Lyda Morehouse's Blog, page 88

Old News, but Cool

naomikritzer turned me on to this awesome theory about Captain America's past. As she pointed out, it totally reads like something I'd devise. So, yeah, I think it'd be an awesome back story. Of course, I grew up singing labor union songs and "Four for the Founding Fathers... Marx, Engles, Lenin, Trotsky!" so, I might be biased.

A Little Light Reading...

My holiday reading included lots of comic books, bought at HPB. Of course, as usual, I seem to collect many of these with issues missing, so my reading of them is full of gaps. Here's what I've read so far:

The Amazing Spider-Man: Grim Hunt, Part 1 (#634) – Kelly /Lark & Gaudiano
The Amazing Spider-Man: Grim Hunt, Part 2 (#635) – Kelly/Lark & Gaudiano
The Amazing Spider-Man: Grim Hunt, Part 3 (#636) – Kelly & Wells/Checchetto, Lark & Gaudiano

Since I don't really know how all this ends, all I can say was that my lack of Spider-Man history messed me up a bit in this series. I, for instance, had no idea Peter Parker had a failed clone, named after the Biblical first murderer [K]aine, no less. I think the writer(s) understood that a lot of readers might not know much about Kaine, thus there was this utterly depressing back story/mini-story of Kaine's life previous, complete with a pathetic version of Aunt May, with whom Kaine has a detestable non-relationship with and discovers dead on the stairway. Gah! Since the entire of bit of the arc of "Grim Hunt" seemed to be about redeeming Kaine, I wonder at the wisdom of the wholly unlikeable mini-story, which simply served to make me happy he sacrificed the way he did. *

*New, later addition to this thought. At some point, Kaine calls himself a "soulless" creature because he's a clone, a mere shell of a man, etc., etc. Can I just say how much I hate this trope? Clones certainly have souls. Or maybe this is where I show my Unitarian upbringing, because I believe if you do good work that's close enough. So, live well, clone, and you shall be a real boy and have a soul!


Thor (#1): Straczynski/Coipel
Thor (#2): Straczynski/Coipel
Thor (#3): Straczynski/Coipel
Thor (#4): Straczynski/Coipel
Thor (#5): Straczynski/Coipel
Thor (#6): Straczynski/Coipel
Thor (#7): Straczynski/Djurdjevic
Thor (#8): Straczynski/Djurdjevic

People have been recommending these to me for a while, and I found this bundle on sale together at HPB. I have NEVER been a Thor fan. Straczynski, IMHO, had the sense to bring back Thor's human counterpart Dr. Donald Blake, which helped one of my underlining problem with the title previously – relating to a Norse god isn't easy for a mortal like me. Spider-Man deals with the kinds of things I do: mortgage/rent, keeping a job, getting along with a spouse/lover; Thor, not so much. I don't really worry about Ragnarok much, frankly. So, bringing Blake back as the human side of Thor helped tremendously.
As with much of Straczynski's comic work, I appreciated a lot of the little touches. I liked that Straczynski updated Blake to be a "Doctors without Borders" member. His relationship with his old lover was also wonderfully complicated by the reincarnation story and the fact that Blake is Thor to the point of obsession about Thor's lover, rather than thinking about his own.

Speaking of the reincarnation storyline, I ALWAYS appreciate reincarnation stories that allow for gender shifts. (One of my favorites, a DC title: Camelot 3000.) I totally happen to buy into the choice Straczynski made, too.


Amazing Spider-Man Presents: American Son (1 of 4), Reed/Briones
Amazing Spider-Man Presents: American Son (3 of 4), Reed/Briones
Amazing Spider-Man Presents: American Son (4 of 4), Reed/Briones

This series follows Norman Osbourne's son(s) after the elder's fall from grace as the former head of the Avengers/S.H.I.E.L.D. I've always enjoyed a good villain, though Green Goblin was never a favorite, not like say Magneto or Dr. Doom. I think it's the crazy, honestly. Though kudos to Reed for taking on the whole complexity of being a villain's kid. I found some of the relationships confusing, since I own, but have not yet read "One Last Day." MJ with Osbourne, Jr.? Srsly?

Then, though these aren't precisely a grouping, I also read:

The Heroic Age Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier (#1), Brubaker/Eaglesham

The Heroic Age Captain America (#606), "No Escape, Part 1," Brubaker/Guice
The Heroic Age Captain America (#608), "No Escape, Part 3," Brubaker/Guice

I have to admit to not knowing why these titles fall under this new "The Heroic Age" banner -- perhaps to distinguish them from the popular "Ultimates"? I have no idea. Okay, never mind. I just Googled "Heroic Age + Marvel," because I can from home now and I'm disappointed to see that Marvel has plans to make the future bright and shiny and pull away from strife like the Civil War, Secret Invasion, the Death of Captain America and other fantastically awesome writing. Oh, wait, they didn't say that last part, but it was pretty much implied. This is sad to me. I like dark and real.

Anyway, in Super-Soldier we find Steve Rogers trying to be a superhero without being Captain America. He doesn't have much of a problem. 'Nuff said.

Meanwhile, James "Bucky" Buchannan is having a MUCH harder time figuring out how to be Captain America, especially when Baron Zemo, Jr. exposes his past as Soviet era assassin to the press. Yikes! (Side note: is it true? Did Bucky also get the super-soldier formula? I thought only Steve did. In fact, one of the things I like about the new Cap is that he really doesn't have superpowers outside of the one Soviet cybernetic arm.)

Of the two, I'm actually more interested in Bucky's storyline, which makes me wonder. Am I really a Captain America fan, or did I really only like Winter Soldier?????

*gasp!*

Wait, it's Tuesday?

Holidays always mess me up, especially when I've had car troubles to deal with. I feel like _today_ should be Monday because Shawn was home on vacation yesterday. And since I spent all of yesterday chasing around after the car stuff, I feel kind of cheated out one day, you know? At any rate, it's been a bit of whiplash to realize how late in the week it is already. Yeah, it's only Tuesday, but Tuesday is almost Wednesday which is half way through.... !!

:-)

In the continuing saga of the small hassles of my life, something happened to the cord of my Dell so that it now no longer conducts electricity. Which is kind of the point, apparently. A cord that doesn't juice up one's battery is kind of useless I've discovered. Luckily, I have a fairly awesome battery. However, I'm going to have to replace the cord sooner rather than later since this is my main writing laptop. I've already sent copies of my latest WIPs to myself at gmail, and it's not like we don't have other computers at home. I shouldn't suffer any loss in productivity. (Erm, that, of course, implies that I have been productive... which I have to admit to slacking off a bit for the holidays. But, *Oh MY* how fun is "Fruit Ninja," huh? Or, how about that "Cut the Rope" monster, cute, or what?? Can you tell that someone got an iTouch?)

Also, it seems as an ice storm is coming into town just as I was planning to head down to LaCrosse for my great-aunt Clara's funeral. I'll have to decide how bad it really is on Thursday morning, and whether it's worth the risk. I might have to just send flowers, which would really bum me out. I don't know why, but I really feel like I ought to go. I haven't seen some of my extended family in a really long time, and it would be one (if sad) chance to reconnect with some of them. It's not worth risking my own life, though.

Car Woes and Such

My car has been clunking in a way that didn't sound normal, so I took it in this morning to my mechanic. I call my mechanic "Ben," though the guy named that left a long time ago. Anyway, when I started going to Ben's, years ago, they didn't used to offer rides home, so I learned how to walk. It's not terribly far, though I suspect it's a mile one way. This is really no problem in the summer. It's colder in the winter, let's just say. Today on the trip back home I enjoyed the hoar frost. The frost covered every bough and needle and make it look like the whole world had been decked in tiny sparkling lights or diamonds. It reminded me, in fact, that hoar frost was one of my inspirations for how the Medusa bomb covered everything in the AngeLINK world.

I got home and had just had oatmeal breakfast when Ben called. They couldn't figure out what made the clunking, though they did knock a ton of ice off it. At least there would be no charge.

I hoofed back, though enjoyed the walk a little less. For one, I was now walking into the sun and I decided to go along Fairview thinking it would be shoveled better. Ha! In fact there seemed to be a direct proportion between the busy-ness of the street and how high the unplowed drifts were. Since my windshield wiper was still broken, I decided to take my car to Jiffy Lube right away. I drove off to Roseville and put my car in the queue. The African-American man who took my information got really excited by my last name. Of course, he thought of the college which has such graduates as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Spike Lee. He really wanted me to be related to the founders, but I had to say, no, alas I'm not even quite sure how a bunch of German farmers ended up with the name Morehouse.

With the other folks at Jiffy Lube, I ended up watching a really trashy TV show I don't remember the name of. It was like Jerry Springer, only not him. Today's theme was paternity. They invited a bunch of people on the show with paternity questions and then sprung the results on them live, in studio. It was actually crushing to watch this one poor guy find out he wasn't a baby's father. He ran out of the studio in tears and the camera men followed as he fell to the floor, distraught. Awful! Why do people watch these things?

I also chatted with a guy there who had been in an accident. Actually, two. One had left him unable to work for several years. Both had happened on 280. He seemed like a nice guy, though, far too talkative to really be from around here, but he was better company than the guy who wanted to shout about how awful Brett Favre (Vikings player) was this year.

Now I feel really DONE with the day, though I should probably try to get some writing in. I just really want to nap, and not think about the fact that on Thursday (if the storm doesn't come), I'll be driving down to LaCrosse for a funeral. My great-aunt who had recently moved into a nursing home died the day after Christmas. I'm still kind of in shock about it, honestly. I can't say she was a favorite aunt, but I'd taken to writing her since her move into the nursing home. She never wrote back. I didn't expect her to. Frankly, I have no idea if she ever read the letters or if anyone read them to her. I like to think that perhaps someone did read them to her, and even if she didn't remember who I was the sound of someone's voice talking about the mundane things I wrote about made her smile or gave her a small amount of human comfort.

If I'm ever in a nursing home, that's what I'd like. Write to me about your day. If I have any money, I'd hire someone to read to me: books, letters, newspapers, anything. I think that would be all right.

'Twas the Day After X-Mas...

'Twas the day after Christmas and somehow my family is still asleep even though it is AFTER 9:00 am. Of course, I'd still be asleep myself if it wasn't for the fact that I had to get up to move the car for the latest snow emergency. When I was out scraping the car, I lifted one of the windsheild wipers to brush the ice off it, and guess what? It came apart in my hands. Like, the rubber shredded and the various peices snapped in two. No, it is not THAT cold outside. I have no idea why that happened, outside of the fact that the universe is determined to give me car hassles all winter long, it seems.

Speaking of, we've also developed an odd clunking under the car. If they hadn't just replaced struts and such, I'd say that was what it sounded like. Alas, I think that means either something they installed when awry OR something they attached a new part to has finally given way. (The latter seems to happen with old cars... you put something new and shiny on something old and rusty and suddenly the old bit can't cope and falls apart.)

The good news is that we have some vacation still, and I can take the car in with minimal hassle. At least I won't have to worry about getting Mason to school on time. Shawn's work is more flexible. If I had to I could take her in super early and pick her up super late. They don't really let you do that at public school. :-)

Christmas was lovely. As I meantioned earlier, Shawn's big present this year is Internet, but I also got her -- as a HUGE suprise -- an iTouch. Both presents have been a lot of fun for the whole family. Of course, I'm briefly turning into one of those people who Twitter too much (but I assume once the excitement wears off, I'll be back to normal. Don't unfriend me yet. I promise to be better.)

Probably the next best present was one I got from Shawn, which was cookie cutters in the shape of ninjas. I'm planning to use those to make sugar cookies for our kuk sul wan test, as everyone is invited to share in a potluck afterwards. I thought, for good luck, I'd be sure to put yellow stripes on the frosting belts. :-) I supposed I'd better find out the order of colors and stripes so I can make some lucky cookies for other folks too.

Ah, I hear actual movement upstairs. I suspect the family has awoken from their deep slumber.

The other presents/loot I got were a ton of cool cookbooks that Shawn hunted for over the year at various used bookstores, including a fabulous book called HOW TO FRY ALMOST EVERYTHING. Tell me that's not made for me?

Mason, of course, is swimming in LEGOs. Though he did get a cool new DS game called "Super Scribblenauts," which he hasn't tried yet, but seems awesome as you can type in whatever you need, including things like "flying angry pink mouse!" I can't wait to see how it works.

Anyway, I should go hunt up breakfast for my clan.

Guess What, Guess What!!??

Shawn's Christmas present came early. We now have wireless AT HOME. Yes, no more dial-up for me. I have officially entered the 21st century -- though I did read in the paper today that only OLD people (GenX and older) use Facebook and write blogs. I suppose all the kids Twitter or Four Square? I don't even know what the heck that last one is, but at least my alter ego is on Twitter.

This is so cool. I may have to wax poetic about how I am sitting in my own bed upstairs with my toes tucked comfortably under the comforter, a cat taking a bath on the pillows and another one behind my head -- and I am actually talking to you, HERE.

Coolness.

That's kind of the big news. The only other things to report are the fact that I had a little computer scare yesterday when I was out having coffee with Eleanor. My computer briefly decided it couldn't find its own hard drive. It asked me to do a complete diagnostic, which I did, and then it rebooted itself and worked fine. I, of course, had not saved any of my works in progress, and the instant it was better I immediately did so. Yes, yes, I know, I should really back up more often or subscribe to one of those on-line places (which actually makes more sense now that I have wireless at home. Less so with dial-up.) Of course, the really big question is -- will I be able to write now that the shiney of the interwebs is right here on my very own doorstep?

We'll see.

Other big news, Sa bum nim (our head "karate" instructor) says Mason and I are ready to test for our yellow stripe. I know! Already! I've actually been a bit freaked out about it. Am I really really, grasshopper? I don't think so, but, you know, I'm actually perfectly okay with failure. I'm not sure Mason is, though. It will be interesting. I'll keep you informed. Our big test is sometime in early January. I'll be practicing every day until then.

Okay, well... Squirrel!

Happy Yule

I guess we needed more snow, eh? I'll bet we got another four inches.



And I woke up this morning to freezing rain. Sigh-ai-ai. As Shawn said this morning, "Minnesota, Land of 10,000 hassles."

On the flip side, because it's Winter Solstice the days will be growing longer from now on. Whoot!



Mason and I are at the coffee shop for a while this morning. Then, we're going to pick up Shawn and see about getting her to her hair appointment all the way in Edina at 2:00. We're going to leave at least an hour before we're due there. I hope we can make it in time.

I've got a notebook in the car that contains a bunch of scribbled notes for the next Ana book (#3). I got really excited about a scene the other day and had to quit to go get Mason. Alas, I haven't had much time to transcribe it yet. I hope it will still make sense when I sit down with it.

Anyway, I promised to post a picture of my awesome Yule present:



Jesus is knocking. Do you answer? Huh? Do you???

Quick Updatery

Not much to report here, except that Yule with the folks was extremely pleasant. I got the VERY BEST Solstice present EVA, which I will have to post a photo of tomorrow as I forgot to bring the camera to the coffee shop.

It will take some explaining, but it belonged to my great aunt Clara, a devout Catholic, who has recently moved into hospice. At any rate, it is a holographic image of the classic-blue-robed-lily-white-hippie Jesus knocking at the door. If you flex the plaque, his knuckles rap. It is MADE of awesome. I spent a lot of time when I was helping with one day of cleaning out my great-aunt's house marveling at this spectacle of cheese, but reluctantly put it back. My mom rescued it and gave it to me. How cool!

Plus, my folks gave me money for coffee, which I divided evenly between my current hangout and my old place.

Mason, of course, got the usual embarrassment of riches. He has already completed two of the three LEGO sets he got.

Of course, even though we also celebrate Christmas with Shawn's family, I now feel very DONE with the holidays -- because my important one is finished. We'll have a nice little Solstice-Actual celebration tomorrow night. I may have to break the new rule I just instituted about Mason's bedtime, since there will be a lunar eclipse on Yule for the first time in some 450+ years. Seems like powerful magic to me. And, considering that Mason has not yet seen a lunar eclipse, it might be nice for him to stay up/wake up for it. On Solstice-Actual, we give simple, sometimes homemade gifts that are more sentimental than commercial. We also buy things like puzzles or other board/card games for the family. It's a nice tradition. We'll light the Yule Log and keep one of the candles going all night. Sometimes I've tended a "bonfire" in our chimena, from which I'll light a candle, but that often depends on how bitterly cold it is. It's the symbolism that counts more than anything.

Anyway, school vacation has officially started, so I may be very spotty here (or not, depending on how much time Mason wants to spend at the coffee shop.)

Gladiators

I've been staying up late watching movies the last couple of nights. Mason, for some reason, has been having a lot of trouble falling asleep at night. We have a very strict routine involving when we turn off electronics, brush teeth, etc., etc., but, ever since he was an infant, Mason resists sleep -- not consciously, mind you, just because he's a very alert, interested kid. As he told me once, he has trouble turning off his brain. At any rate, he's told us that it really helps to hear the TV going quietly in the other room. This is normally not a problem, as Shawn and I are happy to stay up and catch up on our Netflix or whatever. However, the last couple of nights Shawn has been exhausted due to stress at work and the pain of her sprained ankle. Thus, I've been left on my own.

And without Netflix as an option, I've been left with network TV. We don't have cable, and I have to say there's not a lot on that really holds my attention. So, I went over to the old VHS cabneit to see if there were any movies or TV shows that I wanted to re-watch. On Tuesday night, I pulled out "The Matrix."

I'm so disappointed that the Wachowski brothers made the next two movies because it makes me embarassed to still LOVE the first one as much as I do. I seriously could watch "The Matrix" over and over. I mean, "I know kung fu," has become one of those phrases that have slipped in our family's personal lexicon. What's cool about that film? Neo *is* the one, and he TOTALLY kicks butt in a very satisfying way.

I'm thinking about all this because I've been considering what it is about cheesy, fun action films that appeals to me so much. My side project is basically that sort of thing. In a similar vein, I watched "Gladiator" last night. When I saw "Gladiator" in the theatres, I actually leapt out of my seat when Maximus is in Rome for the first battle in the Collesium. That scene is still rousing and made of awesome. It reminded me, once again, what was wrong with "Spartacus: Blood and Sand." The gladiator *needs* to be innately awesome. Like, whoa, look at you kicking butt all over town awesome.

Sigh.

Anyway, have to go get Shawn. She was at the doctor's following up with her sprained ankle.

My Sore Self

Here's me in all my awesome at kuk sol wan:



Today, I smell of icy heat as the obsitical course on Monday night got the better of me.