Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway and Archer. Solo and Syndulla. Reynolds and Adama, Harkness and Sparrow, Rogers and Danvers. Captains, one and all. Now a new name joins their ranks: LJ ( Read more... )

Soon after we'd converted LJ's toys into a collection, the kidlet asked if we'd mind her spending some time alone in her room. Off she went and, when more than an hour passed without a sound, stareyednight and I crept upstairs for a sneak-peak. LJ was laying atop her bed, earphones in, playing merrily away on her iPad. "Get used to this scene," I told my wife ( Read more... )

The day after Christmas my cousin, whom I've not seen for several years, made a point of sitting next to me at lunch. We chatted for ages and, to my surprise, it was all about pop-culture. He was planning to go see Star Wars: The Force Awakens the next day and the mere thought of it had reignited his childhood appetite for the fantastic. A couple ( Read more... )

She settled on a 240-page, spiral-bound notebook and a five-pack of blue pens. She declined to decorate said notebook with stickers, or any other kind of affectation, because that would defeat its purpose. The book, she insisted, wasn't about presentation but imagination - it was a place in which her ideas could roam free, unfettered, without the ( Read more... )

It was the smallest, dinkiest toy fair I'd seen in my life. One room, three rows of tables, maybe 50 people besides LJ, aaronbraegen and myself. Still I was keen: having completed my toy collection, it was time to set myself a new geeky goal. What would be my next target, and would this first-time swap-meet provide it ( Read more... )

Wednesday was, hands down, the best day so far of my holiday.

I've had ridiculous amounts of fun these past two weeks. LJ's returned from her trip so we've dreamed up games, caught up on wrestling shows, read comics and generally goofed off. Having uninterrupted time with stareyednight, after her months of cosplay prep, has been a blessing. Every day, I've ( Read more... )

The last time we did this, we jumped ahead 15 years to a time in which the children of the world's greatest super heroes fought alongside their famous parents to battle the deadliest villains known to man. Now, having told tales of their great triumphs, it's once again time to propel our stories further into the future: an era 10 years after the ( Read more... )

On a technical view of the matter, it all started when she was just 17 months old. But if you're looking for the true genesis, that came a month later. And then things really and then kicked into high gear. Since September 2008, LJ has been spinning tales that have kept me - and all of you - delightfully on the edge of our seats. She's mixed canons ( Read more... )

LJ has gone walkabout.

It's her first ever trip-away-from-parents: heading north, into the iconic Australian outback, with the two-headed scraptracker entity. And though she was beyond excited about the imminent adventure, it wouldn't be an LJ story without a bout of nerves. By the end of the first day's travel she'd whipped herself up into quite a mess of ( Read more... )

I've always believed there was one true destiny for Peter Parker, aka the Amazing Spider-Man: he'd be a husband and father, as well as a super hero, living the good (yet struggling) life and always fighting the good fight. It's why I respond so well to the first half of Joseph Michael Straczynski's run, to Mark Millar's run, to Diane Duane's prose ( Read more... )