It’s been a while.  I don’t have much of an excuse beyond my focus on work in the past 6-10 months.  What I have realized, though, is that without creative outlets my stress levels skyrocket, and that sidelines any personal interests.  It’s a vicious cycle, and I’m glad I’ve found the perspective to change it.  It’s a process, y’all, so bear with me while I claw my way out of the cubicle jungle to seek a better balance.  Thanks to those of you who kick, poke, prod, call, IM, chat, and email me about my posting and need to come back to the land of the living, both through this site and in person.  Sometimes nagging is necessary.  Thank you.

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!

Tags: Updates