The holiday cards, 90 strong, are finally labelled and stamped, and Rob's taking them to the mailbox today. We are truly blessed to have so many friends and family members. Organizing the cards seemed to take way too much time this year, or maybe it was just general tiredness from my work day. I haven't even written a requested autobiographical synopsis for my columnist gig, I still have umpteen unread News+Views posts, and I've taken to creating a "Must Reads" Bloglines Playlist just to keep up with those folks I consider essential. Clearly my work time is cutting into my hobby time! At moments like this I can almost understand people wanting to Make Money Fast via blog-begging, although I like a steady paycheck too much to quit my day job, as draining as it may be. In any case, I desperately need to close out some read posts, many of which have been bookmarked for over a week:
• I don't get it, okay? I read Michael (I mean, how can you not, with posts like this), I read Chris, I read PZ, I read Amanda - heck, they're all on my Must Reads list! - and I know what a show trial is, but so much of this in-joke is going over my head (and, I would assume, the heads of less regular readers by extension) that it's not funny, it's just annoying and exclusionary and borderline mean. [Update: Jim Luepke was kind enough to try and explain some of it in email, the gist of which seems to amount to, if you don't read every single comment section attached to every single blog post you won't understand stuff. Obviously I hardly have the time to read blog posts themselves much less peruse comments sections, so now in-jokes like this only serve to remind me that even reading 700+ blogs isn't good enough.] This is doubtless one reason why I don't play well enough with other liberal bloggers to even be considered for a nomination in one of the many blog awards going around nowadays. Well, that and the fact that Pen-Elayne isn't specifically categorizable as a "political blog," and weblog awards don't care for stuff that they can't fit into neat little boxes. That we're supposed to, you know, think outside of.
• Heidi passes along that Titan Magazines is in hiring mode, seeking writers and artists for its expanded range of children's comics based on licensed properties. Goodness knows what their page rates are, the UK comics market is notoriously low-paying compared to the US one, but on the other hand the dollar really sucks lately against the pound so this might be worth considering.
• Thanks for noticing the art in your Manhunter #26 review, Heidi Meeley! Anyone else out there review the art in the book, or just the writing and plot? (Yes, I know this is one of my major pet peeves, but I'm amazed it still continues to such an extent. Seriously, comics reviewers, if you aren't going to talk about the art, just review prose books, okay?)
• Speaking of things that piss people off about comics, Kevin Church reiterates the oft-heard complaint that talking-heads scenes in superhero comics are really boring to look at. File it alongside "action does not have to equal fighting" and "if you want to write TV shows please write those and not comics, they're two different media with different staging considerations."
• Jenn is the go-to person for a comprehensive overview of and fallout from Rosie O'Donnell's injudicious remarks on The View that offended lots of Asian-Americans and others who understand that unintentionally racist remarks hurt people regardless of whether the person making those remarks meant to hurt them, and the gracious - and human - thing to do is say "I didn't realize what I said was hurtful, and I'm sorry I hurt you and I'll try not to do it again." I really don't understand why so many people get so defensive when it's pointed out to them that they've hurt others by saying something racially inappropriate or putting blackface on their blog or whatever, and their dismissive reactions wind up compounding the original offense until the situation spirals out of control. Is it somehow wrong to suggest that sensitivity towards others' feelings (i.e., etiquette) is a good thing and ought to be borne in mind before one opens one's mouth or sits down at one's keyboard?
• Via Budgie: The TV show House, in 12 Seconds. Not performed by bunnies.
• Awww. Mazel tov, Dave and Raina! Good choice of my birthday as your wedding day (and another good reason nobody responded to my party invite)...
• I dunno, Helen Smith doesn't even sound like a real name to me, why should I care what she thinks of her fellow double-x chromosomers? Or should I say, in Colbert style, feels about them, since as Amanda points out none of what she pontificates is backed up by any sort of factual evidence, it's just all let-me-find-samples-to-fit-my-premise crap. Can't we just pay these people less attention? And of course, I can hardly link to Amanda without also linking to Melissa, who passes along a great anecdote illustrating that "feminism is not something women use to find problems, but to address them." (Glad Tilsy is okay, Melissa!)
• Lastly, thanks to RJ Eskow for the name-check last week in the Huffington Post! I almost feel important now.
There, that ought to give Mustang Bobby something constructive to say about Pen-Elayne during his weekly blogaround tomorrow. :) Sorry I haven't been posting more, but it's just been one of those time periods...
• I don't get it, okay? I read Michael (I mean, how can you not, with posts like this), I read Chris, I read PZ, I read Amanda - heck, they're all on my Must Reads list! - and I know what a show trial is, but so much of this in-joke is going over my head (and, I would assume, the heads of less regular readers by extension) that it's not funny, it's just annoying and exclusionary and borderline mean. [Update: Jim Luepke was kind enough to try and explain some of it in email, the gist of which seems to amount to, if you don't read every single comment section attached to every single blog post you won't understand stuff. Obviously I hardly have the time to read blog posts themselves much less peruse comments sections, so now in-jokes like this only serve to remind me that even reading 700+ blogs isn't good enough.] This is doubtless one reason why I don't play well enough with other liberal bloggers to even be considered for a nomination in one of the many blog awards going around nowadays. Well, that and the fact that Pen-Elayne isn't specifically categorizable as a "political blog," and weblog awards don't care for stuff that they can't fit into neat little boxes. That we're supposed to, you know, think outside of.
• Heidi passes along that Titan Magazines is in hiring mode, seeking writers and artists for its expanded range of children's comics based on licensed properties. Goodness knows what their page rates are, the UK comics market is notoriously low-paying compared to the US one, but on the other hand the dollar really sucks lately against the pound so this might be worth considering.
• Thanks for noticing the art in your Manhunter #26 review, Heidi Meeley! Anyone else out there review the art in the book, or just the writing and plot? (Yes, I know this is one of my major pet peeves, but I'm amazed it still continues to such an extent. Seriously, comics reviewers, if you aren't going to talk about the art, just review prose books, okay?)
• Speaking of things that piss people off about comics, Kevin Church reiterates the oft-heard complaint that talking-heads scenes in superhero comics are really boring to look at. File it alongside "action does not have to equal fighting" and "if you want to write TV shows please write those and not comics, they're two different media with different staging considerations."
• Jenn is the go-to person for a comprehensive overview of and fallout from Rosie O'Donnell's injudicious remarks on The View that offended lots of Asian-Americans and others who understand that unintentionally racist remarks hurt people regardless of whether the person making those remarks meant to hurt them, and the gracious - and human - thing to do is say "I didn't realize what I said was hurtful, and I'm sorry I hurt you and I'll try not to do it again." I really don't understand why so many people get so defensive when it's pointed out to them that they've hurt others by saying something racially inappropriate or putting blackface on their blog or whatever, and their dismissive reactions wind up compounding the original offense until the situation spirals out of control. Is it somehow wrong to suggest that sensitivity towards others' feelings (i.e., etiquette) is a good thing and ought to be borne in mind before one opens one's mouth or sits down at one's keyboard?
• Via Budgie: The TV show House, in 12 Seconds. Not performed by bunnies.
• Awww. Mazel tov, Dave and Raina! Good choice of my birthday as your wedding day (and another good reason nobody responded to my party invite)...
• I dunno, Helen Smith doesn't even sound like a real name to me, why should I care what she thinks of her fellow double-x chromosomers? Or should I say, in Colbert style, feels about them, since as Amanda points out none of what she pontificates is backed up by any sort of factual evidence, it's just all let-me-find-samples-to-fit-my-premise crap. Can't we just pay these people less attention? And of course, I can hardly link to Amanda without also linking to Melissa, who passes along a great anecdote illustrating that "feminism is not something women use to find problems, but to address them." (Glad Tilsy is okay, Melissa!)
• Lastly, thanks to RJ Eskow for the name-check last week in the Huffington Post! I almost feel important now.
There, that ought to give Mustang Bobby something constructive to say about Pen-Elayne during his weekly blogaround tomorrow. :) Sorry I haven't been posting more, but it's just been one of those time periods...
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