Group Tension--The League Within A League

Had the big Memorial Day barbeque with a few friends. I've never done something like that before. It was quite the experience. Had a few problems with the grill and starting the charcoal burning, but a round of collecting advice, including a helpful call to Mom, made everything get to cooking right.

Unfortunately, everything didn't go quite so smoothly after that. With seven people, it's hard to find something for everyone to do, expecially when no one present is really a drinker. After a few hours of trying to figure out what to do, the group started to disperse.

Oddly enough, when there were only a few of us left, we kicked back and had some interesting philosophical, literary, and insane discussions. Oscar, Jonathan, and myself have never been so grateful to discuss Wonder Woman.

Things are definately on an upswing--tomorrow I start teaching for Upward Bound.

Let the roller coaster begin.

Novel frustrations

I've been trying to keep with the good writer's habit of reading as much as I can. OK, that's just the convienient reason of the week, but the point is I'm reading. Anyway, I've been reading a book called The Wayfarer Redemption. I've gotten about 235 pages in and it's been interesting. Unfortunately, it doesn't take much for me to get distracted from this book--and when I get distracted, I stay distracted for a little while. I've probably spent just as much time holding the book open without paying attention to it as I have spent reading the story.

So I started reading Vampire Hunter D. For those of you who know the name, it's a lot like the old anime movie. I thought D would be the only character I've heard of, but I was surprised. About 50 pages in and it's a lot like that first movie, even down to character names and personalities. Plus, I've read how things have gone from 1983, A.D. Cold War to 12,090, A.D. sci-fi mutants and vampires. Very good stuff so far.

The question remains, what am I going to do about The Wayfarer Redemption? I suppose it'll join my small collection of books I've read part of and might get back to. Sadly, there's only one book in that collection that I get tempted to return to, and that's The Bourne Identity, which reads much better it you break up the installments (that's how it was originally written).

Now, I've got a question for anyone brave enough to answer it. Some of you might have heard me ask this before. This is my standard question to note what other people are interested in.

What have you been reading?

I ask this a lot. I ask because I want to know what's out there. I want to know what you are interested in. Why? Because I don't want to step on too many toes when I write. Although... it might be good to step on one or two.... You all know I'm kidding, right?

That's it for now, time to type.

The B-2 Bomber isn't the only "dragon lady."

Spy pilots once called the B-2 Bomber "dragon lady" because when she's mean she acts like a dragon, but when she's nice, she dances like a sophisticated lady. I'd like to apply this to the comics I get.

This week, I had 9 comics, one Berserk manga book, and the first Vampire Hunter D novel. I'm not a big list guy, and I'm definately not a merchandise guy. There's so much good stuff, but there is quite a lot of it.

After two days, I've finally got my comics read (well, all except the Vampire Hunter D--novels take time). Damn, there was some good stuff this week. My faves were Berserk, Green Lantern, and Adventures of Superman.

Good week for comics. Go read some.

The bandwagon almost got away...

So, here I am, trying out this whole web log thing.

I've got a reason for this--more than one, actually.

1. I need something to help me fight off stress. When stress comes, it brings a rather large army. Think "Lord of the Rings" level of epic battles.

2. Motivation. The more I talk about my writing, the more I want to do it. The more I want to write, the more I get it done. Et cetera, et cetera.

With that said, let the carnage begin! Cue evil laughter!