So a quick and dirty update: 

Where I’ve Been Recently: (”But Dawn, didn’t you get a professional camera for Christmas this year? Why didn’t you take that with you?”  I have no excuse.  Next time!)

National Hispanic University, San Jose, Ca

NHU

University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

walker-art-gallery-from-the-steble-fountain-of-the-four-seasons

What I’ve finished reading recently:

My Life Among the Serial Killers: Inside the Minds of the World’s Most Notorious Murderers - Helen Morrison and Harold Goldberg (3.5 out of 5; If you like criminal, abnormal, or forensic psychology this is a good read)

Full Dark, No Stars - Stephen King  (4 out of 5; Short stories about the mindset of people in absolutely horrible situations, great read but a little disturbing. Not a light read.)

What I’m Reading Now:

Cleopatra: a Life - Stacy Schiff  (a biography of Cleopatra.  Fascinating thus far.)

Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base  - Annie Jacobsen (If you’re a conspiracy buff, Area 51 enthusiast, or are interested in spy history, this is an interesting read so far!)

Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City - Nelson Johnson

Freedom Summer: The Savage Season That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy - Bruce Watson

The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard - Elmore Lonard (I’m a HUGE fan of Justified, which was created by Elmore Leonard and based on his novella, Fire in the Hole (2000). Can’t wait to jump back in to Pulp fiction and westerns!)

What I’m Watching:

• Falling Skies — Don’t screw this up Steven Spielberg!
• Deadliest Catch — Look, I can admit my fascination with these kinds of reality shows.
• Coal – See above.  This is mind boggling to me.  Much more interesting to watch than American Idol or SYTYCD. 

ComicsTopics that have me so angry that I have to set aside time for an even longer, ranty post:

• The Wonder Woman TV Series and tv costume — luckily this was canceled before it ruined any chance for another series.  Every time I started to write a post about this, I would start seeing spots…
• DC Universe reboot– It’s coming.  I’m not happy about this.  Blackest Night, Brightest Day, and Flashpoint have already done the job of realigning the entire DC universe, but apparently someone thinks it makes sense to completely reboot the major books and titles.  Wonder Woman will have had 4 writers in as many years, and it’s no wonder they are having difficulty keeping fans.  When you reboot every 15 issues and screw up continuity, people tend to get fed up.  More later.

That’s it for now.  The Baltimore ComicCon is coming up in August, and I can’t wait.  Mark Waid is going to be there again this year, and perhaps I can find a better first issue of Kingdom Come for him to sign.  We’re also working on finding a weekend to go crabbing, so I’m sure those exploits will make their way here.  Oh yeah, and we’ll be moving again soon, so that fun should begin in a few months.  See?  Never a dull moment here!  I’m actually scheduling time in my calendar to post, so let’s see how this turns out, yeah?  Now that this “update” post is out of the way, I can get back to posts with some substance. 

Hope all is well!

Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.

That’s how I’m feeling as of late.  Every time I thought of updating the blog over the past few months, I started to panic with the long list of things that I haven’t written about, or topics that I haven’t told you about…. Let’s face it, I’ve been a horrible Blog Date, as of late.  The realities of my schedule are such that a post every day is just not possible, but I can  aim for a post a week.  hey, aim low and shoot hight, right?  Or is it the other way around?  Either way, I think it’s time I get back in the saddle and use this space as the outlet that it used to be for me.  I’m not assigning a specific day of the week for the posts, so you’ll have to stay on your toes! 

Once I scrub the rust off, maybe once a week won’t be enough.  Let’s hope.

Disney heroes

And pretty much everything you ever wanted on the Women of DC over at dcwomenkickingass (also on Twitter @dcwomenkickingass).  And don’t forget to check there for cool projects folks are doing! For example, I just fell in love with these birthday cakes, for example from a blog I found through them, Between the Pages: 

WW Cake

The Carriage (xkcd)

From one of my favorite web-comics, xkcd.  if you still haven’t discovered the genius of this series, you need to apologize and go indulge.  Post haste.

In the mean time, I’ve found some things that have brought some joy to my world over these past few weeks, and I hope they bring as much joy to you.

• Stuff No One Told Me (but I learned anyway):

Stuff no One Told Me (but I learned anyway)

• I Am Your Canadian Boyfriend:

• Cassie Boorn’s 20-Something Self Letters:

This one has no fun image to go along with it, but it sure did capture my attention when I found it through a downward spiral of link-clicking.  Back on May 22, 2010, Cassie put a call out to women to share their wisdom with other young women.  The concept is for you to write a letter to your 20-year-old self.  It can be advice, warning, inspiration, whatever… but one thing I’ve found in reading each of the ones submitted is that they are always interesting and always touching.  I have been thinking of composing my own and sending it over.  Maybe you should too. 

Random note:

I miss writing fiction. A lot. The characters have gone quiet on the stage, and they’re growing weary from the wait.  I must remedy that soon.

Here’s what I remember…

• Scraggly, old, skinny, sunburned monk leading me through
• A shadow-filled Gothic cathedral lit by tea-light 20’s spotlights and candles with mazes of side corridors and staircases lit by torches
• A baptismal font being used as a water fountain and waterfall for  a potted plant that was pampered because it had “consciousness”
• A stage within the cathedral adorned and built as though it were renovated to be used as a performance hall or vaudeville stage
• Balconies full of eager performers all dressed more or less from the 20s and 30s. (This is where it all turned very strangely Noir-ish)
• Two exaggerated caricature hosts/judges of an audition for a musical performance TV show or movie. They were picking audience members at random (Let’s Make A Deal style) to perform complex choreography and musical numbers on the spot, without preparation (causing quite a bit of anxiety).  Failures were met with Hulk sized bodyguards ushering them to the stage where they were beaten and tortured for the audience’s pleasure (and there were plenty of cheers and applause)
• An abusive “agent/boyfriend” of one performer in a Sam Spade hat and trench coat, and a seer sucker suit smoking and spinning a gun
• A performer in a red and black sequined costume with short black bobbed hair who was threatened by the boyfriend to be perfect when she was selected by the hosts to sing a solo
• A surreal moment of realization that the female performer couldn’t sing “the Cell Block Tango” because I hadn’t submitted permissions requests to use it in a dream sequence, and I hadn’t checked my budget for the dream to estimate copyright costs
• A Tarantino-style murder of the Abusive agent/boyfriend by the female performer (who was singing one line from the Chicago tune over and over — “He had it comin’…” (that’s all she could sing before I would have to pay to use the song)
• a Very graphic, bloody, and sound-rich pistol whipping of the boyfriend in the balcony by the female performer.  Blood splattered on the camera lens as it focused in on a shot of his wide brimmed hat splashed with blood
• Applause sign blinking, with three letters partially burned out
• All of this occurred as a musical with running music and every word sung Broadway style.

See what it’s like in my head when I’m asleep?  I usually have pretty lucid dreams, but this was just… bizarre.  I have a lot on my mind, so I’m not surprised that my dreams are becoming more and more …. odd.

I’m woefully behind on updates here, too.  I’ve been incredibly busy, and I have a number of things that I am aiming to post, and hopefully I’ll get to them this week, or this weekend.  If not, I’ll just pick up as usual and go from there. 

Here’s to hoping I can carve out some time!

Dawn’s Comic Book Wednesday Pull List for 4/21/10:

 Update4/26/10: Review & rating in bold below; Pick of the Week is in red.

Batman Streets of Gotham #11

 3.5/5 (pass): I’m not sure where this story is going again, and the inclusion of this new young character, while interesting, seems like a diversion from the previous story lines.

Blackest Night Director’s Cut

4/5 (Pull): I love listening to “director’s commentaries” for films, and this book is exactly that for the run of Blackest night.  An interesting, behind the scenes read for fans.

Brave and the Bold #33

5/5 (Pull): I’m already a huge fan of Wonder Woman and Zatanna, so this book caught me right away.  I won’t ruin the twist, but this book illustrates how comic books can shed new light on old story lines and give new depth to characters and established story arcs. Easily on my list of favorite issues.

Green Lantern #53

4/5 (Pull): If you thought you were getting away from multiple books for Brightest Day, you’re wrong.  Right when you least expect it, Johns previews the location of three seperate but connected characters and books.  Sinestro, Carol, and Hal are entertaining enough, butAtrocitus… and Guy in a cryptic plan? Fabulous.  Definately worth the read.

Sif #1

2/5 (Pass): The only reason I gave this 2/5 was 1. because Marvel made an attempt to spotlight a potentially kick-ass female Asgardian, and 2. because of the art. The story was pointless, the writing was repetitive and in no way made any effort to engage familiar readers on any new level, or new readers at all. I had such high hopes for this book, and I think it could have launched something new and intereseting.  One shots test the waters, and this one seems like it was an afterthought or a last minute project. Too bad.

Marvelous Land of Oz #5

 3.5/5 (Pull if you like adaptation): I have been enjoying the ancillary tales in Oz that focus on the land, inhabitants, and basically focusing on everything except the original cast as core characters.  It’s fun, witty, and unique.

This is another good week in comics as far as I’m concerned.  Sif #1 drops today, and though it’s only a one shot, I’m going to enjoy seeing Sif take on the title role of an issue.  It may be just me, but I’d love to see the Asgardian women developed more fully in their own story arcs.  A girl can hope, right?  This week’s Brave and the Bold # 33 features Batgirl, Wonder Woman, and Zatanna, and I’m thrilled.  It’s no secret that I love Wonder Woman, but Zatanna has fast become a rising fav of mine, and I’m anxious for her solo series to start.  Of course there’s more to do with Blackest Night and Brightest Day, and while Brightest Day #0  was good, I’m not sure where they’re going from here, except that Mera has leapfrogged to my front runners for kick-ass female characters, and Aquaman is back… I see threads of evil and I’m just a little giddy about that. The Marvelous Land of Oz caught my attention a few weeks ago, and I’m still feeling that one out.  I’m trying to decide how I feel about all these classic adaptations and whether they have merit.  The last issue was fun and interesting (and even a little dark, but incredibly witty), so I’m going to see out the rest of the run before I make judgement.

You can watch my Pull List each week over at ifanboy.com, and make your own if you’re so inclined.  Of all the sites dedicated to comics, I have found this one to be the best for creating your lists, keeping track of what you’re collecting, finding new interests, and giving star ratings quickly.  Good times!  So check them out.  I’ll also be posting my lists on Wednesdays, and I’m aiming to give snippet reviews by Fridays.  So be on the look out!

Anything I’m missing?  Let me know!  Convince me to see the light…

Just want to give you comic fans a heads up. I reviewed Kill Shakespeare #1 for Dynamic Forces yesterday.  Go check it out, and please, if you’ve read the comic, let me know what you think.  Now go… tell your friends… and I’m eager to hear whether you think my views are academically elitist, justified, or somewhere in between… Don’t you just love the internet? 

I was introduced to Anna Vissi about 10 years ago, learned greek by translating her lyrics, went to see her perform (god, I hope I have the kind of stamina and youthful looks that woman did!) and I was blown away.  She’s easily one of the artists on my list of Favorites.  She’s up there with Frank Sinatra for me.  That’s saying a lot. 

Erotevmenaki