It’s been a few days, so I thought I’d throw an update y’all’s way. Whining first:
Well, to start with, I woke up this morning with a BLAZING headache. Seriously, like a couldn’t see straight, back of my head felt like it was going to fall off and eyes felt like they might pop headache (I think maybe I was sleeping with my head under the blankets and not getting enough fresh oxygen). But then I took some excedrine and it subsided. A little. And then I took some MORE excedrine, and it totally went away. 
Because excedrine is magic.
Other than stupid sleeping decisions…I’ve been catching up on the five hundred pounds of homework I let myself fall behind on…My Halloween was at least holiday appropriate as it was spent doing the sketches on the left for my History and Analysis of Design project (I’m doing mine on the history of anatomical illustration). Last night I threw together my ‘research paper’ (it had to be at least a page long…so the fact that I phoned it in a little hopefully won’t kill me. Hey….I’ve got a good page and a half of information there…) Today I have to finish the hands-on portion of the assignment, and put together my power-point presentation. Ugh.
My final big gripe is that tomorrow, the day my project is due, I also have to wake up at a stupid hour (thus, theoretically get to bed early…but we’ll see depending on the state of my homework) because tomorrow is voting day, and so Briggs and I have to go to our local polling place on the way into town because it’ll be closed (for a while) by the time we are headed home and since we live out in the boonies, it is ALSO out in the boonies. Blargh.
Okay…whining done, I think. 
Fun stuff: Though I did nothing particularly Halloween-esque on the 31st other than light fresh candles in our pumpkins, Briggs and I did go down and watch a movie and eat pumpkin bread and coconut cream pie with his awesome cousin Anna. Oh, and I made pumpkin bread…which counts as Halloween-y. (BTW…the reason I ended up doing nothing festive on Halloween…I was supposed to go trick-or-treating with Anna and the kids and was totally excited, but the stupid town I live in ARRANGED TO HAVE EVERYONE HAND OUT CANDY A DAY EARLY so that people would still show up to the Friday night high school football game. OMG it’s like I live in Glendale again. LAME.)
-Prepare for geekyness-
I continue to successfully surger my crew-mates at our weekly role-playing game. I actually had people volunteering to have me cut them open (once it was discovered that the previous doctor had stuck small explosives to various bones throughout their bodies) and THIS WEEK I did not kill anyone.
-</geekyness>-
Last night Briggs and I took Spirited Away over to Anna and Aaron’s house, since neither they nor their children had ever seen a Miyazaki film. It seemed to be well recieved by all, having a good enough blend of humor, cuteness, adventure, gross stuff, plot and pretty pictures to keep young and old alike entertained. Because Hayao Miyazaki is a god. We are forcing Howl’s Moving Castle on them next.
Also, we left a copy of Ghostbusters there when we went over last time, ’cause none of the children had ever seen it, and we thought it was necessary childhood content.
Yeah…they’ve apparently become totally obsessed with it and have watched it a number of times. *dusts off hands* My work here is done.
Anyway, important homework awaits, so some quick book reviews and I’m out.
I picked up the first two editions of the graphic novel series ‘Preacher’ recently.
Pure Awesome.
The premise of the series is, a while back, a demon and an angel fell in love, got it on, and popped one out. They were put to death for fornicating with the enemy, however, the child (named Genesis) was taken into custody by heaven. Well…it got out. It wanted to join with a human soul (it succeeded). This would apparently make it super-duper powerful…like, as powerful as God.
The soul Genesis ended up joining with is a minister in a small town church in Texas named Jesse Custer, who ran out on his now-hitwoman girlfriend about five years back. She ends up in the neighborhood while hitching a ride with a dirty-mouthed, mildly obnoxious Irish vampire named Cassidy. And there you have your cast of main characters. The three end up joining forces (off and on) while running from all the baddies who want to take them out…this includes everyone from small-town sherriffs, to evil families, to secret societies to heaven itself. Super awesome, gorgeous art, wonderful story…definitely violent, dark and disturbing. I’m looking forward to getting a hold of the next book.
I also recently got picked up of the final issue of the Gloom Cookie series. (not pictured…I couldn’t find a decent image of it)
Now, I have been a huge fan of Gloom Cookie since a friend first lent me the comics years ago. I have pushed them on others, I have waited excitedly for installments of the graphic novel editions to come out… Once I acquired the final book, I re-read all the previous ones to re-immerse myself in the storyline, to enjoy the pretty art…my fingers tingled with joy as I picked up book 5.
My fingers feel stupid for all that tingling.
(warning – spoilers ahead)
The story of Gloom Cookie is as follows: Lex, a little San Francisco gothling falls in love with Damon, another SFG. Oh, but it turns out that he’s really a gargoyle and so is his ex, Isabella…and he and Lex have had a star-crossed relationship since pretty much forever, but Isabella cursed them because Damon left her for Lex, so every time she is re-incarnated and they get together, Lex ends up dying tragically. And it’s going to happen again if Isabella doesn’t break the curse.
Meanwhile, their adorable golden-haired buddy Sebastian is learning that he is the son of the ringleader of a spooky magic traveling carnival and has magic powers, and that his girlfriend Chrys is merely a wax doll he wished to life. His magic powers come into play first in brining cursed Lex back to life, and then in stopping the evil enemy carnival that wants to kill them all (and also kills cute innocent children. See? Evil.)
Anyway, throughout the whole series, the story has been about Lex and Damon’s star-crossed love, and Sebastian learning about his past and his powers. I was expecting a conclusion based on those premises. I guess that when you assume….
First of all, I just want to get this on the table…I did NOT love the art in the final book. Even though each previous book has switched illustraters, I have enjoyed the style that each brought to the series. This one…not at all. Big thumbs down. But that’s just personal taste.
What really pissed me off was the fact that the fairy-tale storyline basically gets thrown out the window…Lex wants Damon to live his life without her, she says, casting puppy-dog eyes at Sebastian, to make sure that there is more in his life than his love of her. Come on! He’s waited for you to get re-incarnated a zillion times, and mourned you a zillion times…and now that the curse is broken…you want to take a break? Then Sebastian sends puppy eyes right back at her, explaining that he worries because he wished Chrys to life, so she HAS to love him and be perfect…and he wants her to have her own life.
Cut to Lex and Damon in his mansion–she’s getting ready to go and meet her friends for coffee and he’s turned psycho and controlling and not wanting to let her leave the house, afraid she’s going to die again and wanting to keep her in a gilded cage. (To be clear, throughout the series, he was protective…but not crazy, possessive and unaware of her feelings. Oh, and Lex kind of adored him right back.)
In the end, his psycho knows no bounds and he just isn’t what Lex had in mind for a perfect guy. Chrys grudgingly does her own thing, realizing Sebastian is right, and la la la…happily ever after–with A COUPLE THAT THE WRITER PULLED OUT OF HER ASS! It’s like JD’s relationship with that chick he gets pregnant in Scrubs. Just…where the HELL did that come from? The entire storyline of the series is devoted to the tragic fairy-tale love of two characters, then as soon as they actually get a chance to be together, Juliette tells Romeo “gee…um…you’re great, but..well….I’m just really busy with my career right now, and…”. Did not work for me at all. I know that kind of thing can totally happen in REAL relationships, but this was supposed to be a happy goth fantasy. Plus….well…I hated the art. So, not a satisfying conclusion in the least. But the rest of the series is still awesome. I checked.
Alright, homework awaits. Later, skaters.
