Melissa Wiley's Blog, page 160

SDCC Pix: Steampunk Wheelchair

Coolest thing I saw at the con. These pictures don't come close to doing it justice. I chatted briefly with the owner—she did all the work herself. Wish I'd gotten her name. Amazing craftsmanship.

SDCC Pix: The First Batch

Squeeee!

Is pretty much my state of mind this week. Don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I—LOVE—COMIC-CON. Even if it totally betrays my hopeless fangirl geekitude to the world. (Because, you know, that was such a well-kept secret.)

My poor husband. This is a long, weary, hard-working week for him. He swears it's just a coincidence that the song he had playing on iTunes in the kitchen this morning was "It's the End of the World as We Know It."

Me: Time you had some time alone, eh? Already?

Him:

If You Plant It, They Will Come

I don't think I've written about the Monarchs since they returned to us. Only a month ago, I was fretting over their absence—we had a profusion of milkweed in bloom but not a single butterfly at that point, compared to dozens the year before. A day or two after that post, voila. We've had a steady stream of 'pillars and butterflies ever since.

My friend Laurie took up Monarch gardening this year, too. She has been taking amazing photos of every stage of development. Her milkweed attracted so m...

SDCC Panels I Might Attend (Fri, Sat, Sun)

After all those Thursday temptations, it's a bit of a relief to see that I have only a few panels on my Friday list. The Super panel with Nathan Fillion, Ellen Page, and Rainn Wilson promises to be fun—but long of line, so I'll probably pass. There's a Caprica panel, one on autobiography in graphic novels, and one on the 60th anniversary of Peanuts which Charles Shulz's widow as special guest.

Here's the Friday schedule; if anything jumps out at you, let me know. The Joss Whedon panel leaps...

SDCC Panels I Might Attend (Thursday)

—10:00-11:00 The Spark of Imagination—

Peek inside the minds of leading authors and filmmakers to explore how imagination informs the creative process. New York Times bestselling children's author Tony DiTerlizzi (The Spiderwick Chronicles) details the precedent-setting augmented reality used in his new Simon & Schuster novel The Search for Wondla; LAIKA president/CEO Travis Knight (lead animator, Coraline) explains his studio's commitment to bold subject matter; artist/writer Mike...

Tidbits

• For those of you who wrote about wondering whether to go with the Nook or the Kindle, here's a good article comparing the two: Which E-Reader Is Best?

• Amazon is offering a year of free Amazon Prime membership to college students. That means free two-day shipping on most items. The student must have a .edu email address to be eligible.

• I enjoyed this article (and so many others) by Tom Hodgkinson at The Idler: "Discover How to Intersperse Loafing with Latin." His reasons and approach are m...

Please, No, Anything But That

Lest you think my recommendations are always on the mark: the following note from my husband, who stayed up late finishing a book I had thrust upon him, was waiting in my inbox this morning.

I may very well have hated [redacted:] worse than I've ever hated any work of art in my life.

I'm putting John Mayer videos on unstoppable loops on your computer and the TV.

Oh, he is a diabolical master of revenge. If you never hear from me again, you'll know why.

Gearing Up for SDCC

San Diego Comic-Con is next week. Thought I'd warm up with a roundup of previous SDCC posts.

SDCC 2009:

Thursday. Photos, "female power icon" panel, cute father-son moment.

Friday. Photos, Mouse Guard panel.

Saturday. Notes on a variety of topics, including Scott's karaoke performance.

Sunday. More photos.

Graphic novels for kids panel #1. Gene Yang, Derek Kirk Kim, the fabulous Jenni Holm, Eric Wright, Lewis Trondheim, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Chris Schweizer.

Graphic novels for kids panel #2. I had t...

The Amazon Kindle: Initial Impressions

To cut to the chase: a Kindle has come into my possession, and I'm surprised to find I adore it. That's right, Mac-fangirl, iPad-coveting me.

After a mere four days of Kindle use, I find myself eyeing the stacks of books in the TBR pile and wishing I had their digital versions instead.

This feels passing strange, considering how much I love the tactile aspects of a book-book. The intriguing or unsuitable cover, the shush of pages rustling, the crisp words springing up from the page. Font...