Alas, I have spent a goodly portion of my precious free time these last couple weeks troubleshooting my computer (trying to fix the OS, installing a new version of the OS, trying to fix the new OS) before whittling it down to a hard drive issue. I have not dealt with many hard drive failures in my day (knock wood), which may have affected my slowness in figuring out the problem. Also, Linux has some really powerful diagnostic tools that give elaborate results that I have no clue how to interpret. But the experts at the Ubuntu-Eee boards have spoken: send it back to Asus and get it fixed. (I am so not used to having that option.)
So that's why, even though I drew my January 3 on the 3rd comics (admittedly a couple weeks late), I still have not posted them. Or blogged, or commented on your blog, or shared Google Reader posts. I have been over here in the corner, gnashing my teeth and feeling sorry for myself.
In related news, February 3rd is on the horizon. While gazing toward its noble silhouette, you may have overlooked February 1st, which is Hourly Comic Day. On Hourly Comic Day, everybody draws one (1) autobiographical comic for every hour they're awake. This inspires some really streamlined comicking; the veterans tend to whittle it down to a couple of frames with minimal dialogue, and make the most of mundanity. But still, I won't kid you: it's a lot of work. It really puts the whole 3 on the 3rd challenge into perspective.
Which is why I'm doing the Hourly Comic thing again this year. It's on a Sunday, so there will be no comics-on-the-sly at work. There will be some churchgoin' and some special out-of-town guests visitin', and some other things that will be a surprise to me too!
If you think I'm crazy for doing this, get a load of John Campbell, who does Hourly Comics all January long, as he has for years. Other people try this, but they mostly do not succeed. Here is my favorite attempt.
(I read a lot of John's hourlies before I figured out that his girlfriend (cleverly aliased as "Kate") is Kate Beaton who draws history comics! It makes me inexplicably happy to discover that one of my favorite obscure comic artists is dating another of my favorite obscure comic artists, even if they do live in different countries. Here are a couple portraits Kate did of the two of them last year. The second one is especially lovely.)
I think I accumulated a few more things to blog about over the course of this month, but I can't remember them anymore, so I'll just belatedly wish you a happy Year of the Ox and sign off.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Friday, January 02, 2009
2008 in Books.
As promised, here is a list of what I read last year. This time the re-reads are asterisked. Ratings are equally subjective, but I guess they're a little different for books. Hmm, maybe something like this:
(1) - It was an utter waste of time.
(2) - I can't in good conscience describe it as a "good book."
(3) - It was fun and/or useful to read.
(4) - It delighted and/or educated me.
(5) - It crawled inside my head and moved things around, or burrowed inside my heart and made a little nest there.
What I Read in 2008
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott (5)
Lamott always challenges me: to dare to hope, grieve, trust, live harder, laugh louder, and be recklessly honest.
Kindred by Octavia Butler (5)
What would antebellum slavery look like firsthand to an African-American woman from the 1970s? A beautiful and painful book.
Living More with Less by Doris Janzen Longacre (3)
A Mennonite compilation of ideas about how to make the world better in small, practical ways. Not as good as I was hoping.
Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits by Peter Dickinson & Robin McKinley (4)
Fun fantasy fiction. McKinley's stories are more accessible, Dickinson's more challenging, both plenty entertaining.
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye: Five Fairy Stories by A.S. Byatt (3.5)
Fairy tales by a modern author. Worth it for the fifth story alone, in which the djinn finally gets some love.
Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip vol. 2 (5)
I grew up re-reading Jansson's kid lit, but the comic strips are new to me, and I think they're pretty much the best thing since sliced fjords.
Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip vol. 1 (5) *
Had to reread after getting my hands on the second volume. Gorgeous, humbly brilliant, further adventures of old friends who haven't changed a bit.
Sorcerers & Secretaries vol. 1 by Amy Kim Ganter (4) *
Shamelessly mushy Ameri-manga. Shy business school student is distracted from secret fantasy fiction project by... a flirtatious boy!
Sorcerers & Secretaries vol. 2 by Amy Kim Ganter (3.5)
Not as good as the first one, but still cute.
Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier (4)
A remarkably readable exploration of the science, history, and anthropology of the female body.
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (2.5)
First in the Gormenghast trilogy, and the wrong book to take to Hawaii with me. Really slow and wordy, and I didn't like the characters much.
Put Your Life on a Diet: Lessons Learned from Living in 140 Square Feet by Gregory Johnson (3)
Practical thoughts on simplifying your lifestyle: why and how. Not a lot new here.
Radical Simplicity: Creating an Authentic Life by Dan Price (4)
Entertainingly illustrated journal by a guy who's obsessed with living in tipis, tents, and hobbit-holes.
Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon by Chuck Palahniuk (4)
Made me want to explore my city more, and ask more questions. And document everything in a gossipy, sensationalistic tone.
Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link (3.5)
Link is so weird. So weird. Sometimes in a really, really good way, and sometimes just in a weird way. Loved the one about the Snow Queen.
Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones (3)
Good goofy kid-fantasy fun. Well-done and (for me at least) forgettable.
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (2)
Ugh. I am so not the target audience for this.
Heartland: Short Stories from North-Western Wales (3)
The ones translated from the Welsh just didn't work for me. Cultural storytelling conventions are apparently way different here.
Pirateology by Dugald A. Steer (2)
Again, I am really not the target audience. A special-effects book with text apparently designed to be ignored.
Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold by Alisa Kwitney (3.5)
Graphic novel. Decent Sandman spinoff about Pestilence, as in the rider of the apocalypse.
Perfect Example by John Porcellino (2.5)
Graphic novel. If Chris Ware says a book makes him happy, you know it's gonna be a downer.
The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships by Harriet Lerner (4)
Not actually about anger so much as asserting yourself responsibly. Some good lessons here.
Action Philosophers! vol. 1, by Fred Van Lente & Ryan Dunlavey (3)
Graphic novel. Cute, wacky, irreverent, and educational!
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, vol. 1, by Allan Moore (3) *
Graphic novel. I enjoyed it a little less on this second reading, but it's still Moore, which means it's still top-notch storytelling.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, vol. 2, by Allan Moore (3)
Of course, that also means parts of the story are going to be hard to stomach, and he saved most of those for v. 2. Eww.
And that's it, kids. I know, you'd think a librarian would average more than two books a month, but this is actually about on par for the last several years. I would like to have read more than 25 books by the end of 2009 (already got one under my belt: Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, short and sweet). But that's not a resolution, just sort of a vague inclination.
(1) - It was an utter waste of time.
(2) - I can't in good conscience describe it as a "good book."
(3) - It was fun and/or useful to read.
(4) - It delighted and/or educated me.
(5) - It crawled inside my head and moved things around, or burrowed inside my heart and made a little nest there.
What I Read in 2008
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott (5)
Lamott always challenges me: to dare to hope, grieve, trust, live harder, laugh louder, and be recklessly honest.
Kindred by Octavia Butler (5)
What would antebellum slavery look like firsthand to an African-American woman from the 1970s? A beautiful and painful book.
Living More with Less by Doris Janzen Longacre (3)
A Mennonite compilation of ideas about how to make the world better in small, practical ways. Not as good as I was hoping.
Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits by Peter Dickinson & Robin McKinley (4)
Fun fantasy fiction. McKinley's stories are more accessible, Dickinson's more challenging, both plenty entertaining.
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye: Five Fairy Stories by A.S. Byatt (3.5)
Fairy tales by a modern author. Worth it for the fifth story alone, in which the djinn finally gets some love.
Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip vol. 2 (5)
I grew up re-reading Jansson's kid lit, but the comic strips are new to me, and I think they're pretty much the best thing since sliced fjords.
Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip vol. 1 (5) *
Had to reread after getting my hands on the second volume. Gorgeous, humbly brilliant, further adventures of old friends who haven't changed a bit.
Sorcerers & Secretaries vol. 1 by Amy Kim Ganter (4) *
Shamelessly mushy Ameri-manga. Shy business school student is distracted from secret fantasy fiction project by... a flirtatious boy!
Sorcerers & Secretaries vol. 2 by Amy Kim Ganter (3.5)
Not as good as the first one, but still cute.
Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier (4)
A remarkably readable exploration of the science, history, and anthropology of the female body.
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (2.5)
First in the Gormenghast trilogy, and the wrong book to take to Hawaii with me. Really slow and wordy, and I didn't like the characters much.
Put Your Life on a Diet: Lessons Learned from Living in 140 Square Feet by Gregory Johnson (3)
Practical thoughts on simplifying your lifestyle: why and how. Not a lot new here.
Radical Simplicity: Creating an Authentic Life by Dan Price (4)
Entertainingly illustrated journal by a guy who's obsessed with living in tipis, tents, and hobbit-holes.
Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon by Chuck Palahniuk (4)
Made me want to explore my city more, and ask more questions. And document everything in a gossipy, sensationalistic tone.
Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link (3.5)
Link is so weird. So weird. Sometimes in a really, really good way, and sometimes just in a weird way. Loved the one about the Snow Queen.
Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones (3)
Good goofy kid-fantasy fun. Well-done and (for me at least) forgettable.
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (2)
Ugh. I am so not the target audience for this.
Heartland: Short Stories from North-Western Wales (3)
The ones translated from the Welsh just didn't work for me. Cultural storytelling conventions are apparently way different here.
Pirateology by Dugald A. Steer (2)
Again, I am really not the target audience. A special-effects book with text apparently designed to be ignored.
Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold by Alisa Kwitney (3.5)
Graphic novel. Decent Sandman spinoff about Pestilence, as in the rider of the apocalypse.
Perfect Example by John Porcellino (2.5)
Graphic novel. If Chris Ware says a book makes him happy, you know it's gonna be a downer.
The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships by Harriet Lerner (4)
Not actually about anger so much as asserting yourself responsibly. Some good lessons here.
Action Philosophers! vol. 1, by Fred Van Lente & Ryan Dunlavey (3)
Graphic novel. Cute, wacky, irreverent, and educational!
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, vol. 1, by Allan Moore (3) *
Graphic novel. I enjoyed it a little less on this second reading, but it's still Moore, which means it's still top-notch storytelling.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, vol. 2, by Allan Moore (3)
Of course, that also means parts of the story are going to be hard to stomach, and he saved most of those for v. 2. Eww.
And that's it, kids. I know, you'd think a librarian would average more than two books a month, but this is actually about on par for the last several years. I would like to have read more than 25 books by the end of 2009 (already got one under my belt: Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, short and sweet). But that's not a resolution, just sort of a vague inclination.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
A Resolution, and a List.
The weather looks suspiciously similar to yesterday's, but I have it on good authority that this is an All New Year. That's kind of an exciting thought, isn't it?
Traditionally this is a time when people blog about their resolutions. I think resolutions are kind of like birthday candle wishes: the more you talk about them, the less likely they are to come true. However, there is one resolution I would like to make public. In just two days, I am going to return to the stoic discipline of Three on the Third.
Yes.
Another bloggy tradition for this time of year is end-of-the-year lists. I have actually compiled two of them for your amusement and mine, one for all the movies I watched in 2008, and one for all the books I read. I have also rated them in a completely subjective manner. Here is my rating system:
(1) - I hated it.
(2) - I'm not sure if I liked it.
(3) - I definitely liked it.
(4) - I loved it.
(5) - I'm sort of obsessed with it.
What I Watched in 2008
(italicized titles indicate movies I've seen before)
The Truth About Cats and Dogs (1996) (2)
The Water Horse (2007) (2)
Darjeeling Limited (2007) (4)
Across the Universe (2007) (3)
Paprika (2006) (3)
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) (3)
Charlie Wilson's War (2007) (3)
Horton Hears a Who (2008) (2)
In Bruges (2008) (3)
Juno (2007) (4)
I'm Reed Fish (2007) (2)
Hellboy (2004) (4)
Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (2008) (3)
Once (2007) (3)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (5)
3:10 to Yuma (2007) (4)
Sex in the City (2008) (1)
Dan in Real Life (2007) (3)
Super Troopers (2001) (3)
27 Dresses (2008) (3)
Fool's Gold (2008) (2)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) (4)
War (2007) (2)
The Simpsons Movie (2007) (3)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (3)
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (2008) (2)
The Fall (2008) (4)
Sweeney Todd (2007) (3)
Wu Ji (The Promise) (2005) (3)
Shi Mian Mai Fu (House of Flying Daggers) (4)
Cutthroat Island (1995) (2)
Whale Rider (5)
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (3)
Ravenous (4)
The above list accurately indicates that I'm a sucker for pretty pictures. Check in tomorrow for the somewhat underwhelming list of books I read in the past 365 days, which I have padded with annotations to disguise its shortness.
Traditionally this is a time when people blog about their resolutions. I think resolutions are kind of like birthday candle wishes: the more you talk about them, the less likely they are to come true. However, there is one resolution I would like to make public. In just two days, I am going to return to the stoic discipline of Three on the Third.
Yes.
Another bloggy tradition for this time of year is end-of-the-year lists. I have actually compiled two of them for your amusement and mine, one for all the movies I watched in 2008, and one for all the books I read. I have also rated them in a completely subjective manner. Here is my rating system:
(1) - I hated it.
(2) - I'm not sure if I liked it.
(3) - I definitely liked it.
(4) - I loved it.
(5) - I'm sort of obsessed with it.
What I Watched in 2008
(italicized titles indicate movies I've seen before)
The Truth About Cats and Dogs (1996) (2)
The Water Horse (2007) (2)
Darjeeling Limited (2007) (4)
Across the Universe (2007) (3)
Paprika (2006) (3)
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) (3)
Charlie Wilson's War (2007) (3)
Horton Hears a Who (2008) (2)
In Bruges (2008) (3)
Juno (2007) (4)
I'm Reed Fish (2007) (2)
Hellboy (2004) (4)
Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (2008) (3)
Once (2007) (3)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (5)
3:10 to Yuma (2007) (4)
Sex in the City (2008) (1)
Dan in Real Life (2007) (3)
Super Troopers (2001) (3)
27 Dresses (2008) (3)
Fool's Gold (2008) (2)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) (4)
War (2007) (2)
The Simpsons Movie (2007) (3)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (3)
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (2008) (2)
The Fall (2008) (4)
Sweeney Todd (2007) (3)
Wu Ji (The Promise) (2005) (3)
Shi Mian Mai Fu (House of Flying Daggers) (4)
Cutthroat Island (1995) (2)
Whale Rider (5)
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (3)
Ravenous (4)
The above list accurately indicates that I'm a sucker for pretty pictures. Check in tomorrow for the somewhat underwhelming list of books I read in the past 365 days, which I have padded with annotations to disguise its shortness.
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