{"id":1208,"date":"2006-11-14T20:59:01","date_gmt":"2006-11-15T01:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/more-weekend-rambling\/"},"modified":"2006-11-14T20:59:01","modified_gmt":"2006-11-15T01:59:01","slug":"more-weekend-rambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/more-weekend-rambling","title":{"rendered":"More weekend rambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

The rest of the weekend after the reunion? Quiet, generally. I drove home and realized that I needed water and sugar, which the Coca-Cola Corporation was only too ready to provide. Once home, I realized how tired I was, and how tired I was going to stay until Sunday.<\/p>\n

So I chilled out with Amy, partook of the hair of the dog, and finished reading Epileptic<\/a>, a really fine comic by a French cartoonist about living with a brother who has severe epilepsy. It’s an awfully challenging book (about 350 pages, by the way), because David B. doesn’t actually represent anyone in a sympathetic light, except perhaps his little sister. In general, his parents pursue any half-baked cure they can find for his brother, including magnetism, macrobiotics, spiritualism, and other mystic forms. David B.’s “character” (it’s portrayed as autobiographical) concludes at one point that his brother ‘chooses’ epilepsy, and that he uses his disease as a way to avoid life.<\/p>\n

Challenging, like I say, because it’s clear the brother’s not in control of his disease at all, but that he’s also not simply a victim of it. Simultaneously, ‘David B.’ plunges deeply into cartooning and storytelling in an attempt to translate his life and his reactions to his brother’s disease. It’s quite compelling, astonishingly drawn, and has a narrative flow that I found absolutely confounding. If you can read comics — and I know plenty of people who simply can’t read them, instead focusing only on the words — you should read this one.<\/p>\n

Sunday was going to be a football day, but we kept bailing on games. We left the Jets\/Patriots so we could hit a Linens & Things to pick up a new shower rod\/curtain setup; we gave up on the Saints\/Steelers (Amy knew better about the Saints than I did); and we were too tired to stick with the Bears\/Giants. So it was a bits-and-pieces day, but at least we succeeded in dismantling the sliding-panel shower door and replacing it with the curtain.<\/p>\n

We’re planning to redo the bathroom once I get a couple of other things squared away (dangerous trees in the yard are getting cut down this week, and I’m getting a plumber in to assess everything that’s wrong with the pipes in this place) and the holiday bonuses are sorted out. In fact, I got all outdoors-ish on Sunday morning, taking down some dead branches, bringing the summer-stuff inside, and wielding that electric chainsaw of mine willy-nilly. Except for the willy-nilly part, which has bad connotations when associated with a chainsaw.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the upshot was that I got some of the yard cleared, got rid of the impossible-to-keep-clean shower door, and finished reading a good comic, while also trying to write up the reunion during my free minutes. And that was the weekend.<\/p>\n

Monday: now that was a different story. We had an off-site editorial meeting to discuss internet strategy for our magazines. It was at the same location as the sales meeting I attended back in September, but people weren’t, um, “resting their eyes” during this meeting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Actually, the meeting helped me understand an important difference between editorial and sales personnel. When the online sales meeting wrapped up, the salesmen all headed to the building’s scary bar, where they got a little shikker. When Monday’s meeting finished, the editors were happy enough to get a free lunch out of the deal, and everyone just headed back to the office.<\/p>\n

But I got some good ideas for things we can do on the magazine’s website, and also had some thoughts about the redesign for this blog, and the overall site, which still needs to be constructed. If I can get far enough ahead on the 400-page issue of the magazine I’m working on, I’ll take some time off during Thanksgiving week and try to put together the new look-and-feel for this site.<\/p>\n

Because that’s supposed to be my idea of fun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The rest of the weekend after the reunion? Quiet, generally. I drove home and realized that I needed water and sugar, which the Coca-Cola Corporation was only too ready to provide. Once home, I realized how tired I was, and how tired I was going to stay until Sunday. So I chilled out with Amy, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “More weekend rambling”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comics","category-literature","category-suburbs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-ju","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4156,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/what-it-is-7609","url_meta":{"origin":1208,"position":0},"title":"What It Is: 7\/6\/09","author":"Gil","date":"July 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"What I'm reading: I finished The Hunter, and I'm waiting for delivery of David Mazzucchelli's decade-in-the-making comic, Asterios Polyp. (Boy, do I hate the term \"graphic novel.\") What I'm listening to: My new Mad Mix CD, \"Stix Stigma,\" which I've started sending out to select friends. What I'm watching: Apollo\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic books & strips"","block_context":{"text":"Comic books & strips","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature\/comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0226770990","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1552,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/embarrassment-of-bitches","url_meta":{"origin":1208,"position":1},"title":"Embarrassment of bitches","author":"Gil","date":"June 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"In summer, our office hours are 8am-1pm on Fridays. It's a nice treat, getting out before the weekend traffic, even if it's just to get some shopping done or get home early. Today, I stopped off at a comic shop on the way home, to pick up the new issue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apes"","block_context":{"text":"Apes","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/apes"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1401213448","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12266,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-320-seth","url_meta":{"origin":1208,"position":2},"title":"Episode 320 – Seth","author":"Gil","date":"May 14, 2019","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 320: Seth \"The drawing of the comic is where everything is discovered.\" After more than 20 years, Seth has completed Clyde Fans, his grand meditation on family, business, and art (Drawn & Quarterly), so let's celebrate with a double-episode! First, Seth & I talk at a live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Architecture"","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/architecture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sethcombo-e1557877375577.jpg?fit=1200%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sethcombo-e1557877375577.jpg?fit=1200%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sethcombo-e1557877375577.jpg?fit=1200%2C426&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sethcombo-e1557877375577.jpg?fit=1200%2C426&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sethcombo-e1557877375577.jpg?fit=1200%2C426&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2131,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/long-and-vending-road","url_meta":{"origin":1208,"position":3},"title":"Long and Vending Road","author":"Gil","date":"July 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was a kid, my family took roadtrips down to Disney World around Thanksgiving. We rolled down the highway in a Country Squire station wagon, and I recall our two big stops being Pedro's South of the Border, where we bought fireworks, and one of the highway rest areas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "suburbs"","block_context":{"text":"suburbs","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/suburbs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10449,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/comic-con-2017-pre-game","url_meta":{"origin":1208,"position":4},"title":"Comic-Con 2017 pre-game","author":"Gil","date":"July 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I won't be at the big Comic-Con International in San Diego this weekend, but if you're going, here's a list of podcasts I've done with some of this year's guests & attendees: Maria Alexander\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Derf Backderf\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Joyce Farmer\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Mary Fleener \u2022 mp3 Jeff Gomez\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Karen Green\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Peter Kuper\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Mimi Pond\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Classic Comics Criticism"","block_context":{"text":"Classic Comics Criticism","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature\/classic-comics-criticism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/cci_teaser_logo_2_52.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6485,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/an-embarrassment-of-riches-maybe","url_meta":{"origin":1208,"position":5},"title":"An Embarrassment (Of riches? Maybe?)","author":"Gil","date":"July 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The library downstairs is nearing completion! All that remains is painting the ceiling and the wall under the shelves, and then putting in the floor (I know, that last part could take forever, but hey). Last month, I got the idea to inaugurate the new library with some special\/new books.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic books & strips"","block_context":{"text":"Comic books & strips","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature\/comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}