What Do You Wanna Talk About?
I can't seem to generate much energy for anything as of late, let alone the journal. It's not your fault, oh, no, you folks have been swell. I'm just feeling overwhelmed by the holidays, family stuff, recent house troubles, piled-on deadlines, and increasing problems with my hand and shoulder that will likely send me to the doctor to finally get that MRI I was supposed to schedule several years ago. That's what health coverage is for, right? So why not use it. I dunno. I keep meaning to follow up, but I also keep meaning to floss, go back to the gym, and finish Milk and Cheese #8.

Speaking of "I dunno", I dunno what to discuss here lately. The world situation is depressing and I feel anything I have to say is naive and pointless, if not imbecilic. I feel woefully out of step with my chosen field these days. I don't pay much attention to modern pop culture. I stopped watching wrestling after Eddie Guerrero died and haven't really ever gone back save for a stray hour or two of TNA and Raw. I keep wanting to talk about the tragedy that is Kurt Angle, but like most things, no energy, not enough information, and sleep beckons. I haven't seen a new film in the theater in years, have only seen perhaps five or six modern/recent films in the past year or two, most of which were asian martial arts movies. I haven't watched a television cartoon show in years. All I've watched recently are several Carole Lombard movies on TCM, some subtitled Japanese dramas, Gordon Ramsey cooking shows, and the first four episodes of the first season of the revamped Dr. Who. Not a lot to go on. Music-wise...hmmm. Hear that sound? No, you don't, because I'm not listening to anything, really. Anything I do hear on WFMU flits way from my ears and brain as soon as the song ends. Nothing sticks. I think I liked a band called Boy Skout on FMU a few weeks ago. I forget. No help there.

Comics? The few I've been picking up are mostly sitting around unread, and I haven't the time to get into anything I've read anyway. Dick Tracy, Popeye, Walt and Skeezix, Moomin, all well and good, no time to say why, or list any complaints. Did get some FBI Prince Valiants cheap off e-bay, won't read them until the series is completed, and we can't complete it because some of our missing volumes go for extraordinary amounts on e-bay. So, perhaps when we're in the old cartoonist's home (ie, a refrigerator box), we'll get to those in lieu of buying cat food to eat. I also won some old paperback gag collections cheap off le e-bay, 8 books for about a buck a throw. Some Esquire and True collections, w/Virgil Partch, Chon Day, Ketcham, decent stuff all around.

But jeez, too many comic BOOKS, too little time, not enough moolah. I want the Dupey and Berberian books, there's some horror manga I've wanted to check out (I did get the first Drifting Classroom this week), the McCay releases from Checker, the last year or so of Little Lulu paperbacks, Gilbert Hernandez' Sloth GN, the FBI reprint of Nightmares and Daydreams or whatever it was called, Ode to Kirihito, the new Dennis the menace volume, Alison Bechdel's book, the Disney comics hardcover collection, that last Maakies book (I overcame my adversity to Maakies several years ago) and a few dozen other things I want or am curious about like the last Kramer's Ergot, any issues of Mome, Curses, Billy Hazlenuts, the Carol Tyler collection, blah blah blah. I don't even have Acme #17 or Tales Designed to Thrizzle #3. WTF? Or the last Cromartie High School. WTFF? And I'm super-curious about the Absolute New Frontier. I like Darwyn Cooke's art, haven't sampled a ton of his writing, but I wouldn't kick this nifty-looking comic book monster off of my shelf if someone slipped it in there. Man I want so many comics these days, it's ridiculous. I don't want to make them, I just want to read them. Where can I get that job? It can't pay much less than we're making.

Toys. Oh, toys. I don't really buy toys anymore, but I have to try to get my hands on the new Jim Woodring vinyl, Mr Bumpers. I have everything he's designed for vinyl so far, including the life-size Pupshaw (my last "stupid" purchase before going more or less cold turkey), and I, like, kinda need this one, because he's, like, kinda awesome, and I'm, like, kinda a geek-a-nerd. I like toys. So sue me.

Hey, presto. I sort of talked about some stuff. Well, actually, I really just made a whiny list. So. What should I talk about? What do you want to talk about? Got any questions you couldn't fit into prior conversations about falling plaster and broken glass? Feel free to bring it up, I'm rudderless without you.