tuesday again 7/11/23, timezone change edition
the last time i wrote one of these things, i was not quite fully packed up in ma. now, i am technically temporarily homeless in houston, bc the apartment i originally signed on was completely unlivable. crashing in an acquaintance's guest room for a bit while i have a very bad time with apartment hunting round 2
i have lived in south florida, staten island, and various shithole student housing. i understand seasonal bugs in hot places and things such as different kinds of roaches and palmetto bugs. when i say that apartment had the worst roach infestation i've ever seen i fucking mean it. in theory i will get my full deposits back, but they're taking their sweet fucking time about it.
but having that full yes-i-know-about-seasonal-roaches conversation with new acquaintances and leasing agents takes too long so i've resorted to saying it had a horrific bedbug problem, which everyone seems to go Oh Okay Yeah Reasonable For You To Leave much more quickly.
listening
a lot of early aughts dance pop standards, to chase away the agonies as i drive to and from apartments only to get ghosted, find they were rented a week ago, or find that they look absolutely nothing like the pictures. i was really torn on which britney song to pick for this week until my sister sent me Twin Flame by Maude Latour, which i can only describe as "douchebag get the girl back song but for lesbians". spotify
also how do we like the "featured link from bandcamp or soundcloud with additional spotify link" format? in an ideal world i would buy all my music directly from the artists but realistically i use spotify 90% of the time. i don't know what your life is like, tell me if this is helpful or not.
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reading
my best friend made sad faces at me until i read The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary, and it was a little nice to see someone else's dire housing situation get resolved neatly and with thematic consistence in several hundred pages. it was also nice to text her snippets with "WHAT?????" every so often. this is a reading experience i don't have very often bc our current reading tastes don't overlap even a little bit.
i don't have much to say about it bc i didn't have particularly strong feelings and don't really read mainstream straight romance, so i can't point out what this did differently or well compared to its peers. if nothing else, it was a fluffy bit of distraction, and i think that's kind of the point?
(image from Tor) also read Saad Z. Hossein's Kundo Wakes Up novella in a waffle house while eating some of the best scrambled eggs i've ever had in my life.
this novella was the closest thing i've ever read to "aging English professor has an affair" without actually containing any of those elements. generally i enjoy his work, but this was sort of a way to check up and tie off many characters from previous works with a sort of light frosting of "my wife left me and i don't know why [ rot13:v pna znxr fbzr thrffrf ohg gurer vf ab zbzrag bs frys-ernyvmngvba, bapr ur svaqf uvf jvsr ur whfg perrcf ba ure sebz nsne naq nsgre qrgrezvavat fur'f abg jvgu nalbar arj znxrf gur gerzraqbhf fnpevsvpvny qrpvfvba gb yrnir ure nybar op fur'f zhpu unccvre jvgubhg uvz. gurer vf ab zbzrag bs frys-ernyvmngvba nobhg jul fur zvtug unir yrsg uvz. xhaqb arire trgf bhg bs uvf bja shpxvat urnq bapr.]"
while The Gurkha and the Lord of Thursday novella (TREMENDOUS) and Cyber Mage book (fun but with some dire pacing issues) are fairly standalone, i cannot imagine you'd get much out of Kundo Wakes Up if you haven't read the other two. for some reason none of the libraries i have access to have his other book Djinn City, so we'll have to procure that elsewhere.
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watching
the dnd movie, the day after i broke my lease on the roach apartment. i don't remember a ton about this movie. do generally like a heist. michelle rodriguez was hot
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playing
genshin. listen. it is a free and familiar way to turn my brain off by doing open world exploration and puzzles but CRUCIALLY! most of it is completely new to me. i have not played this game in a year and a half. i have not played this game since right before enkanomiya. there was no chasm. there was no Sumeru. i have absolutely no idea what’s happening lore-wise.
i pulled for the fancy ice claymore lady and got a catboy archer (at least i think it is a catboy? the ears do give a pharaoh hound vibe... he is distinct from the extant dogboy archer). not terrible but not my vibe.
i have been enjoying the shit out of the temporary summer event carnival space. they really did pull out several stops by introducing a ton of genuinely interesting and innovating little new mechanics and mini games. delightful!
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making
altering the worst shorts ive ever seeeeeeeeen with a demure little two-inch side slit on both legs bc my thighs simply will not quit. mens shorts are so much better than womens shorts in nearly every way except for the catastrophic physical fit issues.
when i got ghosted by two different apartments on saturday i bought myself a spoon ring so chunky it makes my other chunky rings look positively delicate by comparison. not very comfy to drive in but fine to wear while tippy tappying on the spreadsheets
a girl i saw for one singular awful date in 2016 called my hands "coarse but honest" and i think about that every time my hands are in a photo. what did that even fucking MEAN, [REDACTED]?
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Best spider-gwen comic? Alternatively, where should one start reading?
Oooooh !! So, my favorite Spider-Gwen comic is issue #31 from the second Latour/Rodriguez run. When I became a Gwen Stacy fan I became a Gwen Stacy fan, including the original Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy from the 616 universe! I won't go too deep into what happens because spoilers, but our lovely Spider-Gwen runs into her 616-self and gets the pep talk she needs from 616!Gwen and it's an incredibly lovely scene that has a cool pay off at the end of the Murderdock arc.
As for the Spider-Gwen reading order... I'll list the trade paperbacks & the issues they collect! Keep in mind I'll only be doing the original Latour/Rodriguez runs as I am not the biggest fan of McGuire's take on Gwen, but I'll have a lil blurb at the bottom.
Spider-Gwen #0 Most Wanted - Collecting Edge of Spider-Verse #2 and Spider-Gwen #1-5
Spider-Gwen #1 Greater Power - Collecting Spider-Gwen/Radioactive Spider-gwen #1-6. They re-launched Spider-Gwen in 2015 under Radioactive Spider-Gwen, so it's a new series. Modern comics are notoriously confusing because of stuff like this.
Spider-Women - Collecting Spider-Women Alpha #1, Spider-Gwen #7, Silk #7, Spider-Woman #6, Spider-Gwen #8, Silk #8, Spider-Woman #7 and Spider-Women Omega #1. This cross-over is incredibly important, unlike some cross-overs, because it sets the stage for the rest of Gwen's original run (Latour/Rodriguez) and without it you miss incredibly important details. If you cannot get the TPB/Compilation and are reading each individual issue, I listed them in order!
Spider Gwen #2 Weapon of Choice - Collects #9-13 of Radioactive Spider-Gwen
Spider-Gwen #3 Long Distance - Collects issues #14 and #15 of Radioactive Spider-Gwen, Spider-Gwen Annual #1, and All-New Wolverine Annual #1. You honestly do not NEED to read the annuals, but they're cute!
Spider-Man/Spider-Gwen Sitting in a Tree - Collecting Spider-Man #12, Spider-Gwen #16, Spider-Man #13, Spider-Gwen #17, Spider-Man #14, and Spider-Gwen #18. This is honestly one of my least favorite cross-overs, because unlike ITSV/ATSV the relationship between Miles and Gwen feels both forced and rushed. It is not overall important to her story, and skippable, but there are some characters introduced in Spider-Gwen #18 who will show back up in the late Radioactive Spider-Gwen run,
Spider-Gwen #4 - Predators. Collecting Spider-Gwen #19-23.
Spider-Gwen #5 - Gwenom. Collecting Spider-Gwen #24-29.
Spider-Gwen #6 - The Life of Gwen Stacy. Collecting Spider-Gwen #30-34.
And that's it for the original Latour/Rodriguez Spider-Gwen run! After that Seanan McGuire picked up the reigns for Spider-Gwen in Spider-Gwen Ghost-Spider & later Ghost-Spider, but I am not the biggest fan in how she chose to portray MJ and Gwen, specifically their relationship. I do encourage newer fans of Spider-Gwen to still pick up her work (It's very simple, Spider-Gwen Ghost Spider has ten issues that are fairly self-contained, and then Ghost-Spider I think only had twenty? before it was canceled) and make their own judgements.
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The Year in Books and Graphic Novels 2022 and an analysis of 20 years of books and comics
January
1. Temple Alley Summer – Kashiwaba Sachiko, illustrated by Miho Satake, translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa
2. Dreams From My Father – Barack Obama, audiobook read by the author
3. X-Men Grand Design Vol. 1 – Ed Piskor
4. Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery – Rosalie Knecht
5. All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team – Christina Soontornvat, illustrations by Karen Minot
6. X-Men Grand Design Volume 2: Second Genesis – Ed Piskor
7. Year of the Rabbit – Tian Veasna
February
1. Deadly Class Volume 1: 1987 Reagan Youth – Chris Remender, Wes Craig
2. The Eye of the World – Robert Jordan
3. Pattern Master – Octavia E. Butler
4. X-Men Grand Design Volume 3: X-Tinction – Ed Piskor
5. The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History – Margalit Fox
6. Deadly Class Volume 2: 1988 Kids of the Black Hole – Rick Remender, Wes Craig
March
1. Once and Future Volume 1: The King is Undead – Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora
2. Once and Future Volume 2: Old English – Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora
3. Dragon Hoops – Gene Luen Yang
4. Ringworld – Larry Niven
5. Once and Future Volume 3: A Parliament of Magpies – Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora
6. Princess Jellyfish Volume 8 – Akiko Higashimura
7. Princess Jellyfish Volume 9 – Akiko Higashimura
8. The Sheepfarmer’s Daughter – Elizabeth Moon
April
1. Planetes Volume 1 – Makoto Yurimura
2. The Library of the Unwritten – A.J. Hackwith
3. Doom Patrol Volume 1: Crawling From the Wreckage – Grant Morrison, Richard Case
4. ODY-C Volume 1: Off To Far Ithacaa – Matt Fraction, Christian Ward
5. Conan of Cimmeria – Robert E Howard, Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter
6. Doom Patrol Volume 2: The Painting That Ate Paris – Grant Morrison, Richard Case, John Nyberg
7. Doom Patrol Volume 3: Down Paradise Way – Grant Morrison, Richard Case
May
1. Doom Patrol Volume 4: Musclebound – Grant Morrison, Richard Case, Kelley Jones, Mark McKenna, John Nyberg
2. Eragon – Christopher Paolini
3. The Promised Neverland Vol 1 – Kaiu Shirai, Posaku Demizu
4. Deadly Class Volume 3: 1988 Snake Pit – Rick Remender, Wes Craig
5. Once and Future Volume 4: Monarchies in the U.K. – Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora
6. The Dark is Rising – Susan Cooper
7. The Forest – Thomas Ott
8. The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K LeGuin
June
1. Deadly Class Volume 4: 1988 Die For Me – Rick Remender, Wes Craig
2. Arthurian Legends – Wace and Layamon
3. Dune – Frank Herbert
4. The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K LeGuin
5. The Lost Years of Merlin – T.A. Barron
July
1. The Secret To Super-Human Strength – Alison Bechdel
2. The Promised Neverland Volume 2 – Kaiu Shirai, Posaku Demizu
3. The New World – Ales Kot, Tradd Moore
4. Super Sentai Himitsu Sentai Gorenger – Shotaro Ishinomori
5. Spider-Gwen Volume 0: Most Wanted? – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez
6. The Deed of Paksenarrion: Divided Allegiance – Elizabeth Moon
7. Ultimate Miles Morales Spider-Man Volume 1 – Brian Michael Bendis, Sara Pichelli, Chris Samnee
8. Giant Days Volume 1 – John Allison, Lisa Treimann
9. Giant Days Volume 2 – John Allison, Lisa Treimann, Max Sarin
August
1. Lockwood & Co. Volume 1: The Screaming Staircase – Jonathan Stroud
2. Ultimate Miles Morales Spider-Man Volume 2 – Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, et al
3. Ultimate Miles Morales Spider-Man Volume 3 – Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, et al
4. The Wheel of Time Book 2: The Great Hunt – Robert Jordan
5. Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones
6. A Study in Scarlet – Arthur Conan Doyle
7. French Medieval Romances from the Lais of Marie of France – Translated by Eugene Mason
September
1. Pyongyang – Guy Delisle
2. Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold – Alisa Kwitney, Kent Williams, et al
3. The Dead of Paksenarrion: Oath of Gold – Elizabeth Moon
4. Brave Chef Brianna – Sam Sykes, Selina Espiritu
5. Fledgling – Octavia E. Butler
6. At Death’s Door – Jill Thompson
October
1. We – Yevgeny Zamyatin, read by Toby Jones
2. The Witch Boy – Molly Knox Ostertag
3. 20th Century Boys Vol. 7: The Truth – Naoki Urasawa
4. 20th Century Boys Vol. 8: – Naoki Urasawa
5. Isaac the Pirate Vol. 1: To Exotic Lands – Christophe Blaine
6. Dungeon Zenith: Volume 4: Outside the Ramparts – Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, Boulet
7. The Wheel of Time Book 3: The Dragon Reborn – Robert Jordan
8. 20th Century Boys Volume 9: Rabbit Nabokov – Naoki Urasawa
9. The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson
10. Isaac the Pirate Volume 2: The Capital – Christophe Blaine
11. 20th Century Boys Volume 10: The Faceless Boy - Naoki Urasawa
November
1. Gotham Central Book 1: In the Line of Duty – Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka
2. Komi Can’t Communicate Vol. 1 – Tomohito Oda
3. The Promised Neverland Volume 3 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu
4. Sleepless Volume 1 – Sarah Vaughn, Leila Del Duch
5. R.U.R. – Karel Capek, translated by David Wyllie
6. 20th Century Boys Volume 11: List of Ingredients – Naoki Urasawa
7. 20th Century Boys Volume 12: Friend’s Face – Naoki Urasawa
8. 20th Century Boys Volume 13: Beginning of the End – Naoki Urasawa
9. 20th Century Boys Volume 14: The Boy and the Dream – Naoki Urasawa
10. The Sandman Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes – Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg, Sam Ketih, Malcolm Jones III
11. Dodger – Terry Pratchett
12. The Promised Neverland Volume 4 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu
13. 20th Century Boys Volume 15: Expo Hurray – Naoki Urasawa
14. 20th Century Boys Volume 16: Beyond the Looking Glass – Naoki Urasawa
15. 20th Century Boys Volume 17: Cross-Counter – Naoki Urasawa
16. 20th Century Boys Volume 18: Everybody’s Song – Naoki Urasawa
17. 20th Century Boys Volume 19: The Man Who Came Back – Naoki Urasawa
18. 20th Century Boys Volume 20: Humanity in the Balance – Naoki Urasawa
19. Thursday Next book 2: Lost in a Good Book – Jasper Fforde
20. 20th Century Boys Volume 21: Arrival of the Space Aliens – Naoki Urasawa
21. 20th Century Boys Volume 22: The Beginning of Justice
22. The Promised Neverland Volume 5 – Kaiu Shira, Posuka Demizu
December
1. Thrawn Ascension: Book 1: Chaos Rising – Timothy Zahn
2. Crucial Conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are high - Kerry Patterson,
Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
3. Sandman Volume 2: The Doll’s House – Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III
4. My Favorite Thing Is Monsters – Emil Ferris
5. Please Don’t Step On My JNCO Jeans – Noah Van Sciver
6. The Sandman Volume 3: Dream Country – Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Malcolm Jones III, Charles Vess
7. Winterfair Gifts – Lois McMaster Bujold
8. Sandman Book 4: Season of Mists – Neil Gaiman, Matt Wagner, George Pratt, Dick Giordano, Kelley Jones, P. Craig Russell
9. Sandman Book 5: A Game of You – Neil Gaiman, Sean McManus, Bryan Talbot, Colleen Doran
105 books and graphic novels in 2022! 34 novels (and 1 novella) and 70/71 graphic novels. I read one book twice for a book club. That’s 13 more than I read last year.
Now for totals from 2002 to 2022.
Totals:
2002 20
2003 86 – 7.16/month
2004 9
2005 84 – 7/month
2006 79 – 6.58/month
2007 58 – 4.83/month
2008 49 – 4.083/month
2009 51 – 4.25
2010 72 - 6
2011 60 - 5
2012 80 – 6.66
2013 50 – 4.16
2014 144 - 12
2015 92 – 7.66
2016 151 – 12.58
2017 138 – 11.5
2018 116 – 9.66
2019 96 - 8
2020 102 – 8.5
2021 92 – 7.66
2022 105 – 8.75
Including the years that I have incomplete data for (2002 and 2004 I only have 3 months of data), I read 1734 books and graphic novels from 2002 to 2022, 86.7 per year. If we leave off 2002, and 2004, I read 85.25 per year and an average of 7.89 books per month. I’ll post the graphic novels and regular books break down shortly.
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