Saturday, July 23, 2005

-by Tegan at 7:15 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Transcript: "Well, here I am, evening of Day Two of the 3-Day. I'm here at 'Camp Dusty' reporting in. [I'm] calling it Camp Dusty because, well, it's really really dusty around here, especially around the dining tent and all the services tents. The dust just gets right into your shoes and drives you nuts. Luckily the camp came at the end of the 3-Day, well, the end of the day, rather than at the beginning. Though that really doesn't bode well for tomorrow, now, does it?

"It's been an interesting day. It was perfect weather for walking this morning, slightly overcast, nice nice temperature. It got warmer and warmer as the day finished, and a lot of people are really tired and really grumpy and really hot.

"I didn't finish myself, I got swept again. [I'm] not happy about that, but I figure I'd rather enjoy it* than end up not being able to sleep at night because I'm in too much pain.

"Speaking of pain, I've discovered that I have not one, not two, but three blisters on the bottom of my left foot, one of them between two toes so it's really hard to bandage it.

"Still, I'm gonna try to finish the 3-Day tomorrow. At the very least I'm gonna walk the beginning and the end. If I have to skip the middle, I have to, but I'm going to try to do the whole thing.

"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be**. I mean, I knew it would be hard, but this is even harder than hard. This is... this is really next to impossible. The route they picked for us today was... well, let me put it this way. We had a Walker from the East Coast who said, as she was climbing one of our little hills, 'where we come from, these are called mountains!' and we all chorused 'welcome to Seattle!'

"I guess a lot of the East Coast folks were not expecting hills to be, well, hills. Steep inclines, ten-fifteen percent***, climbing way up, climbing way down. It was a really bad day for hills. They claim that tomorrow will be better, but you know, even better isn't... well... easy.

"Anyway. Very tired, very grumpy. It's been a long day. Disappointing day. I think if I ever do the 3-Day again it'll be as Crew, not as a Walker. 'Cause I just can't imagine doing the walking, but at least the Crew aren't doing one single thing the entire time. I mean, they're on their feet a long time too, but they get chances to sit down and rest****. There aren't really chances for the Walkers unless you're swept.

"I'm happy to report however that most of my team made the walk. Another team member had a knee problem... she's out. She may not be able to come back. And someone else twisted an ankle.

"Earlier this morning someone, not from my team, ran into a fire hydrant while talking to somebody and apparently there was enough blood they called 911. But once they got her patched up it wasn't nearly as bad as they thought. From what I heard she may be walking tomorrow.

"There's been a few cases of heatstroke. Blisters by the billions. I mean, that first day with the heavy rainstorms... everybody's got blisters. Wet socks... and you know, that just doesn't do much for anybody*****.

"Anyway. I think it's time for me to go back to my tent and see if it's cooled down a little. [The sun is shining] directly on all the tents, and they're turning into little oven boxes. It's quite impressive, really, how hot it is in the tents. I'd rather sit out in the sunlight.

"Hopefully I won't get burned. I suppose I should reapply...******"

* "it" being the 3-Day.
** I have newfound and deep respect for Eric for having managed it.
*** I pulled this number out of the air. I'm not really sure how steep the steepest hill we climbed was.
**** It's important to note that the Crew also have two extra days of work, setting up and cleaning up, and they get up WAY earlier than the Walkers. Crew would not be easy either, but I might be more suited to it.
***** What I'm trying to say here is that people's feet got wet, and they didn't have dry back-up socks, and wet feet cause blisters, so there were a LOT of blisters on the 3-Day.
****** I got cut off. I didn't think I was talking that long, but I guess I did. All those pauses and "um"s really add up. I finished my thought in the next blog entry, which isn't worth transcribing, so I won't.

-by Tegan at 7:15 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Friday, July 22, 2005

Transcript: "Well, it's time to blog again. I'm here in beautiful Marymoor Park where we've set up camp. Well, actually the boy scouts apparently set up camp and we're just sleeping in the tents that they set up.

"I got here around 4 pm, not under my own power unfortunately. I got swept with about a mile and half left to go. My left foot cramped up and I just couldn't go any further. I suspect it's because the shoes I was wearing were not the shoes I was using for most of my training, and I just didn't anticipate the problem*. Anyway... I'm probably gonna hit the medical tent first thing in the morning, before I even get out on the trail.

"I don't know where the trail's going tomorrow, but I suspect we're gonna go up the Sammamish River/Burke-Gilman trail for a few miles at least, until we get out of town**. I don't know though, we're going to end up in Shoreline tomorrow. It'll be interesting.

"I've now had the wonderful experience of showering in a truck. Except for the fact that there was no space, it was wonderful. But then, after walking 16 miles I guess having a nice hot shower is a good thing.

"Dinner was spaghetti, which is actually what Eric made for me yesterday. And it was ok***.

"Um, what else? Hmm...

"Did I mention the sea of little blue tents that the boy scouts set up for us? I mean, there are a lot of tents. Sometimes I don't realize just how many people there are in this. But, three thousand women is an awful lot.

"Anyway. Everyone's drying out. It was very very wet this morning and now it's sunny and hot and wonderful and it's supposed to be sunny and hot and wonderful tomorrow and the next day.

"Oh my... I'm so tired. In fact, I'm so tired I think I'm going to stop now and go to bed. So, thanks for listening, good-bye."

* I actually thought the second pair of shoes would help prevent blisters, but they may well have caused the more serious problem in my left foot.
** I was wrong. We only went up the trail a mile before we left it for the mean streets of Redmond.
*** Eric's spaghetti is much, much better.

-by Tegan at 6:50 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Transcript: "Ok, well, here I am. We're at Interlake High School, this is the lunch stop. We're 9 and a half miles in... nine and half? Wait, 10 and a half miles in, and we've got a good seven or eight more miles left* before we get to camp at Marymoor Park.

"We got here** this morning and it was drizzly and rainy and cold, and it got worse. As I pointed out to one Walker who was very dismayed at the thunder, it was Mother Nature herself giving us a nice cheer.

"It's been inspiring, lots and lots of people. I mean, the Walk itself is just walking but people keep honking and saying hello and waving. And I've got this T-shirt on, the Bouncing Betties T-shirt***, that makes people comment to me as they're passing, so that's pretty cool.

"And at the first cheering station my mom was there, which I wasn't expecting. I'm very happy to see her. In fact I gave her my really really really wet T-shirt that wasn't the dry-wick T-shirt I'm wearing now***.

"Long way to go, I guess. I think I can make it. Seven or eight miles, that's not bad. And I've been to the first aid tent a few times for blister prevention, but I don't think any of them have actually formed yet. Which is a good thing.

"Oh sigh well, quite inspiring. I think I'm gonna take off now, leaving the lunch area. And I'll blog again tonight. Bye!"

* It was seven miles left, for a total of 17.5 for the day.
** By "here" I meant Lake Sammamish State Park, where the Walk started.
*** I have three Bouncing Betties Dry-Wick T-shirts, one for each day. I wore one under my 3-Day shirt for the opening ceremonies, which actually managed to keep me a little more dry than I otherwise would have been.

-by Tegan at 12:37 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

-by Eric at 4:45 AM Seattle time - Permalink   

Thursday, July 21, 2005

-by Tegan at 5:13 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Transcript: "Hello, this is a test audioblog. I'm going to be starting the 3-Day tomorrow and continuing Saturday and Sunday, so I want to make sure the audioblog will actually get up on to Bloggity here. Um, busy packing. Kinda sobering to pack all this stuff and try to get it in the order that will make it easiest to grab it when each day comes. And very sobering to think I'm gonna be walking 60 miles in the next three days. Very sobering. Anyway, um, sunny outside, it looks like the weather's gonna be up in the 70s for the entire walk, maybe up to 80 tomorrow, but hopefully it'll stay cool. In fact, hopefully it'll drop down to the high 60s, or low 60s, even. But, uh, we can't always get what we want. Um, I think I'm ready. I - I uh, I've been excerising, I'm hyper, I- I... yeah, well, we'll see. Um, gonna try to do some comic book reviews before I go. I'm three, four weeks behind now, so it would be nice to get those done. I'm not pressuring myself though, otherwise I stop enjoying my comic books. Um, not much else to say, but I will be posting-blogging-audioblogging tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday, so, watch this space. Thank you."

I am, quite frankly, terrified of starting the walk tomorrow. I feel a low, rolling sense of panic rising in the pit of my stomach that is only fought by the basics of packing and preparing. Can I do this? Will I make it? I'm resting today, but I'm beginning to wonder if I didn't make a little miscalculation, giving myself time to think about it. Only tomorrow will tell.

Seattle 3-Day Cheering Stations.

I usually read my horoscope in the newspaper and laugh at how generic they are. Today's, however, surprised and amused me. Yes, it's generic, but it still applies: "What you consider to be insurmountable obstacles ahead might not be as unconquerable as they seem." Heh.

-by Tegan at 8:51 AM Seattle time - Permalink   

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

-by Tegan at 12:08 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

-by Tegan at 11:21 AM Seattle time - Permalink   

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Jim Aparo died last night, a month shy of 73 years old.

The world has just a little less style now.

• Fred Sez: "Jim Aparo was a tremendous talent, and I miss him already."
  
• Mark Evanier's Obit.
  
• Shane Bailey posts Spencer Beck's notice of Jim Aparo's death.
  
• Matt says: "I'll always remember Jim as the artist on the Batman/Aquaman fight, but the man drew a whole lot of comics."
  
• Ethan Van Sciver.
  
• Fanboy Rampage: "I loved his stuff, when I was a kid."
  
• Tom Spurgeon.
  
• The Beat.
  
• Johnny B: "Aparo was a huge influence on what I laughingly refer to as my artwork, and was one of my absolute favorite illustrators (and letterers, too) in the '70s and early '80s."
  
• Comicon.
  
• Bags and Boards.
  
• IGN: "Jim Aparo is survived by his wife Julie, three children, four grandchildren and two step-grandchildren. He'll be missed by all."
  
• Dark, But Shining: "If I'm ever browsing through back-issues and I see something with his name on it, I buy it. No questions asked."
  
• Websnark: "I'm going to miss him."
  
• The Comic Treadmill: "It's a sad day for the Aparo family and Jim's many fans."
  
• Mike Sterling.
  
• The Great Curve: "He was a solid artist and I hope his work will be appreciated by future generations. Goodbye Jim Aparo, Gotham will never be the same."
  
• Motime Like the Present: "This is a guy who (in the pages of The Brave and The Bold, along with the remarkable, and already much-missed, Bob Haney) made Batman palatable to me--a die-hard Bat-hater..."
  
• Ethan again: "I’m very sad. I loved his work dearly. Rest in peace, and tell Kirby hello from us suckers still here on earth."
  
• Will Pfeifer: "Aparo was my first "favorite" artist."
  
• Tom Peyer.
  
• Jim Aparo at Wikipedia.
  
• Bob Greenberger: "He was gracious and self-deprecating, and a thorough professional. He never missed a deadline nor complain about the work."
  
• Elayne Riggs.
  
• Tom Smith.
  
• Spatula Forum: "Aparo never quite got the kudos that a Kirby, Romita or Adams got, but I bet he was a lot of kids' first exposure to some fun old comics back in the day."
  
• Neil Gaiman: "So I got to write one page of comics for Jim Aparo, and it had the Phantom Stranger on it, and I was happy. He was my first "favourite artist", before Neal Adams, before Bernie Wrightson... I wish I'd met him."
  
• Trusty Plinko Stick: "His Batman is the one I see in my mind when I think of Batman, the same way I think of Curt Swan's Superman, Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four or John Romita's Spider-Man."
  
• Tom Spurgeon.
  
• The Aquaman Website goes black.

-by Tegan at 11:32 AM Seattle time - Permalink   

If that wasn't enough, there will be door prizes all weekend and everything else in the store except new items will be on sale.

Now, here's the sad bit. I'll be Walking during the sale. I can't go enjoy it because I'll be sweating with a couple of thousand other women. So I'm hoping a few people see this blog and go enjoy the sale for me. At the very least, someone ought to go win a door prize and blame me for it. Or buy a TPB at 30% off. Or something.

-by Tegan at 10:20 AM Seattle time - Permalink   

-by Tegan at 8:47 AM Seattle time - Permalink   

Monday, July 18, 2005

Not much to say on the rest of the stuff. Infinite Crisis is finally here. Joy. Seven more issues and it's done. JLA is shipping bi-weekly, and Aquaman is heavily involved in the storyline. Aquaman also gets a role in Justice. Solo is by Mike Allred. Hmmm. Deadman in Justice League Unlimited. Also hmmm.

-by Tegan at 2:54 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

-by Tegan at 9:47 AM Seattle time - Permalink   

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Moving a little further back in time, 2003 was an interesting year. One of my worst, in fact. But I managed a little joy, as I got from posting a sketch by Dev Madan. I also posted some Bits and a Thought.

I'm afraid that going back any further isn't possible, as I didn't start blogging in 2002 until October. But I actually quite enjoyed popping back into the past... maybe I'll do it again sometime. In the future.

-by Tegan at 10:05 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Spoiler Review Below (highlight/select to read):

I wonder how many people got shivers up their spines when the book starts out focusing on the Muggle Prime Minister dealing with disasters? I know I felt chills that had nothing to do with Harry Potter itself.

Perhaps my favorite bit of the book would be Dumbledore's explanation that prophecies are given power by the people who believe in them, and that if the target of a prophecy never hears it, then the prophecy is meaningless. It re-emphasizes the point that people are responsible for themselves, and that destiny isn't as all-powerful as some folks would like to believe. It also makes up a bit for Voldy's determination to get the prophecy in the last book: he firmly believes it.

I expected the explanation of Voldy's survival to be something like what we finally hear... I just didn't expect the quantity. It does turn the final book of the series into more of a "quest" format, though, as Harry now has items he has to hunt down.

Plot Hole: If the "lucky" potion takes six months to brew, and Sluggy didn't agree to teach until right before term started, then how did he get the potion ready in time for the start of school?

I suppose the death in this book wasn't nearly as anti-climatic as someone falling through a curtain, but it was still shocking. I'm very curious about the note that Harry found, though, which I'm sure was the point of throwing that bit into the book. There seems to be an important player that we haven't yet met.

End Spoilers. If the above stuff shows up on your computer without you highlighting it, please let me know what kind of browser and computer you are using so I can try to fix it. Thanks.

-by Tegan at 4:29 PM Seattle time - Permalink