There it is, Plain as Daylight

You’ll probably be surprised to see this here, since it is generally more related to the things I post at Manga Bookshelf. The truth is, though, it’s a bit too ranty for a post there nowadays, and it’s waaaay too long for a tweet. :) So here we go.

I keep hearing people say that Twilight fans are only Twilight fans, and that there is no basis for the hope that Yen Press’ upcoming graphic novel adaptation might bring a new demographic of readers to comics. And all I can think is, wow, I guess none of these people were ever… girls.

Sure, there may be readers who only read Twilight and aren’t into books in general. But there are a whole lot who are. Teen girls read. Teen girls read a lot. Continue Reading »

My mother posted this quote on Facebook today: “There is a thought in your mind right now. The longer you hold on to it, the more you dwell upon it, the more life you give to that thought. Give it enough life, and it will become real. So make sure the thought is indeed a great one.” The quote is apparently credited to “daily motivator” Ralph Marston, which sounds cheesy, but I’ll admit it’s motivated me. With this quote in mind, I’ll share the overwhelming thought I had this morning as I trudged out of bed in the dark to get ready for work.

When I think about what I want most in life, something that comes to mind always is a life without alarm clocks. What I mean by that really, of course, is a life without the need to be at a specific place at a specific time every day. Continue Reading »

I guess we all have our crosses to bear in life, but mine seems to be this: freaky technical/administrative glitches that turn something that works *effortlessly* for other people into an anxiety nightmare for me. Example: my birthdate, which is listed correctly on both my birth certificate and marriage license, but was entered incorrectly by someone at the social security office when I got married and changed my name–a problem caused on *their* end–which they refuse to fix unless I take those documents (the same ones they were sent when I applied for a new card) in person to the social security office somewhere in Springfield.

The most recent example of this is my newly acquired library card. Yes, I’m embarrassed to say, I *just* got a library card here in town, though I’ve lived here since late 2000. I applied for my card one evening a month or so ago without a hitch, but when I tried later to create a login for the library system’s online reservation service, it did not recognize my card number. Continue Reading »

It wouldn’t be quite right to say that I have the Holiday Blues. I don’t feel quite “blue”… closer to “meh.” So I suppose I have the Holiday Mehs. Work is overwhelming right now, to the point where I have had to cancel most of my vacation days over the next two weeks just to get things done, so I’m missing that giddy vacation feeling. Meanwhile, with so much uncertainty in our lives right now, we decided not to have a Christmas tree this year, so it’s easy to forget that the holidays are even happening. Continue Reading »