More Books to Add to Your 2022 Reading List

More Books to Add to Your 2022 Reading List

I don't know about you, but my to-read pile of books is absurdly out of hand. Every year, I manage to knock a hundred or so books from the stack. This makes no dent in that ever-growing behemoth. It does, however, mean that I discover a few gems each year. (A few duds, too, but I'm here to give love, not to disparage. Sorry.)Anyway, this isn't a goddamn recipe blog, so let's skip the boring story leading up to the reason why you're here and get to the goods.Please note that these are not necessarily books published in 2021, just books I read this year that made such an impact on me that I want other people to read them, too. Books by Authors Not New to Me, Who Still Managed to Surprise the Hell Out of Me:Look, this book was published in 1997 and takes place during peak AIDS crisis in San Francisco. Yet, it feels current and chillingly relevant....
Read More
I Got Nerdy & Ended Up With a Ridiculous Comic

I Got Nerdy & Ended Up With a Ridiculous Comic

I like to get my nerd on. One of the really cool things about the internet - aside from funny animal .gifs on Buzzfeed - is the bottomless pit of nerdery. This year, I've spent countless hours getting lost on various subjects in iTunes U, Open Culture and Coursera.This summer, I enrolled in a writing class on Coursera. It wasn't on craft, but the basic mechanics of grammar, along with paragraph and sentence structure. It was a nice review on the basics, but also a nice intro to a MOOC (massive open online course), which I'd been curious about.I got into it. I enrolled in a few more courses. One of which was Comic Books and Graphic Novels, from the University of Colorado in Boulder.I fucking loved this class. Come on... a class where I get to watch PowerPoint lectures about Batman and study Alan Moore and Art Spiegelman? For free? HELL. YES.In all seriousness, though, this was an interesting...
Read More

So, a French, Canadian & American Super Hero Walk Into a Bar…

Obviously, when two people are from two different countries, opposing opinions are inevitable, regardless of how compatible they may be.From time to time, I wonder why Olivier does things a certain way.  I shrug it off, deciding that it must be because he's French.  On other occasions, he shakes his head & dismisses something that I say or do, figuring that it must be "an American thing".Most of the time, those very small differences don't really amount to much.Most of the time."Iron Man was so fucking awesome."  I said.  "Incredible Hulk was just as good.  When The Avengers movie comes out, it's seriously going to rock me."  I continued scrolling with my mouse.  "It says here that they're doing Captain America next.  I can't wait."Olivier looked over my shoulder at the monitor.  "What?  Why are they doing Captain America?"I let out an irritated sigh.  "Um...yeah.  Because it'd be impossible to do The Avengers without Captain America, that's why.""I don't know." ...
Read More