October 2 2012

1. The kids and J all have colds. I am really hoping that I do not, and am merely tired. Or allergy-ridden. Or something similar, not sick.

2. I’ve been listening to the recently-released soundtrack for the revival of the musical Carrie. Yes, based on the Stephen King novel. I do love a big ensemble production number! I don’t know what it’s called, when everyone is singing over and against each other at cross-purposes and then it all coheres into a BIG THING?

That. I love that.

3. Today is my dad’s birthday. The family intervention was just over four years ago. I haven’t spoken to him since. I wish him all the best, and hope he’s finding some sort of peace in his life. As far as family gossip informs me, he’s not. But I wish it for him.

4. The Fantastic Fangirls website that I help run has re-launched! We have new writers, a broader mandate, and a new look! Go on over and join the conversation!

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Taxes, they are filed

1. As you know if you follow me on Twitter, I had a bit of a PANIC today when I couldn’t find the papers I would need to file my taxes.

You see, I am the sort of person who puts things In A Place. The things I use, the things I need, these all have Right And Proper Places In The World. My wallet is always in this pocket, my glasses are always put away there. This means that I always know where my keys are. This means I can always find my shoes. But the down side is …

The down side is, I am useless when it comes to looking for things.

The papers were not in the folder where I thought they were. They were not on the shelf where they ought to be. They were not on the floor under the shelf. They were not in the proper drawer of the filing cabinet. At this point, they might as well have vanished into the ether, so I called on J for help.

J is not the sort of person who always puts things back where they belong. This leads to conversations where she says “have you seen my keys?” and I look at the KEY RACK by the front door, shrug, and say no. But she always finds her keys, her driver’s license, the overdue library book, K’s purple unitard, the missing Pokemon, and, thank goodness, my tax papers.

They were, in fact, in the folder they were supposed to be in. Tucked inside some other papers. I am an idiot, but I am a profoundly grateful idiot, and I deeply appreciate her help.

My taxes are now filed. I probably did it wrong somehow, but they are DONE.

2. I listened to myself on the Fantastic Fangirls podcast today. Will you, Gentle Reader, kindly glance over the preceding paragraphs? Are there, perhaps, a number of emphasis and inflection markers? There are, you say? Well, Gentle Reader, let me assure you, this is exactly how I talk. I lecture and monologue with emphasis and stressed words, with a rolling cadence of clauses and subclauses and corollary phrases.

I thought about this. I don’t think I’ll change it. I mean, I do talk this way. I started blogging and tweeting with this style because it is, in fact, how I talk. So be it.

3. Gaming tonight was a ton of fun. The jokes flowed thick and fast and aren’t worth repeating here. Munchkin Impossible, followed by Hearts. Good times.

Fantastic Fangirls Podcast!

My fellow Fantastic Fangirls and I all went to see the movie Sucker Punch opening weekend. In lieu of blogging about it or writing an essay, we have recorded our first podcast discussing the film.

The post with the download link is here!

iTunes support will be coming along shortly, as we figure out how to do that. In the meantime, right-click on the Download link, listen, and enjoy! And we strongly encourage you to reply or discuss the movie and our thoughts in the comments to that Fantastic Fangirls post. We look forward to hearing from you!

Pleasant updates

1. Pages have updated on Denizens! Go check out the start of this webcomic series from me and Chris Doyle! Action, adventure, and drama, all rendered in LEGO figures and sets …

2. I keep seeing negative things floating across my Twitter, or people reacting negatively to things. So, to counter that, here are some great things –

Artist Gabriel Hardman is now signed exclusive to Marvel. This is great — Hardman is an amazing artist, and well deserves the work.

The Batwoman collection, Elegy, by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III, is out in hardcover today and omg it is gorgeous. Sort of lickably delectable. Williams sure as heck knows how to work a two-page spread.

My fellow Fantastic Fangirls are all in the most recent issue of Alert Nerd‘s pdf magazine, Grok. Issue #6.

My house is much cleaner than usual.

3. Of course, my house is much cleaner than usual because the kids have been in trouble for two straight days, and when they make my life harder they must make up for it. By providing labor.

Here’s hoping the weekend goes better for them! And for the rest of us ….

Linkspam Tuesday

A few things I’ve seen around –

1. Warren Ellis goes on about print. I find Mr. Ellis’s musing on the using of media formats to be fascinating.

“I keep wondering. What can a one-writer magazine look like? What does a magazine do? You associate “magazine” with disposability: but on the other hand, I’m a hoarder, and magazines will live on a nearby shelf or stack for years in my office. Perhaps it’s simply a modular presentation. Perhaps it’s a tract. These things need considering.”

2. Tech Crunch looks at the available Android phones. This is useful to me. Unlike a lot of tech I hear of and think, “what the heck would I want THAT feature for,” I pretty well know what I use in a phone. I need easy texting — this means I need a qwerty keyboard that is study, easy to use, and has good feel-in-my-hand. I need internet access. This means I need a good screen of suitable width. I need a camera and the ability to easily upload video and image to said internet. What I don’t really need is a phone, so much. Or, rather, it can be a phone-as-afterthought. (Witness my monthly bill for August: 23 minutes of phone use, over 4000 text messages, over 500,000 units of data streaming.) It may well be that my next phone is an iPhone, yes, I understand that. But I still mistrust the touch-screen technology. I am hard on my phone. So I read these reviews with interest.

3. Mention of the fashion photography of Nontsikelelo Veleko. South African street fashion. This, this looks amazing to me. It looks compelling. I love how this looks.

4. Today’s Fantastic Fangirls Q&A is What comic book character should win the Nobel Peace Prize? I have to tell you, I had a tough time with this one.