, I was out snapping pix of the lightning through the rain – a ghostly image – water flickering blue and silver – the power had flickered off briefly a couple times, my cell had no signal – and mostly I was enjoying the storm, but there were moments when I was convinced the windows were going to implode. (Why yes, I was standing at the 2nd story window, watching the mayhem. It’s not like the actual tornado SIRENS were going off.)

After everything settled, I went outside. (It’s still raining, even now, still flashing lightning and rumbling thunder, but it’s just a rainstorm now, not a threat. Does that make sense?) The deck chairs were scattered across the yard. One was almost into the pool, its ottoman already submerged. We’ll fish it out in the morning – it’s too dark and cold and slimy to deal with tonight. Not that the pool is slimy – it’s just…well…it’s a Fuzzy-job and he didn’t get home til 10.

When he did get home he brought with him a steak for me, and stories of seeing a semi flipped over on top of a car, and the news that two of our trees were no longer trees, exactly. The peach tree was bent in half, and broken, one of the plums had been sheared off at ground level. And I mean sheared. A chainsaw could not have made a cleaner cut. We drove a circuit of the neighborhood, and then came home and I ate steak while we watched Lost.

Fuzzy had already eaten, with clients.

And now? Now I’m tired, and my head still hurts and I am going to turn off the lights and watch the lightning until I fall asleep.

Blah.

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Funky new hair not withstanding, I feel blah. I faded out halfway through workshop tonight, and I know that was bad, but I’m just tired, and this latest project still isn’t done and I like my job, really, but this has been draining in the extreme, and I feel like it’s taking over my life.

Tomorrow, at least, we should be done.

I hope.

Today, all day, felt funky and cranky and drugged.
Took a nap instead of lunch and it helped a little.

But…I still feel blah, and I think I’m going to call it a night now, and start fresh in the morning.