Saturday, January 01, 2005

So we somehow ended up with a houseguest overnight. What was planned as a quiet night for Eric and I became a little party, which was ok since our guest bought dinner and brought chocolate. A little chocolate goes a long way with me.

I originally intended to spend the entire last day of 2004 in bed, getting up only to eat and freshen up, but that was spoiled a bit earlier in the week when Eric scheduled a free plumbing inspection for the day. The plumber arrived and examined the house and gave us the short-term and long-term prognostication. Short-term isn't bad, thank goodness. We need work on the kitchen sink, and a little more on the bathroom sinks. A couple of hundred dollars all told, and not so crucial that it can't wait a few months. Whew. Long-term we need to be thinking about completely re-piping the house, as it would vastly improve our water pressure... and most of the house isn't really up to code. Still, we can live with it, and the plumber saw no serious threats to our health, so it'll probably stay unfixed for the foreseeable future unless a windfall manages to come our way. Such is life in Frankenhaus. At least now we know (and now a new stove is the highest Frankenhaus priority, as the old one is a fire hazard on certain settings).

Around midday a friend called and asked if she could spend New Years with us. I agreed once she said she'd bring chocolate. Then my sister called and said she was on the way up. She stopped by on the way to my brother's house where she had a blind date waiting. I'm wondering how that went... We sent our late Christmas presents to my brother's kids up with her (a bonus from my boss allowed us to buy some presents for folks, a bit late but surely appreciated nonetheless). I tried to call her about a half-hour before the clock ticked over, but my brother lives too far out for her cell phone to work.

Our friend Jen arrived a little earlier than expected, and offered to buy us pizza for dinner. That was an easy decision to make. We then read books, watched Doctor Who and Monty Python, and talked until I told hubby to turn off the DVD for the final countdown. We barely made it, as the clock was at 17 seconds til midnight when we got the TV on a local station to watch the Space Needle explode. It was a good fireworks show.

We had the traditional "first meal" of cheese, crackers, and sparkling apple cider (not hard cider). We then stayed up another hour or so watching more Monty Python until it was time to retire. Jen crashed on our couch. Once we all woke up, Eric made some corn muffins (thank you, Jiffy mix), and we had a little breakfast.

Now it's the afternoon, and Eric has gone back to bed while Jen is working her way through a stack of my graphic novels (she's on "Superman: Red Son" now, I think I'll introduce her to "PS238: Liberty and Recess for All"). I'm just puttering around the internet.

I actually spent much of yesterday getting rid of the last vestiges of Microsoft Office from my machine. The only thing I haven't deleted is Outlook, and that only because I still want access to some of the old notes but I don't feel like importing them into Thunderbird. I may give up and do that in the end, but not quite yet.

I just started switching over to Thunderbird last week, and finally made the final move once I got Calendar working. I need my task lists. Once I got Calendar to work on my machine (there were some odd problems with installation) I found that I prefer it by a wide margin to Outlook. I've got color-coded events, an always-on task list, and a full calendar visible all the time. I haven't decided yet, but I may switch over to Sunbird, which is the same program only standalone. No matter my choice, I like this much better than the barely adequate thing Outlook provides. There are some things I want improved, but I noticed them on the Calendar/Sunbird to-do list already, so I just have to wait until they happen.

I already switched to Open Office, which is better than Word and Excel in my opinion. I finally got the nerve to completely delete Word and Excel from my machine, and I haven't missed them yet. I sure confused the poor computer, but resetting all those file associations isn't a huge task, really, compared to being partially free of MS tyranny. I'm hoping to use the database functions of Open Office some more soon, and see if they can replace Access. I didn't have a working version of Access anyway, so no loss to me if they can't.

Another advantage to moving to open source software is that I'll be slightly ahead of the game if I do choose to go Microsoft-free sometime in the future. I'm not a big fan of XP, but I tolerate it. I was frustrated when I learned that some of my favorite games from DOS wouldn't work under XP. I finally got my DOS version of Command & Conquer running on this machine under XP, I'm still not sure how it works. But I'm not complaining. I like blowing up pixels every once in awhile. I ought to get a more recent game, but I like old familiar things. If I ever rebuild my desktop machine, I'll probably put Win95 on it and run old software, just for the nostalgia factor. Heck, I might even go back to Windows 3.11, I think I still have the disks.

Let's see, as long as I'm rambling on and on, how about a status report? Eric and I are stable, but not doing particularly well financially. That should improve a bit soon, as I'm able to work more hours now and Eric has his sub certification back and is working in Lake Washington district. Hopefully Eric can find a full-time position again after the debacle in Marysville. I'm still training for the 3-Day Walk, for which I've raised $140 of my $4200 goal. Hmm. I may need to get crackin' on that one. Incidently, many thanks to "Scott M" who donated $30 right before Christmas.

I already updated you on Frankenhaus, but I never did tell about what happened with the bed. We ended up getting a different bed than the one I wanted, which is, in retrospect, just fine. The new bed has made it possible for me to sleep through the night, which has in turn made it possible for me to work longer hours. It will pay for itself in about two months. As an added bonus, it's much taller than the old bed, so we've nicknamed it "bedzilla". People who read Tom Beland's 100 Stories will get the reference.

I'm fully aware that I didn't post a Saturday Sketch ™ on Christmas, and I'm afraid I won't be posting one today either. I have only three more sketches in the pipeline, so I thought a two week break would be a good idea. For my stress levels. While I haven't hit a wall in getting permissions yet, it is beginning to get a little more difficult. I never know if I'm being obnoxious and demanding, or if my original intent is coming through.

Let's see... New Year's Resolutions. I want to clean up my room, which is currently stacked up with comic books, parts of my poor deceased desktop computer, Aquaman stuff, LEGO, and various bits and bobs. Once I have that clean, I want to finish cleaning up the fish tank I got from the Foglios (yes, those Foglios) and turn it into a proper display case for my Aquaman toys. I think that's enough for me. Jen says her New Year's Resolution is to not make any New Year's Resoltions. Eric says his is to get his career back on track.

Well, there's a new year just starting out there, I suppose I should get my eyes off the computer screen and onto something useful. I guess it's time to start dragging stacks of comic books out of my room and start sorting.

by Tegan at 1:04 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Friday, December 31, 2004

It came down to two titles, but one of them had a "fatal flaw" for a 2004 award. It was published in 2003. At first I figured I would just have to live with it and choose the 2004 title. But I couldn't do it. I knew which book, out of all the comic books I've read this entire year, I enjoyed the most. Maybe it was only by a sliver, but it was THE BEST.

So I'm going to give out two awards. One award for Best Comic Book Series to the 2004 title, and a Best Comic Book award to the one that really was the best comic book I read in 2004.

The first award, for the Best Comic Book Series of 2004 according to Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog is:

Consistently fun, this is the only book that makes me laugh aloud every time I read an issue. It's an ongoing, so I always have more issues to look foward to. And there hasn't been a dud issue YET. The characters are growing on me, particularly Tyler, the long-suffering "normal" boy. Though I admit that Captain Clarinet (Ron), Suzi, and Zodon are very cool, too.

But, as great as PS238 is, and it's really, really great, one book I read managed to top it this year.

And so (drumroll please), the Best Comic Book of 2004 according to Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog is:

True Story Swear To God: Chances Are...

A touching love story with humor, romance, joy, pain, and simple human flaws along with amazing triumph. Even a basic spelling problem becomes a plot point as the book references itself. This is a book I wouldn't hesitate to give to anybody. It's a great story, and it's done in such a way that it enriches the whole comic book medium. Kudos to AiT/Planet Lar for putting this out as a collection, and kudos to Tom Beland for creating this wonderful book in the first place.

So... that's my best read of the year. What about you?

by Tegan at 10:03 AM Seattle time - Permalink   

Thursday, December 30, 2004

I don't choose to add any of this week's books to the nominee list, although Daisy Kutter and WildGuard were both quite good. So, moving on...

Let's review the titles that are in contention for "Best Comic Book of 2004 according to Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog": Abadazad #1, Age of Bronze: Sacrifice, Aquaman #14, Aquaman #17, Aquaman #18, Aquaman #22, Astonish Comics #1, Astronauts in Trouble: Master Flight Plan, Best of Dork Storm Press #2, Bone Volume Three: Eyes of the Storm, Even More Fund Comics, Girl Genius: Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank, Girl Genius: Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City, The Golem's Mighty Swing, Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden: Borrowed Magic, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, PS238 #5, PS238 #6, PS238 #7, PS238 #8, PS238 #9, PS238: With Liberty and Recess For All, Safe Area Gorazde, The Tale of One Bad Rat, True Story Swear to God: 100 Stories, True Story Swear To God: Chances Are..., and Ursula.

That's too much to pick from. So the next step is to eliminate some books from the running by giving them "Other Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog Awards".

• "Best Publisher" goes to AiT/Planet Lar, which, in addition to publishing a huge stack of really good books also took the time and effort to introduce comic book bloggers to those books. The AiT/Planet Lar listings have now become a must-read in Previews every month, and a huge number of their books made the nominee list.
  
• "Best Anthology" goes to Even More Fund Comics. Lots of good stories at a good price.
  
• "Best Collection To Reread Many Times In Bed With The Covers Over Your Head And A Flashlight On The Book" goes to Girl Genius: Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City. The hardcover is gorgeous, and every time you reread this book you find something new and cool.
  
• "Eleven Is Good" award goes to Steve Lieber for creating the Lieber's Eleven list and getting quite a meme going among the comic book bloggers. Books from his list that made my nominee list were The Golem's Mighty Swing, Safe Area Gorazde, The Tale of One Bad Rat, Persepolis, Bone, and Age of Bronze. Those are just ones I read this year.
  
• "Deeply Missed" goes to Abadazad. It will be coming back, but not the way it was. I only hope it's just as good when it returns.
  
• The "I Wish It Deserved The Highest Honor" award goes to the various issues of Aquaman. Although they were good, none of them were the best.
  
• "Best Collection For Scholars As Well As Fans" goes to Age of Bronze: Sacrifice which is another gorgeous hardcover that collects excellent material.
  
• "Coolest Book I Nearly Didn't Buy" goes to Ursula, whose personalized promotion on this blog convinced me to give it a try, and made me an instant fan of Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá. It's a beautiful book that's at once more simple and far more complicated than it seems to be.

And tomorrow I'll reveal the comic book, out of all that I read in 2004, that I thought was the best of the year.

by Tegan at 7:11 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

The final nominees for the Best Comic Book of 2004 according to Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog.

But first! I left out Even More Fund Comics from yesterday's review... A large anthology, this one has its share of ups and downs, but there are enough ups to put it in the running. Particularly amusing to me was the final PvP strip.

And so I end with November and December, at least so far. I reserve the right to add more after reading the books I got today. The automatic nominees are PS238 #9, Girl Genius: Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank hardcover, Girl Genius: Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City hardcover, and The Tale of One Bad Rat.

PS238 #9 shows us Tyler in training, and frankly it was hilarious. Tyler's obvious fear at what his parents expect from him, coupled with his resignation, make for a good combination. Then what he actually accomplishes! Heh. Another laugh aloud issue from this great series.

Girl Genius: Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank hardcover and Girl Genius: Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City hardcover are two that really deserve mentions. These are beautiful books, quality story combined with high production values. Now, Beetleburg Clank actually came out two years ago, but I didn't review it until this year, so it won't get any 2004 awards. But Airship City came out very recently, and the third volume is due out next week (the trade is already out). So, good stuff.

The Tale of One Bad Rat is a sad little tale with plenty of homages to Beatrix Potter. It's about abuse and empowerment, and it's a book I could recommend to a lot of people without hesitation. I read it because it's another one of Lieber's Eleven (of which I've now read nine).

I just picked up today's comic books, and I'll hopefully read them tonight. If any get four and a half starfish, I'll do an extra nominee entry for them tomorrow morning (if I have the time). Tomorrow evening I will post the full list of nominees.

by Tegan at 3:53 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Check out my hubby's latest article on his website, Words From The Wizard.

Ok, inflatable pub I understand. I can even buy it having a fireplace. But a dartboard?!??

If you are brave, you can mix your own version of the Doctor Who theme.

Interesting list of toys from the 70's. A bit British-leaning.

Legomancer comes up with some Elseworlds ideas, some of them pretty cool. I've never been able to come up with a good Elseworlds idea for Aquaman, but he's got three of them.

Just how stupid can people get?

Oslo police have made an arrest in the theft of Munch's The Scream and The Madonna.

Mars Rover Opportunity found it's own heat shield. They just keep going and going and going...

by Tegan at 8:26 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

More nominees for the Best Comic Book of 2004 according to Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog.

September and October gave me five automatic nominees. Aquaman #22, PS238 #7, PS238 #8, and True Story Swear To God: Chances Are.... In addition, I'm adding Even More Fund Comics to the mix. Other books of note, that don't make the nominee list, are the Dark Horse 2004 Halloween Special and Persepolis 2 (I liked it, but not as much as the first book).

Aquaman #22 might be the high point of Pfeifer's short-lived run on the book. It was excellent in all dimensions, except maybe for a slightly predictable main plot. The artwork by Gleason continued to grow on me. The handling of ongoing plot threads worked very well. In short, an excellent effort.

PS238 #7 and PS238 #8 continued the tradition of excellence from Aaron Williams work. These issues go back and explore the origins of superheroes in the PS238 universe and the beginnings of the rainmaker project. This series continues to amaze me.

True Story Swear To God: Chances Are... rocked my world. Another book that nearly reached my impossible five starfish. It immediately made me want to buy copies for everyone I know, and it also pushed me to start buying the regular series, which I'd been considering but just hadn't done. This is one of the sweetest romance stories I've ever been fortunate enough to read... go get a copy.

Almost done with the nominees... Next I'll have to choose a best from them.

by Tegan at 4:06 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

I know you can't read this, but your mom and grandma can, so I'm posting it. Happy day, little one!

by Tegan at 9:43 AM Seattle time - Permalink   

Monday, December 27, 2004

Probably the best place for updated current information would be Wikipedia. That was found in this Boing Boing entry. There's more here.

Garrett also links to firsthand accounts.

by Tegan at 8:02 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

The Best Comic Book of 2004 according to Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog gathers more nominees.

Here are the nominees for July and August. A whopping six books get in automatically: Bone Volume Three: Eyes of the Storm, The Golem's Mighty Swing, Safe Area Gorazde, Ursula, PS238: With Liberty and Recess For All, and Age of Bronze: Sacrifice. Other books of note were the Bone saga, which I got my first taste of in those months; Daisy Kutter, a nice change of pace from the standard fare; Bloodhound, a powerful and different side of the DCU; and a couple of mini comics Family Reunion and Me and Edith Head. I think I'll stick with the first six, but there were a lot of good books in those months.

Bone Volume Three: Eyes of the Storm was another book I checked out from the library to read, and I didn't regret it at all. The excitement in this issue was pumped up, and the story continued to be fascinating. This is probably my favorite installment of the entire Bone saga.

The Golem's Mighty Swing was a book I read due to Lieber's Eleven, so I was relatively sure I would enjoy it even before I opened the first page. And I did. My own love of baseball no doubt helped me to understand the characters, and the environment they lived in was foreign to me, yet all too familiar. A very good book.

Safe Area Gorazde ("Go-RAJH-duh") was another Lieber's Eleven. This book was much more painful than just about any I've enjoyed, and had a slight fault, but it is a story that we really don't hear about, and it needs to be told. Definitely one that should be read.

Ursula is an instant classic... a fairytale, a love story, and a philosophical text all wrapped up in one. This was a great one. I need to dig it out and read it again.

PS238: With Liberty and Recess For All is just a collection of the first five books and the intro issue. Nothing really new in it, but definitely something to get for anyone who is curious about the book. And it helps that these stories are very rereadable, so there is no problem sitting down and enjoying the whole series again and again.

Age of Bronze: Sacrifice is a great version of a very readable retelling of the Trojan War. This hardcover was a must-get for us, if only to match the hardcover of the first book. And it's every bit as gorgeous.

by Tegan at 7:03 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Sunday, December 26, 2004

More nominees for the Best Comic Book of 2004 according to Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog.

Time for May and June. There are four books that got my high rating in these months: Best of Dork Storm Press #2, Astonish Comics #1, True Story, Swear to God: 100 Stories by Tom Beland, and Aquaman #18. This doesn't leave me with a lot of room for extra nominees if I want to keep the list managable, but I want to mention the return of Colonia, the debut of Dorothy of Oz, and the wide variety of strong Free Comic Book Day books including The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty #1. You'll not that two of my nominees for high ratings are from Free Comic Book Day, too. Another nominee, one that months of reflection makes inevitable, is Astronauts in Trouble: Master Flight Plan.

Best of Dork Storm Press #2 featured a new PS238 story, along with Nodwick, Dork Tower, and Dr Blink Superhero Shrink. A new PS238 short alone would have been enough to put it over the edge, but add in the rest and this one became a must-have.

Astonish Comics #1 gave me a reason to seek out more Astonish books, but I haven't really followed up on it. I would love to read more Herobear and the Kid as well as Dreamland Chronicles.

True Story, Swear to God: 100 Stories by Tom Beland was a surprise to me, as I got it from good ol' Larry Young and it instantly became a story that I just wanted more of... One of the best books I've read in a long, long time.

Aquaman #18 shows more of Pfeifer and Gleason hitting their stride, and includes the page I wish I could get the original artwork from. It's very nice to see good Aquaman.

Astronauts in Trouble: Master Flight Plan rounds out the list of nominees for these months. I had heard of this book, even seen the artwork at a con once, but thanks to Larry's generosity I got to finally read it. I was a little disappointed by the smaller size of the artwork in this collection, but having a nice hardcover version is very good. It's one I knew I would reread, especially the second story Space: 1959.

by Tegan at 11:05 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

So, Christmas of 2004 stayed true to the general low quality of 2004. This year actually managed to be worse than 2003. I didn't think that would be possible, considering how bad 2003 was for us. But no, it was worse. I'll be glad to see the end of this year... I don't know if I can maintain any optimism that 2005 will be an improvement, and I'm certainly NOT looking forward to my birthday.

Anyway, thank you for the kind wishes, but Christmas turned out crappy anyway. Maybe next year.

by Tegan at 10:36 AM Seattle time - Permalink