When I Am Not Reading – Comicpalooza 2013 Day Three
Such a nice guy. He was running off to get a snack, but took time to chat with me and take a few pictures. I’m kind of weird about celebrities… they are people too… and am typically uneasy about presuming to chat with them just because I see their face all the time. But he is really easy going and didn’t give me a chance to feel uncomfortable at all.
A Look From Above
Artist Alley
I bought smaller prints of both of these. I love Gerry Kissell’s work, and he’s a nice guy. Click the image to visit his website.
Then I got to pose with a real Dalek!
Punk Rock Band Front Man of the Hates. Click to Read about him in the Houston Press.
When I Am Not Reading – Comicpalooza 2013 Day Two
Started the day with the most awesome family ever!
Fantastic costume!
Alessandra Torresani is such a sweet person… and I think maybe a little in love with our David. Click the last picture to “like” the Father of Dragons facebook page.
My kiddo will be so jealous that Ms. Frizzle came to see ME! Well, she came to stop by the HPB booth and see Erika… but I still got a picture with her rocking a near River Song look.
I really love the Ood.
Alan Dean Foster
Gary Russell
Kevin J. Anderson I told him I was one of those annoying book bloggers and he said book bloggers are never annoying – unless they recommend that you never read his books. I like him, very personable. Hope he’s there tomorrow, I might go back and get something signed.
A Weekend With Super Heroes
Half Price Books Humble just celebrated May the Fourth Be With You in serious style. There was a costume contest, a raffle, Comicpalooza tickets to give away, free comic books, and free art work by some amazing artists.
Bright and early in the morning, sporting a Spiderman t-shirt and super awesome white frilly skirt, my daughter showed up bright eyed and bushy tailed to get her own free artwork. Here she is chatting with artist Merrick Shaka Khan.
Shortly after this photo our costume contest winner also showed up bright and early. Meet Doctor Who:
In the early afternoon we had free ice cream from Amy’s Ice Creams and lots of coupons to share…
Then, Aoristos – Creationeer arrived to offer his artistic talents to our customers for a few hours. It was amazing to watch him put peoples’ faces into their favorite characters.
Finally, we were able to wrap up the day by announcing our Comicpalooza ticket raffle winner!
Stay posted to join in all the fun at Half Price Books in Humble. Next Event… a Celebration of Nurse Appreciation, May 11th. Starts at 1:00 pm.
While Away with Winston
Lords of Finance Discussion Part Two
Title: Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World
Author: Liaquat Ahamed
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: Economics/ History
Length: 508 pages
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”
Winston Churchill. That quote is really intense! But we’ve all heard it, I’m sure. And everyone knows the name Winston Churchill, has a basic idea of what he looks like, and knows where he belongs in history. Everyone knows he’s great. But beyond one little paragraph of description and some quotes you’ve heard, how much do you actually know?
The second installment of the Lords of Finance posts is in regards to Parts 2&3 of the book. Actually, it’s in regards to the parts in those parts that talked about Winston Churchill. It was during these segments that I realized how much I didn’t know about him at all.
All of my knowledge of the man prior to this book was based in a few intense quotes, a lot of school propaganda, and a few character appearances in Doctor Who episodes. Frankly, prior to reading this book I didn’t feel much inclined to study up on Churchill, I mean could he be any cooler than how he is portrayed in Doctor Who? I doubt the real Churchill had a direct line to The Doctor or any time traveling space alien for that matter. But obviously, one must move on from fictional portrayals and out of context quotes at some point in their life – and Ahamed makes me want to.
While I was reading about the “turbulent pushing busybody Winston” with his silk underwear, champagne, and Havana cigars, I immediately remembered a story I heard about him once. Someone once told me that Winston Churchill
So mid sentence, I left my toddler at the kitchen table putting together a completely unrelated paper penguin craft, and took a look at my library shelves. I have one biography and two books written by him. The books look like they belong to a set, a familiar set that I took home impulsively pieces at a time; but now that I am looking at them with curious research eyes they seem completely foreign and magical.
I still have much to read about The Bankers Who Broke the World, but a little visit with The Last Lion would be nice. What do you know about Churchill? Would you be interested in reading up on the great man with me?
Follow this link to read the next installment in the Lords of Finance discussion.
Best Book Boyfriends of 2012
I avidly read The Lit Bitch and a recent post included a top 12 book boyfriends list: http://thelitbitch.com/2012/12/29/top-12-in-2012-book-boyfriends/.
Cute concept, fun blog idea, but as I scrolled through my 74 books of the year, I realized that I didn’t read a lot of books in which there were boyfriends to pick from.
I started out with How to Buy a Love of Reading, and I think Hunter set me into a mood that I just couldn’t get past. There are other boyfriends I read through the year, but I barely remember them.
I don’t recall the characters in The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Regardless of what I thought of the book when I read it, no one in it made a lasting impact on me. I actually had to refer to my own review to remember Seldon’s name.
The Great Gatsby is a fantastic novel, one of my favorites, but Jay Gatsby is not someone I’d put on my list of literary love interests.
I did read The Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series and there are plenty of boyfriends to be had in those books, and they are lovely, and romantic, and intense; but none of them lived up to Hunter.
I did read Inhale, the first of a series called Just Breathe, which is an urban fantasy erotica piece, but the characters there are what the genre calls for: super sexy, the end. Don’t get me wrong, sexy is nice, I think my husband is one of the sexiest, but I need more out of a character I’d want to put on a boyfriend of the year list.
Rory Williams, for instance, the man who waited, the Roman centurion, one-half of a couple known as The Ponds on Doctor Who… he could go on a boyfriend of the year list. He’s just heavenly, and wonderful. But this is about books, not TV shows.
I read a lot of Agatha Christie this year, and she’s all mystery and not a whole lot of romance. Although a love story emerges here and there, it’s rarely more than a motive or plot device, therefore how can anyone in her books make the list?
On the other hand, I read cozy mysteries too. I like Cleo Coyle and her coffeehouse series. Cozy mysteries almost always have a boyfriend, but with there always being a boyfriend, I don’t often get the chance to delight in any of them. They are there to make the protagonist feel good or bad, have a romantic scene of some sort, and then on to the next guy. In real life, I’m morally opposed to most of the relationships that pop up in cozy mysteries. But, I figure it comes with the territory when reading about murderers and investigators.
Scrolling down my list of books read this year, I come to Karleen Koen’s Through a Glass Darkly. Sorry girls, I can’t recommend Montgeoffrey to anyone. He is the basis of all Babara’s pain… a ladies man, a cheater, and ultimately also gay. How many strikes can you add to a relationship before I’m just really tired of the guy? It makes the heroine incredibly interesting, but I can’t let Montgeoffrey anywhere near my book-boyfriend list.
So it comes down to the fellows in A.S. Byatt’s Possession, the cutie-patootie Sam in Michael Grant’s Gone, and Hunter of HTBALOR.
Byatt’s romances in Possession are powerful and intriguing, Sam Temple in Gone is a cute kid with the potential to be an incredible man when he’s all grown up, but I have to hand it to Hunter – he captured my heart.
Hunter is intelligent, sweet, broody, keeps a journal, and sadly is also an addict. Reading the conclusions of my own blog post, I find myself in disbelief… what does this say about my taste in men that I want to pick the suicidal one as book-boyfriend of the year? And that Marius of Les Miserables didn’t even make the short list of final contestants?
Who is on your list?
Anakalian Whims 