As a retired educator I had years of experience on some of the needed skills- specially, blowing a whistle and walking backwards. There is more to it than just that and I definitely have some work to do before I can earn my Aeronaut wings. Things I need to work on:

• Giving directions clearly and allowing wait time for those instructions to be heard and processed before moving on.

• Being far enough ahead of the balloon to make sure it is following the correct path.

• Giving positive feedback to everyone involved throughout the experience, I’m there to cheer everyone on not yell out orders… Which I wasn’t yelling, but I know I need to be say “good job!” more especially when things get tough.

After my rotation and debriefing I spent some time on another balloon as a handler and was able to see how windy it was. Ugh. The next day my arms were sore from trying to keep the balloon under control. My fault, with a number of people trying to give helpful advice, but giving contradictory directions it was a bit of a challenge.

Next (if I’m asked to) I head back for classroom training and more practice. So “Smudge” the new MINI will be getting more miles (over so far 9,000 in almost three months) as we drive back and forth from Indiana to New Jersey. I’m looking forward to the challenge and will be spending a bunch of time walking backwards. I’m even thinking about doing the Orc Stomp 5k at Gen Con backwards.

Sorry I don’t have any photos of the event (we were asked not to and I’m Lawful Good) but here are a few that should be OK for publication.

My first year I decided to try it out since it was close, I have fond memories of building model airplanes with my Dad growing up, and there was a presentation on the building of the Rocketeer’s jet pack. I was amazed at the wonderful things on display, but leery about diving into another hobby. Especially when I figured out how much model kits and the tools to build and paint them well cost.

Share

I did decide to at least give it a try with a model building challenge they had. The challenge was to kitbash (modify using parts from other kits) the DeLorean from Back to the Future. A specific kit had been chosen and I had an idea and part way through realized I was way over my head. I could envision it, but actually putting it together well… not possible. I ended up just giving up and trashing it.

I did introduce a friend, who is an excellent model maker, to the convention and drove down for a day last year to chat and ogle the stuff people had built. As I talked with other friends who like painting miniatures I bring up WonderFest as something they might consider attending. This year I drove down with another friend who paints miniatures and thought it might be a good fit for him. It’s the 60th anniversary of Star Trek so I was curious to see how model makers might celebrate it.

The convention is held at the Crowne Plaza in Louisville and is in that awkward stage where it’s grown too big for that facility, but isn’t big enough for a larger venue. That and it seems to have been there enough years that people are comfortable with the layout.

The convention has two exhibit halls, one for model vendors and one for guests and overflow. They also use a ballroom for the displays brought in by participants for judging and awards. Other spaces are used for presentations, classes, and other displays. This year they created a reproduction of the original model making workshop used for Star Wars in the 1970’s. Another area housed someone’s collection of Star Trek memorabilia. The hall with guests also contained a collection of items from Lost in Space.

My third year attending I was still amazed at some of the items people had created, but also swear there was a lot more in previous years. (Maybe the economy & gas prices impacted attendance? Maybe it was showing up on Sunday.) Also while this tends to focus on building and painting, the amount of 3D printed things made it less of an “oh wow! How did they do that?” To more of a “great painting”, but just more and more 3D AI stuff. Having done work in CAD I know how difficult it can be, but also how many files are just out there in the web, so I’m not as impressed with some of the builds.

I was asked by my friend how this compared to LEGO shows with repeated displays. I don’t recall seeing too many modelers bringing the same thing each year which is pretty common at LEGO shows. Each model even when it’s the same kit, is unique. While many LEGO builders just bring the same set up each year with only slight modifications. I used to take hundreds of photos at LEGO shows, I think I only took a handful the last show I attended. I did drop the number of photos at WonderFest this year, but I think that was more about quantity of things I was interested in.

Over all for the ticket price, I think I need to either dive into model making or say it’s a nice convention, but not my thing. I like looking at the models, but I’d rather draw than build and paint someone else’s creation. Compared to most conventions I attend or choose not to attend WonderFest isn’t that expensive ($75 for two days $40 for one), but if I’m not interested in building or painting models…

Again, if you are a model builder, I highly recommend attending WonderFest at least once, for me, who knows what the future holds?

Woodstock moves from place to place each year put on by local volunteers. Each year is different and in many cases tries to improve upon the previous year’s effort. The location is usually not in a major metropolis, the highlights are local but also for many it’s a chance to cache in a completely new locale.

Share

As I have said before geocaching used to be a numbers game. You pretty much could tell the caliber of the cacher you were talking to by the number of finds they had. This was back in days when you needed a GPS unit and getting 100 finds in a day was a massive awe inspiring accomplishment. Now? Not so much, and it shows. Adventure Labs offer hundred of finds by just sitting in your car guessing at multiple choice questions. No longer do people cache to discover unique places, they just want to be higher on the mythical leaderboard. There is a leaderboard… I just haven’t paid attention to it in years. Cecil is somewhere around 8,781st in the U.S. of course the validity may be off since it says he’s from West Virginia, not Indiana (ranking as of May 22, 2026).

Like many things when they first appeared they were unique, now they’re perverted into something else. GeoArt (arranging caches into letters or a design on the map) was an endeavor to produce and took time and effort… now it’s a race. Adventure Labs for a short time were fun ways to learn about a town and walk around seeing the sites. Now it’s a multiple guess test that just determines how fast you can tap your phone. 🙄 ugh - Without guardrails or gatekeepers these have become the AI slop of geocaching- which for many (like AI Slop), it seems is OK because they are not that challenging except for having to go and sign the log.

GeoWoodstock

Monkey Brad (not his real name) could go into the history of the event better than I ever could. This was the 22nd GeoWoodstock the event is put together by local geocachers who submit an application to the committee of past hosts. They decide where it will be each year and announce it at the closing ceremony. Very early on in geocaching Joe GPS (not his real name) decided to hold a gathering so people could put faces with their made up names. When I first started caching you only knew someone by their caching name. The idea was if we got to know each other in real life it might make things better all around. Bring a chair, we’ll sit around and talk about this thing we like to do. Yes, there were internet trolls even back then. Over the years each host tried new things, sometimes they stuck… or became an expectation.

Now you can pretty much expect:

• Giant letters spelling out “GEOWOODSTOCK” used as the event log

• Multiple paid levels of registration which includes special trackables only at certain levels and lunch

• Multiple pre-events to pick up your registration

• GeoArt and Adventure Lab art

• Caches and Adventure Labs posted the day of the event

• An “Ask the Reviewers Panel” in which cachers can ask the folks who approve caches questions and learn a bit of the sausage making process which does differ from state to state

• New this year - a drone show which people are already looking forward to next year’s show and how awesome it is going to be 🙄 I pity the folks running GeoWoodstock XXIII

Usually at events this size there will be vendors selling all sorts of geocaching items. Trackable coins, tags, and pins are common. The advent of 3D printing lots and lots of 3D printed stuff. One trend has also been organizations with geo-tours or trails are there trying to get you to visit. Remember how I said the next location is a secret? If you are clever you might notice that an area’s visitor’s bureau is in attendance. This is becoming a pretty easy clue as to where the next event will be. You ask yourself why would the tourism folks from Kansas show up in West Virginia? This year it was Louisiana and… Yes, GeoWoodstock 2027 will be in Baton Rouge.

It’s Not About the Numbers (for me)

While many people were trying to boost their find count, I decided to just go with the flow. Sue is into coloring the map. With 49 of the 50 states colored in its time to get more detailed- yes, find a cache in every county. This can be tedious, fortunately, for me, this trip was quality over quantity. While we did get a few caches that were just there we also saw some really cool places and some cool caches. GeoWoodstock provides us with events to attend and pop up caches and Adventure Labs. We try to avoid those as they are crowd caching. Basically opportunities to wait in a queue to sign a log.

My numbers if you care-

• 52 caches 6 different cache types including the elusive Webcam cache

• 6 events 3 different event types (Event, Mega Event and GPS Adventure Maze)

• 45 Adventure Labs stages - including 20 multiple guess GeoArt stages because I was bored waiting to get into the Salt Mine. The GPS Adventure Maze Adventure Lab because getting a unique icon isn’t enough I really needed 10 finds on top of that. 🙄

103 total smileys, if I did the Math right.

The Future of Geocaching

Someone asked in this year’s Reviewers Panel about geocaching’s future. Sue and I discussed this also looking around at the crowd at the event. I even decided to buy a shirt that says “It’s weird being the same age as old people” sadly that’s reality. We started geocaching around the same time we bought our first MINI, so over 20 years ago. Generational differences cause things to go out of favor unless they can evolve. The expectation of my forgotten generation isn’t the same as younger people. As more and more people leave the sport/hobby who is there to replace them? Unfortunately, many die hard cachers who have children have made that generation hate caching because after the initial excitement it became something that their parents were more committed to than them. So many kids have moved on. What can the geocaching community do to bring them back and add more? A lot of groups are confronting this dilemma, I wish there was an easy answer. Geocaching is trying to gamify things souvenirs, and treasures virtual achievements. Adventure Labs were created to avoid actually having to touch or dig through things, but should they just be multiple choice questions in a rest area? Are they dumbing down the hobby? What do future cachers want? What are the needs of OG cachers? Can they work together? GeoWoodstock demonstrated to me that the hobby is at a crossroads, like many things. To survive it needs to evolve.

As For the Rest of the Trip…

Smudge is closing in on 8,000 miles. Gas in Illinois is expensive- It’s expensive everywhere (remember though we are “winning”) but outlandish in Illinois. We found some great places, met some nice people. Took some detours that were and weren’t planned.

Yes, I’m still reading Dungeon Crawler Carl…

Gen Con is “the largest and longest-running annual celebration of tabletop gaming culture.” Originally held in Geneva, Wisconsin, considered the birthplace of Dungeons and Dragons. Since those humble beginnings it has moved and grown. Now Gen Con takes up most of downtown Indianapolis for the first weekend in August. At the beginning of May, Gen Con released their event catalog for people to start creating wish lists of what they wanted to do. This is a “dare to dream” moment for attendees. It is also the time that people who have not gotten badges need to consider what level of con attendee are they going to be.

Leveling Up as a Con Attendee:

Level Zero: You know about the Convention and think about attending but decide not to because of whatever excuse you can come up with.

Level One: You get a badge and spend the entire time in the Exhibit Hall/Dealer Room looking at the “stuff” that people have on sale. You basically treat the Convention as a flea market with a pretty high admission fee.

Level Two: You actually interact with people and attend things. This would include talking with “special guests” or paying for photo ops and autographs. I almost consider that a level 1.5 activity. Level two would be more of the attending a panel.

Level Three: You spend more time in panels and activities than in the Exhibit Hall.

Level Four: You volunteer to help out in some area of the Convention.

For Gen Con Indy a lot of the attendees are Level One or Level Two. Level Two would include playing demo games but still not understanding how to sign up for actual events being held.

For Gen Con you can’t just walk into a game (for the most part) you have to sign up to play and for most games pay a fee. The cost is determined by the game, some are free, others are pretty pricey. The event catalog gives you all the information about the game and what you should expect. A lot of the games are designed for beginners, but some are for those folks who are experts.

What kind of games are we talking about? If it is a game, you will most likely find it at Gen Con. Board games, card games, war games, role playing games… are all available. Game companies release new games or beta test games. Now many Kickstarter projects are introduced here. Last year I helped out (Level Four) demoing Mystic Curling Club. Neat game that Kickstarted in the Fall and should be arriving at my doorstep sometime around Gen Con (a year later).

Entering the Second Level

Today at noon eastern time, event registration went live. People have spent the last two weeks looking at the catalog and putting together their wish list of what they wanted to do. Today they submitted that list and joined the queue to see what they might get to play. My wish list was mighty and included games I wanted to play with people I knew were attending. I had added them to my Friends list and then we talked about some games and added each other to our wishlists so we could buy tickets for each other. This can backfire, but fortunately it didn’t. Of the 13 (Yes, I pushed my luck) events I ended up getting 10 of them. Mostly due to the fact my brother got higher in the queue than I did and was able to get tickets to those events we both wanted to do. The ones I missed out on were Saturday events, which makes sense since most people attend Gen Con on Saturday and therefore everything fills up fast. Combine that with choosing a Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG (Role Playing Game) adventure and a currently kickstarting Space Opera version of the latest incarnation of Dungeons and Dragons. I had also signed up for signing with Matt Dinniman, the creator of Dungeon Crawler Carl. I figured those were all going to be impossible unless the Fates smiled on me and I received a low number in the queue. I didn’t receive a low number, but I also didn’t receive a high number. I was 7,235th in line. The luckiest of my group was 123rd, the unluckiest was 14,821st and then somehow refreshed his screen to get put back in line when he was 2,000th 😱 so he went from 2,000 something to 7,000 something… ugh. Fortunately for all of us, we didn’t miss out on everything, but also we aren’t doing everything we wanted (except for Larry). I’ll keep checking back and seeing if things open up for the times I now have open, but It also gives me a bit more down time which can be nice.

So What Am I Actually Doing?

I am not attending the Puppetry Program or the Writer’s Symposium even though I’m sure those reading this wish I would do something to improve my puppetry skills… I mean my writing skills. These are great programs for those with an interest, I’m just focused mostly on games. I have attended puppetry sessions, and even did a session on saber dueling. There is a lot going at Gen Con beyond just slaying orcs.

Thursday is a bit of a school day for me. I’m starting it off with a presentation about being a Gamesmaster.

Since I’m now leading a group through an adventure, I want to improve my ability and the experience of my players. This hopefully will help me understand what I need to improve upon and maybe what I’m doing well (although from the facial expressions from the only other GM in my group I’m thinking “not much.”)

Then I’m jumping over to my creative side and doing a workshop on Block Printing. Yes, I know it has little to do with games, but it Gen Con has some amazing sessions on crafts and other things related to games. Cecil has a chainmail vest I made him years ago from a Gen Con session. This time, I’m going to see what I can do with block printing, something I haven’t played with since High School.

Time to play a game. I’m going to try out “Bagged & Boarded” a game that was introduced last year, and Kickstarted. I haven’t gotten my copy yet, but figured if a game about collecting comics wasn’t close to my real life, I don’t know what is.

I’ll end the day with another presentation this time about “The First Superhero” one of my favorite characters from literature the Scarlet Pimpernel. I’ve seen the film adaptations and read the book. I’m curious to learn more. May not be your cup of tea, but I’m looking forward to it.

Friday currently starts with something completely out of character for me… a 5k. The annual Orc Stomp Fun Run. I may be knocking on the door to my brother’s hotel room to use his shower afterwards, but I figure, I need to work on getting in shape so why not? Currently with the way my 60 year old back is feeling, I may not actually participate, but, then again, I should feel better by then.

I’ve always talked about how much I enjoy the Dungeon Crawl Classics funnel. I even used one as a way to start character creation in my campaign. For three and half hours I will be taking four zero level characters through an adventure lead by a dear friend from college.

I’m ending Friday by playing Munchkin. I love Munchkin even though I rarely play it. I want to play it more, but can’t find the people or the time. They just updated the rules to Munchkin 2.0 and I have purchased a set so… I hopefully will have a chance to have some fun and backstab a few people (even one or two I know) on my way to fame and fortune.

Saturday was originally full of things, but due to my queue position I took some hard hits… Oh well. At noon I will be playing Kobolds Ate My Baby! A game system I figured sounded as irreverent as most of the characters I play. I’ve never played it, so I figured I should try something new that sounded like fun. I’ll be joined by my little brother in this one so it should be interesting.

I close out Saturday with a game I always try to play at Gen Con- Aerodrome Ace this time around it will be WWII Pacific Theater. My preference would be WWI, but that’s OK, I’ll be playing with friends and family. If you don’t know about this game it is a dogfight game with squadrons going against each other. I’ll be playing it twice, once Saturday and again on Sunday where we will be playing the Star Wars version, I am curious how it differs from the Battlestar Galactica version. Each player has a wooden cockpit which they use to plot out their moves. everything happens at once. It’s a lot of fun and one of the first games to pique my interest the first time I attended Gen Con. I have tried to fit in one game and usually it ends up being the last thing I play on Sunday.

Subscribe now

Thursday is my really heavy day with lots of stuff going on, the rest of the Convention seems to be holding to my one or two scheduled things rule. I’m hoping to demo some of the games I didn’t get into, or at least see them up close and decide if they are worth investing time (and money) into. It will be nice to have some time to wander and hit up the food trucks. I may even see about setting up a Geocaching event sometime during the Con for those visiting from out of town and would like a smiley, only time and my motivation will tell.

So, if you went through the queue, how’d you fair? Are you happy with your results or upset because you didn’t get into the one game you wanted on Saturday that was only offered once and only had 4 spots since you were 15,349th in line. Rub some dirt on your wound and move on (Yes, I’m Gen X). There is so much to see and do at Gen Con even without a badge. Yes, you need a badge to get into the exhibit hall or game rooms, but there is so much to see just at the Convention Center, I highly recommend dropping by and checking it out (move up to Level 1/2 instead of Zero).

There were two teams heading to Vegas and I was part of the group. Fortunately curling doesn’t require a lot of equipment the most unwieldy piece would be the broom.  I decided to invest in a “travel broom” which breaks into four parts and can fit in a carry on.  Not cheap, but since I’m ending my second full season and am looking forward to continuing, it wasn’t a bad investment.  I saw a more experienced curler wield one at the end of the year event. She complained a bit about the weight, I could barely feel a difference between my own broom. Of course, add in my new shoes and this was the first time I’d use any of this stuff on the ice and my first time on the ice at another club!

Subscribe

Curl Vegas is the host and the theme was fairy tales.  I was tagged as the creative one (Crazy Bruce) so I started bouncing around fairy tale based team names. I started with most esoteric things based on the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, but after blank stares as a reward for my cleverness I tried out “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo” which was altered to “Bibbidi Bobbidi Broom” to add some curling to it.  I then drew up a Fantasia Sorcerer’s Apprentice style broom carrying stones instead of buckets.  Those days studying at Disney during my first Lilly Fellowship paid off, I had contributed to the team in the only way I really know how - graphic design.

We got our draw schedule (guaranteed 3 draws/matches) for both our teams we would start at 1:00 on Friday.  If Bibbidi won we’d turn around and have another match at 3:30.  Back to back… having never done this I was happily oblivious. If we lost we’d head back for a 7:30 draw.  Definitely Not a Mimic the other Circle City team, win or lose, would go again at 7:30. After that I’d have to consult a crystal ball or magic mirror on the wall to know what would happen next.

As John Cullen said in Curling Rocks! most of the best curling memories happen off the ice. Where else could we end up with tales to amuse and delight than in Las Vegas?

I will not go into details about our first night- we were all tired trying to acclimate to the time zone.  A bit of drama with the Airbnb, dinner, and a near death experience on the way back from dinner. You know “fun”memories off the ice.

Our first day of curling went well… *spoilers* we lost both draws. That said we met some awesome curlers from around the U.S. and, while we were not victorious, both games were close at some point, so we didn’t necessarily embarrass ourselves too much. I started to think I should change my role from “Assistant Animator” to “The Huntsman” since my role seemed to be taking out a stone in some (for me at least) challenging locations.

Not Your Home Ice

Besides new people, a different facility does make things a bit more interesting.  Shots that would do one thing at home acted completely differently here.  The Curl Vegas venue was great, four sheets with lots of sponsors prominently displayed on the ice.  A few interesting things to note.  We have the “T-line” drawn through each of the houses on each sheet. Curl Vegas, didn’t which made things a bit more difficult for some. Another thing was, at home, we have monitors showing a bird’s eye view of the house from the hack.  I’ve gotten used to seeing how the stones are around the house before throwing a stone.  I didn’t realize how much of a crutch this has been for me until I didn’t have it today. Finally the ice itself was different.  We found out later the dehumidifier had gone out.  You would think with all the talk of “dry heat” humidity wouldn’t be an issue.  You would be wrong.  Our presence on the ice created frost which would cause the stone to slow down or almost stop at inopportune moments.  It was a problem for everyone so just a bit we had to work around when calling shots and sweeping.

The Bonspiel also had decided on some  interesting rule changes.

• The “Frog Line” - if you burn a stone or it doesn’t make it past the hog line you need to pay the frog.  $1 goes into a frog cookie jar along with a ticket with your name on it. At the end of the days festivities a name would be drawn from the frog and they would win the entire pot! The issue with the dehumidifier caused a lot of people to “Frog” shots. The first day’s pot was $60.

• The Double Take Out Dragon - if a team gets a double take out (removes two opposing stones with one stone) they gain possession of the dragon. Whichever team is in possession of the dragon at the end of the round gets a round of drinks on the house!

• The Ogre Round - Ogres have layers, like an onion. During this round some rules are different. First if you win the double take out dragon - it goes to the other team.  Finally in an epic reversal- the losing team buys the drinks! Also, the “no tick” rule is in play.

They also asked us to used glass markers to decorate the windows where people watched the sheets from the warm room.  Ummm… I like to draw, some say I’m not too bad at it.  I had some fun which lead to my friends informing me the awe others had for the silly doodles I had done.  This magical ability of mine included writing team names backwards so they could be seen from the sheet side of the window. 🙄 yup, it’s a silly skill I happen to have. I was told at the end of the first day that it awed and amazed many teams. Sadly, I may have intimated people. I even heard hushed whispers about how “some guy was an animator.” 🙄

The Results

• Draw 1 lost to Four Foot Farquaads

• Draw 2 lost to A Draw is a Wish Your Heart Makes

• Draw 3 lost to Ogre the Hog Line

So that’s three losses for my team.  Some close ends, some great shots (some of them even mine) but such is curling.

As for the other Circle City Curling Club team - Definitely Not a Mimic

• Draw 1 win over Ogre the Hog Line

• Draw 2 lost to Game of Stones

• Draw 3 lost to Four Foot Farquaads

This meant that both teams did not advance to play on Sunday. Which since we were all pretty tired was kind of a silver lining.  Not that we didn’t want to win, but…

Take Aways

I learned a lot this first Bonspiel away from home.  Most importantly John Cullen was right about playing with people you like. It was fun.  Frustrating at times, but fun.

I thought I had figured this out after my very first attempt at a bonspiel, obviously I didn’t- don’t try new things out in a competitive environment.  Go with what you are comfortable with.  For this event I had new shoes and a new broom.  While in the end (pun not intended) I did like using both, there were some subtle differences in how each tool worked.  With the shoes - the slider (Teflon) is positioned just a bit differently so it felt funny when I started my delivery.  As for my new travel broom? I really liked it.  It served the purpose by collapsing into an easy to manage size for travel.  The issue I had was the head was a lot looser so being Vice giving my skip a good target (the broom head) was a bit of a challenge. Just something I need to figure out and during a bonspiel wasn’t the time or place. I did not try to use my new broom as a stabilizer.

Not only play with people you like, but also play with people you know.  I actually complained on our club survey about this. I said that if the purpose of a league is to get to meet new people then teams for each session should be randomly assigned, including breaking up family members. A group of four people should not be allowed to play an entire season (for us that’s three sessions) together, it takes away from a valuable social aspect and has the possibility to create cliques or making people feel left out (you know like in elementary school dodgeball and being the last one picked). However, after this weekend I also see a benefit to playing with the same people. Our first loss came to a team that most of the people had curled together for three years.  You learn everyone’s strengths and weaknesses.  So for a bonspiel or more competitive situation - having an established team is a benefit. For a learning situation or 5U (under five years experience) league, (IMHO) not so much.

I was also reminded of something learned this when attending conferences throughout my teaching career- learning how other groups operate really can help improve things back home.  This may be why our district administrators stopped sending teachers to conferences.  As a new-ish curler hearing about how other clubs do things gives me ideas on how to improve the stuff we do locally.  Seeing other facilities also makes me realize how good I’ve got it in some ways.  They didn’t have monitors over the house so I had no idea the exact location my skip wanted the stone or where the other stones were in relationship! I later learned we are one of a few clubs that have that. Yes, I’m spoiled. It was good to travel with people who have some idea and influence on the direction the club is heading.  No organization is perfect, but we can learn so much if we are willing to try new things.  Sometimes the only thing holding a group back is the old guard who have the “we’ve always done it this way” mindset.

Personally, I do want to figure out how to use my new broom as a stabilizer so I can be like the cool kids. In the same vein I also feel I should learn about using a stopwatch. I think this might help with my weight (the speed of the stone).  It would also help me to look like one of the cool kids and have a stopwatch either on my broom or hanging from my belt.🙄

So will I do this again? Sure! If invited by the right people and available I think it would be great.  Will I try to put together a team?  I’m an introvert so probably not, but “Crazy Bruce” may have other ideas.

Share

I have tried what many educators and parents might call “real reading”🙄 and have been using my local library app to catch up on some titles/series. The problem seems to be just when the book on my reading list becomes available, I’m in the middle of something and don’t feel it’s right to have multiple books going at once, since there are other people in line for that book.

When I was a teacher, many parents were concerned about ADHD or whatever trendy diagnosis was currently in the news. Please, understand I agree that ADD, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, etc. are real, and exist in many people including myself. I am not making light of those people who are on the spectrum for whatever issue that make a lot of things challenging. In some cases a lot more challenging than others. During these parent/teacher conferences would look at these parents, many with bright kids and say “I’m not a doctor, I grew up in a family where my siblings were all diagnosed, I never was… do you really think it skipped me? I developed a number of strategies to succeed. Start by talking to your physician, we can make accommodations here in the classroom as needed.” Sometimes the kids would be put on medication, other times not. It was a personal choice, not always as successful as they would like. I bring this up because while those strategies I figured out growing up have started to fail me in later life, I still use them. One is I read in a quiet (silent) room. The other is I focus on one book at a time. I used to remember everything I read, now… not so much. Then again I also have thousands of names and faces stuck in my head and anxiety that someone will come up to me and say “I was in your class! Remember me?”

So What Have I Been Reading?

You’ll notice many of these are from series so if I were you, I would start with the first book. Another one of those strategies I developed. You might also notice I tend to read Fantasy/Speculative Fiction stories, although I bounce into other genres, sometimes even 😱 non-fiction! Last month up until a few days ago here’s what I was reading (outside of the medium of comics- which many of these would make amazing graphic novels, some already have).

• Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree #2 in the Legends & Lattes series - a wonderful fantasy series usually about an orc who quit adventuring to open a coffee shop. This time around the bookseller who inspired her arrives in town then vanishes on her own quest to do a bit of adventuring and soul searching. What happens when you realize your entire life has been just doing what you were expected to do? It really hit home as I settle into retirement and try to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. Don’t worry I won’t follow a legendary warrior on an adventure, but I might have a few Whimventures of my own.

• Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? by Harold Schechter & Eric Powell - It’s a medium, not a genre. Yes this is a graphic novel, but that’s just the way it has been presented. After reading Dr. Werthless the tale of Frederic Wertham the man who wrote the book in the 50’s on how horrible comic books were (think video games, TikTok or whatever adults blame for kids behavior), I decided to read their first endeavor about the serial killer who inspired Psycho.

• A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett #2 in the Ana and Din Mystery series- I read the first book in the series, a murder mystery in a world where Kaiju (Leviathans) attack each year and people are physically and mentally modified to best serve the state. Din has been altered to remember everything and this helps him and Ana, his superior, solve crimes. Ana’s brain can take those clues and determine what happened in a Sherlock Holmesian manner. It’s a fantasy world, so while the science of modifying humans using Leviathan bits and bobs is great, no flying cars or robots, more Middle Ages era. This time another murder and time to figure out everything in a town where Leviathan corpses are harvested, but that’s not the only thing going on. All the hierarchy and details of the empire and this world have been put together in such a way that it helps to really understand how this fantasy world works.

• American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett - after reading the most recent Ana & Din book I decided to see what else the author had written and came upon a story of an unknown town and pan dimensional beings. Basically a down on their luck former police officer with lots of baggage inherits a home in Wink, New Mexico. She was unaware of the home, the town, or her mother’s place in it all. Wink is a perfect Stepford Wives like place, with weird rules and secrets. She arrives as a town leader has died unexpectedly (it was murder). Unexpectedly because town leaders are pretty much immortal… yup, another fantasy story. Her only goal was to learn more about her mother and in the process uncovers some weird stuff going on in the past at the now abandoned research facility. By the end we’re dealing with the apocalypse.

• The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik #3 in the Schoolmance Series - I recall picking up the first book years ago on a trip. I had read some of her earlier works and figure I’d try it out the premise seemed interesting. As a teacher the idea of a school that’s trying to kill its students was an amusing concept. Definitely not Hogwarts. It seems that those inclined to use magic set up a school in another dimension (the void) inhabited by weird creatures who were dangerous. Over the years as result of funding cuts, negligence, or whatever the school fell into disrepair and the students had to fend for themselves to survive. Graduation was a race to the exit facing a gauntlet of all sorts of horrible beasts including two “maw mouths”that devour you, but don’t kill you. Ugh. Survivors all think is a character building thing, so nothing changes. The first two books take young Harry, Ron, & Hermione… wait wrong book. El has been prophesied as the one to bring down all the Wizard Enclaves causing societal collapse. She’s doing her best not to. Orion is the hero of the school saving people right and left from evil creatures. The end of the second book leaves us outside of the Schoolmance and back in the “real” world. El is trying to figure out what to do, and keeps getting called to help Enclaves in need. Vague enough? (see? no spoilers) we learn a lot of the background of this world and how adults tend to justify horrible acts “for the greater good.” “The needs of the many…”blah, blah blah, but what if that wasn’t the case? El is about to show them, but will they listen?

  

• Curling Rocks! by John Cullen - after the Rock League and the end of the curling season I realized (again) that I am clueless when it comes to curling in general. Sports fans grow up knowing names like Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, Michael Jordan, and a bunch of football players. For me, I know no one… or very little about curling and those important moments in the sport. So while searching my local library I came across this book. Written by the guy who put together the “Broomgate” podcast. Who knows maybe he’ll do a “Boopgate” podcast soon. Basically, this was a book I needed to gain a better understanding of curling culture. I got a little lost when he was trying to determine the best curlers since I have no idea or can’t visualize these folks. I know some of the current players thanks to the Olympics, U.S. Nationals, and Rock League. What I learned was I needed to watch things like the Scotties, the Brier, and the Grand Slam of Curling events. This on top of just becoming a better curler. Then again the last bit of advice was golden- “play with people you like.” Don’t worry about winning or losing, play with people you want to be around. While some memories happen on the ice, most don’t. I’ve been lucky enough to play with a lot of people I like, so maybe I am doing it right. Now if only I could figure out weight. This book is good enough I’m considering buying a copy to leave at my curling club, along with Rachel Homan’s Curling ABC’s.

  

This year’s curling season came to a close and I have accomplished a few goals, but still am a neophyte when it comes to the art and science of curling. Yes, like many people I watched it during the Olympics, I also became a certified Junior assistant trainee instructor at my local Curling Club. I even helped prepare the ice for the Wednesday morning league. So like many things- I have kinda did a swan dive into the shallow end (I did that once as a kid- my nose still shows the results of that effort). I had heard over the interwebs about an attempt to create a professional Curling League, and decided (not to try out- duh!) to see what it was all about.

When you think about professional sports you think of seasons, and teams, stars, and stuff like that. When I think about professional sports I tend to think of… well nothing. I’ve never been into sports of any kind. I tried football (except in the U.S. it’s called “Soccer”) as a kid- still have nightmares about that time my parents sent me to soccer camp. My older brother was the athlete. Growing up I got shuffled into whatever he was doing - Springboard diving as a kid. He was excellent at it- me… not so much. I did place 5th once in a competition. After that I don’t recall if it was me, or my parents who decided that I should stop (probably a bit from Column A and a bit from Column B). Since we lived at the pool, I got signed up for swimming… I may have already mentioned my mom called me “Speedy” because I was so slow. I gave up on that too. I learned early to avoid sports and competition of any kind. This included watching sports on TV, following teams, or anything related to sports. I’d be polite and cheer teams on, but I couldn’t tell you (and still can’t) who plays for what team.

So starting a professional curling league seemed like a good place to try to embrace my inner sports fan. The Rock League was the place to start even if many of the curlers I knew either scoffed at it, or hadn’t even heard of it. The “inaugural season” this year was one event, which lasted a week. Usually a season is a number of games spanning a few months and a variety of locations. Rock League - One event, I can do that. The league is usually a number of teams usually each with a home base. Rock League has six teams. Geography gets a little weird, they really don’t have a “hometown.” I’m probably looking at wrong, but here’s how I broke it down:

• Maple United - Canada

• Shield Curling Club - Canada

• Frontier Curling Club - United States

• Northern United - Northern Europe

• Alpine Curling Club - Central Europe

• Typhoon Curling Club - Asia and Oceania

As with any professional sports team the players actually came from various locales so I could be completely off on my geography. Which brings me to another thing- I’m not great with names… I don’t know who all the players are. I hope to get better, but two years in and not really having a good place in the U.S. to watch the best play, outside of the Olympics I have very little idea as to who I should be cheering on.

As a U.S. citizen (according to all the legal documents I need to vote) I guess I should cheer for the Frontier Curling Club… as a person with ancestry from Sweden and Scotland my other option was Northern United. I wasn’t the only one as I kept hearing fans while we were there trying to figure out who they should cheer for. I finally settled for Northern United, something about some of the Frontier players tearing off the sleeves of their shirts (I guess to look “cool” Iguess it’s the US version of the Norwegian curling pants), and the general depression about the current state of politics in the U.S. - I know there’s no politics in sportsing! Just ask the NFL about their Super Bowl halftime show. Sue and I actually were pretty neutral and just cheered for “Good Curling” all around. And there was a lot to cheer about on that front.

Day by Day- How Things Worked

Like the Olympics it started with round robin play to determine seeding for the playoffs. In this each team played a men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles game. So three sheets were being used at once. Each day had three scheduled times. You could spend the day and watch all the teams. We discovered our weekend tickets didn’t actually start until 7:00 PM Friday, so we paid for the first match and then took a break before the Friday night event Maple United vs. Shield Curling Club- Basically Canada vs. Canada.

The venue was interesting with floor curling available for those interested in the “fan Zone”, the “Rock Shop” for souvenirs, along with food and drink concessions. Rock League promoted a sheet side option, the “Between the Sheets Pub,” for an extra charge. This was a bar between Sheets A and B and you could watch what was going on about a meter away from the action. This also made it difficult for people to see what was going on on all three sheets since there was a crowd standing between two sheets. The other thing that was interesting was the same competitions occurred on the same sheets. So Sheet A was always mixed doubles, Sheet B was always men’s and Sheet C was always women’s. Which translated to, if you weren’t interested in the mixed doubles, you needed to make sure you had West Concourse seats to be able to see Sheets B & C.

Scoring was pretty much a point for each sheet the team won, and an extra half point if the team swept all the matches. Ties were broken by comparing the number of points the team had accumulated throughout the event.

The playoffs were only on two sheets and consisted of mixed teams. Basically how things tend to work at a Curling Club. This was a bit more enjoyable to watch. Yes, I still didn’t know all the players, but it was more like what I was used to watching. Not all the players played, but substitutions were allowed if needed. so the entire team was present, just eight out of ten players were actually on the ice.

The rest of the event was back to three sheets like the round robin matches. The first teams out were Maple United and Frontier Curling Club. After that we got down to the finals- Shield Curling Club against Typhoon Curling Club. there were some amazing shots and it got down to the wire.

Share

If I was an extrovert I’d have jumped right into the pub and paid the extra to hang out there. Many of the curlers not playing would stop in to watch. As an introvert and a rule follower it was hard for me to not want to got to my seat and watch from there. Which I learned I really didn’t have to do. The venue was not full, or maybe since those folks at the exclusive bar weren’t using their seats it didn’t look too full.

Sue and I figured out that we could see a lot more of the action from the top level and spent most of our time away from our seats and just watching as much as we could.

Overall Impressions

Can there really be too much curling? For Sue, the answer (like Ancient Astronaut Theorists like to say) is “Yes.” Not following or know much about the players made it fun to watch, but hard to get overly excited about. Yes, there were som great plays, but you might miss them as you focus on the action on another sheet. Think of it as trying to watch three baseball games at the same time. Just as you focus on one game, some other game has an amazing play. Multi-tasking is not my strong suit when in comes to watching any sport. I had the same issue when watching the U.S. Nationals.

The curling was amazing, even though some trolls on the interwebs were claiming the players weren’t trying hard enough 🙄. There were some rule changes to up the excitement. The one I really liked was in the last end if you had a stone covering the pin (the very center of the button) your team would get an extra point. This did change the outcome of a few matches. Helping amp up the power of the hammer (last rock thrown).

Rachel Homan (Maple United) had written a Curling ABC book, which I purchased and had the opportunity to get signed. Being an old elementary school teacher I know the power of putting complex ideas into simple terms for kids which is helpful for adults trying to digest what everyone is talking about.

While in Canada I did pick up some new curling shoes, along with a cookie cutter. I was planning on going to some of the company stores, but many were closed since the season was over. I did end up buying a Northern United jersey, something I would have worn on team spirit day at school. It’s nice and warm and happen to be in the colors of the Swedish flag even though its got a Norwegian players name on it… That’s what happens when you arrive on Friday and the SWAG is all but sold out.

There were a few things they could improve… The first thing for me would be to eliminate assigned seats. it really wouldn’t matter so until you sell out. Most people didn’t seem to mind moving around. Next they only had one video display… my club has a camera on each sheet (we have three) and one over each house. Being able to watch what is happening on each sheet and even having replays of great shots would be helpful. They would also switch to interviews of players and VIPs, without any sound or captioning. So the screen would fill with a guy (I didn’t know) commenting on some important thing that just happened (that I can’t hear). Having more screens might make it easier for everyone especially with the pub in the middle blocking the view for one side of the venue. One other solution might be to rotate what is played on each sheet. Then again there are those folks who are really into mixed doubles and may only want to see those matches.

Sue and I talked about if we would do this again… we decided that we would consider it, but only go to the playoffs, that way we could see all the teams compete over the course of the day. I would return for the finals, although on TV you see something like the Super Bowl and everyone is on the field yelling and screaming with announcers talking to people. I now know what happens in the stands during these made for TV moments… people start heading home. Once the trophy was handed to Shield Curling Club, we hung around a bit, but while there was celebrating on the floor, not much to keep the audience hanging around.

I think having a badge for the weekend might have been nice instead of having to manage my tickets for each match. It also would have been a nice souvenir. The lanyard & badge was available for the Pub and VIPs.

Subscribe now

Fortunately, I received my quarterly email from FTF Geocacher asking for my submission so following the “Work smarter not harder” concept I learned in Grad School here you go. I’ll be playing around with the format until I figure out what works best.

I tend to use these comics to comment on things I have noticed in the Geocaching community. Sometimes, they are just relating an amusing anecdote shared with me at an event. I’ve gotten into trouble in the past for being too honest. Something about telling parents that they should actually pay attention to what their kids are doing instead of expecting the village to keep their child safe while they pretend that don’t have a kid or ignore their child’s horrible behavior. After being a public school teacher for decades, you’d think I’d know better. then again, I try to pride myself on being the one to tell the emperor to put some clothes on even if I’m sent to the gallows over it. Funny part, I’m still caching (just not as actively) and they’ve all left the hobby.

Share

Besides working on this comic I also spent some time designing something for a bonspiel (curling tournament) I’ll be attending in May… It’s fairy tale themed. Unfortunately since I hand draw everything and even limit the use of silly things like rulers, my designs don’t always end up the cleanest or “most professional looking” but that’s my style and I’m sticking to it. Anything is better than some AI slop that I’m sure I will see.

As for next week… I’ll try, but doing stuff on the road can be challenging.

Subscribe now

I’ve tried every year to do something to stretch myself creatively. Sometimes it’s a single project like building my own Pinewood Derby car. You see when I was a Cub Scout I recall my dad “helping me.” Which translated to he did it (like many dads). He even when back and updated it when he found out they were to be displayed in the school library. So some years it’s a challenge to do something I’ve never done, or revisit something I’ve done in the past. When I retired I challenged myself to blog every week for a year. There are times when I start off the year knowing exactly what I want to do. Then there are years like this one.

Kyle Baker in his book How to Draw Stupid (a must read in my opinion) talks about people who say they are cartoonists (or artists), but don’t actually have anything to show for it. I’ve started to feel that way. I draw, I create things, but I really have very little in my opinion to show for it.

To be a cartoonist, you must actually make cartoons. I bring this up because I’ve met a lot of people who say they want to be cartoonists, but they don’t have any cartoons. - Kyle Baker, Chapter 1: How to Draw Stupid and Other Essentials of Cartooning -2008

Something went “snap!” last night I realized what I needed to obligate myself to do for the rest of the year (starting on or around April 1) - draw a comic strip each week. I’ve done this before, but it’s time to do it again.

My Geek Odyssey - The Beginning…

In 2009 I was awarded a Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship to chronicle a trip to England during the 50th Anniversary of the Mini Cooper as a webcomic. That’s how this whole thing got started. It was… not great, but it was mine. When I returned I kept at it. Life got in the way, and I stopped after a few years. I still did comics for FTF Geocacher and now PinPoint, but I wasn’t doing comics regularly, only when asked. Sure, I doodled, but nothing ambitious.

Epiphany Strikes Back

In some kind of fever dream last night I realized that I needed to go back and try again. Maybe going to SPACE is to blame. Maybe it was looking at the National Cartoonist Society application (again) and not feeling worthy of filling it out (again). This time around I’ll experiment with formats and characters. So who knows what I’m going to end up with - I sure don’t. After a year, I may have a better idea. However, I feel that this was something I planned to do once I left the classroom, and I’ve been afraid to get started. All those questions- Where do I start? Long form, four panel, or gag strip? New characters? Line art, black & white, or color? So many ways to not get started.

We’ve got a lot of stuff on the calendar this year so I should have a bunch of material to draw from (pun intended). Unfortunately, we have a lot of stuff on the calendar this year which will also make it a challenge.

So starting this week - actual date unknown - look for a comic of some variety… no really, I’m obligated to do something now, so I will - even if it makes me grumpy, which hopefully it won’t.

So with Smudge after a week of daily driving to work and curling how do I start making memories and figuring out all the bells and whistles? We go on a Troll hunt! With Spring just starting Sue and I decided to head south to the nearest Troll in Huntsville, Alabama. Mama Zelda is at the Botanical Gardens.

So Friday we started our Whimventure. Now Huntsville is not unknown to me. I actually took a class at the University one of my first summers teaching which included Space Camp. I also used to lead school groups to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center for long weekends. This limited my scope to a building on campus, the Space & Rocket Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center. Not much else in Huntsville, this weekend was definitely a new experience. We only stopped at the Space & Rocket Center so Sue could get the geocaches there and I could finish off the ones I didn’t get when I was last there after I retired. We never left the parking lot.

It’s only around a 6 hour drive Indianapolis to Huntsville straight on I-65. We arrived in the early evening and after checking into our hotel and stopping to get the Space & Rocket Center caches we headed to dinner. Sue had found a cluster of microbreweries and restaurants in one place so we headed there. It seems that an old middle school had been converted into this amazing space. After a traditional meal of pizza and beer, we decided to call it a night, but figured we’d return Saturday to try out another place.

Mama Zelda’s Hair and a senior without much hair.

Priorities- first drop off travel bugs and find a few caches on campus. There is an amazing travel bug hotel which helped with this effort. Of course, being the master geocacher that I am I left the one bug I had at home!

After that we headed to the Botanical Garden Sue reminded me as we bought tickets that I am now considered by many a “Senior” which made me feel old. Then again I am old, but still… I don’t always feel old - Except when I bend down, or raise my arms, or walk after getting out of bed, or consider how many medications I take, or… We were at the garden to find Mama Zelda. If you don’t know about Thomas Dambo he’s the Danish sculptor who creates trolls from recycled and repurposed materials around the world. Sue and I discovered his work while Whimventuring in Denmark and have been hooked ever since. We assume Indiana will be the 50th state to get one right after Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Greenland, and Washington D.C. 🙄

Each troll is unique and has a story behind it. Mama Zelda has her hair. Her massive locks form a wonderful labyrinth with her in the center. It being just the start of Spring and Mama Zelda being fairly new the flora has not grown up as much, it will be even more amazing in the late Summer and in a few years.

We spent a bit of time just taking in the gardens outside of Mama Zelda and enjoyed the nice weather before moving on.

It’s Duck Season!

Stopping at the Alabama rest stop that used to have a Saturn IB on our way down we discovered that Huntsville had a duck hunt going on. Many cities have artists paint large fiberglass sculptures and place them throughout the city for tourists to take photos of, it’s not a new thing. Huntsville put a twist to it they made small bronze rubber duckies and hid them around prominent spots in the city. They then provided a map and app for people to find them. They could be in a windowsill, or by the entrance to a museum… a fun way to see the city sights. Of course, we got them all and ironically ended up with a rubber duckies in a space shuttle. Knowing my feelings about MINIs and ducks I had to shake my head and chuckle. Smudge ended up gathering two ducks during this trip… a very small one and this one. My only concern is if I display it, I’ll end up with more!

The Artsy Tourist

After picking up our ducks 🙄 we decided to check out an old shoe factory that has been converted into studio spaces. WOW! I know there are similar places in other towns (including Indianapolis) this one was amazing. Lowe Mill had a bit of everything and if I get back to Huntsville, I’m definitely going to return and take some time checking everything out. The hardest part (being an introvert) was entering the actual studios. If the door was open, sure! If I wanted to go in I could. If the door was closed… not so much. Since these are independent artists, some were there, and others had closed shop for the day. They did have a great art supply store where I picked up a few things. Like walking into a new comic shop, I always feel I should support stores that deal with things I like, I also get a chance to see stuff local stores, or even online sites might not have readily available.

We returned to campus and tried another microbrewery after stopping by a confectionery and a taproom with video games… I’m rustier than I thought on the arcade version of TETRIS and Pole Position. For the cost of a wristband it may not have been the best use of money, it also reminded me of my youth, when I wasn’t very good at video games, but back then they were only a quarter!

Heading home Smudge hit the 1,000 mile mark which again explains why I don’t lease a car. Afterwards Sue finally got behind the wheel. Her reaction? “It’s a MINI.” And while she could access a lot on the ginormous interred screen, she was still trying to drive while using her phone to find a nearby cache. Yes, the minute she took the wheel- it was time to go caching! I had figured she’d gotten most of the caches along this route since she had driven to a bunch of conventions in Nashville. All that said - we stopped by two really great caches. Both HUGE and perfect for dropping off travel bugs. We also got stopped by the police… he was the cache owner, and we chatted a bit. He suggested that we attend Cachefest which will be in Savannah, GA this year. Another trip added to the list.

All in all exactly what a Whimventure is supposed to be. Discovering a new place, or discovering new things about a place we’d already been. Smudge did a great job and I learned a lot about all the bells and whistles he has, plus a few bells and whistles he doesn’t have- and those not being included actually don’t bother me.

Here’s the funny thing- my first MINI (Penfold) arrived in late June. I could have picked him up on Sue’s birthday. Alfie was purchased and picked up on Sue’s birthday. This one… not so much or maybe I just forgot when Sue’s birthday was.

After a quick text back & forth… we met a little after noon to sign paperwork and for me to pick up my next MINI. Figuring out the new tech- like making your phone your key took a bit of time. As you can tell from the photos below, he’s as black as Disaster Area’s stunt ship in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Fortunately his black displays do not light up black to show that you’ve done something, like that spacecraft.

We chatted a bit about Alfie and Jim actually took him home last night (listening to the beep beep beep beep of the warning tone) and is now searching for someone to take over caring for a 14 year old unicorn contact Dreyer & Reinbold MINI if you are interested. Manual transmission, N12 engine, manual roof…

Drumroll please…

And the new MINI’s name is…

Smudge

C’mon he’s solid black. The name comes from a minor character in James Robinson’s Starman. Drawn by Peter Snejbjerg.

Smudge is related to the golden age villain- the Shade who had created shadow creatures to do his bidding most were pretty mindless creatures but the first one was basically his faithful servant. He was introduced in Starman vol. 2 issue 61 and met an untimely fate in issue 71. Other names in the running were Penfold II, Lenore (from The Raven), and Lamont (as in Lamont Cranston, the Shadow). I felt that Smudge fit best being a faithful companion which my MINIs become as I travel around.

Oh the bells & whistles, I’m not sure I’m ready for all of them - Smudge gave me a video to welcome me to the MINI family or at least this generation of the MINI family.

Graphics? Everyone is asking about what I will put on Smudge… and I don’t know. I didn’t do anything to Penfold except add a bunch of different stickers. Alfie went through many phases with the Rocketeer wrap being the final phase and my way to kick off my retirement. Yes, I’ve got some ideas, but I’ve got time to figure it out.

Subscribe now

After seven years and almost 100,000 miles, I had to say goodbye to Penfold. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend. A family member, not just a car. I was crushed. What had happened was repairable, but I’d logically concluded that this was the start and that it would just get worse. I had already decided to order a new MINI in a year, so I was somewhat prepared, or so I thought. I really wasn’t. Due to timing I dropped my order and bought a newly released MINI Roadster that was on the lot (it was the dealer demo). Named “Alfie aka Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All” he succeeded Penfold and for the past 14 years and around 187,000 miles has made a lot of memories with me. He went in Monday for a minor issue, but as the cost grew, I realized that it was again time. Sue and I had logically discussed our “stop and think point” and if repairs were more than that it would be time to consider other options.

Late Monday morning I got the estimate, and while a few suggestions were things I could live with, it was more than what I wanted to hear. Alfie was still drivable, still in good shape but I could see on the horizon more issues popping up. So, like with Penfold, I made the tough call and started the process of getting a new MINI.

Many might say,”Why? Just fix it.” The problem is what will happen in the future? It is an older car. Yes it’s a unicorn- one of the first Roadsters built, it even has a manual top! I just don’t have the expertise to keep up with the future repairs. I don’t have the expertise to keep up with my classic Mini, let alone all the electronics in newer models. The one time I brought it to a local garage instead of the dealership (because everyone complains the dealership is really expensive), the mechanic had to go to the dealership for parts and charged me just as much (if not more) than the dealership would have for the same repair! I’m afraid the problems would just keep compounding, and I don’t have a place to store another car.

Those of you with pets might understand. When we had to put Hemi (Bestest cat in the world) to sleep I was just as crushed as when I said goodbye to Penfold. MINI has created a world in which your car isn’t just a a way to get from Point “A” to Point “B” it’s your faithful sidekick on all your adventures. Time not measured in miles, but memories. Alfie has been my faithful friend through good times and bad. He’s been on every MINI Takes The States since his first one in 2012. In 2012 he went coast to coast on temporary plates! Every long roadtrip for almost 187,000 miles he’s been there. I’m sad, but I have enough anxiety in my life that I don’t need to be worrying about what might happen next. So it is time, and while I’m upset, I’m also feeling a bit silly about being so emotional about an automobile.

It’s been 14 years since my last car purchase and I feel apprehensive now that I’m retired. I’ve watched as people older than me spend through their retirement savings thinking that the money will be there forever or that once they get Social Security they won’t have a care in the world. They are now spending most of their time trying to figure out how to make ends meet and how to get the government to pay for most things. That scenario frightens me. I always go back to one of my favorite quotes- “One-half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.” - Sidney Howard. To purchase a car I’m giving up a few things to get what I want. I’ve figured out finances, talked to my financial advisor, decided to cancel some future plans until I can make sure everything can work out.

For a while now I’ve said I’d only get a new car when MINI produces another Roadster… that hasn’t happened and I’m not sure if it will ever happen. So soon I’ll be making new memories with an as yet to be named new MINI. I wish I could just push a reset button on Alfie, then again, I felt that way about Penfold too.

As for the new car… it’ll be a MINI, I’ve been driving one for over 20 years. While some people think I do things on a whim, I’m more logical when it comes to the important things. I looked at the local dealership inventory and going price for a new and newish models. Decided then what I felt I could afford on my pension after paying for health insurance since I don’t live in a country that cares about its people enough to offer Universal Healthcare. So no super duper John Cooper Works model for me (see Sidney Howard’s quote above). Which is sorta good, because I really don’t know what I’d do with it. The current Cooper model actually had the same horsepower as what I’ve been driving, So I’m going that direction. See?!? Logical. After talking with Jim at my local MINI dealership I’ve confirmed an order for a Cooper C (I think the “C” stands for cheap) which is currently on a boat that should land this weekend. A lot of the stuff that were options on my current MINI are now standard on the new models so no needs for upgrades. Since I haven’t really looked at new MINIs I’m guessing there isn’t anything amazingly amazing that I absolutely need.

So if you can’t tell the problem with MINI is they make you love and care about a car. This isn’t as big a deal as it once was, but for me, it still is pretty big. You give it a name, a personality. You make it a part of the family. Knowing, even with the best engineering at some point you’ll have to say goodbye. For some people it’s “just a car.” I felt that way with my first few cars, but with my MINI’s. It’s been an entirely different experience. I still have all the memories from Penfold & now with Alfie I will always have those, and a wish that I still had them around.

For the record- The new MINI doesn’t have a name (I need to get to know it) and it only took like 11 years for me to decide to get Alfie wrapped, so don’t expect anything fancy like that for a while. Oh, and it isn’t a convertible. I tried to live out of a MINI convertible on a trip… I’ve been spoiled by the boot (aka trunk) space of the Roadster. While some have figured out how to travel in a standard MINI convertible, I don’t think I ‘d be able to put our meager weekly groceries in one.

Not much as for commentary on the crazy world situation.  The hypocrisy and mindless justification of what’s going on from cult members is maddening. I wish people actually used critical thinking and common sense… following the Constitution, more than their Party.

For me, I’m just sitting back escaping by a reading a few books in some of my favorite series- John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series. Then I bounced back into Legends and Lattes series by Travis Baldree. Like many series I tend to drag them out instead of binge them. Like a warm cozy sweater it’s nice to return to a world you know and where the rules make sense.

Old Man’s War is a science fiction series set in a universe in which elderly humans (I’m almost old enough) can regain youth by joining up the Colonial Defense Force protecting human colonies from alien assault.  They get a new body and if they survive their enlistment period they can live on a colony for the rest of their days.  With a new body, that’s pretty much another lifetime. Three books in I have really enjoyed it. If you read and liked Heinlein’s Starship Troopers you might enjoy this too, but it is different. It’s not just a war story, there is so much more. I do love Scalzi’s stories, but this series stands out in my mind.

Legends and Lattes is a fantasy series following the exploits of an orc who learns about books and coffee while healing up after a misadventure. She ends up leaving the glamour of adventuring and opening a coffee shop. This doesn’t mean her past doesn’t catch up to her, or her old skills aren’t needed.  I look forward to including Viv and her shop in a campaign sometime.

Share

This Week’s Comics:

• JSA #17 DC Comics W: Lemire A: Guidry The origin of the JSA ends with a bang… literally. Fighting fifth columnists and the Ultra Humanite bringing us to the present and I’m still trying to figure out how the Spectre will in.  I have faith that Jeff Lemire will tie it all together in a way I haven’t thought about.

• DC K.O. #5 DC Comics W: Snyder A: Fernández Have I mentioned how much I really don’t like the cash grab that event comics have become? This one is no different and I went into it with that understanding.  Sadly the big reveal at the end just made me groan and my eyes still hurt from rolling so much. I do hope when they wrote it they had a bit of a chuckle. The multiverse will change, heroes will die, and comics (except for Action Comics and Detective Comics) will reset their numbering 😱. This will happen, but first we need a build up and a bunch of one-shots to prepare us for what comes next. How long will it take? How long will the Absolute Universe continue to be as popular as it is? Adding Green Arrow and Catwoman means it will take a while.

• Bloodland #2 Ignition Press W: Moore A: Chater after a quick introduction about the world of Bloodland - the U.S. Hovernment has made a deal with vampires and has become what we all knew it could be- an authoritarian fascist regime that still claims to be democratic.  If you are a certain demographic it isn’t that bad, for now. We get a few more details and introductions to the characters and their allegiances.  I do think this hits almost too close to reality, as a conspiracy theorist this could be what is in the works for our future as ancient astronaut theorists say “Yes.”

• Absolute Superman #17 DC Comics W: Aaron A: Ferreyra Superman vs. Hawkman… and Parasite?  Behold the power of hope.

• Absolute Flash #12 DC Comics W: Lemire A: Robles Wally goes head to head against Thawne and loses big.  Then there’s Grodd and the Rogues - anyone’s guess as to what will happen next.

• Batman #7 DC Comics W: Fraction A: Jiménez What about the Joker? When last we left the crown prince of crime he was nearly dead, after being saved by Batman (causing a bit of a kerfuffle within the Bat Family). We now have him floating in a bacta tank with massive security precautions around him.  Who does he want to chat with? Batman.  Mind games? It is the Joker, but something we all knew was finally confirmed.

As we enter our second “false spring” of this winter I’m reaching a point where I need to remember some advice from great friend- “Don’t quit your job in February.” I’ll add or March. Right now things get into a rut, the weather isn’t that great and it can make you feel “bleh.” I’m keeping that in mind as I want to do different things, but adulting and obligations get in the way. I look forward to better weather and having to worry about the yard… ok, maybe just better weather.

Subscribe

With the various news announcements and slop in the Metaverse I finally removed the Facebook App from my phone while on this roadtrip. I had hidden it and put a time limit on it but finally decided to just dump it somewhere outside of Asheville. My last post dealt with the frustration of screaming into the void and hearing nothing. Seeing nothing change. Getting bunches of dopamine hits in the form of “likes” and people nodding their virtual heads in agreement and nothing changing, nothing happening, the world not becoming a better place.

It probably started with MINI Takes The States and that drama. Moved to Scouting America caving to the a regime that doesn’t have a clue about what Scouting is all about. They can’t follow the Ten Commandments (no matter much they want them posted everywhere), how could they even consider understanding the Scout Oath and Law? Concluded with more politics, that just is posted to see if there are like minded people out there. There are, but nobody listens to them. The State of Indiana is still going to treat public schools and educators like something you wipe off the bottom of your shoe. Congress and this regime are still going to do everything for their own personal gain, ignoring the needs of the people they are supposed to serve. The people are still going to wear their red hats and drink their Kool-Aid wondering why things don’t change when they keep voting the same people into office. Happy in the fact that “those people” aren’t getting help other countries give to everyone. The lies will continue to be told and in 50 years we will still be waiting for the unredacted Epstein Files to be released. I’m not oblivious to this, I’m just tired of being bombarded by it. I’m not crawling into a hole- I’ll still follow the news through the AP, NPR, and BBC, just not constantly connected to people screaming about it via my phone. I will still drop in to politely snooze people for 30 days when using my desktop computer. I’ll stay on Bluesky for now because, while it can be political, I tend to follow other creative people who talk about their cool projects, and there’s no AI slop in my feed, or Ads.

As for Social Media- I was on Twitter for work (because “everyone was on Twitter” and we were told to create a positive presence for the school) and stopped it before it became “X”. I tried Instagram but never really got into it, same with Threads. I never tried TikTok it just seemed silly for me. Too trendy for a geek like me. I had a YouTube channel that got killed like so many things when I retired, but it was mostly just videos of lessons from COVID. I’ll stay on SubStack for the time being also as a way to publish my thoughts (still for free). I’ve considered that I might pop into Social Media only my desktop computer but have cut the connection 24/7 on my phone.

Am I leaving the echo chamber? Mostly. Most people I associate with in real life share my beliefs or we can actually discuss our differences. Will I miss it? Who knows. Right now, I feel like it will be like a junkie going cold turkey. Will I lose some connections? If they were only part of social media, how close were we? There will always be people I try to stay connected with and they are exclusively on Facebook. As for my posts- I’ll have to get my dopamine rush in other ways… like petting my cats or drawing pictures which is a lot more fulfilling than replying to trolls or clicking the “like” button.

Of course, the important question- What about Cecil? I think he’s realized that there are a lot more megalomaniacal narcissists on the interwebs doing a much better job of being megalomaniacal narcissists than he ever could be.

I do wonder what would happen if we all just stopped and started back with real connections, not the fake “easy” ones provided by companies that only care about profits. Maybe the only way to make a difference in the world is to stop pretending that posting or reposting something will make a difference. Then again, I’m just an old Gen Xer who probably drank from the one too many times.

Oh, and while we may be away, don’t worry about the boys- they are being well cared for and I received a message that one (probably Bailey) had a late night assault on the wet food which we thought was safe on the counter.

The biggest news this week happened on Tuesday with MINIUSA announcing their plans for this year’s MINI Takes The States.  We went through all the stages of grief and had a lot of time on the road to think and talk about options.  MINIUSA has decided instead of an epic life changing summer roadtrip to end all road trips, they will instead do three weekend drives one in Northern California, one in New York, and one in Southern Florida. 🙄 first response was “WTF?!?” This shifted to “Could we do all of them and if so how?” Now we’re to which one would be easiest and could be coupled with a nice simple Fall Whimventure. Yes, they moved it to October and November🙄. Having done MTTS in 2008- ugh. It has been amusing watching the reaction with folks from the targeted states overjoyed and pretty much everyone else in the other 47 state going “huh?” The only thing we know is that we “have to” keep our streak alive and at least attend part of one. I’ve snoozed most of the FB groups for 30 days so I don’t have to listen to the whining, the folks trying to justify this and those celebrating and convincing themselves how wonderful it’s going to be 🙄 MINI Takes The States is about the people I’m just hoping that the event won’t be just standing around a parking lot.

“Hey, I tell you what is. Big city, hmm? Live, work, huh? But not city only. Only peoples. Peoples is peoples. No is buildings. Is tomatoes, huh? Is peoples, is dancing, is music, is potatoes. So, peoples is peoples. Okay?”

-Pete, The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

Share

This Week’s Comics:

Being on the road I’m not going to cover every comic.  This doesn’t mean that it wasn’t good. It just means that for some of these excellent titles there’s nothing new or different going on.  The absolute titles are still amazing story telling. The DC K.O. Titles are wrapping up.  Skinbreaker, And the Ignition Press titles are moving their stories along at a good pace, but if you aren’t reading them- you probably should consider it.

• Phantom of the Opera #1 Image Comics W: Boss A: Simmonds The artwork is amazing in this telling of The Phantom of the Opera, then again to do love Simmonds art.

• The Peril of the Brutal Dark #1 Vertigo W: Condon A: Phillips With the relaunch of Vertigo I picked a few titles to dive into this new incarnation of the imprint.  This one is right up my alley.  1940’s crime noir with an Indiana Jones kind of twist.  I’m glad I picked it up and look forward to flowing Ezra Cain’s adventures for as long as they last.

• Murder Podcast #5 Ignition Press W: Haun A: Tisserand

• Star Trek Deviations - Threads of Destiny One Shot IDW Comics W: Williams A: Maldonado

• Superman #35 DC Comics w: Williamson A: Barrows, E. Ferreira, & J. Ferreira DC K.O. Tie-In

• Flash #30 DC Comics W: Waid A: Cantwell DC K.O. Tie-In

• Absolute Martian Manhunter #9 DC Comics W: Camp A: Rodríguez

• Absolute Wonder Woman #17 DC Comics W: Thompson A: Sherman

• Skinbreaker #6 Image Comics W: Kirkman A: Finch

• Voyeur #4 Ignition Press W: Williams A: Baldeón

• The Rocketeer The Island #1 W: Layman A: Edgar This is actually a story concept from Dave Stevens do all those people who complained about it… find something else to complain about.  Cliff is on a search for Amelia Earhart and after some issues either the boat and storms… well let’s say he hadn’t found Amelia or a giant monkey… yet.  It’s a fun story and a good mix of characters and situations.  The art is not in the style of Dave Stevens, but for me that’s OK.  It helps us step back and enjoy the story instead of nitpicking over how it just isn’t Dave’s art.  Then again I love what Dan Schkade has been doing with Flash Gordon.

• Save Now #3 Bad Idea W: Kindt A: Giorello With this being the penultimate issue in this series I’ve been put into a world where the main character can travel back in time and try again until he gets it right.  The end of the world causes some issues and having come to grips with it he just wants to keep his family safe and live out b what time he has left… fantastic concept for a hero and story.

• New History of the DC Universe The Dakota Incident DC Comics - I just feel bad that I didn’t follow Milestone Comics initially, so I’m still working on figuring things out.  More research to see what has changed with this updated history and how it fits into DC continuity.

The Batman Second Knight #3 W: Jurgens A: Perkins While I hope there will be more adventures of the Golden Age Batman I’m happy to see this come to a satisfying conclusion.  Maybe in this telling Bruce Wayne finds some peace. The artwork is beautiful making this First and Second Knights stories masterpieces and wonderful retellings of the Batman’s beginning.

Subscribe

Cecil enjoys some time on the croquet court.

Cecil enjoys visiting Angel Oak and getting the Virtual Geocache.

I do miss my cats, Issi is probably hiding under the table.

To this end I’ve been volunteering at Learn to Curl events at the club, helped out at the club’s big open house and playing Wednesday mornings after two sessions in the 5U (5 years and under of experience) League.

At Learn to Curl events it’s fun seeing people who know nothing about the sport and may have been athletic in the past give it a try. Curling being a game of finesse, more than power.  It’s easier than many think to get the 42 pound stone down the sheet.  This coming from someone who tends to throw light. Watching people throw/push the stone as hard as possible and thinking they “win” as it blows through the house is amusing.  The strength isn’t needed in delivering the stone, it’s definitely needed in sweeping. That takes experience to understand.

The club offers a couple different introductions to the game. Our Open House was just to give people a chance to touch a stone, be on the ice and try to deliver two stones.  It takes about 10 minutes once you get on the ice, if that. You get to see what’s going on in the Olympics.

A Learn to Curl Clinic is two hours and you learn how to deliver (“throw”) a stone, put a curl on it, and some basics in sweeping.  You also get to play at least one end (round), probably two. This was where I started years ago.

The Learn to Curl League is four two hour sessions teaching you everything you need to start. Day one is the clinic. Day two covers how to aim which is kind of important. Day three covers the details of sweeping and communication between the Skip and the sweepers. The last day deals with weight and how to get the stone to stop where you want it. Over these four sessions you also get to play a couple ends each day to practice what you’ve learned.  We all know you learn better by doing.  After I retired I signed up for this experience. After the Learn to Curl League participants are more than prepared to join a club league, although the 5U (under five years of experience) League is probably the best place to start.  I started with the Wednesday Morning League which is a bit more laid back and we go out to lunch afterwards. 😁

I’ve learned a few things as I’ve been a Junior Assistant Trainee Instructor for part of this season including things I’m working on and will be working on for a while. Like they said about another game -“A minute to learn, and a lifetime to master.”

• Don’t throw the rock.  The momentum you create pushing off is all you should need to get the stone to wherever you want.  Pushing with your arm will just mess things up.

• Let it go… Let it go… when you release the stone and put a rotation on it, just do that. Again messing with the momentum just causes problems. I’ve thought the stone was going too fast, so I’d pull back on the handle to slow the stone down - stupid move.

• It’s counter intuitive - the stone will start to curl as it slows, the faster it goes, the straighter it goes. Same applies with the curl. The faster the rotation the less it will curl.

I keep learning more each time I set foot on the ice.  I still am trying to figure out all the lingo and will need to create a glossary at some point just for my own peace of mind. One project that I’d like to do is an intro to curling comic book… that would require time, but I think it would help me wrap my head around some of the concepts I need to better understand.

Share

I’ve put my name in for the club’s Shamrock Spiel in March… I did it when I first started - I think I’d been curling for maybe a month and really wasn’t ready. “It’s fun” they said. “It’s not competitive” they said. For me (someone who made it a point to avoid all sports while growing up) it seemed more competitive and therefore not that much fun. I saw some teams having a great time, so it was probably just me. I was raised to be hard on myself, that I’m never good enough. That said, I’m going to try it again or at least put my name in the lottery to play. I’ll find out soon if I will be playing or making a “bubble and squeak” again.

To keep up with curling after the Olympics Sue and I are thinking of heading to the U.S. Nationals in Charlotte, NC next weekend and to the inaugural Rock League (professional curling) finals in Toronto, ON in April. So maybe I am taking a more deep dive into curling than I thought.  I’m still not anywhere near the level of a “below average” curler, but someday, maybe I can reach that level.

Subscribe

I work at my Local Comic Shop three days a week and have some interesting roles to play each day. I’m sure there are more efficient ways to do many of these tasks, but when the store has been around over 50 years some ways are handed down one generation of Comic Shop gremlins to the next generation Comic Shop gremlins.

Every store is different so your mileage and your shop may differ. Professional driver on a closed course. May not be valid in some states (California tends to be on that list).

Shhh… it’s a secret

Comics arrive to the shop sometime towards the end of the week. When I started these boxes wouldn’t be touched until Monday. That has changed. Comics from each distributor are checked in and sorted usually this is done before Monday, so when I walk in I have to deal with a couple of long boxes filled with this week’s comics. Each person checking in comics has their own way of doing it which means I sometimes have a mess to deal with. As a former school teacher, I am used to being thanked for my flexibility so compared to school stuff this can be mildly annoying, but survivable. They are usually in alphabetical order which is not the order they are put out on the wall. The person checking in the comics is given a list with the title, variant cover, and how many we should have in the shipping box. If they just put them in the boxes in that order my life is a bit easier.

Monday, Monday Can’t Trust that Day

I could do this once the boxes are sorted, but that would actually be more confusing since people don’t pick up their pulls on one specific day and we can’t sell new comics until Wednesday. So on Monday I show up and start by pulling all the boxes we have for customers who are regulars and have comics pulled. There are currently nine short boxes for these people. One for legacy customers, seven for regular pull customers, and one labeled “extended” these are people who don’t pick up their books regularly and have so many comics it causes problems when integrated into our regular pull customer boxes. I tend to refer to these as the “Comic U-Stor” or “imaginary” customer boxes. There might be a perfectly valid reason for them to not pick up their books, but I’m not aware of it- I’m not high enough up the food chain or maybe “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy” Hamlet (Act 1, Scene 5) 🙄

Recently we started to mark customers who hadn’t picked up their comics, a colored Post-it denotes how long their comics have been in the box. So I go through and mark those who are still there from the week before. At the end of the week someone is supposed to call to remind those who are overdue that they have comics and ask (politely) if they still want to have comics pulled. After an undisclosed number of weeks and calls (the official rule is two) their comics will be returned to the floor. 🙄 I have been reporting the data, but after weeks of just getting the response of rolled eyes & exasperated sighs, I’ve stopped. It doesn’t seem to make a difference. We’ve switched over to email updates, but many of these folks who are imaginary customers haven’t been in to give us their email address - since they are imaginary.

After updating the comics still in the boxes I’m given a list of the comics that have to be pulled from each distributor and the names of who want them. I count the names and write the number on the sheet. There are a few people who either work for the shop, used to work for the shop, or inhabit another dimension (a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind) I go through and mark these names so I can deal with them before I do anything with the normal pulls.

Once I’ve gone over each distributor’s list I start counting the physical comics I need to fill the orders along with any ratioed variant covers that weren’t pulled when the comics were sorted. Ratioed variants are variant covers that shops get if they order a certain number of a title. Comics are pulled and put into a box. This is when I usually deal with the special folks, putting their comics wherever they are supposed to go. That way I only have to create a portal to the netherworld a handful of times instead of for every title.

Pulling Comics

When I started we would put Post-it notes on a comic with the person’s name, phone number and the date it was on sale (that Wednesday). Each week we’d write a note for each person… I suggested we try something different and use a Silver Age backing board with the name and phone number on it. That way we could save time each week by reusing these boards. Special notes could also be put on these. We have customers who want their comics bagged and boarded, those who don’t want to be called, or other things.

From here it’s pretty much pull the comics, grab the board for the person who wants it, put them in a bag, then put the bag into the box in alphabetical order. Yes, we have dividers to help keep things organized. If the person hasn’t picked their comics from the previous week I find their bag and add comics to it. Rinse & repeat for every title and variant cover. Rinse and repeat for each distributor.

Size Matters

Some things don’t fit in a short box. These get marketed as “O/S” or oversized. I put a Post-it on it with the customer’s name, phone number and the date. An “O/S” Post-it goes on the customer’s board so the person giving them their comics knows that they have other books. Usually these are things like Conan which is magazine size. These get put in the Oversized box behind the counter along with the other pull boxes ready for people to pick up their comics on New Comic Book Day - Wednesday!

The Alphabet is not the rule, it’s more like a guideline.

Once this is done I consolidate the distributors and put everything in “Rack Order.” Rack order is a mysterious thing which only makes sense to a few select people. You know that quote from Hamlet Act 1, Scene 5. A few comics end up with sections- Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, and X-Men have their related titles grouped together along with a few others. Mature, and All Ages Comics are also grouped together. Your local comic shop may do things differently. I know some put each weeks new comics in one section and then integrate them into the rack the next week. Others have their comics in pure alphabetical order… I’m just a simple comic shop gremlin and use the Nuremberg defense when asked why we do things the way we do.

Just Another Tuesday

I come in later on Tuesday to get the rack ready. This means I look again at the rack list and see how many comics are new and need space on the three walls of comics that comprise “the rack.”

I will go through the rack to check space available and see what needs to be rolled off (moved to the back issue boxes) or if something needs to be ordered. We should only have the last three issues of a comic on the rack- anything older than that should get rolled off to our back issue boxes on the floor. If any of the three past issues are sold out, I list it so if it can be ordered it is ordered. Could we check our sales vs. our orders electronically? Yes, but I have been told that isn’t as accurate as a a physical count- I use the Nuremberg defense here.

I will then start making space for new comics. Moving comics to make room for new titles and variants. Another thing that seems to be more of a thing are second, third, eighth printings which need room also.

I usually start at the front of the alphabet (the east wall) move to the end of the alphabet (westwall). From there I deal with the south wall. I make spaces clean up the comics already there (straighten each title making sure each issue on display can be seen) and if need be I will place other comics in the space as holders and “NEW” signs to denote the space needed. This means pretty much touching and/or moving everything. I then put out the comics - but I have gotten my hand slapped for having all the comics out too early, since they can’t be sold until Wednesday. So I can’t really start putting things out until 7:00. Inefficiency is something I’m going to have to work on.

It Must Be Thursday… I Never Could Get the Hang of Thursdays

I work behind the counter on Thursdays so I’m usually either helping people or doing other duties as assigned. The day starts out with me powering on stuff like the display lights and TV loop. I also put up all the chairs behind the counter, requiring me to stand. When you sit there you aren’t seen as people come in, and you can’t properly greet people since you can’t see them either. The young people working like to sit, and look at their phones. I’ve set an alarm so I know when to unlock the door, and flip the sign to “Open.” Before that I’ll see what might have been left for me from Wednesday. I tend to make a few❓tags to put on things I don’t know why they are where they are. More as reminders to the Wednesday crew to clean up stuff before they leave. I’ll also take the boards from pull customers who picked up on Wednesday and alphabetize them to help cut my work on Monday. Then it’s wait around to say “Welcome in! Is there anything I can help you with?” It’s funny when I come in after the store opens, because whoever is working is sitting behind the counter head down and just yells a welcome out without knowing it’s me. It’s basically it’s like this disembodied voice shouting at you. 🙄 “ I am the great and powerful OZ… Welcome to the comics shop and pay no attention the the person behind the curtain.”

Other Duties as Assigned

Sometimes there will be comics that need to be “bagged and tagged” these are older comics that have been sorted by value. These need to be put into a bag, taped close, and priced. Roll offs might be in a box also. Just like older back issues these are bagged and tagged. If I have help, someone else might do this when they arrive.

Once everything is bagged and tagged these comics need to get out on the floor. There also might be some books waiting in the “New Back Issue” box or the “Bus Stop” box. The “Bus Stop” is a place for customers to put back issues they changed their mind on giving us the opportunity to put them back where they actually belong instead of wherever the customer thinks they should go.

Throughout the day there are people coming in - some Thursday regulars (Rick, Phil, Daniel to name a few) - one reason for having comics pulled is you don’t have to worry about missing something that came out Wednesday. 😁 This is a chance to catch up with them. Then again it’s also time to talk with new customers and try to help them find what they want.

Typical Questions

Throughout the day people either call or come in with questions that after a while seem to be Deja Vu all over again.

• Do you have Pokémon cards? Sometimes, but we are small potatoes so the big box stores get them more frequently than we do. We limit customers to one pack- but we don’t add anything to the MSRP like many shops.

• Are you buying comics? The shop might consider looking at comics from the 1960’s or before. But right now probably not. We don’t have the manpower to go through everything in the back room as it is.

• Do you have (pick random comic)? Sometimes the customer knows exactly what they want, other times it’s like going into a library and saying “I’m looking for a book. I don’t remember the author or the title, but it has a blue cover.” While we don’t have our inventory digitally, I will try to figure out what you want and find it for you. If I can’t find it while you are in the store, I promise I probably will locate it 20 minutes after you leave.

• Do you have (pick random recent “hot” comic)? Umm… if it isn’t on the rack probably not. I know since I put the comics out. Sadly, I usually check and have to answer - “We had it yesterday, but it sold out.”

• This one is rare since most people don’t know it even exists, but once they do…Can I see your “To Be Displayed” box? This is like a secret menu item. This is the box of higher priced (above $10) that haven’t been put out yet. It’s very random, and you never know what is in there unless you look you can’t look unless you ask.

The biggest thing is - ask. No matter the shop. Unless you are being obnoxious we will try to help you. Each person who works at a comic shop has their own area of expertise- I’ll let you know if it isn’t something I normally read or know much about. That doesn’t mean I won’t do everything to help you, it just means I’m probably not as knowledgeable as you are. My colleagues may look like they are busy (on their phone) or doing a really good job of ignoring you. Still ask them, they know more than you might think they do.

It was amusing one day a lady came in wanting to speak to the owner about something (he was at lunch) she had pretty much written me off as some loser who works at a comic shop. Over the conversation she mentioned that she had gotten her degree in Education while her late husband was focused on buying comics. I guess I was supposed to be impressed. I replied that I had a Masters Degree in Educational Administration and had been a classroom teacher for 35 years… Her body language and demeanor changed almost immediately and everything that I had been saying before suddenly wasn’t the ramblings of some idiot, but taken as I actually might know what I’m talking about. I chuckled as she left the store. The old don’t judge a book by its cover had played out.

I’ll spend the off time trying to keep things organized, either restocking supplies, or going through the floor back issues and making sure they are in some kind of logical order… see Hamlet Act 1, Scene 5.

Cartoonist Club

One Thursday a month the shop welcomes in artists of any age or ability to sit around and draw for 90 minutes. It’s a safe social time to welcome in the community. The idea is to create a ‘zine or anthology comic with everyone’s work in it sometime in the near future. I’ve told the group at the first meeting it takes more than 90 minutes to make a comic book so this is a long term project- no rush. Maybe we can do it as an annual thing. We meet for the second time this week and we’ll talk about it

Closing Time

The shop closes at 8:00pm so we start the process a little bit before that. Usually leaving the owner in the back room finishing out paperwork for the day.

It’s not too stressful and sometimes I do have to find things to do. One thing I try to avoid is sitting down staring at my phone or reading. There is so much that could be done around the shop that I feel that taking a break like that is wasting valuable time. Then again I’m Gen X so I have a different work ethic. I also feel that if I’m at work, I should be working even if it’s just straightening up the rack. Having been a school teacher I’m used to not being able to take a break, so when my colleagues do I just have to chuckle a bit.

I don’t know all the ins and outs of some things, I’m just a worker bee. I know there are probably more efficient ways to do a lot of what needs to be done, but while I was fairly proficient with computers in my past life, I don’t have access to what we are using to be able to see how it could be improved. For example it looks like the pull list I receive on Monday is an Excel spreadsheet and the names are just pasted into a single cell. Legacy customers and those unique folks tend to be first (but not always) and then other customers are added sometimes in alphabetical order, sometimes not. When asked about it, I was told it would be too difficult to update. Alphabetizing to the third letter also seems to be difficult. Then again after spending time as a classroom teacher and then a “Special Area” teacher I know that each job has different stresses. Classroom teachers think the Art, Music , PE teachers have it easy. They just have it different. So since I don’t know what goes one in the background, I probably don’t have a clear idea of what would really work better. After over 50 years change is hard and I feel people are still recovering from moving things to the computer/internet. It is night and day from working at the LEGO Store where everything was on the computer and I like not having to deal with some of the strange corporate rules, it’s refreshing even though it can be a bit frustrating. I’m not perfect, and the people I work with do a great job at what they do, I just have to chuckle sometimes, mostly because of my age and experience… it reminds me I’m just old.

As for curling… Wow. 😳 I’m glad to have subscribed to Peacock for the games which allows me to watch curling matches and rebroadcasts of curling matches instead of just whatever NBC wants me to watch. I am watching other things, but this was the future I was hoping for (maybe without the fees) being able to watch what I want, Although I do find it amazing that after years of not having commercials now paying to watch commercials. It also is interesting that we keep talking about healthcare costs and what are the majority of the commercials during the Olympics? Pharmaceuticals, and Hospitals, at least for me. Maybe if they didn’t spend so much on advertising healthcare costs could go down.

I’m somewhat depressed that we aren’t in Cortina to watch curling in person, but are already planning for a few curling Whimventures® and Troll hunts, MINI drives, and caching trips and… you get the idea. Next Winter Olympics? I hope to attend in person- it is a bucket list thing.

This week I’ll be curling, and hosting the Cartoonist Club at Comic Carnival Thursday from 5:30- 7:00. A nice get together where artists of any age and ability level gather to talk and draw. If you are in the area join us.

Share

This Weeks Comics

• Hank Howard Pizza Detective #2 Bad Idea W: Venditti A: Lapham best line of the week “Thanks, but keep your drugs and guns. I’ll stick where the action is.” - Hank Howard, Pizza Detective when asked to join the “Florida Bureau of Investigation.” Being a Pizza Detective is a tough, but rewarding life.

• Batman and Robin #30 DC Comics W: Johnson A: Ossio I’m sad to see this series go. I guess it did what it was supposed to do which was show the relationship between Bruce and Damian (Batman and Robin) grow into a bit of mutual respect and trust. With a first reading it seemed s bit rushed, like there was more that the team wanted to say, but just weren’t given the chance.

• The Last Day of H.P. Lovecraft #4 Boom! Studios W: Giulivo A: Rebelka as we get closer to the end more and more things happen in the world/mind of H.P. Lovecraft. I chuckled a bit at some of the guest appearances in this issue. I am looking forward to putting all the issues together for a final read once it all concludes.

• Spider-Man Noir #5 W: Larsen A: Broccardo As the character joins the ranks of Television I’m glad to have taken a jump into the 1940’s world of Spider-Man Noir. This is a neat setting and why I guess I enjoy reading things like JSA, or Batman First Knight (and Second Knight). While many are nostalgic for those “simpler times” these newer comics don’t look at it through rose colored glasses. Which while the may not be simpler, they are more human, technology hasn’t become ubiquitous and intrusive.

• Just Brutal #1 Ignition Press W: Hopeless A: Revel I keep promoting Ignition Press. Many of the titles just seem to hit, even when they aren’t in a genre I usually read. Just Brutal is the first title that is in my usual comic book genre. Superhero action adventure. It’s told from the point of view of Jordan, who is just trying to get through high school and his parents divorce. He kind of reminds me of myself (no my parents didn’t divorce) a person trying to find himself by avoiding the things his parents want him to do. Jordan’s twin sister Winter is following in the family footsteps while Jordan just wants to make movies. We are thrown into this world as Jordan’s dad and sister arrive and bring chaos and a few revelations in their wake.

• Star Trek Voyager Homecoming #5 W: Bridges & Bridges A: Hernández This ties everything up as Species 8472 and the Voyager crew figure things out hopefully getting everyone home. Of course we learn how much Species 8742 had infiltrated Star Fleet. After having read previous Star Trek comics and watching the various series airing on streaming my question is how interconnected are the comic book and television universes? Star Wars basically cut off a lot when Disney started producing things. They defined what was canon and what wasn’t much to the chagrin of many fans. Star Trek hasn’t made such a definition. So while I enjoy the comics, I have to ask myself after the Star Fleet Academy issue dealing with the fate of Benjamin Sisko did they just write off the entire comic run?

• Bleeding Hearts #1 DC Vertigo W: Camp A: Morian Vertigo (DC more edgy stories) has relaunched with the story of Poke a zombie in a world of zombies. They have taken over and built a society. The problem is Poke is different than the typical undead (life adjacent?) person. He’s got feelings and… empathy so how will this impact his shambling and eating people?

• C.O.R.T. Children Of the Round Table #6 DC Comics W: Taylor A: Di Nicuolo I have really enjoyed this first arc and hope for more, but only sales can determine that. Our knights of the round table have headed to the White House (“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy” unless to were to go to congress, or maybe SCOTUS) to save Connor’s grandmother. Fel is facing off against her father (who we learned in the last issue is the President) who is under the influence of Mordred. The rest of the gang is trying yo find out where Conner’s grandmother is and the break her out. It ends well and with the possibility of more which makes me happy.

• D.C. KO #4 DC Comics W: Snyder & Williamson A: Fernández & Xermánico And the universe will never be the same again! Until the next “and the universe will never be the same again” event. 🙄 with one issue to go in this portion of the universe shattering event our surviving heroes must go against the Trinity of heroes from Darkseid’s Absolute Universe. Which made me scratch my head since they are for all extensive purposes good guys. A few surprises which made this last longer than the “Boss Battle” 🙄 still I wish it could have been longer, it just seemed a bit rushed. In the end the King Omega is crowned and we have to wait to see what happens next… then how the universe is changed - forever.

• The Future is ****** #10 Rekcah Comics W: Van Lente A: D’Alessandro Looking at how the world currently is I would say this comic is actually pretty optimistic. While the team has put the pieces together to figure out what is actually going on with Lulz and the Indigo Institute- which means now things get interesting and end with a cliffhanger!

• Absolute Wonder Woman Annual 1 DC Comics W: Thompson A: De Iulis There’s a reason why this series won the Eisner… and while usually annual issues aren’t that big of a deal (they usually finish or pick off an arc or are just a nice filler story) this is so much more. It really does a great job of showing the heart of this version of Wonder Woman. Not being a regular reader of the mainstream title I’m not able to compare, but to witness what Diana has to ho through in this world to right a wrong… wow.

• The Center Holds #1 Boom! Studios W: Hama A: Bright I bought this one on a lark, because I recognized the creative team and mostly because it said some of the proceeds would go to The Hero Initiative. For those of you not in the know, The Hero Initiative is an organization that helps comic creators in need. You see, for the most part folks who work in comics aren’t millionaires. Those who worked in comics in the early years not only didn’t get paid well, but also didn’t own the rights to their creations. So when you see a movie or TV show about a superhero, for the most part the creator might get their name in the credits, while studio rakes in millions. The artist or writer gets old or sick? I’ve seen my share of GoFundMe projects set up which is sad, hence The Hero Initiative exists to try and lend a helping hand. Read the inside back cover about M.D. “Doc” Bright to understand more.

  As for The Center Holds we are introduced (it is the first issue after all) in which we have a version of the Earth similar to our own, but there are heroes fighting crime and helping people. One thing that makes it more “real” is talks about hero’s needing insurance to cover.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine’s Day and can spend some time with whatever you love (be that a cat, person, or IP). Sue and I are celebrating 40 years together as a couple so I’m in my studio, and she’s knitting on the couch. We’re both watching curling (GOOOOO Sportsteam!) and dealing with Bailey who wants attention and Issi who is still not feeling well and probably won’t for a few more days.

As for the Big Game? Don’t care. OK as someone who lives in Indiana I think we are required by law to root against New England (our Supermajority in the Statehouse hard at work). I’m fine with that. My older brother retired to Washington State so he sent everyone Seahawks caps. I have been wearing it, it’s a nice cap - there, I support professional sportsing. Commercials? Meh. Halftime show? I’m too old to understand what’s going on and think all the Cracker Barrel logo like anger is just part of the bread & circuses that life in the United States has become. Who’s a “snowflake”? Usually the people calling everyone else “snowflakes.”

Enough of that let’s talk comics!

This Weeks Comics

Remember these are first impressions usually after one reading. Yes, comics are a medium that it can take multiple readings before to put everything together. Multimodal Literature isn’t fluff no matter what your old school teacher or your parents said.

• Absolute Superman #16 DC Comics W: Aaron A: Ferreyra Superman meets up with Hawkman… I wonder how that’s going to work out? This Hawkman is definitely a bit more hawkish.

• Absolute Green Lantern #11 DC Comics W: Ewing A: Lindsay while not one of the “big three” Absolute Green Lantern is a great take on the whole Green Lantern mythology- something I’m not as knowledgeable about as I would like to be. The Green Lanterns are almost like the X-Men, just not as many titles. A bunch of characters and everyone has their favorite. At least in the Absolute Universe it seems that they have limited it a bit. This issue does a bit on trying to explain things further as Hector Hammond sends his evil creature after our heroic group.

• JSA #16 DC Comics W: Lemire A: Guidry as things start coming to a close our team of heroes have yet to team up. Each grouping of heroes are sticking together and don’t seem to want to work together. Territorial heroes… it isn’t as stereotypical as most team-ups. You know, everyone fights each other until they realize that they are actually trying to defeat the same guy. Who might just be a transplanted brain…

• Batman #6 DC Comics W: Fraction A: Jiménez the big part here deals with character growth and difficult decisions. I try to stay away from major spoilers. Shelving a major supporting character makes most comic readers wonder- when will they return? Because after they brought Barry Allen back, no one stays shelved forever.

• High Strangeness #4 DC Comics W: Castellucci A: Stawski Astral plane? As this series deals with strange stuff, this time around we deal with other planes of existence…

• D.C. KO Boss Battle #1 DC Comics W: Adams A: various I’ve commented before about my feelings towards event comics 🙄 I’m not as up on much of the pop culture references in this comic. Basically, DC decided to cross over and have fights with characters from other sources. Fortunately it is so light on story or character you don’t need to be that knowledgeable. Maybe I would like it if I knew more… but I don’t think so. Does it make me want to dive into some of the other comics/universes brought in? Nope. This was a cash grab on DC’s part. It could have been so much more, a lost opportunity.

• Ripcord #1 Ignition Press W: Bunn A: Aneke New addition to Ignition Press’ expanding list of titles. The place, the Outback. A young woman in search of her sister who after taking the drug “Ripcord” has disappeared. She definitely holds her own against some not so nice guys trying to… well, you know why most women should choose to be alone with a bear.

• Love Ignited 2026 Annual Ignition Press W & A: various An interesting anthology comic. The first one that stuck in my head was the weird autopsy. The other one dealt with a serial killer. Yes, love stories from a slightly different point of view

• Roots of Madness #4 Ignition Press W: Williams A: Cadonici Things start to get interesting as opportunities open up. I’m loving the story, the art and being historical fiction it loved that Sarah Breedlove made an appearance. Folks in Indianapolis now her as Madame C.J. Walker a successful entrepreneur of that time period. Yes, I taught Indiana History and Indianapolis history for a few years.

• Flash Gordon #15 Mad Cave W: Adams A: Messias & Derenick Fifteen issues in and the story comes to a close. It started with Mongo being destroyed and the aftermath of that. Now a new creative team will come in and I’m curious as to what happens next. Will it be a hard reset?

• D’Orc #1 Image Comics W & A: Bean why not hit the ground running? A quick overview of this world and we jump directly into the action as D’Orc (half dwarf, half orc) tries to not die while maybe fulfilling his destiny, or not.

• Department of Truth #35 Image Comics W: Tynion A: Simmonds A new Administration in Washington and a few of the folks in the Department of Truth gather to decide what they should do to protect America and the world. While old enemies compare notes to decide if with a change in policy they might have more in common now.

• Hiraeth #3 Box Fort Comics W: Calvert A: Prather What a great third chapter - adding a bit of piracy? Or at least some shipboard shenanigans as they confront the eye of the storms while trying to find Logan’s dad.

• HiLo Presents: The Mighty Random House W & A: Winick one of my favorite all ages series HiLo has expanded its universe. So as we wait for the next HiLo book we have The Mighty. A young hero who has the ability to turn into a Sasquatch and fight crime saving her city from evil. As with any first issue the world needs to be defined - the cast and the roles they will play. The usual “what’s happening to me!?!” moment. I’ve always liked the playfulness of Winick’s HiLo universe and how all the characters hold their own. It works the same way here with The Mighty. I’d give this to my niece and nephew if they were allowed to read comics🙄

• Space Scouts #3 Dark Horse W: Kindt A: Rubín after meeting Ember and the other legion of characters we discover the stuff going on behind the curtain as they do. Bread & Circuses. As their time draws to an end we see them fight against the establishment. Is is easier to change things from the outside or the inside?

Happy to have watched a lot of curling before it got squished by other Olympic sports. Sue has set aside “Coffee and Curling” time so we start around 8:30am Eastern. Who am I rooting for? It’s not the athletes fault our country’s behavior at home and abroad isn’t something I am proud of. I’m fine cheering for the athletes individually and their devotion to their sport. The sacrifices they have to make to get to the games… then again, I remember when you had to be an amateur to participate. For me, it’s the play, the performance, the joy that I celebrate… not the country. The U.S. is a country of immigrants, so we can cheer on the United States or the country of our ancestors… even if those ancestors arrived 200 years ago.

During that exploration I was somewhat shocked by what I saw- hundreds upon hundreds of what I now look at as “bad” drawings. At the time they were the best thing I could do. I really hadn’t developed any kind of style. The character designs were still being worked out. Cecil didn’t even have goggles! One thing I do remember from drawing these was the pride I felt when I published them. Now I just shake my head and think about what Charles Schultz must have thought when looking at his original strips for Peanuts In comparison to his later strips.

Am I embarrassed by my earlier work? Not in the least, I just think about the growth I’ve made and the growth I still will make as long as I keep drawing. Hergé, the creator of Tin Tin, is said to have had all of his early comics redrawn by his studio once he had developed a style he liked. He wanted everything to look the same. This is something writers don’t have to worry too much about when telling stories. No one compares the type style in one book to the type style in another. Artists change, as they learn new techniques. This changes the way everything looks. Most of the time the audience doesn’t see this. The change is slow strip by strip, comic by comic. It is there if you compare an artists early work to recent pages. For the most part those drawing comics have a developed style before they are hired by a publisher. For me, I took a long hiatus where I only did comics for FTF Geocacher, because I just didn’t know what direction I wanted to take.

The initial idea was a webcomic based on the trip I was taking for my Teacher Creativity Fellowship. I was driving around England in a MINI Cooper during the 50th anniversary of the Mini Cooper. I realized that the concept was sound, but a four panel strip wasn’t the best format. Instead of adjusting the format, I adjusted the comic. My goal while in England was to draw a strip a day. I was stuck by the idea of it must have a punchline. While I think I’ve learned enough to be able to do something like that now, back then? not a chance. Cecil was with us, but I hadn’t given him a role in the comic, or much of a personality beyond geocaching logs.

The trip helped me consider stylistic changes and how I really wanted things to look. by the time I returned home, I think I had a better grasp, but not all the pieces had fallen into place yet.

At some point I decided to make Cecil more of a real moving character but he still wasn’t what he evolved into. Then again, I wasn’t exactly drawn the way I ended up either. That trip lead to another to Mini Meet East meets West in Winona, MN where I drove my classic Mini and I decided to move way beyond the scope of a biocomic. Characters were developing, but I still needed to draw more and find my style.

New York Comic Con brought about the concept that “Lettering is an Art” and I needed to either focus on that or move to digital lettering. I moved to digital lettering adding a step to how I did the comic strip, but made it more legible.

Was trying to teach and draw a comic, knowing that the more comics I published, the better I would get and hopefully my readership would grow. My mother commented once about when I would make money doing this… I tried to ignore that comment. I wasn’t trying to be the next multi-million dollar comic creator 🤪 I still am just trying to do this for fun and for me.

Going back and looking at these old strips, most of them over 16 years old, has been interesting and actually makes me want to draw more and not worry about so much. Cecil didn’t get goggles until October 2010. I didn’t start adding full color until almost a year later. I decided that I was adding spot color to a few strips so it wasn’t much more work to just color the strip 😂.

Yesterday I finished my next comic for publication in FTF Geocacher, the week before was PinPoint. I like having that obligation and now I just need to work on drawing more. I’ll drop back into the old stuff again now that I know where it all is.