I suppose promising I’ll update soon is silly until I graduate? I was busy with summer courses for the first three months of my break, and have been working on another academic project since then. Personal projects have been sitting on the back burner, I’m afraid. Only two more semesters, though, and I’m done!
Meanwhile: Happy frog.
TCAF is this weekend, and I took time off on Saturday from being Responsible Student to go! I wish I had had more time to actually hit some of the pre/post and during events, but so it goes. This year I actually knew what I was getting into and took the time to map the artists I wanted to see before hand. (Which wound up looking a little ridiculous since literally every third table in the webcomic pavilion was highlighted.)
Unfortunately, I don’t have time for a full entry, but I promised I’d get this up this weekend, so just a quick link summary for now. A bigger update on these comics and others will be coming eventually – I’m just too busy right now. At the same time, I need to flood people with comic links.. so…..
In order of mapping, and accompanied by a link to the comic that I’m reading/have read (some artists produce multiple works):
Karl Kerschl - The Abominable Charles Christopher
Ramon Perez - ButterNutSquash
Danielle Corsetto – Girls with Slingshots
Becky Dreistadt and Frank Gibson – Tiny Kitten Teeth
Meredith Gran - octopus pie
David McGuire – GastroPhobia
Richard Stevens – diesel sweeties
Erika Moen - DAR: A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary
Audra Ann Furuichi - nemu*nemu
Yuko Ota and Ananth Panagariya – Johnny Wander
Jeph Jacques – Questionable Content
Joey Comeau and Emily Horne – A Softer World
John Campbell – pictures for sad children
Kate Beaton – Hark, a vagrant
When I post my next entry, I’ll include a list to a number of other comics I read, and provide a brief description for those, and these. Meanwhile, TCAF was a blast, and I really hope I have more time for it next year!
.. and the summer courses begin. (Actually, one began for me before I was even done the second semester.) Needless to say, things have been busy. I’m hoping for a brief update in the next few days – I have four during which I only need to complete a very small assignment. We’ll see if it pans out!
(I’ll also probably be posting some gushing about TCAF in a while! There are well over a dozen artists that I’m really excited about this year.)
Less than a month to go before this year is over. This summer, from an academic point of view, I’m taking two courses and working on a research project. I’ve also got a few personal projects I’d like to work on, but I’m just not sure yet how intensive the academic things will be. Either way, I will have a week or so toward the end of April, and maybe I’ll actually post some of the photos I have sitting around, or put up some of the changes to this site I’ve been meaning to put up?
Or maybe instead I’ll get some sleep and clean the nest of papers off of my desk..
No Moon was another book acquired through Early Reviewers. Though it is a story for young adults, I found myself drawn in to the narrative and wound up finishing it in one afternoon. (Mind you, this says as much about my reading speed as it does about the lure of the story. I would have to say it was an equal balance of the two.)
The first chapter features a rather whirlwind approach; a representation in the prose of the confusion of childhood. As the protagonist ages and develops, there is a growth of understanding and clarity reflected in the prose. Such reflection is not often developed by writers, and I appreciated it very much.
The plot-line was engaging – it developed the main character, gave her a story, and was not a typical “Titanic” book. I was drawn in and genuinely cared about the fate of Louisa. In fact, though the voyage and sinking was the climax of the story, it felt rather personal to Louisa, rather than an event outside of her, and part of History – deliberate capital.
Some of the subjects touched upon were very emotional ones, not typically something one would see in literature for younger readers, but they were presented in a sensitive and realistic manner. Louisa faces a number of tragedies in her life, but her story is not, looking at the overarching theme, a sad one. It felt like a representation of what life can throw at us, both good and bad, and how we face them.
The other characters were a little predictable and set in their roles, but not at all in an offensive or distracting way. In light of the intended audience and length of book, I feel that the level of depth was perfectly suitable. They were colourful enough that there was some variety, but did not delve so deep that they were distracting. They were as fleshed out as they needed to be without crowding a relatively short book.
Overall, I have to say that I enjoyed this book a great deal. I’ve always been fascinated by the Titanic, and would probably have loved this story when I was younger.
(As usual, nitpicking and miscellaneous mutterings: I spotted a typo on page 17, and another later on, though by then I was too involved in the reading to stop and note which page it was on. Additionally, and this is a bit of a spoiler, I wound up doing a bit of research into the fate of the pregnant cat. Possibly just a wishful rumour, but apparently Jim Mulholland was a stoker who saw the cat carrying her four kittens off the ship before they set said across the ocean. He mentioned this later to a reporter as it was the reason why he decided to actually not sail himself. Though I haven’t verified this at all, other than some web searching, for the sake of my peace, I’m going to assume that that small family made it out alright, at least.)
I first encountered Little Big Man during my first year as an undergrad student. It was used as an excellent example of an unreliable narrator. The first hint of this coming when the main character claims to be 111 years old in the framing narrative. This narrative is penned by a “Man of Letters” and is a small masterpiece in itself; inciting cocked eyebrows and small smirks. My memories of the first time that I read this book were hazy but positive – a vaguely sad but exciting travelogue – and I decided to revisit them when I wound up sick in bed a while ago.
I can’t say I have much to compare to: this is definitely not the type of book I typically read. Here the plot progresses much more from the various actions external to the main character, rather than the internal musings of various characters aligning their emotional states in whatever means. Jack Crabb, or Little Big Man, propels the book forward as he undergoes his various adventures. He tells us what is happening in the first person, always with an air of utter honesty, even as the coincidences and sheer implausibility of events mount against him. As one of the closing statements in the framing narrative says “It is of course unlikely that one man would have experienced even a third of Mr. Crabb’s claim. Half? Incredible! All? A mythological!But you will find, as I did, that if any one part is accepted as truth, then what precedes and follows has as great a lien on our credulity.” (Berger 440) The play with truth and reliability constitutes a great deal of the novel, but that what pulled me back was, ultimately, the story.
In a word, it is epic. Crabb travels not only over land, but through time, giving the reader insight into a myriad means of accessing history. He lives with the Cheyenne, marches with Custer, fights against him, hunts buffalo, pans for gold, and a participates in a slew of other lifestyles that I’m not going to recount. This may not be in the vein of the other books I read, but it is entertaining, and provides insight into a point of view I would normally not venture toward. The presentation is so much like a story – a real story you would tell, from event to event – and given in such an honest and personal way, that I can’t help but be caught up and be charmed by Crabb’s exploits.
I’m a member of LibraryThing Early Reviewers and have been lucky enough to get my bookwormey and bibliophileish hands on two books so far. I thought I’d post my reviews here, too. This one is pretty short and to the point, owing to the rush of classes.
Poetic Lives: Coleridge by Daniel Hahn
I found this book to provide a good general overview of Coleridge’s life. It does not delve deeply into the influences in his life; rather, it tells the reader what events he was undergoing, and through this provides a context for his poetry.
It’s a short read, the writing isn’t anything extraordinary (as Luxx said, it is terse and distant), but I feel that it does it’s job well. It’s a good introduction to the poet, and will give reader a bit of insight into what he was doing when he wrote some of his works. I like the fact that the poetry is included in the volume (even if some of it is abridged), because it makes for a quick reference.
Definitely not a book for an advanced scholar of Coleridge or for someone looking for his artistic motivations, but good as a sketch of his life for someone not familiar with it. The inclusion of a page at the end with suggested further readings is a thoughtful detail.
Poetic Lives: Coleridge on LibraryThing
Okay, so it’s really not the best photo in the world, but I had quite the time trying to resist the urge to eat it long enough to snap what I did. So here we are!
*Okay, so it’s not QUITE a true cake, since it’s jelly, but there is a reason for it! I had a guest coming by with an egg allergy, but there had to be cake since it was a birthday** based get-together, so.. my mom surprised me with her innovation, and we were both pleased as punch. Until I realized that another guest was vegetarian and the gelatin in the jelly may not be vegetable based. (I’m a pretty crappy vegetarian in the face of jelly .___.;; ) In the end, there was no cake at the get-together because we gave up and didn’t finish making it until a day later XD (But the happy result is that I got a ton of jelly to myself today XD Yay!)
**Yes, as of last week I have one more year of awkwardness to tack on to my track record. X3
Cold!
As promised, still busy with school. I’m toying with the idea of putting together some collections of my bjd photos and printing them – possibly in book form. I’ve got a huge backlog that are not available online now, and they’re all kind of sitting there forlornly. Unfortunately, I’m not hearing back from the bjd companies regarding what their terms for something like that would be. Den of Angels seemed to only have one old thread about the matter, which was rather inconclusive. Maybe when classes are over I’ll take the project properly in hand and see what I can do ^^
One day of the week I finish classes at 7. C meets me right afterward, and about once a month we go out to grab some dinner nearby. One day we found a yummy and inexpensive little restaurant called China Garden Restaurant (200 Bloor St West). It has very good food, gigantic portions (we always wind up taking a bit home), a cozy quiet atmosphere and low enough prices that I don’t feel too bad about the special treat. (Most dishes are under $10, and lean closer to $6.)
It is there that I found the wonder that is their “Spicy Fried Bean Curd.”
Salty, not too spicy, with soft delicious tofu inside: but I absolute love this. It’s light and crispy and wonderful. It’s a good thing we don’t eat out very often, though, because I don’t think it’s super healthy. >.>;;
On our last visit, C got “Mixed Vegetable Fried Rice.” I only snuck a few bites of it, but it tasted very good, without a greasy aftertaste that some fried rice tends to have. (The waitress also endeared herself to me when, upon being asked if there was any meat in the fried rice, she reassured us there wasn’t, but told us that there was egg and double checked with us that that this was alright.)
Snow pea leaf in some light garlic sauce – this was a recommendation by the waitress which we agreed to, to offset the sin of so much fried food. It was light and crunchy, and the sauce was garlicey enough that I was happy, but not so much that C (who isn’t as big a fan of garlic) complained.
I haven’t explored too many food places around campus, yet, but I’m very happy with this one!
(Edit: Thank you, Gordon for the correction regarding the veggie in the last photo! ^^)