Comfortably numb

i'd meant to link to Scott McCloud's website a couple days ago but for some reason just hadn't gotten around to it.

i remember first hearing of Scott McCloud a few years ago not long from when Neil first started his online journal while writing American Gods. at the time, i remember Mr Gaiman talking about his 24 hour comic. i'll have to google that off his site sometime. i can't remember if he successfully completed it or not.

the rules for the 24 hour comic, invented by Mr McCloud, can be found here.

but the main reason i wanted to put-up a link to his site are because of his webcomics.

like a lot of his readers, i particularly like this one, which, while not being as flashy as webcomics promise to be capable of being, makes perfect use of the loopiness available to the webcomic artist/writer.

it's also wonderfully dark in a brilliantly subtle way.

check all the others out as well. they're all pretty cool.

*

today, as my blood sugar started to drop having not yet had dinner, i found myself wandering around the mall. as a creature of habit, i went through all the bookstores, a couple record bars, ending with booksale, which, given time and patience, is a lovely place to find odd (and old) books. (the website fails to do the real thing justice as not all the books are listed on-line. and going on-line, you miss out on the fun of real-life bookhunting.)

being in that dull mood that often creeps over me during my Lone Walking Tours of Wherever, i decided to forgo actual bookhunting and allow serendipity to guide my hand.

sure enough, within a couple minutes of entering the shop, she guided me right to the Eighth Book of Amber. it was Roger Zelazny's name that first drew my attention to it. to be honest, i wasn't really all that interested in getting a copy of an Amber book. i've had the collected edition of all ten Amber books for sometime now, but it has lingered somewhere around the lower half of my Must Be Read Eventually pile.

nonetheless, i acknowledge Mr. Zelazny as one of the masters of the field, so i picked it up. i flipped the book open and came immediately upon the title page.

written in ballpoint ink, in a loopy hand, was Mr. Zelazny's name

i have no idea if this is really Mr. Zelazny's signature, or if it's someone else's, someone who just so happens to have a similar name (it looks to me suspiciously like Boyer Zelazny), or perhaps a forgery by someone wishing to up the value of his library, or just someone wishing to see Mr. Zelazny's name in his or her own handwriting.

whatever the case, and whoever's signature it may be, i can now say i was fortunate enough to find a signed copy of a first paperback print of one of Mr. Zelazny's books.

in the store, a rather largish woman was reading The Cat in the Hat out loud to herself, doing it rather well, with all the right inflections, even though she didn't do the voices. she was standing with her back to one of the paperback book shelves, so i quietly "browsed" behind her, listening to her read for a bit. it was difficult to hear her from all the noise filtering in from the rest of the mall, but it made me smile nonetheless.

i left the store with the signed copy of a first paperback print of one of Mr. Zelazny's books and a 1983 Ballantine edition of John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar.

it was all quite surreal.

then it was off to the grocery store for next week's rations.

*

the crone was singing again. it seems she's always singing the same song after all, regardless of who passes her by.

i don't mind. there was still a faint, nicely surreal air to the world as i dropped some coins into her open palm and drifted on home.

black.magic.woman

http://www.medobserver.com/AFP/health/060425163710.sochdpyd.html

*

even though i've got a job, and it's just about all i can handle on top of my writing at the moment, i still keep tabs on jobstreet.

today i received this this job match, for which, though i was by no means qualified, i just had to smile.

good to know there are career opportunities for those fellows out there.

*

the biggest smile so far today landed on my face when i saw this picture:



good to know Mabel's keeping busy.

my favorite one so far has to be this one, though:



gotta love that cheshire grin.


oh, yeah, sure, the cat's, too.

style

http://www.emcit.com/emcit128.php#Strange

A few links for Geekdom

over on Neil's blog, you'll find this link on the Stardust movie. i keep meaning to get a copy of Layer Cake to build my faith in the project, though i expect it will feel nothing like that at all.

it's being filmed as a hollywood flick, and that worries me, despite all of Neil's own faith in Mr Vaughn's work so far. Stardust never fit as a movie in my head to begin with; it's just too lovely as a book.

meanwhile, over at ain't it cool news, there's this little tidbit for the trekkies.

and finally, Jeff VanderMeer has posted these lists for our enlightenment. i'd post a similar list, but if Mr VanderMeer finds his list embarrassing, i cringe at posting my pitiful list of reads.

at least i'd have Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy and M. John Harrison's Viriconium sequence on it as well, and i've at least read Hope Mirrlees' Lud-in-the-Mist.

oh, yes. i've certainly shown Mr VanderMeer this time, haven't i?

Banzai!

the masterminds behind banzai have a pretty cool job. or would have, if the show was still running.

brilliantly subversive and creative, despite being utterly and terminally inane, television entertainment at its purest.

Spa hair and ladderthoughts

it doesn't look as if i'll be visiting either Finland or Veil tonight, so i might as well post.

sometimes, you have to love this job.

today's coverage was a media camp thing on multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that targets the central nervous system, causing demyelinization of neuronal axons (sort of like what Lorenzo Odone got in Lorenzo's Oil, only not), that, like many other diseases, isn't getting enough attention in this part of the world.

i never paid much attention to these things when i was going through medical school, but, apparently, some knowledge did manage to filter through the white noise of my previous life, and it paid off. for the first time in my career as a journalist, i thoroughly understood the material, and even managed to ask some pretty nifty questions i'd thought up on the spot, leaving only 1 or 2 l'esprit d'escaliers (pardon my french, i don't really know any).

i always have trouble with questions. they always come when it's too late to ask them. which is why despite all the conventions i've covered, i've rarely conducted interviews.

we (i.e., mediafolk) were all treated to spa things after the business was concluded. i've never been the spa-going type of person, and even after having that experience, i still probably wouldn't spend a day at one of those places, and certainly wouldn't pay for it. my idea of R&R is coffee and a good book with Mabel or, if she isn't around, Audrey (my laptop). though there were times when i found myself cringing at the things that were being done to me, i honestly can't put the experience down.

i liked the bit where they tried to scalp us with their fingers (leaving those of us with enough hair for it to look like we'd just gotten out of bed, which, in a manner of speaking, we had), and when they tried (unsuccessfuly) to pull our heads off.

on top of which, i met some people who, while i will probably never get to know the "real" them that other people might know in their "real" lives, are all capital fellows and, er, fellowesses as i know them now, and were a real blast to be with.

you ought to know who y'all are. cheers.

of course, tomorrow it's back to the grind, and from what our editorial assistant tells me, it'll be at least twice as grindy as usual.

*

one of the people i met i actually re-met. Denise Haak was a batchmate from elementary school; her name was (well, is) rather unique around these parts, and people tend to remember her even if only for that name. i was one such person, as i remember no real interaction with her at that age, and she disappeared from the school not long after that.

before today, i found i couldn't remember what she looked like, but it all came back when i saw her. i didn't think i'd recognize her, but i did.

she didn't recognize me, though. not until i clued her in. then she seemed to remember me better than i'd remembered her.

soon enough after that, we were talking like we never did back in grade school.

she told me that back in grade school i'd looked older than my age; now i look younger. it seemed to her as though my face from that age had been transplanted onto me now, which, i realized, accounts for everything.

it occurred to me how i never felt like i was living my own life. this face is a mask.

the obvious conclusion, then, is that, if i'm finally living the life of the real me, i will soon enough be unmasked, and will finally start to age at a normal rate.

i believe i'd stated before that writing is my mask. if the above speculation does, in fact, take place, then i've had it the other way around:

writing is my face.

thanks for the insight, Denise.

Changing planes

still getting the feel for sbd and zen in darkness. i've yet to figure out which way the blogs will go when they finally part ways. i'm sure i'll figure it out eventually.

soon, i hope.

*

i know i'd meant to keep this blog going as often as possible for Mabel, but i think i need to switch gears for a few nights. i haven't been to Veil in a while, and my last trip to Finland was a bit of a flop.

i need to get my rhythm back.

in the meantime, check out some other blogs from folks who are more than just hacks like me; they're hacks who can actually write.

www.neilgaiman.com

http://vanderworld.blogspot.com/

http://cyberlaundry.blogspot.com/

http://www.mjohnharrison.com/

and any of the other places i may have mentioned on skinnyblogcladdink, or linked to here.

The Crooning Crone

the old woman sat on the sidewalk, in a pool of orange light amidst a spackling of shadows. as i approached she looked briefly up. did she see then the heavy trod of my feet as i watched them take me one step at a time, away from the World of Others to the loneliness of my home?

she began to sing, letting her voice ring clear in the quiet street; her voice was steady and unwavering, and unembarrassed by the haphazard arrangement of the improvised melody:

Wag kang malungkot, anak, wag kang malungkot...

that brought a smile to my soul, one that briefly brushed my lips. i thought that was worth a coin or two from my pocket.

as i walked past her, she sang her gratitude as well.

*

my grandmother will not eat, and she will not listen.

she scratches at her skin, as though tormented by it. her skin turns red with the frequent passage of her nails, and begs for medicine that will not take the itch away.

she lies on her side and refuses to rise, curses her children for the concern she does not see they are feeling, and only briefly finds respite in sleep.

she was asleep when we left the hospital. my mother wept in the elevator on our way out.

i still do not know how i feel about it all. not exactly. she is my last living grandparent. i've only recently started to get to know her, and already her sickness has taken her mind away from me.

when i think of her, i prefer to remember her as Mabel met her, and miss her smiles and laughter at everything.

but the image of her lying there in that hospital bed looms not far behind.

bender and mayhem

for the time being, i will be posting duplicate entries in both sbd 1 and 2.

a couple of my friends are members of unsigned bands that have been playing gigs fairly regularly these past few months.

i've never heard either of their bands play, though they do update me on their gigs. i'm hoping this post will remedy my apparent lack of support, to some extent.

you can find spoonbender at www.spoonbender.tk. the site hasn't been updated in a while, and doesn't include much info on the band, although the site plays a flash sample of their music.

their current rhythm guitarist, Johnny Duay, who's relatively new to the band and not yet credited on the site, describes their music as "alternative rock", while he says others have described it as "cute rock." the band is fronted by a female vocalist who cites Moonpools and Caterpillars, Sarah Maclachlan, and Imago as influences.

i think i hear a bit of Stereophonics on their brief looped sample.

they will be playing on April 23 at someplace called Kolumn Bar, and again at the same venue on the 26th.

Dr. Hermi Saludes of Project Mayhem describes their sound as "Fusion.. Like, Razorback with U2 and RHCP undertones with a black Francis M on vocals." the band consists completely of MDs. you can find them on the web at project_mayhem_md@yahoo.com.ph.

their next gig is on April 22 at Conspiracy Bar, which seems to be a frequent haunt for them.

*

spent the day working on four tribute powerpoint slideshows, on "commission" from my "previous employers". i honestly don't know how i could possibly charge for my services. the work has certainly taken up quite a bit of my time, but, to be honest, i wasn't able to come-up with anything more impressive than what anyone else with a working knowledge of microsoft powerpoint could have within the same timeframe.

it's an interesting job though. you get a glimpse of other people's lives, filtered through a lot of random photographs with barely a clue for context other than what's in the images, and with the occasional appearance of a familiar face.

true, i could have done some research to make the presentations arguably more coherent in a chronological/event-oriented sort of way, but i found it more interesting to let the images themselves speak for themselves. and anyway, these images will mean no more nor less (to those who, like me, never really had the opportunity to really get to know these people) than the personality each image has on its own.

whether or not i've done justice to the people to whom the tributes are dedicated, i may never know, but i hope i was able to capture a slice of the lives and the personalities these slideshows were meant to be homages to.

if not, oh well.

*

well, there you go. it can be done, after all, just as i promised. an entire post with not a word about me missing Mabel.

[starts to pat self on back, but stops, not really feeling like it]

sigh.

Don't Panic

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