X-Geeking

Sorry folks. I am going to be talking about comic books here.

It is well known that I am a geek. Part of being a geek is also loving charts, databases and keeping track of things. The past few days I have been reworking an old Access database that keeps track of all my comics. I was curious to see how many comics I have sold and that led to forming another database and going through mycomicshop.com (where I do a lot of reselling) to see find all the comics that I have owned at one point. Hours and hours later I think I have a final number. Now this is not exact but it is pretty close and I as a geek, am satisfied.

The grand number? I have sold 3,070 comics.

Now that only begs the question. How many comics do I have? I am not sure how many I have (that is another geek project coming soon) but I know that it is 3,070 comics less than it used to be. My goal is to have a collection that is all exceptional. No crap, no stuff that I won't read in decades. Basically, no filler. Just all good stuff.

Speaking of comics. I just found out that Marvel is cancelling its longest running comic, the Uncanny X-Men. The last issue will be #544 but it will come back with a new #1. This is definitely a marketing ploy and I am not happy purely from a geek standpoint. My first issue of Uncanny X-men was #200 and I have bought each issue since. I have a copy (in comic book, hardcover, trade paperback) from issue #94. And now that grand run is finished. I think I must be getting old and grumpy.

And speaking of the X-Men. Kristy and I went and saw X-Men: First Class opening day. I was going to go at midnight but I just didn't think I could do it. So we went to the 2nd showing that Friday. I don't want to spoil the movie for those that have not seen it but I will say that it was awesome! I loved everything about it and it gives X2 (my all-time favorite comic book movie) a run for its money. This geek left the movie house completely satisfied. It was pure joy to see my favorite X-Man, Banshee, screaming and flying around.

Now I am geeked out and need a rest.

X-Geeks Unite!

I am so looking forward to a few comic book summer movies. I certainly cannot complain being a comic book geek since I have Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern and my most anticipated comic book movie, X-Men: First Class.



There are a few reasons why I am very excited for this X-Men movie. Now my favorite comic book movie is the 2nd X-Men movie in the franchise, X2. I liked the first one and the third one isn't so bad and Wolverine: Origins was absolutely horrible. So I am not sure what X-Men: First Class will be like, hopefully it will be better than Wolverine.

I do have faith in the director. He also directed another fantastic comic book adaptation in Kick Ass and making it his own. So I do think he can do the X-Men justice. I also love that is set in the past, back in the 60's around the Cuban Missile Crisis. Having the awesome Kevin Bacon in the film doesn't hurt either. But of course, I am stoked to have my all-time favorite X-Men, Banshee, in the film.

This summer cannot come fast enough!  I'll have to do a List-Mania sometime and list my favorite comic book movies.

Random Ramblings: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day from both my favorite X-Man and I!

Yeah, I like Banshee.

So who is this strange and colorful clad superhero? His name is Banshee and stars as one of the first class of X-Men in the upcoming summer movie X-Men: First Class.

Yup. I am a geek.

But I love every single centon!*

So I went on my first run of the year today. The weather was nice and mild and the sun was out so I wanted to get out and take advantage. My run was both expected and unexpected. I was more tired than I thought I would be but that was to be expected. What I didn't expect is that I was not huffing and puffing and tasting blood during the run. I did as much as I normally did last summer so I think with some training I should be all set to run the 5K at the end of the summer. Hopefully I didn't just curse myself.

I think playing racquetball a couple of times a week the last three weeks has really helped with my conditioning. I do look forward to playing racquetball, much more than I do going out and running. I am not all that competitive when I play. Don't get me wrong, I want to win but I want to have a good time above all. So I will laugh at myself and my partner when they (I) do really stupid things.

I remember when I played a couple of years ago I got hit in the back with the ball. Jonny was returning my serve and I was in front of him with my back turned and KAPOW!  It hit me so hard that my gum flew out of my mouth! Not only did it make my gum fly out of my mouth, it also sent my head springing forward violently too. In fact, I was able to catch my gum in midair. We couldn't play after that we were laughing so hard. It reminded me of when Michael Bluth kept losing his gum in Arrested Development.

Speaking of things that make me laugh. I love these guys...

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

*told you I was a geek. Anyone know what a centon is?

Comic Book Day

So I might have already broken a New Year's Resolution.

I might not blog 5 days this week and I blame this entirely on my comic book obsession hobby.

I order all my comics online (and I save about 35-43%) and to save even more money, I have them all shipped to me in one easy end-of-month package. And today was the happiest day of the month, it is Comic Book Day. And I almost didn't want to blog forgot.

But I have a good excuse. My all-time favorite X-Man has returned from the dead. I think I will tweak my New Year's Resolutions and say Comic Book Day is also an official Blogging Holiday.

The Big Picture

Day 225

Creating that large image was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. Using PhotoShop to cut each picture out was a different story. But I am happy with what I got. Some of the images you cannot see all that well so here is the full picture along with a legend.

1. Lime Crush - One of my all-time favorite sodas that they don't make anymore. Sadly the new Mountain Dew Lime is nowhere like this flavor. I would drive back to Canada tomorrow if I knew I could get some.

2. Brett Favre - I have always like the Packers (even though the Jets are my team) but I really liked Favre. I own 3 different Favre jerseys and no matter the flipflops of retirement, he will go down as one of my all-time favorite players. His boyish love of the game is just one of the reasons why I admire Brett. In fact, Logan was almost named Brett (after Favre) and Kristy and I are thinking of travelling and visiting the Football Hall of Fame when Favre gets inducted. If he retires...

3. Edmonton Oilers - Before there was football there was hockey. And Hockey Night in Canada was a staple growing up in Canada. And I was very lucky to be there in Edmonton during the dynasty days. Hockey is the only sport that I can sit down and watch any team play each other and know I will be entertained.

4. Wolverine and the X-Men - I love comic books but I don't have a love of comic book movies, that is until the first X-Men was released and raised the bar. I never thought any actor would be able to portray one of my favorite comic characters but Hugh Jackman nailed the role and it only took a few minutes to convince me. Now when a comic book movie comes out I am not as nervous as I used to be. Most of them have been good with X2 being the best.

5. Ric Flair - WHOOOO! I admit that I love wrestling and I was lucky enough (if you consider that to be lucky) to watch wrestling when it was awesome. Ric Flair is my all-time favorite wrestler, again like with Brett Favre, the Nature Boy just loves to play the game. And no one plays an evil (heel) wrestler like Ric Flair. Nothing gets you more excited when a hated villain finally gets what is coming to him!

6. Nexus - I don't think I have mentioned Nexus here on the blog yet but that is one of my all-time favorite comics. It came out in the 80's and was way before its time. It combined science fiction along with a heavy dose of politics with just a hint of superheroes. The main character Nexus (picture here) is gifted with god-like powers to act as judge, jury and executioner. He dreams of evil people (mass murderers) and is haunted by these dreams until he tracks them down and kills them. If he doesn't eventually the dreams will kill him. Awesome comic series.

7. Cadbury Creme Egg - I wish I had one right now. I love these tasty Easter chocolates. My all-time favorite candy.

8. U2's Zooropa - I love U2 and I am one of the few fans that think Zooropa is their best album. And this is one album that I cannot just listen to one or two songs, I have to listen to the whole album all at once. Johnny Cash's voice on "The Wanderer" is the perfect and fitting end to such a wonderful album. For some strange reason I really like the album cover too. I wish I had a T-shirt of this album cover.

9. Mountain Dew LiveWire - I don't get to drink this very often since it is not available where I live but it gives me a grand excuse to go down to Salt Lake. My old boss used to complain that it was just orange soda mixed with Mountain Dew and I would laugh (in my mind) at him. That is EXACTLY what it is. I don't know why I love it but I do.

10. The Laughing Cat - You are either a dog person or a cat person. While I don't mind dogs, I do prefer cats. Kristy found this picture of a laughing cat in a magazine and I had to keep it. Whenever I feel down I can always look at this pic and smile. So sorry dog people, I like cats better.

11. Alan Davis and Captain Britain - Captain Britain (pictured here) is one my favorite heroes. So why not Captain America? I like Captain Britain because he is a flawed hero. He doesn't want to be a hero and makes mistakes but ultimately becomes a hero. My favorite comic book artist is Alan Davis (who drew this) and I first saw his artwork drawing this character as well. He drew the good Captain aloof and brooding but powerful. And I just had to learn more about him. I have followed Captain Britain and Alan Davis wherever they go. I also run an Alan Davis message board and I have been extremely lucky that I am in contact with my favorite artist. A comic geek's dream come true.

12. Bottlecaps - My tongue has cankers. Yes, I went out and bought another box and ate them while watching the World Cup. It shouldn't come as a surprise that I love this candy. I love soda and candy. And those orange ones taste like children's aspirin, which I love.

13. Queen - I love this picture (taken from the album The Miracle) and it totally represents what Queen means to me. They are so diverse and creative. Listening to them relaxes me and makes me want to be like them and create. I never tire of them. This may surprise you though, Crazy Little Thing Called Love is one of their songs I like the least. Not sure why, it might be because I have heard it too many times.

14. Banshee - My favorite comic book character. Why? Beats the crap out of me. I think it is because he is not popular and is not seen very much. Something about his gliders on his costume and his powers that make me think he is cool. When I participated in the ScriptFrenzy, I wrote a comic book script that had Banshee in it. One of these days...

15. Princess Leia and Star Wars - My first celebrity crush as a kid. And it wasn't until Empire Strikes Back that I really began to think that she was hot. And then Return of the Jedi came out (I was 9 at the time) and I really began to crush on her. I didn't know it at the time but I am sure her little slave outfit had something to do with it.

16. Mr. Burns and the Simpsons - I quote the Simpsons all the time. Seriously, I do it all the time and I think I do it unconsciously, without even thinking about it. Mr. Burns is my favorite character. I can watch this show anytime and every Halloween, Kristy and I will whip out all the Halloween episodes and watch them. We love the Simpsons around here.

17. NaNoWrMo - I love to write and this novel contest is awesome. If any of you are aspiring writers or want to see what you are capable of, I highly HIGHLY recommend doing this. It is very rewarding and I am looking forward to doing it again this November.

18. Bob and Doug McKenzie - SCTV was a fixture growing up. People still believe that all Canadians are like this and that is not true. Only a few of them are exactly like this. Watching Strange Brew quickly brings about my Canadian accent. I can use the Great White North call and my family would immediately call back and come running.

19. New York Jets and the NFL - I get asked this all the time, why the Jets? My mom and I share a love for the NFL and I followed the Packers and 49ers but it was not until my LDS mission where I started to follow the Jets. I was in Queens and we used to go over to Mike's, a member's house every Sunday after Church. Mike’s dad did not like us at all. He did not want to be disturbed while watching football and this Sunday wasthe Giants/Jets game. Sometimes I would peek in and see the scores but I never stayed and never made any noise. But for some reason Mike’s dad wanted to know where that one missionary was. And he for some reason was talking about me. I walked in and his dad yells out “Are you going to stand there or are you going sit here and watch the game with me?” We were all flabbergasted! I sat down next to him and I was nervous. He looked over and said, “Who are you for? The Giants or the Jets?” I did not know what to say so I looked over at the television and I saw that Ronnie Lott was on the Jets team. (I guess he was traded while I was on my mission.) I replied “I like the Jets!” I picked the right team because he muttered “Damn Giants. I hate them!” He looked over at me and I blurted out "I hate the damn Giants!" He smiled and asked Mike to bring me my dinner plate so I could watch the game with him. I did what no missionary ever did. I ate quietly (I was a little scared) and after the game was over Mike’s dad wanted to take a nap but before he went upstairs he told me he expected me next Sunday to watch the Jets play. I have rarely missed a game since.

20. Annyong and Arrested Development - The best show ever. Seriously, go google and find the episode Pier Pressure and tell me you didn't laugh. If you watched it and didn't laugh you have no soul. How can a TV show be so wrong be so right?

21. The Little Mermaid - I already confessed that I love the movie The Little Mermaid. As I left my LDS mission in New York, this cute little girl Tina, gave me her favorite puzzle of the Little Mermaid. She was so sad that I was leaving and she wanted me to have it. We used to put it together when I would visit her family.

22. Chris Hansen and Dateline - I love Dateline and Chris Hansen is awesome. One of my guilty pleasures was watching him when he did those To Catch a Predator news stories. He asked the perfect questions and said the funniest things. If I was a journalist, I would want to be Chris Hansen.

23. The Platypus Clan - My awesome family. Without them I wouldn't be what I am today. My life would be so boring without them. They are the center of my life.

What You Would You Do?

Day 214

My friend Rory has been reading some Chuck Klosterman recently and he posted on our board Chuck's 23 hypothetical questions from one of his books. There is an excellent article about the author here. We all posted our answers and I was surprised at how they all varied. I posted a couple myself and thought that they would make an excellent blog topic. Fellow bloggers are welcome to do this as well. I am only going to answer the first 11 and get around to the rest sometime this week or the next.

So let's start with Question #1!

1. Let us assume you met a rudimentary magician. Let us assume he can do five simple tricks--he can pull a rabbit out of his hat, he can make a coin disappear, he can turn the ace of spades into the Joker card, and two others in a similar vein. These are his only tricks and he can't learn any more; he can only do these five. HOWEVER, it turns out he's doing these five tricks with real magic. It's not an illusion; he can actually conjure the bunny out of the ether and he can move the coin through space. He's legitimately magical, but extremely limited in scope and influence.

Would this person be more impressive than Albert Einstein?

Even though this magician is pretty impressive, I would say that Albert Einstein was more impressive. The magician's accomplishments pales in comparison to Einstein's. And besides, I can learn from Einstein, I can try (and the word is try) to understand everything he understood. Knowing the magician (unless he is GOB from Arrested Development) he would never share his secrets with me so really all the magician can do is just show me his tricks. Which would get old.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it you lousy street magician!

2. Let us assume a fully grown, completely healthy Clydesdale horse has his hooves shackled to the ground while his head is held in place with thick rope. He is conscious and standing upright, but completely immobile. And let us assume that--for some reason--every political prisoner on earth (as cited by Amnesty International) will be released from captivity if you can kick this horse to death in less than twenty minutes. You are allowed to wear steel-toed boots.

Would you attempt to do this?

Have you ever seen a Clydesdale horse up close? They are freaking humongous! I don't think I would be able to kill it in twenty minutes. Especially if he was standing, my head would barely reach his leg. I guess I could try to break its legs since people usually put down a horse when it breaks its legs. I guess political prisoners would win out and be set free. I think I would rather have them free instead of child predators.

3. Let us assume there are two boxes on a table. In one box, there is a relatively normal turtle; in the other, Adolf Hitler's skull. You have to select one of these items for your home. If you select the turtle, you can't give it away and you have to keep it alive for two years; if either of these parameters are not met, you will be fined $999 by the state. If you select Hitler's skull, you are required to display it in a semi-prominent location in your living room for the same amount of time, although you will be paid a stipend of $120 per month for doing so. Display of the skull must be apolitical.

Which option do you select?

Money talks. I hate to admit it but in this case, I would take the moola and house Hitler's skull. Aside from being an interesting conversation piece, I could charge people to look at if I wanted too. And I also trust that people that I invite into my home would realize that I am not affiliated or empathizes with the Nazis.

4. Genetic engineers at Johns Hopkins University announce that they have developed a so-called "super gorilla." Though the animal cannot speak, it has a sign language lexicon of over twelve thousand words, an I.Q. of almost 85, and--most notably--a vague sense of self-awareness. Oddly, the creature (who weighs seven hundred pounds) becomes fascinated by football. The gorilla aspires to play the game at its highest level and quickly develops the rudimentary skills of a defensive end. ESPN analyst Tom Jackson speculates that this gorilla would be "borderline unblockable" and would likely average six sacks a game (although Jackson concedes the beast might be susceptible to counters and misdirection plays). Meanwhile, the gorilla has made it clear he would never intentionally injure any opponent.

You are commissioner of the NFL: Would you allow this gorilla to sign with the Oakland Raiders?

I don't think I would allow the gorilla to play. He is more important to science than he is to the NFL. On the other hand, if the gorilla would like to replace Al Davis as owner of the Oakland Raiders, I would have no problem with that. The Raiders might be better off. But then it might set a precedent, do we allow ANY animal in if it gets intelligent?

"As long as the gorilla can injure someone, I'm good!"

5. You meet your soul mate. However, there is a catch: Every three years, someone will break both of your soul mate's collarbones with a Crescent wrench, and there is only one way you can stop this from happening: You must swallow a pill that will make every song you hear--for the rest of your life--sound as if it's being performed by the band Alice in Chains. When you hear Creedence Clearwater Revival on the radio, it will sound (to your ears) like it's being played by Alice in Chains. If you see Radiohead live, every one of their tunes will sound like it's being covered by Alice in Chains. When you hear a commercial jingle on TV, it will sound like Alice in Chains; if you sing to yourself in the shower, your voice will sound like deceased Alice vocalist Layne Staley performing a capella (but it will only sound this way to you).
 
Would you swallow the pill?

Now this is a hard one. I love music and I love to sing. I feel that music is a huge part of my life. But then would I want Kristy to get her collarbones snapped every 3 years? It is only 3 years though. More than likely I would sacrifice my music to save her from such a horrific injury. Unless Kristy would be willing to take the beating...

Kristy has just informed me that she would be willing to get her collarbones broken. Her reasoning is she is already "old and brittle".

6. At long last, someone invents "the dream VCR." This machine allows you to tape an entire evening's worth of your own dreams, which you can then watch at your leisure. However, the inventor of the dream VCR will only allow you to use this device of you agree to a strange caveat: When you watch your dreams, you must do so with your family and your closest friends in the same room. They get to watch your dreams along with you. And if you don't agree to this, you can't use the dream VCR.

Would you still do this?

I'm torn on this one. I don't know if I would want to subject my family to my terrifying nightmares. Just ask Kristy, I have pretty vivid dreams and most of them are not nice. On the other hand, I would love to revisit them. I am sure I have blocked out parts of my dream or simply forgotten them when I wake. Now I have this cool gadget where I can replay them. But then I dream about tornadoes all the time so I am not sure I would want to see them again. But on the other hand I have dreamed where I was an X-Man. (I was Havok). I think I am leaning on letting people see my dreams as long as they remember that they are just dreams. And they might see some nudity since a lot of my dreams involve people walking in on me while I shower.

7. Defying all expectation, a group of Scottish marine biologists capture a live Loch Ness Monster. In an almost unbelievable coincidence, a bear hunter in the Pacific Northwest shoots a Sasquatch in the thigh, thereby allowing zoologists to take the furry monster into captivity. These events happen on the same afternoon. That evening, the president announces he may have thyroid cancer and will undergo a biopsy later that week.

You are the front page editor of The New York Times: What do you play as the biggest story?

As a responsible journalist I would run the President story. But then the Sasquatch would be more sensational and more important to United States readers. I would probably run the Loch Ness/Sasquatch story because of the unlikely, improbable event of them happening at roughly the same time. And the geek in me is a little intrigued.

8. You meet the perfect person. Romantically, this person is ideal: You find them physically attractive, intellectually stimulating, consistently funny, and deeply compassionate. However, they have one quirk: This individual is obsessed with Jim Henson's gothic puppet fantasy The Dark Crystal. Beyond watching it on DVD at least once a month, he/she peppers casual conversation with Dark Crystal references, uses Dark Crystal analogies to explain everyday events, and occasionally likes to talk intensely about the film's "deeper philosophy."

Would this be enough to stop you from marrying this individual?

Seriously? Do I need to remind every one that I am a comic fan? I could do the same exact thing with Banshee and the X-Men. And I am sure I do that now anyway. So yeah, no biggie here.

"The World According to Banshee"

9. A novel titled Interior Mirror is released to mammoth commercial success (despite middling reviews). However, a curious social trend emerges: Though no one can prove a direct scientific link, it appears that almost 30 percent of the people who read this book immediately become homosexual. Many of these new found homosexuals credit the book for helping them reach this conclusion about their orientation, despite the fact that Interior Mirror is ostensibly a crime novel with no homoerotic content (and was written by a straight man).

Would this phenomenon increase (or decrease) the likelihood of you reading this book?

I hardly read books anyway. I don't think this would sway me either way. I do admit that I would be a little more intrigued by reading it but I don't think it would get me to do it. I don't think it would make me go gay anyway. Now if it was an X-Men comic with Banshee in it then I totally would be all over that. Crime novels hold little interest to me.

10. This is the opening line of Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City: "You are not the kind of guy who would be in a place like this at this time of the morning." Think about that line in the context of the novel (assuming you've read it). Now go to your CD collection and find Heart's Little Queen album (assuming you own it). Listen to the opening riff to "Barracuda."

Which of these two introductions is a higher form of art?

I have not read the novel but I do own "Barracuda" and I love that opening riff. But the question isn't about what I am familiar with and what I like more. Personally I think music, especially rock music gets a bad rap and doesn't get appreciated as an art as much as it should. So I would go with Barracuda.

11. You are watching a movie in a crowded theater. Though the plot is mediocre, you find yourself dazzled by the special effects. But with twenty minutes left in the film, you are struck with an undeniable feeling of doom: You are suddenly certain your mother has just died. There is no logical reason for this to be true, but you are certain of it. You are overtaken with the irrational metaphysical sense that--somewhere--your mom has just perished. But this is only an intuitive, amorphous feeling; there is no evidence for this, and your mother has not been ill.
Would you immediately exit the theater, or would you finish watching the movie?

I would leave the theater and try to call my mom. If she didn't answer her phone, I would call my sister. If she wasn't with mom, I would be on my way up to house. I don't ignore those feelings, usually when I get feelings like this they are dead on the money. Pun fully intended.

The world will be around tomorrow so I can catch this flick at a later time.

====

Well, that was a little more intensive and thought provoking than I thought it would be. I still will finish up the rest of the questions but I am curious to see how you guys respond.

From the Soap Box: Condescending People

Day 191

I had an experience the other day that really irritated me. I was at church going into a Sunday School class and recently I have found the whole classroom experience to be difficult. I am not the type of person that participates, I am the type of person that likes to sit and listen and learn that way. And if I have something to share, I will but that is not the norm. The teacher of this class likes a lot of participation to the point where it seems like she demands it. It is like there is an unwritten rule that says "if you are in my class you HAVE to participate."  Not a fan of that.

Luckily for the last couple of weeks I have been able to handle it. But yesterday I just couldn't take it. Before the class even began she looked around and began to ask people if they brought in their scriptures and if they didn't she would send someone to go get some. I don't mind that she asked but what I did mind was the way she was asking. She was asking over and over and began to ask people personally if they had their scriptures with them. Then she asked if the class would sit closer in the center so it would help her teach her lesson. I said "No, I'm good here." and she made it a BIG deal that everyone should sit in the center. It is not like I am in a lecture hall or anything. I am in a normal sized classroom.

So I got up and instead of sitting in the middle, I left instead.

I know, real mature of me to just get up and leave right? But it is my choice that I am attending that class. I am there to learn and not to be bossed around like I am some sort of child. I am an adult. I will act like an adult in the class. Does it really matter where I sit? And does it really assist you in teaching if I am sitting in one seat over another? Next time I am very tempted to ask the teacher if I can have a sticker next week because I am sitting in the middle.

That just makes me want to scream!

That is a HUGE pet peeve to me. Don't treat me like a child. I know what is expected of me and I can be trusted to handle myself. I understand that she just wants to have a good class but she is going about it the wrong way.

This was a big reason why I left my last job too. Only it was several people that took it upon themselves to be my parents.

If you want me to act like a child I can do that. But if you want me to respect you than treat me like you would yourself. Don't be condescending to me and to others. That is a sign of disrespect.

Winning Ain't Easy

Day 182

It is hard to believe that it is May 1st already. I am glad though, May is usually one of my favorite months. Spring is definitely here, lots of cool movies come out, more family activities, Black and White Days (I'll cover that in another blog), Memorial Day and a ton of other fun stuff.

It has only been May for 12 hours and already May is starting out on a good step. Last month I participated in ScriptFrenzy. It was a writing challenge where I write a 100 page script (movie, TV, musical, comic) in a month.

And yesterday I crossed the finish line at 102 pages so that means I won!

It was a lot of fun, much more fun than I thought it would be. I have never written a script before, I tried one time and found the whole thing intimidating. It was a lot more work than I thought but this time I used an online script program than made the whole thing painless. The more I worked with the program the easier and then the more fun it became.

It was a total vanity project. I wrote a Marvel comic book based on the return of my favorite character Banshee and it dealt with the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight set during the events of Dark Reign. Like I said, pure vanity.

I did learn a couple of things. I had plotted most of this comic months before and that really helped out a lot. And the times it became difficult was when I had no idea where the story was going to go. But once I figured out how to end it, it was just a fun matter of getting from Point A to Point B. Next time I do this I will make sure that I have all of it plotted out in advance. I also appreciate those writers that write with a large cast of characters. It was hard making sure that they all had some face time and there were a few times where I totally forgot them completely.

What I enjoyed the most was reading up on these characters and doing some research. All of the characters I used had some sort of history together and it was a hoot reconnecting some of them. And some of the characters I used were long forgotten people and it was a lot of fun bringing them back and making themselves useful.

I am glad that it is over. Doing this and my blog really zapped a lot of my time but I felt it was important for me to learn. I would love to be a writer and it is these exercises that help out a lot. You do learn quickly what you are capable of and what you do rather well along with what your weaknesses are.

I HIGHLY encourage anyone that has a story to say or wants to try their writing skills to do this challenge next year. You won't regret it and you will feel that you accomplished something. Also keep in mind that the next NaNoWrMo is coming up this November. Get thinking about a story and get it ready for a month of hard work, pulling your hair out and writing! Seriously folks, if you have always wanted to write, try these out. You will not regret it!

I Just Doodled

Day 138
I totally forgot to post this yesterday. Who is this guy you ask? He is my favorite comic book character. He is the Irish X-Man named Banshee. He doesn't really wear that hat, I Photoshopped that on him. I don't really know why I like him. I think he has interesting powers and I like the glider things under his arms. Perhaps the reason why I like him is because I don't see him enough. He is definitely not the most popular X-Men member and doesn't appear very often. He is one of the few members of the X-Men that has not had his own series or one-shot. But I like him and have liked him since an early age.

This is a drawing I did back in 1985-86. I was just getting into reading comics and getting into drawing them. I still like to draw even though I do not spend enough time doing so. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to draw more and I plan on spending an hour a week (while watching Lost) drawing.

Here is what I did last Tuesday night. In the top corner in the left side is a rough attempt at the cover for my novel. And the rest are just doodles. I tried to draw a newer version of Banshee (lower left; the guy with no head) but got bored of it and didn't finish it.

I'll post some more stuff next week.

List-Mania: T-Shirts

Day 118

If I had the money I would be buy a T-shirt once a week. But they would have to be special T-shirts that are unique and funny to me.

So here are my top 5 T-shirts that I want to own one day and presented in random order.


Annyong! The only drawback of this shirt would be having to explain it.

Anyone know the company Weyland Yutani?

Now everyone knows how old I am.

I don't have many yellow shirts. How awesome is this one?

Yes, that is Banshee there flying in in the middle.