Good Things for the week of 1/16
UPDATING GOOD THINGS
It's been awhile since I updated this weekly column/list thing. I actually have a couple of them written, believe it or not, but Sunday nights (when I normally post) are always a crazy race toward getting ready for the week ahead. Ironing shirts, scanning comics for the week, making lunch... and this is on top of my normal schedule of getting the kids ready for bed.
I tend to think about my time living in Brooklyn with rose-colored shades. I forget about how lonely I was 80% of the time where I was lonely and feeling crazy about how badly I was doing as a teacher... but one area where I do not mythologize is the sheer amount of free time I had to draw and write.
The drawing was mainly my comic strips, but I did a WHOLE lot of writing as well. Not stuff I'd show to anybody- I've always gotten a lot more enjoyment out of noodling around with short stories and the novel and a half I've written than I feel I'd get forcing someone to read that gobbledegook, but the process has always been fun for me.
Anyhow, that time is normally gone, but I've managed to steal an hour or so right now. Ellen's going to see Burn the Floor with a friend, so she's leaving me alone for most of the morning. It's been fun, writing with no agenda.
SNOW STORM
Yes, Southeast Ohio was attacked by an errant snow system this past week. Having school called off on Thursday was a foregone conclusion by Tuesday night- it was truly a mess out and it didn't seem as though a legion of plows would be able to make a dent in the many side streets that make up my school district. That's the main thing with snow days: the main roads are perfectly clean and drivable, but the many snaky suburban side streets are low priority for the plows. Since this is where people actually live, it's a no-brainer that school would be cancelled one day after a snow storm. Two days though? That's pretty impressive.
I was seasoned in New York City public schools, so I never expect snow days before they come and am always thankful for them when they're here. I will admit to getting a tad stir crazy by yesterday, but in my defense, both Elliot and Henry have decided to forego naps while I am at home. I don't know if they're willfully being difficult or if the weirdness of having me home unexpectedly has jarred them out of their normal sleeping patterns. All I know is, they're awake for most of the afternoon and super cranky. Other than that, the extended break has been lovely. I've gotten some drawing done, but otherwise I've been completely unproductive. It's bliss.
IPAD IPAD IPAD
I believe I mentioned this somewhere else, but on Wednesday, my classroom received an iPad. I've spent the majority of the time during these snow days playing with the gadget and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. It's nice for web-browsing, but I'm especially enjoying the Kindle app I downloaded. I've never given much thought to e-reading- we have two very nice libraries within driving distance and shelling out money for a Kindle or Nook or whatever didn't make much sense. It's the kind of thing that I would for sure have bought if I was still living in the city and commuting to work, but here in Ohio, it didn't make much sense.
I love it though. One of the things that gets under my skin about the library is their ordering schedule of books. While they're very good about ordering the bestsellers, they are occasionally slow to pick up big new releases. For example, I thought Bill Carter's sequel to The Late Shift was rather a big deal; I've been dying to read The War on Late Night since I heard it was being published.
Our library doesn't have a copy, and quite honestly, it's not the type of book I'm going to rush out to own a hardcover copy. I was prepared to wait 'til the paperback hit stores... but nope! $12 bucks and it's mine. I also snagged Patton Oswalt's new book as well.
HUMBUG
Lest we not leave traditional publishing aside, I found a really good deal on Fantagraphics slipcased two-volume edition of Harvey Kurtzman's Humbug.
I'm a big fan of MAD Magazine and I've always been curious about the handful of humor magazines that Kurtzman published after he left MAD. I've never read Trump or Humbug before last night. Of course, I normally wouldn't buy a fancy hardcover collection of some comics I've never read before, but the price was not only right, it was ridiculous. I found the collection at Half Price Books for $20 bucks, marked down from $60. If that wasn't enough, I had a nice gift card for most of the price. I think I paid about $4 bucks after using up the card. Although I haven't really jumped in, it looks to be an amazing presentation of the comics.
It's been awhile since I updated this weekly column/list thing. I actually have a couple of them written, believe it or not, but Sunday nights (when I normally post) are always a crazy race toward getting ready for the week ahead. Ironing shirts, scanning comics for the week, making lunch... and this is on top of my normal schedule of getting the kids ready for bed.
I tend to think about my time living in Brooklyn with rose-colored shades. I forget about how lonely I was 80% of the time where I was lonely and feeling crazy about how badly I was doing as a teacher... but one area where I do not mythologize is the sheer amount of free time I had to draw and write.
The drawing was mainly my comic strips, but I did a WHOLE lot of writing as well. Not stuff I'd show to anybody- I've always gotten a lot more enjoyment out of noodling around with short stories and the novel and a half I've written than I feel I'd get forcing someone to read that gobbledegook, but the process has always been fun for me.
Anyhow, that time is normally gone, but I've managed to steal an hour or so right now. Ellen's going to see Burn the Floor with a friend, so she's leaving me alone for most of the morning. It's been fun, writing with no agenda.
SNOW STORM
Yes, Southeast Ohio was attacked by an errant snow system this past week. Having school called off on Thursday was a foregone conclusion by Tuesday night- it was truly a mess out and it didn't seem as though a legion of plows would be able to make a dent in the many side streets that make up my school district. That's the main thing with snow days: the main roads are perfectly clean and drivable, but the many snaky suburban side streets are low priority for the plows. Since this is where people actually live, it's a no-brainer that school would be cancelled one day after a snow storm. Two days though? That's pretty impressive.
I was seasoned in New York City public schools, so I never expect snow days before they come and am always thankful for them when they're here. I will admit to getting a tad stir crazy by yesterday, but in my defense, both Elliot and Henry have decided to forego naps while I am at home. I don't know if they're willfully being difficult or if the weirdness of having me home unexpectedly has jarred them out of their normal sleeping patterns. All I know is, they're awake for most of the afternoon and super cranky. Other than that, the extended break has been lovely. I've gotten some drawing done, but otherwise I've been completely unproductive. It's bliss.
IPAD IPAD IPAD
I believe I mentioned this somewhere else, but on Wednesday, my classroom received an iPad. I've spent the majority of the time during these snow days playing with the gadget and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. It's nice for web-browsing, but I'm especially enjoying the Kindle app I downloaded. I've never given much thought to e-reading- we have two very nice libraries within driving distance and shelling out money for a Kindle or Nook or whatever didn't make much sense. It's the kind of thing that I would for sure have bought if I was still living in the city and commuting to work, but here in Ohio, it didn't make much sense.
I love it though. One of the things that gets under my skin about the library is their ordering schedule of books. While they're very good about ordering the bestsellers, they are occasionally slow to pick up big new releases. For example, I thought Bill Carter's sequel to The Late Shift was rather a big deal; I've been dying to read The War on Late Night since I heard it was being published.
Our library doesn't have a copy, and quite honestly, it's not the type of book I'm going to rush out to own a hardcover copy. I was prepared to wait 'til the paperback hit stores... but nope! $12 bucks and it's mine. I also snagged Patton Oswalt's new book as well.
HUMBUG
Lest we not leave traditional publishing aside, I found a really good deal on Fantagraphics slipcased two-volume edition of Harvey Kurtzman's Humbug.
I'm a big fan of MAD Magazine and I've always been curious about the handful of humor magazines that Kurtzman published after he left MAD. I've never read Trump or Humbug before last night. Of course, I normally wouldn't buy a fancy hardcover collection of some comics I've never read before, but the price was not only right, it was ridiculous. I found the collection at Half Price Books for $20 bucks, marked down from $60. If that wasn't enough, I had a nice gift card for most of the price. I think I paid about $4 bucks after using up the card. Although I haven't really jumped in, it looks to be an amazing presentation of the comics.