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December 2nd, 2009
 | 10:25 pm - The Beastmaster Is Dating a High Schooler!
Tonight I interviewed a high school girl for admission to Rice. She came here from China last year, so her English was a little broken, but passable.
As we were leaving, I told her to feel free to e-mail me with any questions she had about Rice and such.
In a complete non sequitur, she said, "I don't know if this is appropriate...but you're a good-looking guy."
...I said, "Thank you." It was not appropriate! But it was amusing! Especially since, from my name, she had been expecting a woman.
So I'm attractive to underage Chinese girls. That's...something, I guess.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) glasseseater: I could go for a high school girlfriend
spectralbovine: Oh my God.
I just met Knives Chau (17 Years Old).
This past Saturday, I watched all of V and V: The Final Battle, which SyFy helpfully aired a while back. They were quite enjoyable! I was amused at how truly heavy-handed the Nazi allegory was...in that they fucking came right out and said it. Of course, it wasn't until then that I noticed that the Visitors' logo looked like a swastika.
It took me a while to identify all the characters because for the first hour, it was like, "Ah, it's the handsome white dude and his Asian sidekick. And the woman with big hair! And the other woman with big hair! And...the other woman with big hair! And the other handsome white dude! And the old lady! And the other old lady! And the old dude! And the other old dude! And the black guy! The other black guy! CHARACTER OVERLOAD OMG." I don't even know how long it took me to remember anyone's name. I have forgotten most of their names already. But I liked the heroine a lot; she was pretty cool. And the Korean sidekick. And Diana was pretty great, especially in the second miniseries, which was more action-packed and full of explosions.
I must say, though, that the infamous guinea pig scene was disappointing. The special effects editing was so bad! I know it was the eighties, but still. It took me out of the moment. Not that it isn't still a memorable image. What wasn't disappointing was the lizard baby. Oh my God!
I liked watching the rebel group form and grow and develop, this scrappy team of regular people who band together to defeat their alien oppressors. It was good stuff! I kind of want to watch the TV series.
But I am already watching a TV series! I am really digging the new V. I can see that they've changed a lot, but they've kept most of the basic elements (while introducing new ones that offer more storytelling potential). The med student became an FBI agent, and the journalist became a priest. I'm amused that even in the original miniseries, the Hitler Youth character was the douchiest douche in Douchelandia, except he was seduced by a hot guy instead of Supergirl. Anna is a very different sort of villain from Diana, and I like how the new series has been very coy about showing the Visitors really being eeeeeevil. The idea that they are of peace, always, is pushed much more heavily, whereas in the miniseries, it quickly seems to get to the point where you can't see the Visitors as anything but villains. You can take it slower in a TV series, so right now, they get to fuck with your head a bit.
The series will have a new showrunner when it comes back in March, so I wonder how the show will change. I haven't really had the issues with it that others apparently have. I think it's more solid and sure of itself than FlashForward. It's exciting and intriguing and has neat plot twists. The new showrunner wants to have an OMG moment in every episode, though, so I am all for it! What is television without OMG moments, after all.
Basically, thumbs up for alien oppressors masquerading as bringers of peace! Good story, however you do it.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/embarrassed.png) embarrassed
Current Music: Kittie - Choke
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November 15th, 2009
 | 09:10 pm - Writers with Drinks, Burritos, and Fries
A few days ago, I discovered that Javier Grillo-Marxuach, creator of TV's The Middleman, was coming up here for Writers with Drinks, a monthly literary spoken-word variety show. Javi and I met three years ago at an 826michigan event, and he seemed to like me. He sent me a nice message when I found him on Facebook last year, and he was excited to see me at Comic-Con, even wanting a picture. So I figured I'd ask if he wanted to get together for burritos before the event, just for kicks. I assumed he would have more important people to see in his limited time here anyway.
But, in fact, he was totally game. He just had to see about plans with his potential future sister-in-law—I loved that he used that phrase, just as I refer to potential future wives—and he would give me a call. Potential future sisters-in-law surely trump dudes like me, so when I didn't get a call on Saturday, I figured he'd made other plans.
But, in fact, a few minutes before I was set to leave, he called. We'd meet at the Make-Out Room (the venue for the event) at 6:30. Cool!
( Pre-Pre-Party: Dinner with Javi )
( Pre-Party: Putting the 'drinks' in Writers with Drinks )
( The Main Event: Writers with Drinks )
( Pre-Afterparty: Not making out in the Make-Out Room )
( Afterparty: Crepes and fries with nerdy guys (and gals) )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/tired.png) tired
Current Music: The Arrogant Worms - Great to Be a Nerd
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November 3rd, 2009
 | 10:18 pm - I'll Eat You Up
Last Sunday morning, after the AMWA conference, I made the decision to defy my parents. I had come into town early to spend time with them, and I had reserved Sunday for me. Me, me, me, whatever I wanted to do. But they wanted me to come back for a little while anyway, and I had assented, downtrodden, even though I didn't want to. This morning, though, I wanted to stop giving in all the time.
The phone rang. "When are you coming?" said my dad.
"I'm not coming," I said.
"What do you mean, not coming? Not coming doesn't work!"
"Of course it works; why wouldn't it work?" I expected to have to explain myself.
But: "Okay, you do what you want, bye." And then he hung up.
( Are you locked up in a world that's been planned out for you? )
( Are you feeling like a social tool without a use? )
( Scream at me until my ears bleed )
( I'm taking heed just for you )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/lazy.png) lazy
Current Music: Kittie - Choke
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November 2nd, 2009
 | 11:16 pm - Deep in the Heart of AMWA, Part II: Creative Nonfiction as an Outlet for Medical Writers
If you're just joining us, you may want to read Part I first.
( Friday: Creative Nonfiction Panel, Conferencing, Wife Meeting, Buffista Meeting )
( Saturday: Lunch, Conferencing, Sports Bar, Dinner with Brother, Sports Bar )
The AMWA conference experience was over, for all intents and purposes, as I wouldn't see anyone the next day. It had been a pretty good conference, and I was glad that the people I'd bonded with this year were local, so I hope to see them more frequently than just at conferences.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/weird.png) weird
Current Music: Metric - Satellite Mind
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November 1st, 2009
 | 11:00 pm - Deep in the Heart of AMWA, Part I: Introduction to Cancer Pharmacology
From Atlanta to Louisville to Dallas, the American Medical Writers Association sure doesn't like to gather in the typical conference towns. And even though I was from the area, I was unfamiliar with downtown Dallas.
This year's conference was going to be very important, as I was giving a three-hour cancer pharmacology workshop and speaking on a creative nonfiction panel. The former I had been preparing for almost non-stop for the last couple months. The latter I was mostly going to wing. But I was also going to, as always, meet some great new people, which is what I enjoy most about these conferences.
( Wednesday: Registration, Reception, Creative Reading, Family Drama )
( Thursday: Keynote, Cancer Pharmacology Workshop, Dinner, Dessert )
Tomorrow, the adventures continue!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/numb.png) numb
Current Music: Deftones - Xerces
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October 21st, 2009
| 04:51 pm - It's Okay to Eat Fish 'Cause They Don't Have Any Feelings
Because this year's AMWA conference is in Dallas, I came in early to spend some time with my family. Because you know how much I love doing that.
( Of family, being Indian, and food )
My mom is a fan of procedurals. This time, I watch my first episode of The Mentalist, which is not as identical to Psych as Steve Franks would have you believe. The main characters do share a gimmick, but everything else is different. Jane is more subdued than Shawn, and, if you can believe it, even more arrogant. And the team aspect is a big difference. Robin Tunney is a little less meh than she was on Prison Break. Owain Yeoman was wasted in the first episode I saw, but he had some good scenes in the second episode we watched. I like the Asian guy. And Van Pelt, the redhead, is so freaking pretty. I would watch the show for her if I did that sort of thing. Anyway, I enjoyed the episodes I watched.
I also watch some movies, as Cinemax is good for more than soft porn.
Doomsday: I...have not seen a movie with this many decapitations in a while. I loved The Descent and have been wanting to see Dog Soldiers, so it's disappointing that this movie is...not very good. Rhona Mitra is pretty badass, though. In one scene, she takes down an armored gladiator in her civvies. Later, she drives through a bus.
The Strangers: Holy shit, this is a scary fucking movie. It eschews most horror-movie cliches and opts for being creepy and terrifying in a very minimalist sort of way. The tension builds and it holds. You don't need big-budget special effects; you just need sounds and images and the viewer's imagination. I recommend seeing it if you never want to feel safe again.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: My mom and I saw this for fifty cents, and it was totally worth fifty cents. We actually were a little late, and as soon as we arrived, things exploded for about ten minutes straight. The action scenes were at times incoherent, but they were also at times AWESOME. And they actually bothered to give characters backstories and stuff! Also, the Baroness is superhot and Rachel Nichols has red hair. The overall plot is less incoherent than that of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and it has fewer failed attempts at comedy (although I think the entire cast must have been embarrassed at any point they had to say a catchphrase). If I start to think about it, it is not very good, and, I'm sorry, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but what the living fuck were you thinking. It does, however, have hot chicks and explosions, and I was sufficiently entertained.
Funny Games: Michael Haneke, director of Cache, a movie I absolutely hated, remade his original Austrian film with Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, and some other dude. I thought it would be a good follow-up to The Strangers, as it's another movie about people terrorizing a couple for no apparent reason. But it's not scary or terrifying. It's very...strange. And unnerving. And boring. The two antagonists are very polite, which is kind of amusing. I was intrigued by the reviews that mentioned how the movie broke the fourth wall, but there were only three or four meta moments, and although one of them is a pretty awesome mindfuck, they weren't enough to elevate the movie above its base premise.
Now, I am at my hotel. The original plan was for there to be a clear dichotomy in this trip: before the conference was for them and the conference time was for ME. I don't know why I thought that would work. My current potential future wife happens to be in town for a wedding this weekend, and they are trying to arrange a face-to-face meeting, which will likely mean skipping something at the conference. I have not even exchanged e-mails with this girl, and my parents do not have a good track record of finding girls who click with me. And every single time I was asked whether I would see them after I left for the conference, I said no, but my parents said yes. My dad wanted me to come home Saturday night, as soon as the conference was over. I give them four full days and they still want to monopolize my time. If I knew they were going to be this persistent, I would have scheduled my flight for early Sunday morning to get out of here as soon as possible rather than give myself free time to see people who aren't my parents.
This was supposed to be a good, fun conference. I'm giving a workshop. I'm sitting on a panel. Now I can't even enjoy it.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/angry.png) angry
Current Music: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Let Me Know (Demo)
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October 17th, 2009
 | 12:06 am - Things We Lost at the Airport
My flight is at 2:35, but SuperShuttle gets me to SFO closer to 1. I reach my gate and take a seat near an outlet so I can plug in my laptop.
Next to me is a seat empty but for a book. I wait for its owner to return.
Time passes, and the book remains in the seat. Finally, I become curious. The book is People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author according to the cover. I read the blurb, and it looks interesting. There is a leaf a little over half of the way through, marking the owner's place.
The Borders sticker is still on the back, implying the person just bought it.
On the inside of the front cover is a woman's name and number. This could be an artifact of a used book purchase, but the Borders sticker argues against that theory. I call the number; maybe the woman is in the airport and will come back. I reach a machine. I don't leave a message, as I am yet unsure what I am going to do.
Maybe it was abandoned on purpose. Hey, free book. But there is a leaf! A leaf! She did not even finish reading.
I Google the area code. The number hails from...St. Louis. Oh, balls.
The flight before mine was going to St. Louis. She totally forgot her book here.
I Google her name and St. Louis and hit upon what appears to be her Facebook page. The profile picture is of an elderly couple. I could send her a Facebook message, but I have her phone number anyway. If this is indeed her book and she did indeed forget it.
I want to confirm for sure, not wanting to take the book in case the owner came back after a very long bathroom break. But the woman at the counter, as I expect, is not allowed to tell me whether a particular passenger was on that flight.
I see a woman appear to examine the empty seat where the book lay and then turn around, and I don't remember exactly what the woman on Facebook looked like. Maybe that's her? I ask her if it's her book and it isn't. Okay, back to the original plan.
I call the number to leave a message, but this time the phone keeps ringing! Maybe the line is busy? But they weren't home just a few minutes before. They are on a plane!
I wait a few minutes and try again, and this time a man picks up. I ask him if this is the residence of The Woman. Yes, he is a man with her last name. I ask him if his wife is flying from San Francisco to St. Louis today. Yes, from California to St. Louis. I tell him I found a book with her name and number in it. She forgot it at the gate. Oh no, he says, she'll probably be looking all over the plane for it. I tell him I'd be happy to mail it. He asks if the address is in there, and it is not, so he gives it to me. He says it's very nice of me, and I tell him that I am a book lover as well, and if I lost a book, I would be freaking out. Besides, she hasn't even finished it yet.
I wonder what would have happened if someone else had found it.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/full.png) full
Current Music: Björk - It's Oh So Quiet [in my head]
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October 11th, 2009
 | 11:36 pm - They're Frrr-ustrating!
This morning, my mom called to ask for a favor: my grandparents had no one to drive them to the Diwali dinner. My grandfather just had eye surgery, and family drama with my aunt and uncle kept them from being accommodating. So it was up to me to drive down to Belmont and take them up to the temple in San Bruno. It turned out to be the same Diwali dinner I've gone to for the last couple years anyway.
Within minutes of entering, I spied a cute girl...whom I recognized. It couldn't be. You've got to be kidding me.
It was the second accountant. We'll call her Agent M, codename: Queen of the Flakes. As I related in that post, we had a very nice dinner a couple years ago, and she seemed agreeable to further meetings except she kept canceling them until I gave up. We remained Facebook friends, and sometimes I would send her a message asking how she was doing, and she would reply, and I would reply, but that's as far as it would go. Last year, she unexpectedly contacted me, which I used as an opportunity to attempt another meeting that, again, fell through despite our best efforts. And then she sent me a message at the beginning of this year, to which I responded but got no further response. She was my favorite potential future wife, so I held a tiny bit of hope that the stars would somehow align. And then a few months ago, she got engaged. I was this close to removing her since it seemed silly to keep her on based on one dinner and a relationship that consisted of "How are you?" "Good, how are you?" "Good." And then she left me a birthday message. Alas, she was a nice girl who sometimes noticed that I existed.
And here she was. We caught up. I was surprised she remembered things about me like where I lived, where I went to school, and that I had at least one younger sibling.
Her unexpected appearance seemed like some sort of bookend, a coda to this year of flaky women. On three separate and unrelated occasions, I have met a girl who appeared to enjoy my presence and expressed interest in seeing me, and in all three instances, that relationship either fizzled or never really materialized, albeit in different ways. I'm not even talking dating; regular friendship would suffice. I just don't make much of an impression, whereas I am very impressionable.
Agent M introduced me to her cousin, who was male, which meant I had a seating companion—at our awesomely sexist Indian functions, men and women sit in separate sections. I also met a recently married couple and explained how to use LinkedIn. I gave the woman my business card since she was looking for a job in the biotech industry. (She had been complaining that she didn't know anyone here that she wasn't related to, which allowed me to say, "Hi, I'm Sunil, I'm not related to you." Unfortunately, I spoke too fast and had to repeat myself, leaving out the flourish.)
Agent M had only come to the Diwali dinner since she'd never been and she thought she might as well go to one before she left. Her fiancé was in Florida, and she was moving there. I didn't get a chance to pull her aside and ask how that whole thing had worked out. Could she tell from his biodata that he was the guy? Did they have lively e-mail conversations? How long did they talk before their parents asked one of them to go meet in person? I've already got a new current potential future wife; I need to know these things.
As she left, she said that it was good to see me—and the feeling was mutual—and she would e-mail me when she was back in town, since she had a client here.
Yeah, we'll see about that.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/confused.png) confused
Current Music: Dirt Poor Robins - Light in My Darkness
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October 8th, 2009
 | 11:54 pm - Cutting the Mustard
Last night, I met another Kiwi. It appears that flymara is switching places with kroki_refur: now that the latter has gone from England to New Zealand by way of San Francisco, the former is making the opposite journey. Mara got to play the International Dateline game, however, by leaving on Wednesday evening and arriving here Wednesday morning.
We had dinner at Max's, which is where I had tried and failed to have dinner with ora_wai. On the way, I learned that our little silver walking man—the signal to cross the street—confused her because in New Zealand, the walking man is green. Other bizarre things about New Zealand include the fact that they call McDonald's "Mackie's," they put beets in their cheeseburgers, and they call all candy "lollies" (I received more Pineapple Lumps). Mara had an American cheeseburger with no beets; she could not finish it all. As we looked over the dessert menu, she asked me what cobbler was, and I tried to explain. Then she asked me what graham crackers were, and I had no idea how to explain. So we had a key lime pie. She liked it and said it tasted like brandy snaps, whatever those are.
What Mara will really take away, though, is the fact that we Americans really love our mustard.
Your eyes do not deceive you. That is cranberry mustard. Which tastes just like it sounds. It actually works! And the sweet hot mustard sort of tasted like McDonald's hot mustard sauce, which they didn't have in New Zealand.
I took her up the Westin St. Francis elevator, which she really enjoyed. Then we went back to her hotel to watch American television, but all that was on was crap like Hank and Trauma. Still, just like ora_wai, she was excited to be watching American TV on a TV with commercials and everything.
I don't know what she watched tonight. I know what I watched, though.
( FlashForward )
( Fringe )
( Supernatural )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/relieved.png) relieved
Current Music: VAST - Flames
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October 4th, 2009
 | 10:42 pm - San Francisco in a Day
If you knew me back in my Rice days, you may remember Katie. She played a very important role in my life, sometimes without even knowing it. For instance, she was the first person to introduce me to Farscape. And she also showed me my first anime. Of course, I didn't really get into either of those things until years later.
Katie and I were very good friends at Rice, and we managed to keep in touch, thankfully. She was a year behind me, so I probably saw her on my visit back for Pirates in 2004, but then it was all Internet and the occasional phone call. She got a job she loved, married a Ryan she loved, and bought a house she loved. She's living the dream! She even makes her own curtains.
Katie & Ryan came across some cheap flights from Houston to San Francisco and planned a vacation the first weekend of October. She gave me a heads up, and I took the day off work on Friday to hang with them. I asked her what they wanted to do, and they had no real plans. Katie had never been to San Francisco, and Ryan had only been there for a conference and not seen much of the city. They wanted a local to show them around, and they were putting their day completely in my hands. They trusted me! It was a big responsibility.
I'm sure you all know where we started our day.
( The Mission Tour )
( The Walking Tour )
( The North Beach Tour )
( The Chinatown Tour )
( The Union Square Tour )
( The Rice Alumni Happy Hour Tour )
( The Sushi Tour )
It was one of the best complete days, from start to finish, that I've had in a long time.
Current Mood: weird
Current Music: Guster - Happier
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September 23rd, 2009
 | 02:11 pm - The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Paint Job
Last month, I related the story of how Oak Tree Mazda refused to fix the scratch that was on my car when I bought it. Normally, little old me would have just lived with it, but in my continuing quest to be assertive, b-e assertive, I took the advice of people with more gumption than I and wrote a letter to the president of the dealership group, Big Cheese. I invoked the group's claim of "Project 100," which sought to "provide 100% customer satisfaction to 100% of our customers - 100% of the time!" Clearly, I was...less than satisfied, and I told the sordid tale of my experience with Oak Tree Mazda, including the dialogue with the salesman, Richard Cheese, who was unduly belligerent and snide toward me. It was four pages long.
I had to do a little bit of digging to find the address of the dealership group, as Google listed it under various addresses (corresponding to the dealerships). I called one and asked a woman for the address, and when I told her that I was writing about my experience at another dealership, she said, "You didn't get this from me." And gave me the full address of the business office and Big Cheese's direct line, as well as how to spell his name. (At the name of the dealership, she gave a knowing "Ooooooh.")
In the letter, I included pictures of the scratch at time of purchase and after the shoddy touch-up job and a request that Big Cheese call me within seven days or I would send the letter to Mazda. I also included my business card as proof that I was a professional and not some punk kid. I sent the letter certified mail, so I knew he got it the next day, but seven days passed without any response, so I sent the same letter to Mazda Customer Service with a similar request to be called within seven days to discuss the issue. Seven days passed without any response.
Two weeks ago, I received a hilariously perplexing voicemail from...Oak Tree Mazda. The woman wanted me to make an appointment to fix the scratch on my car, as it must have been "forgotten" or "overlooked" when I had come in before. O RLY? She noted that they'd had the paperwork since February and it was now September, just as facts. I wasn't sure whether Big Cheese had taken action or whether they had internally decided to save face or whether this was yet another issue of their service and sales departments not communicating with each other properly. I didn't return the call.
Meanwhile, I set up an appointment with my local Mazda to look at a transmission issue with my car. I asked the guy there whether a pre-existing scratch would be covered under warranty, and he said that it wouldn't, since it was part of the dealer's inspection and it would have to go through them. Rats.
( Since I gave a story of bad customer service before, here's one of good customer service to balance it out! )
Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: Tracy Bonham - Thumbelina
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September 22nd, 2009
 | 02:37 am - I Feel Like I'm Wasting My Life on the Internet
One of my favorite webcomics is xkcd. It is an extremely geeky webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. Filled with stick figures, pie graphs, and flow charts.
The creator, Randall Munroe—who is three years younger than I am—has put together his first book, xkcd: Volume 0, with the help of Breadpig. And he's doing a few book release parties to raise money to build a school in Laos.
One such party was at 111 Minna tonight, sponsored by EFF. Tickets were $30, or $100 to come an hour early and get some extra schmoozing time. I was waffling on whether or not I wanted to drop thirty bucks on the event, but then Aarika told me a story.
See, Aarika (adnirem) and Julia (skogkatt) celebrate my birthday like it's a national holiday. Every year, they get each other presents for my birthday. Don't ask me why. Don't ask them why. It's a thing.
A few weeks ago, Julia was chatting with a friend of hers in a coffeeshop. Said friend knows Randall Munroe (and Ryan North, I mean, COME ON NOW). They were talking about how she knew all these webcomics guys when...in walked Randall Munroe. Who invited them back to his apartment to play in his ball pit.
Julia decided that an awesome Sunil's Birthday present would be a ball from Randall Munroe's ball pit. So she got him to write "Happy Sunil's Birthday to Aarika" on a red ball. Randall Munroe wrote my name!
With that knowledge, I knew it was my destiny to meet Randall Munroe tonight.
( Pre-Event: Sunil meets both a cute girl and Randall Munroe! )
( The Main Event: Randall Munroe answers a lot of ridiculous questions! )
( Post-Event: Sunil manages not to bore a stranger to death! )
The event was a lot of fun, and it was very cool to see Randall Munroe be a normal person guy. There will actually be a free event on Wednesday at Borderlands at 7:30, so if you didn't get a ticket to this, you should go. I would go, but I should really be a responsible adult.
I would be annoyed that I paid to meet Randall Munroe when I could have done so for free, but it was worth it to make a new friend.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/flirty.png) flirty
Current Music: Evanescence - Whisper
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September 16th, 2009
 | 08:06 pm - A Matter of Life or Seven Dollars
Today I found myself engaged in a heated battle between my cheapness and my principles.
My comic book store is Dr. Comics and Mr. Games on Piedmont. I've been going there for over a year, and I really like the staff. Especially the two cute girls. They make my week better. But that's neither here nor there.
I do not buy comics. I'm not a collector, and I can't spend three or four dollars on something that will take me ten minutes to read. I buy trades to keep and treasure forever, but I want to keep up with the stories live because there's a certain excitement in that, even if I don't have a lot of people to talk to about them. So I read issues off the shelves, slightly surreptitiously even though no one has ever said anything. But in order to support the store, I do buy things occasionally, especially when there's a sale. My comic book store in Ann Arbor had used trades, so that was right up my alley. Dr. Comics doesn't have used trades, but they do have a discount table, and they do have sales every few months.
There's one guy with whom I've discussed comics a lot. Just today, we talked Daredevil, and he showed me the trades they had, as well as The Losers by Andy Diggle, the new writer for Daredevil, and Sin City since we were talking about Frank Miller. "Sir," I did not say, "you have mistaken me for someone who regularly buys brand-new books at their full retail price." There is, of course, no logical reason to pay full price for a book that you can buy discounted on Amazon.
In the past, we've talked about Brian K. Vaughan. He thinks that he tends to start out strong but then fizzles out, losing his interest. I disagree, but that's neither here nor there. On at least two occasions, he has recommended to me his favorite work by Brian K. Vaughan, Doctor Strange: The Oath. Since it's a five-issue miniseries, it doesn't suffer from the fizzle-out factor. I am not that familiar with Doctor Strange, but I do love BKV, so I resolved to buy it one of these days on his recommendation. That day has not arrived yet, as I usually have other things I want or need to buy when sales roll around.
After I left Dr. Comics, I went to Spectator Books to check their shelves of used graphic novels for anything I needed to buy.
To my horror, there on the shelf was Doctor Strange: The Oath. For seven dollars. Half-price.
I grappled with the dilemma. I could buy it, saving myself seven dollars, and read it and love it and thank the guy for his recommendation. But the only reason I wanted to read it was because he recommended it to me! If it were a matter of reading it, I could just get it from the library. Buying it here proved nothing. But...seven dollars. Maybe only four, if I bought it on a sale day. Why should I pay more when I could pay less? But I had resolved! I didn't make the resolve face, but I had resolved! It was a very appropriate thing to do, buying something that was recommended by an employee at his place of employment. Even if it did cost more and I could have gotten it for less elsewhere. Of course, the truly appropriate thing to do would be to buy all the trades of comics I read on the shelves, but—hey, hey, we're getting off-track here. No, no, of all things I should buy from the store, it should be a thing I had not even heard of before. I would support the store as I had promised to no one in particular. Whenever the mood struck me, I would buy Doctor Strange: The Oath from Dr. Comics and nowhere else.
It really was a tough decision! But I am pleased that my principles won out. Sometimes I stick by them, money be damned!
Instead I bought Book of Enchantments by Patricia C. Wrede and The Witches by Roald Dahl because they were like two bucks each. Come on.
Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: Manchester Orchestra - I've Got Friends
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September 8th, 2009
 | 03:33 pm - Labor Day, Labor Evening
Most of you are not familiar with Katy (starfyer), but she is a longtime friend of mine from my pre-LJ days. We met in person six years ago on a grad school visit to Madison, but we had not seen each other since. And then she got married and decided to honeymoon in San Francisco! This is why I like living here: people come here. She and her new husband, Joey, wanted me to show them around a bit, so I met them in the Mission for my traditional whirlwind tour. If you've been reading my journal for a good length of time, you pretty much know what we did!
After the initial hug and handshake, I took them to Taqueria El Toro. The Wisconsinites were very impressed with our San Francisco burritos, and I enjoyed my quesadilla. Then, of course, I showed them my favorite alley, which I have finally discovered is not just some random thing but the Clarion Alley Mural Project. Next was Bi-Rite, where I made sure to get cookies and cream to see if it was better than Emack and Bolio's (it was—cookies and cream should taste like cookies and cream, not cream with some cookies in it). We walked past Dolores Park as Joey fell in love with the salted caramel.
As I hoped, Joey was a big fan of Paxton Gate. Katy seemed creeped out by most of it. Next was the pirate store, and the girl working the counter commented on my shirt, confusing me at first because I always forget what I'm wearing. I was wearing my "I'm famous on the Internet" shirt.
"What part of the Internet? North?"
"Northeast."
"I'll have to look you up next time I'm there."
I tried to get them mopped, but the girl didn't have very good aim. She was still pretty entertaining, though, and Katy and Joey enjoyed the pirate store, as everyone does.
Finally, I took Katy to Borderlands to buy Seanan's book. I asked if they had any copies left, and they still had the two signed copies from Saturday, so Katy snagged one. She also got them to order a book written by a blogger she read, which was cool of them.
We pet Ripley the hairless cat in the back. A girl had come in because of the "Yes, the cats are in" sign and had Ripley on her lap. Ripley, the hairless cat with hair (she'd had chemo). She had hair where she wasn't supposed to! The girl also commented on my shirt.
"Why are you famous on the Internet? For having hair where you're not supposed to?"
"No, I'm not sure I'd want to be famous for that. I'm not really famous anymore, anyway. No one knows who I am."
"If you don't mind my asking, what are you famous for, really?"
"I did stuff for Veronica Mars fandom."
After a very successful Mission tour, we had to get a picture together, so we went back to Clarion Alley and posed with a mural. Katy and Joey thanked me for showing them around; Joey preferred the down-and-dirty Mission to the fancy downtown area. I left them to Union Square, hoping they found the great glass elevators in the Westin St. Francis.
A little while after I got home, Rick (ellric) came over so I could show him the insane glory that is Shoot 'Em Up. He enjoyed it quite a bit! I would say more, but I have a full capsule review already written for the next movie post.
We went back to his place so I could show him and Lisa (danea) their very first Bollywood movie, Let's Dance...which starred a childhood friend of mine. I thought it would be really weird, but it was surprisingly less weird than expected. Turns out she's a good actress! She acts as well as any of the other heroines I've seen. Also, the fact that she was speaking Hindi most of the time prevented some cognitive dissonance, but it was weird to hear her speak Hindi-accented English when that's not how she normally speaks. I already knew she was a great dancer, so seeing her dance on film was like seeing her in her element. But it was still a little weird. The movie had more of a plot than I expected, given that it was a dance movie, but it was a very predictable plot. At the end, they dance a kid out of a coma. Seriously. I hope the movie gets her noticed so she can be in a better Bollywood flick with real stars!
"I have to say," said Rick, "your friend is hot."
I was a poor cultural translator for Lisa. I couldn't even remember how much a lakh was. It's not a thousand or ten thousand but a hundred thousand. Which makes more sense. I am a terrible Indian.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/stressed.png) stressed
Current Music: Green Day - When I Come Around
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September 6th, 2009
 | 03:42 pm - A Filk Concert Disguised As a Book Release Party
Yesterday was the second of three release parties for Rosemary and Rue, which you should totally buy. The party was at Borderlands, and it was supposed to be EPIC. I mean, it was four hours long.
( The Most Epic Book Release Party of All Time )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/productive.png) productive
Current Music: Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
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August 27th, 2009
 | 11:08 pm - Comic-Con 2009, Day 5: Our Song Is Ending (These Days)
On Sunday morning, we finish up the last of the cereal and milk. As we get ready and pack up, gymble and I try to convince miniglik to watch Leverage.
We pop the luggage in the car and check out. It is our final walk to the trolley. They have never checked for our ticket. We have all wasted fifteen dollars. Sort of.
( Pre-Panel: Doctor Who )
( Unexpected Meeting: Kerry Glover )
( Panel: Doctor Who )
( Signing: The Guild )
( Lunch with Roxy and Queenie and Ali and Mini and Gymbly )
( Exhibit Hall: David Mack, Atom.com, etc. )
( Post-Con: Singalongs and Dramatic Reading )
( Monday )
So that was my first full Comic-Con, in several thousand words.
I can't wait for next year.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/accomplished.png) accomplished
Current Music: I Mother Earth - Used to Be Alright
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August 26th, 2009
August 25th, 2009
 | 11:00 pm - Comic-Con 2009, Day 3: Friday Is Felicia Day
Friday is a big day for my three compatriots, as the Farscape panel in the morning is their can't-miss panel. Unfortunately, it is at the same time as the Guild panel, which is my can't-miss panel. I am woken up at 6, as they are taking precautions to make sure they get a spot in line. The first express trolley is at 8:25, so they—and then I—have to take the Green Line to the Blue Line to the Orange Line. Irritatingly, I end up getting to the convention center at 8:45, which is when I would have gotten there had I just waited until 8:25. I left too late to make the non-express trolleys worth it.
( Panel: The Guild )
( Signing: Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClaine )
( Pre-Panel: Attack of the Sh...it )
( Panel: 24 )
( Panel: Bones )
( Panel: Dollhouse )
( Exhibit Hall: Milling Around with Musey )
( Unexpected Meeting: Jane Espenson )
( Pre-Dinner Entertainment )
( Dinner Entertainment )
Friday is an exciting day, but Saturday promises to be even more exciting. I just don't know it yet.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/nervous.png) nervous
Current Music: The Prodigy - Claustrophobic Sting
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August 24th, 2009
 | 11:10 pm - Comic-Con 2009, Day 2: The Comic-Con Panel Punctuation
Thursday morning begins bright and early. Well, early. Some of us are not so bright. gymble and I are clearly not morning people, whereas miniglik and Mr. Gymble have no issues. Mini even goes out to get us cereal and milk for breakfast, along with a bottle of wine named Irony (not for breakfast). She even gets disposable bowls and cutlery! We have a little fridge; she also brings some juice of some sort, I think.
( Pre-Panel: The Middleman )
( Panel: The Middleman )
( Signing: The Middleman )
( Panel: Wonder Women: Female Power Icons in Pop Culture )
( Press Room: Psych )
( Panel: Dexter )
( Exhibit Hall, Dinner, Waiting )
( After Hours with Roxy and Queenie )
Just so you know, my notes for Thursday were about two-and-a-half pages long.
My notes for Friday were about three pages long.
Saturday: four-and-a-half pages long.
It's only getting crazier from here, folks.
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Deftones - Xerces
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August 23rd, 2009
| 10:57 pm - Comic-Con 2009, Day 1: Twenty Pounds of Crazy in a Five-Pound Bag
You totally know what I did at Comic-Con.
But that was only the teaser. What follows is the epic tale of one geek who survived five days of awesome and then killed his fingers to tell you about it.
If I forget something or get something wrong, I'm sorry. Let's get this party started.
( Getting to Comic-Con )
( Signing: The Guild )
( The Exhibit Hall Errands: Webcomics and David Mack Edition )
( Reconnecting Through the Power of Facebook )
Tomorrow, Comic-Con will really begin.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/anxious.png) anxious
Current Music: Ladytron - The Reason Why
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![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/cynical.png)
cynical