Management.

*Ahem*…Hi. This is what I wrote when it happened…


Oh dear, the LA Times caused a bit of a stir with a stupid (and kind of sexist) little article/slideshow called something like “A Girl’s Guide to Comic-Con.” It features (if you don’t feel like clicking over) some speculation on what cute boys will be appearing at Comic-Con to pimp their movies. Some people are bothered that it seems to assume that women only go to Comic-Con for the cute boys. As a woman who rather likes cute boys (OK, well…men, I am the anti-cougar and have no interest in anyone under the age of 39), I am a little more bothered by the fact that NO COMIC BOOK GUYS are featured in the story. Not a damn one.

Yes, yes, Comic-Con is now considered a “pop-culture” convention and believe you me, I have no problem with that. There was a time when (in my opinion) the movie and tv presence at the convention may well have saved the bacon of many a comic book company by generating a buzz that seemed to have dissipated around comic books. By bringing in the stars of movies based on comics, I think some new readers were led to our booths and tables and hopefully a new wave of fandom was born. So yeah, I’m ok with that pop-culture thing, as long as the comics are still important. And they are. And I love them, and I love the people who make them. And guess what…some of those people happen to be cute boys. I just wish the L.A. Times had mentioned that.


That was…a while ago. In the meanwhile the world has lost…a lot of people and think what you will of any of them, they all made some sort of significant contribution to this world and will be missed.

And other things have happened.

But blogging clearly has not.



This was written a while back too:

About a year ago I was traveling to the east coast by plane (I say by plane, because, as you may know, I am stupid enough to occasionally do it by car…but not this time). I was getting on the plane, waiting on the…what do you call that thing? The corridor leading to the plane? The gangplank? Well, I was waiting there as the inevitable backup had occurred. Someone was probably trying to put a child in the overhead compartment or something. How many times do you people have to be told that children should be checked? Aaaaaanyway, two girls, in their 20s standing in front of me having a conversation….

I’ve been listenting to this great band called MANAGEMENT.
Oh yeah?
Yeah, they are awesome.
Hunh. Haven’t heard of them.


The conversation carries on for a bit when the second girl, who has clearly been trying to figure out how to do this without making her friend look like a complete ass says:

Have you heard MGMT?
Um….that’s what I said earlier. MANAGEMENT.
Oh, I…I think they are called MGMT.
Yeah, that’s what I said. MANAGEMENT. That’s what MGMT stands for.
I…uh…I think they are just MGMT. Like the abbreviation.
Right. The abbreviation for MANAGEMENT. That’s what they are called MANAGEMENT.

It was the modern day “Who’s on first?” with the added twist of abbreviations.

I really wanted to let her know that the band does, indeed, go by the name MGMT and not MANGEMENT. But I was enjoying the conversation too much.

(I don’t really mean to make fun of this girl, I am pretty sure that almost every conversation I have sounds a lot like this.)

And it only serves to remind me that we are all someplace else sometimes when we should be right where we are….get it?

I’m not here. I’ll be back.

In the meanwhile. New cards in the shop.

Facon.

Why do people get so incensed when I mention veggie bacon? Not you…no, no, I know you understand me. But I mentioned having veggie bacon with my dinner (which, I didn’t for the record) the other night and right away got a response…a horrified response, from an old friend. Here’s the thing. I don’t mind bacon. But I don’t care about bacon either. It’s not my thing really. But, man do people get defensive about that. It’s not like I’m saying, I don’t really like…puppies or something. And it’s not that I don’t like bacon. I just don’t care about it. If there were no bacon, I wouldn’t be sad. And it is exactly because of this that I first tried veggie bacon years ago.

Now mind you, years ago, veggie bacon isn’t what it is today. I can’t remember the brand, but I do remember that it had such a strong smoke scent, that everytime I opened the freezer, I could smell it. Frozen and I could smell it. Yikes. It wasn’t good. Neither, for that matter, was the soy milk I tried all those years ago. But now I can’t imagine life without soymilk, it makes everything so much easier for me. But the point is, I tried something new, I didn’t like it. I tried it again, much later, but again nonetheless and I did like it.

When I first started in this job I have. I was often teased for my lunches. They were often (and still are often) vegetarian, and they often incorporate strange (to some) ingredients that my co-workers (Hi Candypants) would often mock. Nowadays, I hear these guys (yeah, you heard me, I said CANDYPANTS!) eat veggie friendly food on a regular basis.

I’m not a foodie, or a food snob. I’m not a vegetarian. I just like to try things. And usually I try them more than once. And sometimes, like with the veggie bacon and soy milk, it’s better the second time. Look, I don’t recommend veggie bacon if you like real bacon. I don’t recommend veggie bacon if you like turkey bacon. It’s not bacon. It’s something else. But it works for me.

Wait…what was my point here? I don’t remember. I just know if I mention veggie bacon people will appear from nowhere to tell me what a terrible thing it is.

Meanwhile, I’ve been watching movies. So far:

Shoot ‘em Up-Liked it. Crazy, over the top violent and v.v. entertaining.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day-Liked it. Surprisingly dark. But filled with pretty boys. Oh, yeah...and good acting.
Strictly Sinatra-Not bad. Scottish gangster type flick.
Othello-Modern version w/Christopher Eccleston, Eamon Walker, Richard Coyle and Keeley Hawes. Liked it a lot. A very nice adaptation with brilliant acting. Highly recommended.
Meet the Robinsons-Kind of all over the place but in an entertaining way. I dunno, I wanted to dislike it because it was all over the place, but in the end, that’s part of the reason that I did like it. Nice art, some good jokes and I loved, loved, loved Goob.

Ok, look, if you don’t work in this office, the one where YOU had to RING in to get through the door, why would YOU, the person who does not work here, just let someone in? Jerk.

Sorry, had to get that one out of the system. I guess I’m feeling kind of ranty today…so here are some bits of my new pinup girls (not THOSE bits)...



As you were.

Things.

Here’s the thing, I’ve been writing a lot lately, but…not posting because I haven’t finished a damn thing. But today, Janet scolded me and I was already typing this so…I’m gonna throw a few of my not quite finished posts up here because yeah, I do feel like a slacker for not having finished any of them. So here are some lists of things because…that’s the best I can do right now.


Things made since last I posted:

Lemon lavender lace cookies-They were good, they just weren’t what I was planning on making. Not the lace part anyway. They were supposed to just be sugar cookies but all I can figure is that I wasn’t paying attention and left out some flour. HOWEVER, they were much lauded and well recived at beach party and I was told by one person that I need not make any other cookie ever again. So…I guess that’s good.

German chocolate cupcakes-these were pretty good. The cake was nice, although I really do just prefer a chocolate cake. The icing was different than the usual German chcoclate cake icing and it was less…sticky and more…pudding-y. which I rather liked.

Almond zucchini cupcakes with a marshmallowy, lemony frosting-these too were pretty good. I really liked the frosting, which was what I think we used to call a 7 minute frosting, which is basically a meringue. No butter. Which was a nice change. But it was sticky as all hell and kind of messy, so I am thinking of tinkering.

Speaking of meringue, there was a lemon meringue pie for a birthday. I don’t like lemon meringue pie and I don’t like making pie crust. But I did it. So there.

Aaaaaand…I think there was an emergency focaccia and some shortcakes in there as well.

There was also a birthday and an anniversary since last time I stopped by and now…well, I guess everything from here on in leads to comic-con. Sigh.


Random images found in my “inspiration” files:
1 moth
2 foxes
1 Alan Rickman
1 Dalek
4 Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian (and yes I know the Comedian is an awful character but I love that moustache)
3 Hellboys
2 Colin Firth
2 Wolverine images (Hugh Jackman style)
2 Thom Yorke images (Hunh? I mean, I do love the man and all, but when did I put those in there?)
1 Christopher Eccleston and 1 image from Doctor Who episode w/Christopher Eccleston (the valet parking ticket from The End of the World)
4 dresses made of paper
1 Trevor Eve
Many cupcakes

and then 3 Cyndi Laupers….

Go figure. That really sums me up, doesn’t it?

And finally, just because…

Rockstars I may or may not have had crushes on over the years:

Mick Jagger
Phil Collins
Peter Gabriel
Corey Hart
Eric Clapton
Adam Ant
Stewart Copeland
Andy Gibb
Donny Osmond
Shaun Cassidy
Ric Ocasek
Roger Daltry
Ray Davies
David Bowie

Have at it. i know you've got something to say about it....


Also, because I have been working while you weren't looking, some samples of new art.
Cupcake treeeeee, how I love theeeeeeeee...



And this is from a piece titled "He said I have a good personality..."

Advice.

Let me help you. Just take it from me that these are good ideas, I tested the theories so you don’t have to.

-Always put sunblock on the tops of your feet if you take off your shoes outside. And if you are wearing shorts, the backs of your knees as well. I wasn’t wearing shorts otherwise I might have remembered the tops of my feet when I did the backs of my knees. But I didn’t do either and my poor tootsies have suffered for my lack of attention.

-While baking is easy for some, it’s still a process that requires some amount of attention. You can always count the eggshells if you forgot how many you added but there is nothing left behind when adding flour. While the lovely, buttery, lacy lemon and lavender cookies were good, they weren’t what I was trying to make. So…um…pay attention.

-Primeval starts up again here on May 16. My advice is watch this show as if you were a fourteen year old boy. It’s easier to enjoy that way. Well, that way or with a cocktail in hand. How do fourteen year old boys feel about Douglas Henshall though? Because…yeah. Just watch. It’s good, stupid fun. But don’t expect, you know, real science or anything.

Then.

I just found this post that I started and never quite finished. So I am posting it. I can do that. It's my blog.

What I’m reading:
Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber.
I read about this on The Dutchess of Devonshires’ blog and got interested. I have never been big on French History or the 18th century but I am really, really enjoying this book. I did study some costuming in school and really loved it but didn’t want to make a living at it. This book is making me reconsider that. What can I do that would involve just studying clothes without having to sew them? Because I don’t really like sewing all that much…

Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar I’m enjoying this one a lot too. It’s become a bit of a court machinations sort of book, but I like that. It’s hard to write a good and convincing werewolf story…I’ve read a lot that don’t succeed, but so far so good on this one.

Just about finished The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie on Daily Lit and trying to decide if I want to do another Christie or if I’m feeling my spring need for some Shakespeare yet…maybe one of the histories that I don’t remember...

What I am watching:
Well, I’ve been trying to clear off the dvr and I did finally watch Wuthering Heights, Oliver Twist and Sunshine. Now it’s on to Richard III with Sir Laurence Olivier, Little Dorritt and a documentary about Nick Drake. I like to run through the channel listings for some of the more…esoteric sorts of channels and record random stuff that I might not otherwise catch.

Wait! Wait…I wrote this awhile ago and I watched that Nick Drake doc. It was ok. It was very…well…dreamy. Lots of time lapse of a shadow falling across the floor and the like but…eh. I don’t know. I really like his music but I don’t have that great sadness that seems to come with being a fan of his work. It was interesting that there was so much family stuff available though. Lots of family film and recordings, which made for some interesting listening. I ended up not finishing watching Richard III though. I wanted to but was running out of room on the dvr and wasn’t enjoying this version as much as I had hoped. Very stylized and old fashioned. If you’ve never read or watched Richard III, it’s one of my very favorite plays but it can be a little hard to follow if you aren’t a Shakespeare fan. I’d tell you to watch the Ian McKellan version, but last time I suggested that to someone it only confused them more. Maybe just read it. That’s probably the best way to go.

Also loving Lie to Me. At the moment I feel like I could watch that show every day, but that might be my eternal crush on Tim Roth. (This just ended for the season and I am looking forward to it's return next season).

Ketchup.

Things that have happened since last I blogged….

-I got to use the phrase “since last I blogged.”

-Easter. Food was good. Strawberry cupcakes not as strawberry as I would have liked but no one else was bothered. Burned the bottom of the buns so I cut the burnt bits off and refused to talk about it. There’s still a container of strawberry cream cheese frosting in the fridge that we have been using on our sandwiches and the like (no, we haven’t but that doesn’t mean we haven’t thought about it).

-HEATWAVE. Which I am enjoying.

-Watched Sunshine, Grey Gardens (the movie) and Twilight. None were satisfying and two were painful. I’ll let you figure out which was which.

-Received photo of the lead singer of a band for which I designed a logo. His anonymity is protected here because I don’t want him to get mobbed by fans.



(Here’s the logo)



-Caught a cold. Recovered from a cold. Meanwhile, my partner caught himself a fractured elbow. OW! Poor guy.

-Wrote a bunch of stuff I didn’t post. I’ll get around to that.

-Got a new computer at work that is so big it actually makes me a little dizzy. It’s kinda awesome. Also got a wee keyboard with none of the extraneous trim and such. Not quite used to it yet so there may be more typos than usual.

-Got an external HD for home. Haven’t hooked it up yet but it’s green. Not in color. Since it’s almost Earth Day I figured I’d mention that part.

-Watched the end of season one of “Ashes to Ashes” and really liked it. Also saw Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (is that the title, I can’t remember…) and really liked that as well.

-Today I wore my hemp shoes and I didn’t even know it was Earth Day. Dirty hippie power even when unaware! Awesome.

Menu.

Easter Dinner

Jalapeño popper dip w/some sort of cracker/chip
Deviled eggs

Roast lamb with parsley, garlic, lemon, breadcrumb and anchovy gremolata sort of thing
Roast asparagus
Spring potato salad (with green onions, pickles, eggs, parsley and celery)
Homemade challah

Strawberry cupcakes w/strawberry cream cheese frosting
Deep-dish brownies


That’s the plan, man. We’ll see how it works out. We’ve had the same basic meal for the past three or four Easters and we still like it so…you know.


I was just having a conversation with someone about how you think you know a person and then they tell you something so simple and basic that you had no idea about that you feel like you’ve never known them at all. Like how they hate chocolate, or how they were raised by bears. Stuff like that. I think I am pretty transparent. It was made obvious when I found this in my inbox (that’s not a euphemism).


Oooh…shiny and naked. My two favorites.

(That's Wolverine there, in case you DON'T know me all that well. I get Naked Wolverine emails. Oh yes I do.)

And in my continuing adventures in hypnosis, I had another hypnotherapy session. Now, I don’t know how deeply I am actually hypnotized. To me it just feels more or less like sitting with my eyes closed, being mellow and listening to my friend’s voice. But it was pleasant, and I did feel relaxed and everything kind of…sloooowsss….dowwwwwn. So that’s good. This session was centered on creativity. It was nice and I do feel good and raring to draw today, but I think I liked the visualization part of the relaxation session more. We’re going to try some other stuff, but I have to say, even if it’s not achieving much, it’s very nice, and it’s 40 minutes or so of deep relaxation. I do feel something though and it’s been different somethings each time, so…whatever. It’s fun.

Finally....look at this. Give it a few seconds to load and then just sit and watch.

Bits.

First, people I know, doing great things:

Nathan’s interview on starwars.com.
His first vinyl toy will be out soon and it’s looking pretty darn awesome.

And Jason has been doing some art that coincides with Nathan’s art cards and although I am not a die-hard Star Wars fan…I now want my own wookie.


Captain Tracy has launched her website. Keep an eye on it for geocacheing opportunities.


Nextly…um…well, work continues apace on all things. I am struggling a bit with my book but not to fear because I am friends with a hypnotherapist and she’s gonna help me unlock my brain. Cool, eh? Actually, I was hypnotized for the first time last weekend. I am not sure how deep I went because for most of it, it didn’t feel like anything at all. But there was one portion that felt so odd, I can only assume that something was going on. The hypno-therapist explained that sometimes the subject doesn’t go under very well on a first attempt because they are apprehensive about what will happen. I didn’t feel nervous, because I trust her implicitly, but I was very curious to see what would happen. And since I have never been hypnotized before, I was unsure of what to expect. But it was not unpleasant, even if I didn’t respond as well as I would have liked. It was still a quite room with peaceful music and a relaxing atmosphere, so nothing lost. The next time we try it will be to encourage creativity. Open that part of my brain that is holding back, I hope, so…well…we’ll see. If I cluck like a chicken then you’ll know it didn’t go so well.