Thursday, December 22, 2005 -- 10:05:53 PM

So, I like Law & Order and CSI as much as the next person-- maybe a little more, since even in my childhood I was a geek for PBS's Mystery! serials. But seriously, these programs seem to think the only way they can safely portray transgendered people is, at best, as tragic victims. Oh sure, the murderer is ultimately brought to task for inhuman cruelty and lack of understanding or sympathy, but justice has yet to actually bring people back to life. (Oooh-- concept for a supernatural crime show: Stalker: Texas Zombie Ranger, in which people are reanimated to track down their own killers!)

Thursday, December 22, 2005 -- 08:15:50 AM

I've been sketching like mad, working on new character designs for the strip-- particularly Alas (of course) and Nic. I'm looking for something quicker, more expressive. The consistency and individuality of the characters has certainly grown over the years, but I still haven't gotten them to that point where they regularly communicate what I have in mind. I'm also trying not to accidentally re-create a Jhonen Vasquez sort of style-- very tricky when dealing with skinny characters dressed in black.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005 -- 07:49:52 AM

So now that "The Amazing Race" is over for the season, I've gotten into watching "100 Mexicanos Dijeron" on Telefutura, the main Spanish channel in my cable package. It's basically "The Family Feud," only in Spanish. I've realized a few things watching this show. First, Mexican-accented Spanish sounds better, more normal, to me than any other sort of Spanish. Second, programs that you can't stand in your native tongue suddenly become intriguing and watchable when there's a language barrier. Third, game show hosts are fundamentally the same in all cultures, because the game show itself is a bizarre sort of media culture. Rock on, Marco Antonio Regil!

Tuesday, December 20, 2005 -- 07:48:53 AM

It's trash day again-- another chance for the Department of Public Works to remember that I exist, and have trash that needs picking up. To date they've only remembered once in three months, but hey, there's always the chance. Hope springs eternal, money talks, but if $#!^ actually walked I wouldn't have this problem in the first place.

Monday, December 19, 2005 -- 08:27:30 AM

Back from my travels! The nice thing about celebrating Christmas early is that if you pick the time and place correctly, you're guaranteed a white Christmas. Speaking of White Christmas, I had an opportunity recently to watch its precursor, Holiday Inn (1942). It's worth it to see Fred Astaire's drunk waltz and firecracker routines; but, man alive-- again with Bing Crosby doing a blackface number? What the hell was wrong with people?

Thursday, December 15, 2005 -- 06:59:39 AM

Donuts. Travel mug. Binder of 250 CDs. Leaving DC during AM rush hour. Roooooaad trip. Must rock out to "The Nutcracker Suite" on car stereo.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005 -- 07:58:32 AM

17 degrees Ferenheit in DC this morning-- a temperature both atypical and annoying. It's the sort of cold that makes steel-toed shoes uncomfortable. So how am I escaping the cold? By driving to the Finger Lakes region of New York, where it's even colder. The lengths that I will go to for a bottle of Belleweather cider...

By the by, some yahoo set off not one, but three batches of fireworks on our block in the middle of the night. Way to go, hoser. Hope you lost your eyebrows.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 -- 07:56:45 AM

Hwaet, and all that! I'm in a Medieval-and-earlier mood today. A little Gilgamesh, a little Boethius; something to get me in the mood for hanging decorations on the fir tree. Small tree for us this year-- in fact, it's in danger of being knocked over and dragged away by the cat. No one can fault you for losing the swim meet if you have to stop and battle whales half-way through.

Monday, December 12, 2005 -- 08:20:29 AM

I've got a new hobby, and it's searching for my ancestors. The Ellis Island database is like the pinnacle of trivia hunting-- obscure facts, any one of which could be personally relevant. The tough part is sorting through the misspellings of 19th century immigration officers to find your old last name.

Sunday, December 11, 2005 -- 06:16:51 PM

I hardly played any Star Wars: Galaxies this week. There's just too much to do with the end of the semester. Drawing strips, ceding the computer to those who must write papers... it's made me re-evaluate my commitment to on-line RPGs. Played lots of Civilization III, though-- even loaded it on the laptop so I could play it during my lunch break at work. Now that is crack.

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