Coraline

In other animation/manga/graphic novel news, I spent some time this weekend with Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. I recommend Chutah read it, if she has not already. It was marked as suitable for ages 8 and up, but it scared me. People had black button eyes. Which sounds kind of cute, like teddy bears, but was freaky in the extreme. It was grotesque and ghoulish and creepy, but also really cool.

It was a dark Alice in Wonderland that grants the power to Alice. There was a strength of will to the main character that was something integral to herself, not found from the situation or other people. The art was very different than what I have experienced, but I usually am reading something Japanese or derivative. It was very Western, somewhat realistic with loose, flowing lines. The colors were usually subtle, but strong colors were used to emphasis, as in Death Note.

I looked for the second volume of Sandman, but my library is pretty spotty on the graphic novels. I’m thankful that they have them at all. I really enjoy the complexity of the graphic novels; the art and story combine to make a lush and intellectually stimulating experience.

Reading...

I have been on a rampage. I cannot get enough of the written word this month. I don't know what is wrong with me. I keep reading novels that are purely entertainment value only. Not that reading for entertainment value isn’t valuable…it is…but the way I have devouring books like a starving person, it is astonishing. I stay up way into the night reading…I haven't done that since High School or the new Janet Evanovich book came out (I still haven't read 14…L).
The most surprising book I picked up the other day was "Catcher in the Rye." I haven't read that since I was 14. Now, I own and can read it at my lesiure... :)

Nerdgasm Revisited

I seem to be somewhat focused on scientific discovery recently. I just wanted to provide an update on the geek situation. This week, I have had the opportunity to descend into the depths of a geek stronghold. I've seen a couple of men that would fall into the hot geek potential category. But there are more than just hot geeks there. I've discovered a cute boy next door type, a sexy player, and the entrancing alternative guy. But there are also horrors lurking, horrors that I had managed to block. Yes, they have nerds.

Nerds and geeks are very different. Geeks have obscure interests that border on nerd territory, but still manage to keep it together, have some social skills, and not manage to grate your nerves like nails on a chalkboard. The nerds are the pretentious, overbearing, socially retarded types that are completely oblivious to almost everything.

I don't know if it is just me, or if every teacher experiences this kind of weird draw for the nerds. They wait for me after class, just so they can talk to me a little longer. They tell me about their interests, recommend books, TV shows, and anime. They are really nice generally. It's so heart-breaking to meet them and know that they are good and decent people but they somehow are so oblivious to simple social behaviors that they have a difficult time. And even though I understand them, I still want to get as far away as quickly as possible.

A message for the nerds: there is hope. All it takes is finding someone to teach you how to relate to other people, and perhaps work on the clothes. That's it. Maybe we should start some kind of nerd rehab. Take the nerds, teach them to talk without sounding like the Comic Book Guy from "The Simpsons" and put them in some GAP-issued standard IT geek uniform. It's a slight adjustment.

Plus, think about the surge in the hot geek population. It's a win-win.

Horseradish

I picked up Lemony Snicket's Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid at the library last week. This is not a Chicken Soup for the Soul book at all. I just wanted to share a few words of wisdom with you.

"Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant, filled with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like."

"Perhaps if we saw what was ahead of us, and glimpsed the crimes, follies, and misfortunes that will befall us later on, we would all stay in our mother's wombs, and then there would be nobody in the world but a great number of very fat, very irritated women."

And most useful for me right now:

"In most cases, the best strategy for a job interview is to be fairly honest, because the worst thing that can happen is that you won't get the job and will spend the rest of your life foraging for food in the wilderness and seeking shelter underneath a tree or the awning of a bowling alley that has gone out of business."

I LOL'D.

Reading Slump

For several years, I was in a reading slump. I couldn't find anything to read that I felt I couldn't put down. I was constantly looking for something to read that was a great story and something I couldn't put down.

I finally discovered it. At the library book sale last spring, I finally picked up a book I had been dying to read, "Water for Elephants". This awakened a need to read, if you will. I could not put it down. I was on my way to DC to visit my friends. The plane was delayed for over an hour on the tarmac in OKC. I started reading the book before we boarded and I could hardly put my suitcase up because I was dying to know what happened. I read the book for the hour we were stuck on the tarmac and the whole 3 hours in the air. I had 45 pages left when we landed. I tried to read it in the car but I didn't want to be rude to my hosts, so I put it away. We went onto our Steve Miller Band concert and partied the night away.

When I awake the next morning, I had to finish those 45 pages. I told my friend we couldn't do anything until I finished this book. So, I sat on her couch and finished it. Every 5 minutes, she would ask me if I was done yet. I was like 10 more minutes.

When I was done with it, I was elated. It was fantastic to read a book, a great book and feel good about finishing it.

Skinny Bitch

So I’m reading the book Skinny Bitch, I really like it. I agree with most of what they have to say. Before I comment more has anyone else read it or think they would like to read it?