Happy 50th

Today is my birthday and it's a big one. So to celebrate, here are 50 other things that turn 50 this year.

And we're back!

Just got back from Tallahassee yesterday and it was a great trip. I never did find time to update the blog, but I saw a lot of friends, including all the Trammels and the Great Paxton Holley, who drove all the way over from Jacksonville. He and I weren't ready to record a face-to-face installment of Hellbent for Letterbox, but Pax did sit in on the new Dragonfly Ripple episode we knocked out.  It was great seeing him and Carlin again and finally meeting the rest of Carlin's family. That was a huge highlight of the trip for David, too.

Gonna work on getting back to a routine this week, which means I should finally get the next GW Thomas post up and get you up to speed on the various podcasts I've been on in the last couple of weeks. If you wanna see more photos from our trip, Facebook is the place for that.

It's quiet. Too quiet.

I didn't mean to leave the blog alone for this long. I've got a post or two from GW Thomas to put up and a bunch of podcasts to tell you about, but we've been planning a trip that took a lot more preparation than I expected. We're here now though in Tallahassee, Florida, which is my hometown and also where CT from Nerd Lunch lives. Spent some time with him and his family yesterday afternoon and are getting together with them again today, along with Pax from Nerd Lunch and Hellbent for Letterbox. There will be podcasting.

I tell you all that to say that I hope to find some downtime to update the blog a couple of times this week. I expect to; it's just that it's been 25 years since I've been here and there are a lot of folks to see.

I feel like I need to explain that beard. I haven't gone full mountain man, yet. But last Christmas we sent to see Santa at Macy's - as is our annual tradition - and I came away with a job offer for 2016. I didn't realize until right then that being a Macy's Santa was a Bucket List item for me, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. The one thing I needed to change was to let my beard grow out. I think I'm ready, but it does make me look rather wizardly in the meantime.

The 2013 Saga Reader Survey

Since I was just talking about writing to comics letter-pages, it seems appropriate to write an open letter to Saga, though maybe not the kind you'd expect.

Brian K. Vaughan has a tradition of doing Reader Surveys that are more slam books than actual demographic data about his audience. The questions are always fun, and he asked a bunch of new ones in Saga #14. I'm answering mine here instead of mailing them in, so feel free to chip in with your own answers in the comments or on your own blog.

Beware the Internet

1. In the parlance of these newfangled "chat rooms," what is your A/S/L?

I'm not at all embarrassed that I had to look up that term. 46/M/Saint Paul.

2. And if you don't mind us asking, where do you buy your comical books?

The Source Comics and Games.

3. Okay, but when was the last time you climbed a rope and/or used a rope to aid your ascent?

Ha! Last time they forced me to do one of those "skills" tests, so probably like fifth grade.

4. Do you believe in any kind of afterlife?

Yeah, but I'm real shaky on the details.

Tony Angelotti and Johnny Depp

5. Who's the most famous person you went to school with?

Johnny Depp's stunt double from Pirates of the Caribbean.

6. In adolescent sex talk, what does "third base" represent to you?

Anything that you can do unprotected and still not make a baby.

7. President Obama probably hasn't had too much freetime since he was elected, so which (non-Saga) comics that have been released in the last five years would you most recommend to him?

Tumor, The Unsinkable Walker Bean, the Resistance trilogy, George O'Connor's Olympians series, The Unwritten, Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites, Return of the Dapper Men, American Vampire, Kill Shakespeare, Pepper Penwell and the Land Creature of Monster Lake, Sailor Twain, Hark! A Vagrant, Planet of the Apes, The Dare Detectives, Wonder Woman, Daredevil, Hawkeye, FF (the Fraction/Allred version), Battlepug, the Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer trilogy, Templar, Boxers & Saints, and I'm kinda partial to Kill All Monsters.

8. It's your final meal; what would you like to drink with that?

Part of me wants to try something that I've never had before like absinthe, but truthfully I'd go for something familiar and comforting like Pepsi.

9. On Star Trek: The Next Generation, which two characters had a never-acknowledged love affair that only you know about?

I bet I'm not the only one who knows about Troi and Dr. Crusher, but that'll still be my answer.

I paid for this one. Promise.

10. What's the best thing you've ever stolen?

A Magnum p.i. T-shirt. Not that I got away with it.

11. Who or what do you miss?

Mr. Hooper.

12. Have you ever had a possible supernatural experience, and if so, what happened?

I'm such the opposite of having supernatural experiences that my super power, apparently, is to repel all ghosts, aliens, and sasquatches. Whenever people get around and share those stories, I just have to sit there and listen jealously.

13. Do you know anyone currently in prison?

Not currently. I've got a dear friend who spent some time in the joint, but not anymore.

14. Which field or fields do you consider yourself an expert in?

I am to Alpha Flight what Chris Sims is to Batman.

In all seriousness, I'm really proud of
the Harvey Award that Robot 6
won this year.

15. Have you ever been given an award?

Sure. I got that one Letter of the Month from Milestone. And a perfect attendance award from work several years ago. And I won first prize at a Halloween costume contest for dressing up like a scarecrow when I was a kid. When people used to pass around those blogging awards, I got a few of those too. I even got a participation trophy for being on my last-place city-league soccer team. I'm very well recognized for my achievements.

16. Has Twitter made you a happier person?

Let's just say that I'm happy to have finally figured out how to make Twitter useful for me.

17. What did your parents almost name you?

I'm named after my dad, so there was never any debate as long as I was born a masculine child. But had I been a girl child, I'd have been "Michelle."

18. Did you watch any of those videos that Chelsea Manning helped leak, especially that one?

Nope.

19. If you had to fight in any war from human history, which would you choose?

The Cold one. Armed with an Aston Martin and a Walther PPK.

Card by Witsickle

20. Isn't there someone you should finally apologize to this week?

Anyone reading this. And Witsickle for borrowing the photo of her awesome card.

21. What is the most important article of clothing that you own?

Man, clothing is so low on my list of important things, but lately, I'll go with my coat.

22. Are you happily addicted to anything?

Caffeine.

23. We're having a dance! Would you like to come to our dance?

Only if I get to DJ.

24. You have to permanently give up either movies or television, so what's it gonna be?

Movies. That would be difficult, but forced to choose, I'll keep the one that's more adaptable and conducive to long-form storytelling.

25. Finally, please draw a quick doodle of yourself, especially if you're not an artist.

Multi-taskers hate cephalopods

I feel bad about posting an entire Wondermark strip, so please go enjoy lots more where that came from. Incidentally, my wife will happily tell you that she is the woman this strip is about, so we bought a print of it that's hanging proudly in our foyer.

That's very pinteresting

If you haven't checked out my Pinterest boards in a while (or ever), now's a great time to give them another look. I've re-organized them into specific themes, so there are boards for pirates, boards for giant monsters and giant robots, boards for various superheroes and monsters, boards for spaceships and rayguns... Lots and lots of boards with lots and lots of great, adventure-themed art, and now it's easier to find stuff pertaining to your specific interest.

Braggin on muh wife

This is kind of old, but one thing (Halloween) or another (Christmas) got in the way of my saying anything about it earlier. I've mentioned before that my wife is an artist, but it's really cool to see her get some attention for her work, like in this piece the Saint Paul Pioneer Press ran on her. She's been very involved in our neighborhood since we moved here about 12 years ago, so letting that spill into her art is a natural progression.

She was also recently recognized by the Saint Paul's East Side Area Business Association as the Top Emerging Small Business. So proud of her.

[Updated: Totally forgot to link to her Facebook page, which is where she posts most of her art.]

Back from Disney World (with pictures)

We had a great time in Disney World and I've got pictures loaded on Flickr if you're interested in seeing them. There's some commentary there too, so it'll be just like coming over to my house and being forced to sit through a slide show.

Otherwise, we're knee deep in Thanksgiving preparations, so content here is going to continue to be light this week. Sigh. If you're in the U.S., hope you have a great Thanksgiving with friends and/or family.

Here are a few Disney photos, but there's tons more in the link.

Creator-owned and small businesses

I'm a big fan of the idea of creator-owned comics and self-published books. I love how the Internet and digital media help individual creators to succeed and profit from their own work. Apparently, that love of the Do It Yourself philosophy is starting to spill into other aspects of my life as well. Especially in regard to small businesses.

I hadn't really thought of it in these terms before, but a few weeks ago, our neighborhood held an event to promote area businesses of all sizes. It was called Night Out on East 7th Street and it was a lot of fun. Diane had a table to promote her artwork, so David and I walked up and down Saint Paul's East 7th Street with our friend Andy. Our neighborhood paper, the Dayton's Bluff District Forum got a picture of us, so that's us in the red circle above. You can click the photo for a closer look.

What was great about the event was that we discovered a lot of outstanding restaurants and other businesses that we didn't even realize existed. We've got three or four, authentic Mexican restaurants (including a bakery) in our neighborhood and an awesome Salvadoran place. There's an adoption shelter for cats, a couple of grocery stores, lots of clothing boutiques, and a place to get your printer cartridges refilled. We were familiar with one of the restaurants, a coffee shop, a print shop, and David's karate dojo, but that was the extent of our usual patronage on that street. We'll be paying closer attention to the other businesses from now on, meaning that the event was a great success.

I've always been a fan of comics shops and independent bookstores, so it's not a revelation to me that I should be supporting small businesses. The revelation is that it can actually be convenient to do that too. I just needed to have my eyes opened to what's around me.

Safety or Adventure?

Tarzan of the Apes

Most children tell themselves stories in which they figure as powerful figures, enjoying the pleasures not only of the adult world as they conceive it but of a world of wonders unlike dull reality. Although this sort of Mittyesque daydreaming is supposed to cease in maturity, I suggest that more adults than we suspect are bemusedly wandering about with a full Technicolor extravaganza going on in their heads. Clad in tights, rapier in hand, the daydreamers drive their Jaguars at fantastic speeds through a glittering world of adoring love objects, mingling anachronistic histories worlds with science fiction.

[...]When I was growing up, I read all twenty-three Tarzan books, as well as the ten Mars books. My own inner storytelling mechanism was vivid. At any one time, I had at least three serials going as well as a number of old faithful reruns. I used Burroughs as a source of raw material. When he went to the center of the earth a la Jules Verne (much too fancy a writer for one’s taste), I immediately worked up a thirteen-part series, with myself as lead, and various friends as guest stars. Sometimes I used the master’s material, but more often I adapted it freely to suit myself. One’s daydreams intended to be Tarzanish post-puberty (physical strength and freedom) and Martian post-puberty (exotic worlds and subtle combinaziones to be worked out). After adolescence, if one’s life is sufficiently interesting, the desire to tell oneself stories diminishes. My last serial ran into sponsor trouble when I was in the Second World War and was never renewed.

--Gore Vidal, discussing the attraction of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

I can relate to Vidal's memories of telling stories to himself as a kid. My inspirations were more Star Wars and Universal monster movies, but I did that a lot and probably more than anything else, it's what made me want to become a writer.

I can also relate to his statement that "if one’s life is sufficiently interesting, the desire to tell oneself stories diminishes." I don't pretend much anymore that my car is the Millennium Falcon and that the Interstate is a Death Star trench (much to the benefit of my fellow drivers, I'm sure), because I'm usually thinking about my day: a story I'm working on, a blog post, errands to run, all that stuff. My story-telling time doesn't take the form of unstructured daydreaming now. I have a time and a place for it.

Edgar Rice Burroughs

When I look at that a certain way, it seems kind of sad. How can you structure storytelling and imagination? But that's not really what's going on. Like I said, a lot of my daydreaming is about storytelling. Instead of being purely for my own pleasure though, I'm thinking about stories that I want to write down. It's just taken a different form.

But while I like to think that I've outgrown childish daydreaming and figured out a mature way to put it to work, Vidal doesn't let me off the hook so easily. He writes, "Until recently I assumed that most people were like myself: daydreaming ceases when the real world becomes interesting and reasonably manageable. Now I am not so certain. Pondering the life and success of Burroughs leads one to believe that a good many people find their lives so unsatisfactory that they go right on year after year telling themselves stories in which they are able to dominate their environment in a way that is not possible in this overorganized society."

But that's not talking about me, right? My daydreaming is work. It's part of the writing process. Except Vidal quotes Burroughs as saying, "Most of the stories I wrote were the stories I told myself just before I went to sleep." In other words, Burroughs' writing was a product of his daydreaming. For him, they were the same thing. And if I'm honest, they're the same for me too. Whether or not I eventually intend them for publication, I make up stories first for myself because I'm bored. Or dissatisfied. Uninterested in the mundane details of my life. Whatever you want to call it.

This isn't a profound revelation. I suspect that most people feel the same way. I don't even think that for most cases it's a problem in need of fixing. We make up stories (or read them, or watch them, or play them in video games) because we're dissatisfied. It's a tested coping mechanism and it works. But - I'm starting to realize only just recently - it's not the only coping mechanism. Another option is to change the part of life that's most dissatisfying to you.

Craig Ferguson: Adventurer

That's something I've been thinking about lately. As much as I love adventure stories, I've never been a risk taker. Presented with the easy way or a potentially more rewarding, but harder way, I've always taken the easier way. I can think of one time when I took a huge risk in my life and that was because there was no easy option for me to choose. It ended up being one of the most wonderful, life-changing things I ever did. And the other two - marrying Diane and having David - only happened because of it.

I'm sort of at another crossroads right now. I need to find a new day job and I can either stick with what I've been doing the last twenty years or branch out and try something new. Naturally, I've been trying to stick with the familiar. But the universe (or God or circumstances or however you like to think of it) hasn't made that easy so far. In fact, it feels very much like that other time when life made me take a gamble and it paid off so well.

This is far from decided (there are other people to consider besides myself), but I keep thinking about what Craig Ferguson wrote in American on Purpose. As he was trying to decide whether to stay in the US and make a go at a TV career or move back to Scotland where he was comfortable, he describes visiting the Nevada desert one night:

I got out and walked away from the car and looked up at the immense blackness of the night sky, and the tininess of myself against the enormity of the universe had never been more obvious, even on acid.

An inexplicable bolt of terror shot through my system. Then I remembered what Rock and Roll Susie had said, that fear might be God's way of saying, "Pay attention, this could be fun," and I said aloud to whoever was out there, even if it was only me:

"Between safety and adventure, I choose adventure."

LXB | Leaving Neverland

Gonna go back for a League of Extraordinary Bloggers assignment that I skipped in order to catch up this week: Grab Rufus and head to the phone booth, because this week, we’re going back in time! Dial up the year you turned 12, and revisit the last official year of your “childhood.”

I never thought of 12 as the last year of childhood. I always thought that was 17, which of course is ridiculous because teenage-years and childhood are in no way the same thing. This is a cool exercise, because it lets me go back and re-evaluate that year the way I always should have thought of it.

I have a few strong memories of 12, most of which have to do with starting a new school and making new friends. My best pals were the McLanahan twins, who introduced me to a life-long passion for New Wave music (they hooked me with Talking Heads and Adam Ant) and a shorter-lived infatuation with 18-wheelers. We all had our dream rigs picked out; mine was a black, conventional Kenworth with chrome highlights.

I'd already discovered girls a year or four before, but they were of course still vitally important to 12-year-old me. Not that I totally knew how to talk to them yet, but I started making friends with girls around that time and felt more comfortable around them than I had up to that point. So it was a milestone.

I remember that the Florida State Seminoles football team was undefeated that year (but had forgotten until researching this that they lost to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl).

Because of all of that, for years after I thought back on 12 as a Perfect Year; the benchmark to measure all other years by. That makes me happy, realizing now that it was my last year of childhood and that I enjoyed the heck out of it. It also makes me happy that I turned 12 in 1979, so my childhood ended at the same time as the '70s. That got me ready for the '80s as a teenager, which was awesome.

I did some research to remind me of other things that happened that year. This is from May 29 (my birthday), 1979 to May 29, 1980; not the calendar year. It's a long list, so I'm putting it behind a break.

If my childhood plans had panned out...

Inspired by this Pleated Jeans cartoon, if my childhood plans had panned out...

My profession would be:



Space smuggler.

My wife would be:



Jaime Sommers, the Bionic Woman.

My car would be:



The Ark II.

My home would be:



The Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.

My best friend would be:



Chewbacca.

My backyard would have:



The Batcave beneath it.

All my dinners would include:



My mom's homemade pizza.

My kids would be named:




Athena and Apollo.

What about you?

Too Much Information, Part One

Jaquandor answered these questions at Byzantium's Shores last week and it's been a while since I've done one of these too. They're good questions, though I've edited them for length and...well, timeliness, I guess. The original questions included the inspiration for asking them and - as Jaquandor points out - that dated the thing in a way it didn't need to.

So here's more than you wanted to know about me.

1. Have you ever been bothered by a TV show or movie series changing actors who play a character you love?



Not recently. When I was a kid, I remember losing whatever interest I had in Days of Our Lives when they swapped out Bo Bradys. Bo was pretty cool and I couldn’t buy the new actor. I guess they changed him back eventually, but my Days curiosity was always shaky at best, so I never came back.

The one that still bothers me is another old one: all the Felix Leiters in the James Bond movies. Some people think that replacing Felix actors every movie is funny or somehow endearing, but it’s not. Felix is a cool character in the novels and it bugs me that none of the movie fans know who I’m talking about because they can’t put a face to him. I was thrilled when Jeffrey Wright showed up again for Quantum of Solace, but it's too bad the character apparently isn’t in Skyfall at all.

2. What are some things people should know before spending time with you?



My eyes will begin to glaze over the moment you start talking about sports and I’ll have completely checked out by the time that conversation reaches the 30-second mark.

3. What is something you often do without realizing that you're doing it?



According to my wife, I have a Look. It’s the one that says you’re making absolutely no sense and I’m going to stop listening to you in 3…2…1…

This is related to Question No. 2. I’m an introvert and interacting with people one-on-one is hard work for me. Sometimes - though I try hard to hide it - I just don’t have the energy. I do a much better job at hiding it when I’m with people I don’t know that well though. Which leads me to…

4. Who has the capacity to make you angrier than anyone else in your life, and what in particular does he or she do to make you so angry?



My wife. I’m not going to get into particulars, because they aren’t important. Everyone has buttons that – when pushed – will get them going and I’m no different. Diane and I have a fantastic relationship and work hard not to push each other’s buttons, but when you’ve been married for a while (fifteen years for us, so far), you’re inevitably going to slip up every once in a while. I’d much rather focus on and celebrate how much we’ve been able to become a smoothly functioning team, but the question is about who has the capacity to tick you off and that’s always going to be the person you’re closest to.

5. If a fairy waved a magic wand and gave you the house of your dreams, where would it be and what features would it have?



A castle on the Scottish coast, but with central heat and air conditioning, and a modern kitchen and bathrooms. Also, a fireplace large enough to walk into.

6. What’s a belief that you hold with which many people disagree?



I’ve never had a conversation with anyone with whom I’ve seen totally eye-to-eye about God. I believe that the universe didn’t just happen – that it had to come from somewhere – but I don’t believe that the Genesis account should be read literally as an answer to that question. I also believe that the central message of Christianity is that people are supposed to love and take care of each other, but when I look at Christianity at large, I feel very alone in that interpretation.

7. If you were talking in your sleep tonight, what do you think you would say?



“I’ll nail yer suckers to the mast, ye scurvy squid!” (Totally stole that image from Stephen Keane. I'm sorry.)

8. Have you ever attended a midnight premiere showing of a movie?



I used to do this all the time, but as it became standard practice for theaters to run midnight showings, it became less of an event and I lost interest. By “event,” I mean an event for me personally. Obviously it’s still an event for a lot of people, but it became less fun for me and I’m rarely so excited about a new movie that I’ve got to see it the second it comes out. The last one may have been Pirates of the Caribbean 3, but I don’t rightly recall.

I could see myself doing it for The Hunger Games, though. I’m pretty stoked about that one.

9. How would you react if you saw, “Caution exotic animals; stay in your vehicle,” displayed on a road sign?



I’d roll up those windows and keep an eye out, but I’m not a panicky person. If I actually saw a tiger or something, I’d probably stop to gawk, depending on the animal’s mood.

10. If a company opened a theme park aimed at adults, what would you name one of the rides?



Alien vs. Predator: The Hunt. You would, of course, be the prey.

11. Imagine you just moved onto Sesame Street. Which puppet would you want as your new roommate?



I have a low tolerance for drama and shenanigans, so I’ll go with Kermit. He’s funny, but grounded.

12. Have you ever had a weird crush on a famous person that didn't make sense to you?



Matt Damon, because I’m straight. I understand all my crushes on famous women.

13. If you get ten minutes to interview any celebrity of your choice, who would you like it to be?



Bono. I’m currently reading his Conversation with Michka Assayas, so that may answer most of the actual questions I’ve got, but he was a hugely influential force on my life in my twenties, so I’d also just like to meet him.

14. You've just won the complete DVD collection of all the movies starring one actor or actress. Which actor/actress would you pick?



I used to try to collect all the movies by actors I liked. I accumulated a ton of stuff by Harrison Ford, Kenneth Branagh, and Sandra Bullock, but eventually learned that – like with all artists – I didn’t care for every single thing they did. But since I’m winning this and not buying it, the Johnny Depp collection probably has the most movies in it that I’d re-watch again and again.

15. What is something you've said through social media and then regretted it?



Most of this post.

16. What musician would you be most interested in learning behind-the-scenes facts about?



Someone new that I don’t know much about. Like Brite Futures. I’m curious about their influences and their name change from Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.

17. If you stumbled across someone's personal written journal that was accidentally left in a public place, would you read any of the content?



Just enough to see if I could tell who it was in order to return it to them. I’m not naturally curious about other people’s personal stuff.

18. What is the title of a self-help book that you'd never want to see on a store bookshelf?



Develop Jedi Self-Confidence: Unleash the Force within You. Oh, crap.

19. Which Halloween costume do you think will be overdone this year?



Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

20. Should a marriage license have a renewal date or expiration date, like a driver’s license?



I understand the reason for the question, but no. Actually, I’m not convinced we should have marriage licenses at all. I’m not a Libertarian, but marriage is a relationship that I’m not convinced that government (or a church, for that matter) should have any say about. Like most of life, we’ve overcomplicated something that’s very simple in concept (though extremely tough to execute in practice).