March 18, 2006
Top Spots
Last year I mentioned FindYourSpot.com but just realized that I never posted my quiz results! Every so often I revisit the site, only to browse my top spots and fantasize about moving... Anyway, here they are, my 24 top spots to live:
1. Eugene, Oregon
2. Salisbury, Maryland
3. Little Rock, Arkansas
4. Corvallis, Oregon
5. Baltimore, Maryland
6. Fayetteville, Arkansas
7. Charleston, West Virginia
8. New Haven, Connecticut
9. Portland, Oregon
10. Frederick, Maryland
11. Providence, Rhode Island
12. Salem, Oregon
13. Milwaukie, Oregon
14. Hartford, Connecticut
15. Hot Springs-Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
16. Eureka Springs, Arkansas
17. Danbury, Connecticut
18. Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
19. Albuquerque, New Mexico
20. Santa Cruz, California
21. Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana
22. Worcester, Massachusetts
23. Astoria, Oregon
24. Heber Springs-Greers Ferry Lake, Arkansas
I’m surprised that my results show six Oregon towns and five Arkansas towns, but I’m not surprised that I ended up with Santa Cruz, Hartford, and Albuquerque -- three towns I love.
March 16, 2006
A Comic Revolution
Our downstairs neighbors are convinced that I can grow to love comic books. I agree that this is possible. I mean, I already appreciate the artistic skill of comic book artists, I love to read, and, as a graphic designer, I obviously appreciate the basic relationship between images and text. So, sounds plausible, right?
The challenge I face is not the concept of comic books; it’s the subject matter. For one, the whole sad-superhero thing doesn’t really appeal to me. Second, rather than read about extraordinary people who do extraordinary things, most of the time I prefer to read about ordinary people who have extraordinary things happen to them. And lastly (please forgive me for saying this!), sometimes, I get the feeling that comic bookers take themselves too seriously.
So anyway, back to my neighbors and their confidence that I am a closet comic book lover. After explaining my take on the whole thing, they very-convincingly gave me a recommendation for Polly and the Pirates by Ted Naifeh, and I decided to give it a chance because, well, Polly has a cute, round head.
They were right on. I am absolutely in love with Polly. Ted Naifeh is a genius, a hilarious, talented, brilliant genius. Among boobs-and-biceps comic books, this is such a gem! I’m hooked.
Lacey is, of course, very excited about this development, so last Friday night she made me go to her place so she could give me more comic books. Ten more. I’m going through them, some more eagerly than others, but it’s all very promising! My neighbors may be right about this.
