Watch Coraline. It's worth it.

Feist on Sesame Street. Hee hee.





The orange singing Carmen. I remember watching this as a kid, when stop motion animation was the cat's pajamas.

The word “lethologica” describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

I feel like this ALL. THE. TIME.

Stumbling about.

( turns out I wasn't scheduled to work today after all )

I guess that's enough for now.

Imagine how long this took.

Every once in a while I ask myself why I bother to keep reading Scary Go Round, and then John Allison does something that makes me fall in love with it all over again.

I've loved his comics since Bobbins (which is totally worth reading over again, by the way. Who doesn't love spunky little Shelley?). Scary Go Round is really hit and miss with me, but it's worth sticking to in the long run.

What I really like is that Allison tends to reinvent himself; what I mean by this is, bit by bit he changes up how he produces the comic, so that visually the eye candy just gets sweeter. He isn't afraid to push himself, which I find is the mark of a good artist. The storyline sometimes falls flat, but you can hardly fault him for it - this is something he does in his spare time after all.

Look at Penny Arcade for an excellent example of artistic evolution - the Penny Arcade of yesteryear certainly doesn't look like the current version. However, even as the art changes up, they consistently remain funny, and very tuned in to the current pulse of gaming. I could go on for pages about how truly fantastic they are - Child's Play, anyone? - but it's all been done before, and in a much more eloquent than I could produce, I'm sure.

Jeph Jacques' Questionable Content is another example of reinvention, artistically speaking. The original characters look nothing like the current version. His plotlines have gone from random to a bit more cohesive, and he managed to shake the Tony-Angela (in his case Martin/Faye) sharkjump successfully, by not even going there.

One comic I've really grown to love as well is Wapsi Square by Paul Taylor. Initially, his comics were haphazard and without an actual plot, but over time he has told a pretty intriguing story, and I find I can't wait to see where he takes his characters next.

It is really interesting to me to see these artists emerge and find their groove. I am glad that once they find their mojo they stick to what works - this is a process that thanks to the internet we as an audience are privy to. In the world of print, we wouldn't necessarily see these changes - by the time a comic artist gets into syndication, they have already refined their characters et al.

However, if you look at Diesel Sweeties, you can see what artistic consistency looks like as well. R Stevens is fantastic, hits just the right tone, and has maintained the same aesthetic for his characters since day one. He did actually make it into syndication as well, breaking barriers between online and print comics without self-publication (what I mean by this is, he has been syndicated in actual newspapers, rather than for sale in printed anthologies sold by the artist).

I used to love PVP, and I can still tolerate it to a certain degree if I put my horse-blinders on to Scott Kurtz's insipid commentary and overall sense of self-righteous bullshit. On more than one occasion I have seen him rant about something that most human beings would think was a waste of breath, and then recant after getting called on it, ad nauseum, stating that "oh no I meant it this other way that is more acceptable to the masses". I'd offer up some examples but it would pain me to have to go through his archived news; also I'm pretty sure he's erased evidence of most of those kinds of posts anyway. One example that comes to mind was when he ranted about how horrible it was that dude who does Ctrl-Alt-Del was going to be charging his viewers for the cartoon version of his comic. And then a while later, Kurtz attempts the same damned thing! Now I'm not about to go and defend Tim Buckley tooth and nail, because from anything I've read the guy is a bit of a prat too, but really, Kurtz shouldn't be calling the kettle black here. I realize that he is a human being, like the rest of us, prone to mistakes and change his mind like the rest of us, but he still just sets my teeth on edge. There is nothing he can do to fix that, and I am not about to demand he fix it.

Beware: Here there be a million links!

That being said: I would be remiss if I didn't mention Homestar Runner, even though technically it isn't an online comic, it is still a site I visit that consistently brings on the funny, as well as reinvents itself over time. They actually poke fun at online webcomics in a Strong Bad Email. What I love is that while most people who watch and love it are addicted to Strong Bad & Co, I find the quiet perseverance of Homestar's hilarity is what draws me back time and again.

Strong Bad's emails are arguably the most popular feature of the site, most especially the one featuring Trogdor. (Even Strong Bad reinvents the way he answers email by continually "upgrading" his machines to similar older model computers and laptops and "newer" printers.)

The Burninator aside, I find that the funniest StrongBad Emails are the ones featuring Homestar Runner. I am also tickled by the sbemail spinoff, Teen Girl Squad. The origins of that would be found here.

Ok that's enough for now I think.

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

Come on, how much do I love it?



So very, very much.

It's up for free until midnight Sunday, so soak it up darlings.

"and Eric Stoltz"

Oh man.

Just amusing myself while waiting for the time to leave for the MRI. Wish me luck.

I totally want to go to Bora Bora after looking at those photos. Who's with me?

So CT & x-ray results? No stone. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. Over.

No explanation for blood in the urine either. Also, fun fact, I lost 6 lbs in 3 days (probably due to my appetite going to almost nada. I'd probably have lost more had my husband not thrust food upon me now and again). I already had an appointment set for this Thursday for my doctor, so I'll just have to wait until then to talk to him about it. What's two more days, right? In the meantime, percocet and gravol are still in steady diet rotation. I do my best to go as long as possible without taking the perc, I hate taking meds.

I'm pretty sure my chronicles here are just further fueling the point with my American friends that socialized medicine can be pretty frightening.

I feel pretty guilty complaining here when there are a kazillion people dead in the East due to natural disasters. I have to think about that - at least I am alive, I have breath in my body with which to complain. All of this may turn out to be nothing, just some weird viral infection and at least I do have access to medical help in some capacity. My family is whole, I am not fretting over where my children are. They don't know what it means to go to bed hungry, to wake up hungry, and to have nothing to fill their bellies. I have a warm bed and clothes on my back. A cupboard full of food. A job that not only pays well, but has supported me through this illness. I need to count these blessings and be thankful.

I went back to the hospital last night with terrible pain in my left side & back, on top of everything else this was a new pain. They took a urine sample & there was blood in my urine (not visible but a blood count there) so the doctor believes I may have a kidney stone on top of every thing else going on (he said my other symptoms are more neurological and I'll have to wait for MRI for that) so today at 4:00 I'm going for a CT scan of my abdomen, they want to see if it is blocking anything or if it is small enough to pass. They gave me more meds, and told me to keep drinking lots, and after the CT they will give me a strainer to catch the stone (how fun is THAT)

Isn't life grand?

You know what would be really awesome? What would be really awesome is if this is really a kidney stone, if passing it would just make everything go away, it would be totally worth it.

If wishes were fishes, right?

on my way to the bathroom (because i go about as often as a pregnant woman these days), i collapsed on the floor again last night. came to, to see shawn hovering above me looking very very concerned. i couldn't see him at first although i am told i had my eyes open the whole time, and was actually talking to him. i came to with a terrible buzzing noise in my ears and i couldn't feel my legs for a while. shawn got me up and into bed but neither of us got much sleep. i just didn't feel right no matter what i did, but i refused to go back to the damn hospital. head aching and i couldn't see out of my right eye for a short while. and stabbing stabbity stabbing in my left side, but that might have just been gas, who fucking knows anymore.

saw my family doc today and he managed to get me an MRI for June 19, at about 8 o'clock at night. That really isn't so bad when you consider the regular wait times for them are terrible - i have a friend who has hers scheduled for september, and she made the appointment in january. maybe it depends on your circumstances, but i'm pretty glad i got on the short list. basically there isn't much more he can to for me. he's trying to get the neurologist appointment but so far no luck - because my testing results were ambiguous or clear (dude i don't even want to go into how many times i've been poked with a needle - heroin addicts have less holes) some neurologists will not bother, however my symptoms are not getting better. i have some good points of the day but for the most part i'm buggered.

on the positive: i may get out of jury duty due to my illness. here's hoping.

ok, nap time. i feel like such a tool from being so fatigued. i guess i will have to get used to it.

Still breathing and still alive. Sort of.