The Titan's Curse

Third book. Also awesome. This was difficult to do, though, because I was so far removed from the book by the time I drew it. Still haven't started on the drawing from the fourth...That's gonna be a bear, too...

No, not a bear drawing...

Sea of Monsters

This would be from the second Percy Jackson book. Also quite awesome.

Literati

On the advice of someone who knows, I've picked up my reading lately. I finally finished a book by Raymond E. Feist that I started back in August...I'd blamed the time it took on being busy, but it turns out that it may've been lack of interest. Now, Feist is probably my favorite author, so it was hard for me to admit that I didn't like his book, but, there it is. I came to this realization with the next book that I read, the choice being influenced by my desire to teach and the age range that I'd like to and such. The book was The Lightning Theif by Rick Riordan, the first in the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Awesome.

Lots of action, lots of references to Greek mythology, and the story itself wasn't too bad either. I finished it in my customary two days...and that was while I was working. ...I don't mean I read it while I was working...this week was only two days long because of Thanksgiving and I read it in those two. Anyway... In a lot of ways, it reminded me of American Gods and Anansi Boys. You know...except that it was geared for kids in middle school and junior high. All in all, it was pretty good stuff.

Then, the next day, I read Rules. I forget who the author is (yes, the book is like 15 ft. away, but I'm lazy...you can Google it), but it's about a girl who's brother is autistic and some stuff that happens to her over a summer.

I was bored.

It's not that it's a bad book. It's just that it's a girl book. It's all about relationships and stuff and in its 200 pages it just went. There were some genuinely funny parts, but the fact is that it was a horrible choice for a follow-up to something as high energy as The Lightning Thief. I didn't choose it so much as it was chosen for me, though. So, in short, I'll probably read the next three of the Percy Jackson books and avoid anything else by the author of Rules.

Rabbit Out of Season

It turns out that I have a lot of left over Easter candy. That's a big deal with Halloween quickly approaching. I mean, we've got to make room, right? And it isn't like I'm going Trick-or-Treating with Aaron (there's the church thing, but it doesn't count), but there will be all the candy that we get for trick-or-treaters that don't come. Because they never come. Apparently, my house is creepier than I realized. Yon Cricket could confirm that it messy and stupid but not terribly creepy.

Well, if he weren't MIA. If you were paying attention, he did manage to phone in a comic...quite literally, actually...but I couldn't say if or when his Libyan captors will allow him the supplies to do another.

Libyans...they were the terrorists that Doc Brown made a "nuclear" device for using pinball parts.

Movies...I did a segment of the "lesson time" for the youth dept. at my church on Wednesday night. Got the chance to prove my useless knowledge as part of an illustration. I followed a circuitous path from Darth Maul back to himself in 16 steps. I didn't expect the "awws" when I went past Heath Ledger, though I suppose I should've. Anyway, even if I didn't get my point across (I hope I did, but who knows), I did manage to prove that my brain is a collecting pool of absolutely useless movie-related facts.

Go me!

Swing and a Miss

So, I got all my stuff lined up and I'm still not a teacher. Which kinda blows. BUT, that said, I am working in a school and I DO like what I do. It ain't what I was aiming for, but it's alright.

Still, I really want to teach art next year.

Anyway, you may have noticed a new comic up there. What is it called? I dunno. What are those things? Gelatinous blobs and a big hungry thing. Is this a new, on-going comic? Beats me!

I can answer all your questions, I just can't guarantee satisfactory answers!

That said, it feels good posting comics (I've got two more in the can...as of Saturday the 13th..and one more ready to scan and panel. Not bad, I think. So, GO! Tell your friends! Dim Bulb is back and...something...and at least I'm really excited about it.

Pass the Turkey

Well, I passed my Praxis II tests. All three of them. Miracle of miracles, I say. Taking three tests in a day was a train wreck waiting to happen, but somehow I managed to keep everything on track. That means that I'm one step closer to actually doing something productive.

Woohoo.

No, really. I am excited. I'm just a little fried about the whole thing. The stress is crazy and...oh crap. I should've called...whoever it is that I was supposed to call. Actually, she was supposed to call me (that's what they said on Friday when I left a message) but I didn't call back to make sure. Great. One more thing.

Anyway, the tests are out of the way and that's spectacular. My mom's trying to get me to take another set of tests for some other area, but I really think that'd be a waste of money. I mean, I did well in some of my other courses, but I only really studied Art.

At least for now, though, I can rest with the bit of assurance that I'm at least good for teaching art. Now to 1) get into the program and 2) get a job.

No big deal.

Slight Improvements

Got my Praxis scores back. My Writing (the one I didn't know) was 3 points off perfect.

So, I'm good.

So Much For Plan B

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/' hg hghghg gujhg ujjjjjj n n n n

No, I'm not having a brain spasm. Aaron woke up just as I logged in and started to type, so he got to take a crack at blogging. Perhaps we'll work on English a bit more before we take on Keyboarding.

I feel like a major failure. I'm still waiting on my Praxis I scores (well, score...I do still have the other two), so that's not it. You see, the other part of The Plan was to do a lot of substituting between now and when the NTLP starts up and I won't be able to work at all (of course, that's most likely in July which means there would've been a bit of a time lapse between when school ends, but if all went as planned that wouldn't have mattered) which would keep everything going until that good teacher money starts rolling in (which is only said somewhat ironically as my library checks were abysmally small...I couldn't pee on the poverty line without getting my feet wet). The disappointment comes in when you take into account that I've been out of the library all this month and I've subbed a whopping three, count 'em, three times. I've got two more actually lined up later this week, for a total of five (for the mathematically impaired), which is just enough to say that this is bloody stupid.

Now, I realize, intellectually, that I have no control over how often I get called in. I mean, I'm new, so they're surely going to call in the old standbys first, but I've signed up in four separate school districts at ALL levels and February is supposedly the sickest month of the year. Even still, I feel like somehow this is my fault and I'm officially bummed.

Upside is that I get more family time. Downside is that family time doesn't put food on the table.

Christmas Came and Went

This Christmas was pretty awesome. Having my Grandma Rosie here has been nice. I get the feeling she's a little uncomfortable with Aaron. Not because she's unsure about babies or even how she feels about him. It's just the fact that he's a year old, rather energetic, and really comfortable with everyone around except her because she's the new one. Maybe if she came over here alone... I should've thought of that before. Since my brother's family gets here tomorrow, I think the "over at my house" portion of the break is over...

Crap.

Well, the "haul" is rather spectacular. I should've had a more impressive list. Asked for the world and all. When you get what you ask for, you obviously aren't shooting high enough.

Oh well.

Cricket and his esposa dropped by. It was really cool to see them both. They stayed a while, had some food, coversated, all that. I even inadvertently called Michelle emotionally abusive. Sweet. I don't know quite how that happened. I started saying something about attaching a face to the name, but at the sentence's off-ramp, I missed my turn and went three exits too far before crossing the median and merging into an 18-wheeler. I think that maybe she was aware that I was having a verbal meltdown because she didn't SEEM offended. I was, though. I was pretty offended at me.

Spectacular Spectacular

My mother bought the Josh Groban Christmas CD recently. I've heard a song or two of his before, but it wasn't until hearing his rendition of Little Drummer Boy that I realized this:

Josh Groban could sing the Taco Bell Value Menu and make it sound like a romantic epic.

That's all.

Capacitor

I recently acquired an iPod in a game of chance. Rest easy. I didn't kill anyone you know for it. The iPod, as a status symbol, never much appealed to me. I mean, I remember when the Walkman was the cool thing and the iPod was just a new iteration of that idea. I mean, I'd had an mp3 player and gotten maybe 10 or 12 hours of use out of it before deciding it was too much trouble.

You'll have to forgive my ignorance.

The strength of the iPod lies in the fact that it doesn't just hold the music you put on it from A playlist and, possibly, shuffle them in different, random, yet oddly repetetive orders. Instead, it holds all the lists you can devise. I wish someone would've been kind enough to inform me of this. Also, the click wheel interface didn't much make sense to me at a glance. So you can skip forwards and backwards. So you can play and pause. So what? I didn't realize you could actually wheel about! Why is it that no one lets me know when I'm thinking something stupid?

...Wait, they do.

Why is it that people don't let me know when it's something I care about?!?! It's reintroduced music into my way of life.

Now, the one I own is a 5th generation 30gb, making it tiny by current standards. That's fine with me. First of all, it was free. Second of all, it's better than the iPod I had before. You know, none. Plus, as I am blissfully ignorant and don't know if it's a bitrate matter or one of file format and compression, I'm finding that at this point, after uploading at least half, if not 2/3 of my CD collection, I'm just barely cracking 2.5gb. And I've loaded EVERYTHING.

Well, not EVERYTHING. I did leave a couple tracks out from a CD or two that I copied because the tracks were bad. They never played right. I assume that my CD burner was faulty. I also skipped a couple compilation CDs that came in some magazines because I wasn't ready to weed out the feces from the good stuff at the time. I may just go back and load the whole thing later. Who knows. And I also skipped a couple entire discs that I bought cheap because they were CDs that my brother owned when we were both at home still. Had I taken into account that his tastes are wildly different from mine, I might've saved my $1.50.

I may load those on, as well. You never know when I might want to listen to crap.

On a whole, though it's been a pleasant experience, the main lesson I'm carrying away is that I don't own enough music. It's like a challenge to fill it up, and at this point, I don't think I can without cheating and loading tons of videos or something on it. I mean, my wife says I'm displaying obsessive behavior, which is kind of true, but loading CD after CD onto iTunes takes a while. After I get it all loaded onto that, one sync and I'm effectively finished (except for when I get new CDs...at Christmas and birthdays...) and the only other things I'll need to do with it (besides listening) are when I get an idea for a new playlist or something.

The lack of fillage (not a word) is rather annoying, though. I mean, according to the iTunes library, I've got 35+ days, DAYS, of music loaded currently and that's only 8.3% of it's total capacity. It suddenly makes sense that so many people are illegally downloading music. I mean, who has the time, let alone the funds, to continually shop for new music to fill these things? I think Steve Jobs is in cahoots (I despise that word) with the RIAA and probably the courts. He throws down the gauntlet by continually upping the capacity on his players. The User has to find methods to fill the player. The RIAA takes them to court for the illegal methods they use. The RIAA, the lawyers, and the courts collect their respective fees and winnings, and Jobs probably gets kickbacks or something. I don't know.

Now, lest ye think that I'm making some lame, old guy grab at the last vestiges of cool available to him, I should mention that of the non-music files on the iPod, which I named iPodicus Maximus...ironically, I think, I have pictures and videos of Aaron.

Sweet, but not cool. Because I was never that to begin with.

Reserved

It never fails to amaze me how many reserve materials I receive in the last two weeks of a semester at work.

I should clarify.

As you may remember, I work at a university library. The work is mostly paper-based and I shuffle a lot of books between our library and others. The reserves, you may be shocked to learn, are materials professors either grab from the shelves or bring in and have me log specially as they are RESERVED for the use of their particular classes. Usually, only within the library walls, so that they may be available for all the class members and not just the first clown that waltzes in and checks them all out.

That brings to mind the first assignment I had in my Art History I class years ago. This guy came in and checked out all the books relevant to our first paper before anyone else could. I, of course, found this out after the fact because I didn't do the first paper. It had slipped my notice. Anyway, that was particularly amusing later in the semester when he dropped the class with a failing grade. Apparently he didn't use the books.

Back on topic, items which are used on reserve are almost universally listed in the syllabi of the professors, which are handed out at the beginning of the semester after being submitted to the department heads before classes begin. That is to say, professors know before classes start what materials they will be using throughout the semester. At least on paper. And yet, every semester, through the last week of classes, professors bring in things that their students will be responsible for.

Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge them the procrastination. I'm ALL about procrastination. "Why do now what you can get a deadline extension on?" I always say. But, these are the same guys that feed you unbelievable amounts of crap for turning in your assignments the way they're turning in their materials for you to read. What's good for the goose is good for the...guy eating the goose...I don't know. Anyway, I'm just saying that perhaps it wouldn't kill them to either a) get their crap done in the beginning when they're supposed to or b) be a little more understanding to the guy who didn't do his paper on-time because he was busy playing Halo...or whatever it is the kids are playing these days.

Strange Things

It occurs to me that, generally, it's considered bad form to do things that cause others to to incur debt. The larger the debt, the more inconsiderate the offense. There appears, however, to be a break-off point where the debt becomes so large that, under the right circumstances, it becomes welcomed.

I'm referring to the cost of an ambulance. In almost, but certainly not all, cases where an ambulance is warranted, people are more than fine with you calling one for them, running up a tab in the thousands of dollars for a five minute drive. Ten if you count the trip to pick up the patient. But, in most cases, the person calling, or someone in the area, who is certainly closer than an ambulance (because, really, who ever has a medical emergency as one is driving by?), has access to a car that could drive the person in to the hospital.

Not into a hospital.

You've got to watch those prepositions. Go driving someone into a hospital and they're going to need a hospital worse than before. And you'll be needing a new car.

I realize that there are situations where medical professionals need to be on scene taking care of the patient, but I'd personally much rather have someone drive me to the hospital if, say, I got my arm chopped off than wait for an ambulance to arrive. Screw the upholstry! This is my life we're talking about. I'll spring for the OXY activated cleaner if I make it. It's got to be cheaper than an ambulance. That's for sure.

Photomagraphics

Ok, so here are the promised Halloween pictures. Not that anyone really cares. Anyway, here we see that I look like a bum, my son is, as always, adorable and my wife looks like she deserves better than me.

Actually, it's times like these that I'm glad that we don't live in a country where they consider it a crime to marry above your attractiveness level, because I'd get the death penalty.



Anyway, here's the whole "Sylar" picture. If you need to double check me, episode 3 (One Giant Leap) is what I used as reference, though I suppose I could've done more than just go by memory...

Time to Take a Stand!

I just had a brilliant idea. One of the major complaints that older people make, especially those who grew up in the sixties, is that my generation (X) and subsequently the batch of kids running around today (they get a new name every time you turn around...I prefer "Infants"...you know who you are) is that we don't care about anything. Sure, we grumble about things like injustice and various political ideals, but compared to those who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., those who held sit-ins or those who were eventually shot at during the Kent State fiasco...we're not even playing the same game.

That's when it hit me. You see, there are just so many causes, so many things that need to change, that it's hard to find something to really get behind.

That's why I suggest we all get behind no cause at all! We take part in what I have labelled "Non-objective Activism". We'll stage marches and protests. We can have sit-ins and letter writing campaigns. We'll finally make the older generation proud of our effort by protesting...stuff! We'll have slogans on our signs like "Boo!" or "Down with that!" or even "Things gotta change!" It doesn't matter what, because something will! The problems with objective activism is that sometimes you don't get your way and eventually the cause dies because people give up. Not so with non-objective activism. When you protest nothing in particular, you protest everything! If something you're not happy about gets fixed, hooray! But keep protesting because surely something else isn't right, eh? Non-objective activism is the ultimate answer to those who claim that nothing is being done because you're always doing something about it. Whatever it is. Which doesn't even matter!

So, grab some posterboard and giant markers! Start a petition! Picket something! You don't need to be mad about anything in particular, you just need to be mad enough to desire that something changes! Or, as my all-purpose sign will read: This ain't right!

My Evil Plan to Save the World!

FYI, I've almost finished penciling the first comic of the My Friend Sylar mini-series.

"But Adam...you started that, like, three weeks ago!"

Shut up and die.

In other news, it would appear that El Grillo del Caos took me seriously about my fear of losing my old schedule days, because there hasn't been a new comic since. In fact, it would appear that I've scared him away from all the other days, too.

He is a cautious one.

I am curious where the all-purpose sauce thing is going. I mean, that's a pretty deep mine, if you dig it right. Should be fun.

In Mah Skedewlz...Tayken Mah Daiz!

Not Tuesday/Thursday, Cricket!!!!

Sure, it's not like I'm USING them, but they were always there for me. Like a dog, waiting patiently at the door for my return. Not like MY dog, who would be hiding the tv remote, peeing on the carpet and destroying any paper goods the cat flipped onto the ground, but a GOOD dog.

Actually, if it'll make him post comics, Cricket is more than welcome to use the full range of days, letting them fall where they may, like pennies from the top of the Empire State building. Apparently, I'm in the mood for simile today. I'm all over them like Sylar on mutant Hero brain.

That one wasn't very good.

The Iron Cliche

Let me preface this by saying that I really like The Iron Giant. I'd managed not to see it until this weekend, but having remedied that, I'm pleased to have watched it.

Ok, so what's up with single mom's working in diners. Almost every tv/movie mom who is without husband (for whatever reason) works in a diner. Do they hand these things out at the hospital? When some girl who gets knocked up by her boyfriend who skips town comes in, do they hand her, along with prenatal vitamins, a handful of applications to Waffle House and such? Is there some arcane law I don't know about? Should something happen to me, would this be Andria's fate?

The diner, as a source of income, seems to be an especially poor choice for a woman on her own with child. First, the hours, as put forth by tv and movies, are inconsistent. Apparently, they only ask the woman who has no one to take care of her children to cover extra shifts. On one hand, I could see that being helpful...more hours = more money. On the other hand, the kid is probably burning the apartment down while she's at work. That or befriending an over-sized robot and bringing nuclear holocaust to your small New England town. Whatever.

The second issue is that, apparently, people who eat at diners are either apt to sexually harass their waitress or they're up to no good in a way completely unrelated to anyone else in the diner but will end with someone driving a truck/bus/SUV through the wall. Or they're carrying a bomb. This isn't what you would call favorable working conditions.

Lastly, no one gets paid well at a diner. The kind of people who eat at diners, according to movies and tv, are not the kind of people who leave big tips. They may even end up robbing the place, only to have Samuel L. Jackson, in his underwear, to force them to return his wallet bearing a rather distinct, expletive filled label embroidered on it. But still, no tips.

If I were Hogarth's mom, or any of the others in the army of single fictional moms, I'd start looking for employment elsewhere.

Human Sacrifice, Dogs and Cats Living Together...

...Mass hysteria!

So, apparently the planets have aligned, for this week carries many of the greatest of all geekly events ON TOP OF EACH OTHER! I refer to, among others, the first episodes of Heroes Season 2, The Office Season 4, and the debut of Halo 3. I don't even own an X-Box (much less a 360) and I'm excited about that!

...Actually, I don't even KNOW someone with a 360!

Then, there are the new shows. To be honest, my Heroes-inspired insanity has kept me from being all that aware of them, but Chuck (the tv show) looks especially promising. Reaper also looks like it has potential, but that's one I'm especially wary of. Some shows sound good on paper and then crap out in execution. Not to mention celebrity directors make me nervous. Especially on first episodes. I can stomach them during sweeps, but the first episode? Ride your own wave, man!

Not to mention, Cricket is suddenly doing comics again! Astounding!

Still, it almost doesn't seem fair that EVERYONE gets to see Heroes start tonight. ...er...Everyone in the US, anyway. Le Cricket, for instance has only been watching Heroes for, what? Two weeks? I've also heard unconfirmed rumors that tonight's episode may also be on the DVD set, though I couldn't say for sure. Being broke, and all. It's bad enough that he didn't have to sit through the month and a half long breaks between episodes, but now, he doesn't even have to wait through the summer off-season!

GRAVE INJUSTICE!

In the name of fairness, I demand that he ONLY watch Heroes on DVD. Thus, he will have to wait until early next September!

As the Refreshments once sang, that seems fair...

Ok, Not THAT Alive...

I don't know what's up with the lack of comics. I do know that I am consistently thwarted in my attempts to make with the comicking, but that only covers my side. Yesterday, for instance, I was trying to draw in chapel, it's what I always do, when one of the student gestapo made me put it away. Apparently, as a staff member, I do not have immunity to certain rules. It's unfortunate that I am largely unable to focus my attention without the ability to draw in chapel, as well.

I know, having a distraction so that I can pay attention sounds counterintuitive, but it works for me. If Aaron was there, bouncing him around and such to keep him quiet would also work, but he doesn't go to college here.

You know, because he's a baby.

I'm sure that the attention thing signifies something, but your guess is as good as mine as to what. The common suspect is ADD in most cases, but I don't completely fit that profile. I think it has to do, partially at least, with TV training. The scene doesn't change often enough in classes and such for me to maintain strict attention. The thing is, it doesn't bother me that I can't give 100% attention. I LIKE drawing while listening. The product of the drawing time usually helps anchor the thing learned until it sticks in more permanent storage. And, of course, it's nice to have something drawn.

This time, however, it turned out that I didn't need to draw to pay attention. It seems that mild embarrassment and frustration make a decent substitute.

Just not as productive a one.