Film Glut

Here is a list of all the shows and movies Kate and I watched while she was visiting. Yes, we did get out of the house now and then.

Korean horror/family drama/comedy: The Host
Korean horror/family drama: A Tale of Two Sisters
Korean horror/revenge drama/comedy: Lady Vengeance

Lifetime movie (Kate's request which I thought was weird): The Craigslist Killer
Three episodes of Black Adder
Two episodes of British Comedy The IT Crowd
Two episodes of Better Off Ted

Twisted French fairy tale: Blue Beard
Odd Orson Welles "documentary" F is for Fake
British comedy Withnail and I

And, in order of watching, starting New Year's Eve:

Doctor Who: The End of Time (g'bye David Tennant)
All About Eve
Superman II
Die Hard

What connects the last three? "Is there no one on this planet to even challenge me?" which I can totally hear Bette Davis and Alan Rickman say.

Happy New Year!

Hello everybody. I know it's been a long time since I've set fingers to keys on this blog. One of my resolutions this year is to bring my life back online. Since I find FB too revealing and far too pithy for my preference, I am going to jot down stuff here.

New Year's was quiet. I picked up Miss Kate at the Memphis airport that eve, and we drove between nowhere and rain to make it to Oxford. We had a fantastic dinner at Bouré and then back home for drinks and conversation.

I fear that I am a poor hostess because I have been partied out. My good friends, Michelle and Jason, had an Elvis Blue Hawaii wedding in Las Vegas. I had the most fantastic time -- I drank, smoked, and ate a lot of red meat. Didn't gamble too much. Just lost enough to make me wince a bit but not to lie about it. Perhaps I will go into more detail -- at least about the wedding and the tour guide from hell who took us to the Hoover Dam last Monday.

But hey, at least I have recovered and my voice, which I lost doing karaoke has returned (probably should have skipped Paradise by the Dashboard Light with the groom). Anyway, best wishes to the couple and many thanks to them for having the absolutely best wedding I've ever attended and to all my new, wonderful friends I met there (and all the old ones I got to spend time with).

Kate and I are off to Big Bad Breakfast for lunch then Square Books for shoppies.

Webcomics auction on eBay

This is a charity auction for the Gulf Coast. My friend, the very awesome A. Hunt, and her artist, Tracy Williams has donated some cool stuff. Check it out and all the other webcomic goodies! If you have never clicked on the link to the right to visit Goodbye Chains, you are missing out. It's got everything that would piss off (yet oddly arouse) any "red-blooded" American (Marxism! The Love that Dare Not Speak Its Name! Horses!)


"All proceeds from the Web-Comics Auction will be donated to the Colbert Nation Gulf of America Fund, which is being managed by The Baton Rouge Area Foundation."

For all my Creative Friends

You may already know about this because I always assume I am behind the curve, but I read on my Publisher's Weekly comics newsletter about a social networking site, kickstarter.com, for poeple who need funds for creative projects. It includes a variety of comics writers, filmmakers, and any artist you can think of -- including some cake decorators. Not everybody is automatically accepted to the site, making it a little more exclusive. Notable entries include editorial comics guy Ted Rall who is looking to raise funds to go back to Afghanistan.

I don't see any reason why my friends who are all very talented couldn't get certain projects off the ground with the help of this site. I think it's really cool.

Happy Birthday Cheryl!

I hope you had a very happy one! In honor of your birthday, I created a light show over Vancouver. No, really, I did. Check it out (or see pic below). It's a massive installation art piece where the artist positions high-powered searchlights in a city. People log onto the page and move the lights in a pattern for their choosing (including height and direction -- although there is a limitation because I would imagine that people would not want the lights streaming into their apartments). After creating the design, it's queued for the night and then when your turn comes, the lights move and freeze for fifteen seconds. Cameras at four different places capture the image and the site creates a webpage for you.

I heard about this on the PBS Newshour.

Anyway, I couldn't think of a fitting tribute to a (insert pun here -- 1. bright 2. shining 3. illuminating 4. generally kickass) person for her birthday.

Belated Birthday wishes to Jill and movie reviews

I dedicate this post to my dear friend, Jill, who is currently residing about three time zones away in California. In honor of your birthday, I wish I could serve you some chocolate mousse and watch two of your favorite movies -- Legally Blonde and Dune. I miss the fact that I don't know what your current favs are! But I like the juxtaposition of the romantic comedy and the Lynch sci-fi epic. I wonder what order we should watch them in.

Speaking of movies, since Oscar season is upon us and since there are TEN nominated best picture films and that most of them are currently available on DVD, I've been lining them up on my Netflix queue. So here goes a couple months of what I've been watching.

Inglourious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino. Couldn't get this from Netflix because it was so popular and I'm just a movie-watching chump that they wish they could throttle. So I rented it from redbox which was pretty easy. A very silly piece of film-making which surprises me that it received such acclaim because I saw nothing really that innovative or moving in this revisionist, fantastic WWII story. Perhaps because it was so surprising that Tarantino could create a film that did not explicitly rely on pop culture references -- unless you call war films and German film-makers part of that culture. Still, I will admit that Tarantino is a master of the scene. He can tease an event out with great tension and flair even though we might have seen them before. I mean, can the standoff in the bar really compare with what he did in Reservoir Dogs? I delight in his dialogue and revel in the post-modern approach of "this is and isn't how people talk" -- see more below when I talk about Mamet and the Coens. And the guy who got the juiciest lines, Christoph Waltz much deserves his supporting Oscar nomination because it's always so much fun when he's onscreen and not at all what I was expecting. I didn't even mind Brad Pitt playing around in the film because Waltz would pop up again. I won't spoil for those who have not seen the film and still want to, but I was disappointed that the two plotlines did not dovetail better except through casual and brutal violence.

A Serious Man -- directed by the Coen brothers. Brutally funny in a way that Tarantino can't even near because the heart of the humor and the agony is the existential crisis. Tarantino's characters are always confident in what they know about the world, but not so in Coen brothers films. These characters get swept up by larger than life events and struggle to stay in that life, much less understand it (I think that was my problem with Burn After Reading because these people were so transparent in their motives and their struggles seemed very petty and mean) . How can a movie so deadly hilarious be so painful at the same time? The ending just made me cry. I very much see it as a companion to No Country for Old Men, where you know where the characters are heading, and it's a very bleak world. No one is rewarded for being decent. I rather long for the sweetness of the dream at the end of Raising Arizona but the brothers seems to have moved past that.

The Hurt Locker -- directed by Kathryn Bigelow (both film and director are nominated for an Oscar). Haven't watched it yet but it's sitting on my coffee table at the moment. I'm looking forward to it.

Avatar -- directed by James Cameron (who is, ironically Bigelow's ex-husband). Blah, blah, blah, so much has been written on it so I'll boil it down to the basics. Visually amazing. It was the first time I was watching a CG film and thought it looked real. Imaginative design. It's, what, like three hours? and I wasn't squirming in my seat. Negatives: Sigourney Weaver very underused. Didn't understand her character at all. Heavy-handed, cliched ridden message. Yeah, we know that corporations are the evil lurking behind the military-industrial complex. And yet another tribute to the noble savage and white guy's guilt. And, I don't know about you, but maybe I've been institutionalized but I was a little disturbed at seeing Marines getting blown up. I just kept imagining some poor soldier, who had nothing to do with the policies that Cameron is critiquing, back from hell sitting through this -- and hearing the crowd cheer at the big explosions. My students did point out to me that the marines were supposed to be "ex" but I seemed to miss that.

District 9 -- directed by Neill Blomkamp. I highly recommend that you see this if you haven't already. Much more thoughtful than Cameron's romp, but still a satisfying action film. Very gory -- I didn't realize how so until someone had pointed it out to me and then I recalled that I had planned to eat dinner in the middle of watching it and thought "yeah, I'll just wait a bit." The politics are also more interesting given its setting in South Africa with nods both to apartheid and current events of Zimbabwean refugees in that country. You'd never know from my review that it's a science fiction tale about a giant space ship with a bunch of aliens stranded? The special effects also made everything realistic like Cameron's film. But where his is squeaky clean, District 9, is muddy, dirty, and violent. You don't always get the answers for how and why, but the villains in this film are exactly how I would think humans would act in this situation. And the hero is not a squeaky clean, All-American guy fallen on hard time. This protagonist is the bane of the universe -- an incompetent bureaucrat (for the horror of competent bureaucrat see any Nazi film or read any Kafka). Not a perfect film but takes more chances than many that I have seen. I wish had seen it in the theater.

Up -- directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson. Aren't we in the middle of dire times? Recessions and job losses and wars and the like? What is it with these really sad films? Where are the silly musicals? That being said, within the first ten minutes of Up, I was already crying. The opening sequence was just too wonderful and, while it bordered on sentimentality, it was saved by the fact that it happened in the beginning. If it had been at the end, way too much weight would have been put on it. I don't think it was as good as Wall-E, a charming film with likable characters and enough laughs.

The Lovely Bones -- directed by Peter Jackson (although someone should have slapped him while he was making it). I read the original book a few years ago by Alice Sebold since it had been so popular. The book was fine, but the movie was something else. I saw it with Faye who could barely contain herself during the film. The story, in a nutshell, is the murder of a young girl whose ghost watches as her family copes with her death. In the book, she provided a running commentary and was an interesting exercise in character development. In the film, Jackson has turned it into a ghost story where we spend just as much time in her magical world and in how she tries to affect events in her family life. I thought some of the parts were interesting but - and I have to agree with Faye -- most became really absurd. Jackson could also have benefited from some tighter editing and someone with the guts to rein him in a bit (see above slapping comment). Stanley Tucci is nominated for playing the skeezy serial killer but I think the Academy really wanted to nominate him for his fine turn in Julie & Julia but you know how it goes, if it bleeds, it leads. How many actors playing serial killers have won Oscars -- hmm Charlize Theron and Anthony Hopkins. Anybody else I'm missing?

Okay, I'm going on way too long here but I'll just sum up some of the other things I've been watching in the months I've been not-blogging.

Redbelt -- directed by David Mamet. I just recently watched this 2008 film and I wanted to write a meditation on movie dialogue with Tarantino, the Coens, and Mamet being the holy trinity but I'll have to put that off for now. Again, I don't always enjoy Mamet but his dialogue is hypnotic.

and the obligatory anime series:

Darker than Black (seasons one and two) -- interesting premise and characters which had potential but fell victim to the Evangelion story arc where all stories have to end in a big mystical nothing (talk about your Bloom's Anxiety of Influence). In Japan and in Brazil, two mysterious gates pop up which causes all sorts of havoc. One, the sky is gone and replaced with a false sky with false stars. Two, certain people develop superpowers and cease to have human emotions. They are called "contractors" because after they use their power, they have to "pay a price" -- and this has been a rather amusing part of the show. It can be as simple as pulling out hairs or smoking a cigarette to being forced to spill secrets, kiss someone, arrange pebbles in a particular order, and breaking fingers. Conspiracies abound as various government and NG organizations vie for the power in these Gates, and they hire these contractors to go around and do various nefarious deeds. It's a short series in mostly two episode blocks but we follow a group of characters who work for the "Syndicate." Then it settles into an end-of-the-world arc which did have me watching, waiting for the big pay-off. Not all the questions are answered, and neither will you find them in Season 2 which was dreck for a variety of reasons.

All right, got that out of my system. Will try to post more often so as not to inundate you with my insane rambling chatter, dear friends.

Happy Birthday Miss Kate!

Wishing you all the best on this brisk December day!

Here is the party I wish I could throw for you:

I mean, look at all the booze!

Happy Birthday, Perilous Cheryl!

I hope you had a fantastic day in Boston! Here's a little something to get you thinking about how to celebrate your next big event. ARRRGH!

The Busy Weekend -- part two

Please excuse the brief tangent on birds -- back to Friday night and the retirement party. Well, there was a full program to honor my colleague, and it was very much keeping in tune with her personality. There was singing, dancing, and sea shanties. Yes, you read that correctly, sea shanties by an amateur sea shanty singing group. I've jumped ahead -- here are the highlights:

A waltz by the ballroom dancing club. Many of these were former students of mine! They were lovely.

A tribute by a former student who told Faye that she was a model and an inspiration for all "us nerds."

A tribute by Department Head and friend who gave away the Department gifts -- the best of which was an award to be given in her name, yearly, to the best Freshman writer. (Okay, I really teared up at this one).

A speech by the Admiral, who doesn't know her very well but spent two hours reading her Live Journal and freakin' QUOTED it at the ceremony. Let that be a lesson to you all. But the Admiral is very funny and has an extremely dry delivery. Though self-described as "boring," Kate leaned over to me and said "he's pretty funny." Hey, power and a sense of humor -- not a bad combination.

Faye said a few words as well, in which she quoted poetry and sang. She also made a reference to Bilbo's birthday party. All of this was very much in keeping with her personality. Very sweet.

I kinda wished I had begged to be on the program now.

Then she joined the Sea Shanty group which got the entire crowd to chime in on the chorus (including the Glee club which were having a great time). One member even improvised a verse for Faye on the spot.

I'm sure I've left out some other high points to which Kate and Gene can add. These were my favorite moments. We then left to go out into the cold and to the reception. Surprisingly, given the state of chaos in the afternoon, it was a wonderful reception. The noodle kugel was sublime (that should be the title of a novel) and I was so hungry, I ate a lot.

Our fears that the cake was not going to big enough were way off. A lot of people declined, even though I helped in serving and cajoled many attendees to have a piece. Boy, was it sweet!

At the reception, there were a few more presents and speeches, but all in all, it was pretty informal. I never even got to talk to Faye much since she had so many friends -- some of whom were from out of town-- that I could only hug her as we were leaving.

Kate and Gene stayed over. we had a few drinks, watched some crazy anime as I am wont to thrust upon them. Then it was up for lox and bagels and to Elena and Rod's for lunch. Unfortunately, since I'm such a wuss in the snow, once I saw any accumulation on the roads, I was out of there. Some of the hardy souls I left behind went sledding down the golf course behind their house (in the summertime, when attending bbqs there, the course lends a sense of danger that one will be beaned by a golfball). Okay, I fulfilled my promise and told the rest of the story.

A belated birthday wish

Okay, you know the drill. I'm always late with my birthday wishes. Anyway, I hope you had a fantastic birthday week, Miss Kate. Here is a tribute to you. We will lift a glass next time we meet, Miss Magpie.

All this Social Networking is Wearing me out

I've revived my interest in Facebook, much to my dismay and have been busy catching up with all the friending and chatting and so forth. Probably good that I didn't do this before I left for Atlanta because I would have run myself ragged trying to see people.

As it was, I spent quality time with the family -- Turkey dinner was with my mother, sister, niece, and nephew. There was plenty to eat. Friday, we did go shopping but only because my mother needed a new washer. I ended up buying my sister an el cheapo DVD player because hers had died. We did buy that washer, but on Saturday. Did my mother really need to traumatize the salesperson when she responded to his comment that the washer would last 15 years with "it will probably outlast me." We are a morbid bunch.

Later that Saturday afternoon, I drove to Alabama (yes, you Northeasterners, one can enter that state and not die) for an Indian food buffet extravaganza. Michelle and her fiance, Jason, hosted. A great friend from my alma mater showed up and we ended up talking late into the night. It was soo good to see Brad. It's been years.

Sunday I drove back to Atlanta and relaxed at the homestead. I flew back this morning. I guess because of all the delays on Sunday, the plane was packed and I did not get bumped into first class (like I was on the way down -- the only way to travel!!).

Now, I must think about the last weeks of class. I am so behind. I hope everybody had a nice holiday!

Time is getting shorter

Well, literally, the days are getting shorter but it does feel like all that I wanted to get done this year is not getting done. One of my goals was to keep up with this blog and I have, in fact, started a post a couple times since my last one. But inspiration proved elusive. So, I decided to just plow through -- which is advice I give my students.

I'm also inspired by a visit of a writer in my residence -- Miss Kate. She will most likely blog about this as well but I met up with her on Friday after a long couple days of conferencing with students. I was hurriedly cleaning up my place when I heard a knock on the door. It was not Miss Kate but my downstairs neighbor's daughter who was rather panicked. She had locked herself out and what with the short days, it was dark and her mother was not home yet. I sat her down and she used my phone. Eventually, she got a hold of her mother and everything turned out fine. The girl was clinging to the little black cat who now completely believes that my home is also her home (the cat, not the girl). Kate also showed up about the same time as the mother.

After a little chit-chat, it was off to services at the synagogue because today is the anniversary (Hebrew calendar) of my father's death. I had to say Kaddish for him. There was also a bar mitzvah going on so Kate got to meet a lot of people.

After services (and homemade cookies at the kiddush), we headed over to the Queen's place for martinis and snacks and music and gossip. We were a bit startled at the possums in the Queen's backyard who froze in the headlights and then slunk under the fence. I guess they were looking for some of the fancy cheeses that Kate had brought. I'm afraid that after a few hours I pooped out so we returned early-ish to mi casa. After a few more drinks and some chat, we headed to bed. I apologize to Miss Kate for having to sleep in my "junk" room but I guess it was bearable because she said she slept well.

The next morning, after tea and coffee and fried egg sandwiches, we watched Black Books and then the film Paprika. Then, since it was a rainy Saturday afternoon, we did the only thing one should do -- besides nap and read books -- watch more bad television. I'm so glad that we not only caught the "no more wire hangers" scene from Mommie Dearest but we also watched Alien versus Predator. Now, life is, indeed complete. Finally, we finished our visit with a pizza. All in all, a very relaxing and uneventful day. I enjoyed the visit!!

May I direct your attention

To two new links on the right. One is from the famous Jill Magee, who is back in Pacifica, CA and has become a bit of a serious cyclist. In fact, she recently rode in a competition in Hawaii to benefit those suffering from Leukemia. She hasn't updated her myspace page for a while but I see that she took home a prize -- you go, girl!

Secondly, friends may see a link called "seriously Romania" which may leave you a bit puzzled. In my class this summer, I had a great teaching assistant, Jeremy, who is now in Romania on a Fullbright teaching award. If you want to know the latest news from Transylvania from a good writer, check it out (though I may pull it if he realizes my crazy friends are reading his experimental blog).

In Yom Kippur news, I successfully got through the fast, and the rabbi, not only used my new name to call me to the torah, but also made a bit of a fuss about it in introducing me to the community (and used it to advertise -- "if anybody else wants a Hebrew name and never got one, come see me"). That threw me off a bit because I was freaking out over the Hebrew I had to chant before the reading. Got through that as well, despite the fact I hadn't drank water for almost a day (how do the rabbi and cantor survive with no water?). I also realized that a woman in the congregation whom I highly admire (she's very active in the synagogue and her daytime job is as a lawyer, making sure that people get the medicare benefits they desperately need) has the same Hebrew name. So, I'm doubly pleased that I get to share it with a role model.

I'm sick of all my music

Somebody help me! I'm bored with my music! I've been listening to the same ten CDs for weeks now in my car. I need to take a break and listen to something else. Now, I don't want any suggestions for outrageous purchases (like an ipod or an MP3 player because I need to buy a TV, I desperately need new glasses, and my cat will eventually need medical treatment for her hyperthyroid thingie). I reach out to my music-loving friends to give me some advice.

This is dangerous, I know. I've always hung out with people who know infinitely more about music than I do. My family never really listened to music so my tastes developed rather late. My friends in college were very much indie, punk, new wave, whatever, as well as local music. They still do a lot with the scene in Atlanta. Here in CT, I seem to have the same knowledgeable friends who are or have been in bands or just have a lot of music in their lives.

The caveat -- To give you a sense of what I like, here are the CDs I've been listening to (and listening to and listening to):

Gorillaz -- Demon Days
Suzanne Vega -- Beauty and Crime
Neko Case -- Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Deee-lite -- World Clique (I know it's old but it makes me happy)
Soundtrack for Paranoia Agent (anime)
Cake -- Fashion Nugget
David Byrne -- Grown Backwards
Art of Noise -- The Seduction of Claude Debussy
Daft Punk -- Discovery
Black-Eyed Peas -- Monkey Business
Pixies -- Bossanova

I had asked a pal in Atlanta to make me a mix but he has yet to do it. I need to prod him because he's always steered me in the right direction. I know the above list is a mix of recent (and one pop album) and stuff from my college days so no sneers, please. I don't make fun of your music, do I? (well, maybe I do, I dunno).

I've been dying to buy this album from a Brazilian artist because I heard him on the Lehrer Newshour and LOVED the song I heard, but paying 30 bucks for an import album which may take six weeks to show up?? (see, I'm not that much of a music lover -- btw, it's Celso Fonseca's Feriado).

So, anything you can suggest given what I've listed above? I mostly want newer things. Lat time I was in a music store, I thought about filling in some of my classic punk collection, but it just depressed me, because, well, I don't know why.

Hives are for BEES!

Dear Gentle Readers -- it's been an eventful week and no, it's not because of the Olympics, nor the Democratic National Convention, nor even, for the first week of classes. No, none of that. I have discovered that I'm really allergic to something but I don't know what it is. It all started when I went out with Ken in his batmobile (custom made 2008 Honda Accord with leather seats!) for ice cream on Saturday. We drove around in the back country and he even let me take over the steering wheel -- which is impressive because I didn't let anyone drive MY new car.

Then we came back to my house and watched TV. All of a sudden, I was really itchy. I would scratch and scratch and all these welts rose up on my skin. I could feel my legs burning. Although I had never had hives before, I knew what they were. So, because I had accidentally dried my clothes with a used dryer sheet, I thought perhaps that was the cause because I've been itchy doing that before. So, I changed my clothes and didn't think anything about it. But the hives kept coming back and nothing I could do would help. I'd wake up in the middle of the night, scratching an itchy heel. Then an hour later, my shoulder! And so on -- skritch, skritch, skritch.

On Sunday, by the middle of the day, my tongue started to swell and I became very nervous. I looked up hives online and all the medical websites said to seek medical care when hives reach the face. I know how alarmist these websites can be (never go to a foot problem site, for instance) so I called a friend of mine who is a doctor and he recommended that I go because this symptom indicated that my airway could close. At one point, it was so bad that I couldn't speak! I called the Queen who rushed to meet me at the emergency room. By then, the swelling in my tongue had gone down so I could carry a conversation. After a relatively short wait, I was admitted and they put me on a heart monitor and all the bells and whistles. The Queen was an awesome friend, putting me at ease as I faced this crisis. Did I mention that I'm between health insurance? Isn't it a sad state that I almost delayed care because of this fact?

The ER doc had the nurse put in an IV and they shot me up full of a powerful steroid, Benadryl, and Pepcid (which I didn't know but is also an antihistimine). Let me tell you that Benadryl can knock you for a loop normally and once I felt it flowing in my veins, I was, as I put it to the Queen, feeling pretty groovy. The hives went away. I also sent the Queen away because I didn't know how long I'd be there and I knew I wasn't making any sense. I couldn't quite finish my sentences. So, I stayed in the hospital for another hour and then I went home. I have a course of steroids to take and I am also taking Benadryl to keep the hives at bay. They keep coming back! Right now as I type, I can see the redness rise. Time for my meds. My doctor friend assured me that it will take time for it to finish with me. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to teach because of all the irritation (excuse me, class, I need to take a bathroom break and scrub my body with steel wool) but I timed my medicines well.

Next up -- get health insurance and go to an allergist. Was it the maple walnut ice cream? (I hope not! I love walnuts). Was is the chemicals in Ken's car? Was it the generic fabric softener? Or something else all together?

The funny thing is that the medicine I'm taking is exactly the same that my sister takes when she has a flare-up with her MS. We commiserated on the phone.

Anyway, thanks to the Queen for being such a great supportive friend. Keep my in your thoughts as I scratch my way through the week.

Absence makes the heart.... (subtitled the WAR ON TERROR)

I've been avoiding the internet(s) because it drags me in so. Some interesting news from one of my many mailing lists. Apparently, a game called "The War on Terror" has been pulled from shelves in England. You can read all about it here. In a nutshell, the problem was this:

"The player who is designated as a 'terrorist' state has to wear a balaclava (Brit speak for a ski mask) with the word 'Evil' embroidered on it—and it was this ski mask that caused the Kent constabulary to seize the game. The Kent police contended that 'the balaclava could be used to conceal someone’s identity, or could be used in the course of a criminal act.' It appears that when it comes to the War on Terror board game, the police, like the buyers for the tony high street chains that have refused to carry the game, sorely lack a sense of humor."

And can't people just buy a ski mask anywhere? Or have these, too, been banned in Britain?

In other, unrelated to "war on terror," news, I would like to plug two books which are written in or feature some pals. All of you probably already know about this, but it doesn't hurt to send a shout out to Mr. Gene, whose 500 Essential Graphic Novels has been published. Awesome! I can't wait to get my copy so I, too, will be in the know. Plus, my friend, A. Hunt, has a story featured in Comic Book Tattoo Tales Inspired by Tori Amos. If you are a Tori Amos fan, or like short story comics, get this book. It's a hefty tome -- nearly ten pounds -- so make sure that you get free shipping on Amazon.

Aren't I cool to have such cool friends?

Cleaning out an Apartment

So, my good friend, Chris, is about to leave for Kansas. He pointed out the house he will be living in on Google Maps and noted that various towns in the area had been destroyed by tornadoes in the 90s. I asked him if his house has a cellar but he said he didn't think so. Well, Dorothy, I said, what are you going to do? The only nearest neighbor is an 80 year old woman with a one-eyed cat named Fuzzers. Hopefully the tornado won't go after its blind side and let's hope the elderly woman has a cellar.

But anyway, I timed my return to Connecticut to completely miss the packing and moving stage but I was around tonight to help him clean the apartment (which is a mirror image of my apartment). It's going to be weird without him. He's been a great neighbor and a friend not only because he could always be counted on for cat sitting (and the cats adored him) but that we meshed well in our general misanthropy. Plus, he made my wireless network, a true network by signing on.

He's also responsible for the birdwatching. Good luck, Chris, on your move and on your life in Kansas!

The great time suck or Remember that time when we were all nostalgic? Good times....

Alas, I should be in bed, but I have been sucked into the Internet. **waving for someone to rescue me**. All my college friends have become overly nostalgic and have coerced me into joining Facebook. Already I have been reunited with a ton of people. It's scary how many of them look so much older. Had I not seen pics of myself from "back in the day," I would have believed I'm unchanged. Sadly, not the case.

The worse part of cruising the internet this time of night is how much multi-tasking I do. Do you remember when you couldn't open a million tabs? I think I used to make Gene dizzy with my multiple windows. Right now I have two e-mail accounts, an article from the comix list, and my blog open. Oh and of course, I had to do a little work, so I have a folder open as well. I forgot that I had promised to write comics entries for this encyclopedia from Greenwood. Thankfully, the due dates aren't until next April (lookout for panicked or non-existent posts in April next year!).

Let me add a little substance to this post so as not to waste all your precious time. My good friend A. Hunt will be back in town next week with puppy in tow. I plan on playing with said puppy and then she and I will be going to see Wall-E which is the new Pixar flic -- a feelgood movie about various dystopias. I look forward to it. It seems to have gotten good reviews. This, gentle readers, will make the fourth movie in a month that I have attended. It's a miracle. I never seem to get to the cinema and now I'm wondering what I'll be renting from Netflix in the coming months. Yes, I saw Dark Knight -- twice, because the first time was opening weekend and I was tired, sitting too close to the screen. I don't think I really knew half of what was going on but I do remember the several times that I averted my eyes due to the mind-boggling violence. This is PG-13?? Then I saw it in Atlanta with my friend Paul. We sat further back. I enjoyed the movie although I enjoyed the trailer for Watchmen even more. On first screening, sadly I was not with comic book fans so I could not suitably geek out. I just sat there chanting "please don't suck; please don't suck." I have to admit that it looks pretty darn good. I even recognized some of the scenes so maybe it will follow through. However, they must not sanitize it. As my friend, Paul, said, Rorschach needs to look like he smells. I concur.

As for the other films I went to see -- I already blogged about Mongol. I also went to see Mamma Mia! with my mother, sister, and niece. It was an appropriate film for the four of us and I was amused, having very low expectations. Wow Pierce Brosnan canna sing (neither can Meryl Streep). Last, and least, was Hellboy II, which I saw with my nephew. I concur with both the Queen's and Cheryl's reviews. I think I was prepared for the suckiness (sense the "suck" theme in this entry) although imagining Cheryl writhing during the Manilow sequence sent me into fits of giggles. Sorry Cheryl! (I expect to be thwacked for that comment)

I got a gal in Kalamazoo Part Deux

I am currently sitting in a coffee shop outside of campus. I believe that Kate had lunched here earlier in the day. I am happy as a freakin' clam. I can smoke. I have Internet. I have a quiet place. I have coffee. I can have ice cream if I want it or sweets or anything my little ol' heart desires. Just lovely. Plus, it's a bonus that since the car is rented in my name then I can come and go as I please. What luxury!

So, paper went well and it's over and done with. I was paired with two MA students who were giving papers definitely related to topic, but they were just youngsters. I don't say this in a very negative way because I believe both are non-medievalists (at least one a Victorian scholar -- hey, if I was to give a paper on Victorian lit, then I would imagine I'd be in the same boat). The panel was also well-attended which is nice. Not too big but actually filled out the small room. It's never fun just to give one's papers to fellow panelists.

I haven't been to too many sessions because of all the work I brought with me. Good news on one level -- I finished editing one paper (not mine) and the author seemed rather happy with the result. This good because it was a massive revision and I was asked to edit with a rather heavy hand, especially since English is not the author's first language. Now, I should be working on my paper for this same journal. *sigh* Will it ever all be done?

And I'm still not getting good sleep. I have discovered coffee with a shot of espresso (they call this the "sinking ship" -- oh dear!).

In another hour I will go to the open bar reception for UConn people and will meet back up with Kate and probably a bunch of other people who I want to see. That's at least a very nice thing at this conference. I know a lot of people here and we are both (usually) mutually happy to see each other. I even gave a ride to the coffee shop to another UConn person and she is sitting on the other side working as well. I am happy to enable happy workspace!

Happy, happy, joy, joy to you all. Will post more soon.

Kazoo

I'm sitting in the lobby of Valley I which is where Kate and I are sharing a room and the lobby is the only place I can get internet reception. It would be such a godsend if we could get it in the room. The trip here was pretty uneventful -- some rain as I was driving us in. We took it easy for the most part and had pizza at Bilbo's (mostly because we figured that the medieval hotspot would be intolerable during the other evenings of the conference). Then I worked on editing an article and looked at my paper. I present it in thirty minutes. I'll be glad to get it over with. I wish I had a better attitude toward this conference. I suppose the upside is that in the bare bones dorm room, I am focused on my work.

I didn't sleep well last night because I was probably thinking of all the work I had to do. Then again, I never sleep well in an unfamiliar place. This morning was particularly noisy -- with garbage trucks, people walking outside, and a few birds having territory or mating battle through songs. You would think they would get tired of the same tune? But I heard the same one echoing far and near. I wonder who won?

In other bird news, the swan is nesting by the lake. A swan's nest is pretty spectacular to see although it would have been nice to see the babies. Okay, more on this later. Must look over the paper one more time. No more coffee though or else I will read my paper in five minutes, not twenty.