#opinion

Why being a quitter makes me mentally fitter

From a very young age I have struggled with my weight, in particular the “thunder thighs” I grew to despise. Those who know me now tend to balk when I mention those body image issues: “But sure you’re the size of nothing” they cry, eyeing my 9-10 stone frame. “There’s not a pick on you.” And yet every time I try to squeeze my legs into a pair of jeans the panic starts. Shops just don’t make…

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Give up the Ghosting

Log on to Twitter or any form of social media this week and you’ll see the term ‘Ghosting” being thrown around a lot. It’s being touted as the latest break-up fad, with Charlize Theron pushed into the ‘poster girl’ position thanks to her apparent decision to ‘ghost’ Sean Penn. But ghosting, my friends, as DailyEdge.ie rightly pointed out, is nothing new. And it’s far from a ‘trend’ or a process…

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Ok wait so why do I still care about the DC Universe again • Buttondown

Latest newsletter, and the first one that’s the stuff on classic cape comics folks were probably expecting from me. I’ll send out an additional mini-newsletter later tonight with The Batmanthoughts.

The Boxer, true comics horror, and how to go on • Buttondown

New newsletter post is up on an old comic and a just-finished comic, along with a couple misc. updates.

Good-Old-Fashioned Something New: On Lavender Jack and Kamen Rider Build’s Approaches to Superhero Visual Storytelling • Buttondown

The actual, no-fooling, non-introductory post to my newsletter - on Lavender Jack,Kamen Rider Build, and alternative approaches to how superhero stories are visually presented from the American mainstream.

(If you subscribed already I’m afraid the email will have italics all out of whack; casualty of copy/pasting from Google Docs + this being my pretty much first time doing this and not knowing what to double check for. I fixed it for anyone who goes to Buttondown itself in the future though, and I’ll be careful with future posts.)

Batman Swallowing His Own Cape: The Modern Caped Crusader’s Narrative Autocannibalism - Comic Book Herald

One of my two big pieces this month (want to get the first real newsletter out before the 1st, though no promises), an examination of how the logical storytelling endpoint for Batman as we understand him has long since been reached, and how those since have in spite of their considerable efforts failed to manifest the next step.

An additional note since there wasn’t any place for it in the piece: Why on God’s Earth would you take Jace Fox’s faceplate off and not put him in the extremely rad second-stage-of-his-career suit Derington already designed?

Admittedly I’d miss the faceplate if I was still getting I Am Batman, but I get you don’t want a non-white Batman to permanently be the version who shows zero skin. It looked cool when Jason Todd had it in Battle For The Cowl though, and it looked cool with Jace. But now he’s just wearing the regular Batman costume! Why have Derington give you the suit if you’re not gonna use it?!

Superverse - Album on Imgur

Shared on Twitter, sharing here too: a compilation I put together of nearly 100 sketches from the abandoned Alan Moore/Rick Veitch project Superversethat the latter posted to Facebook.

Background for those who didn’t hear anything about it: Alan Moore has a collection of short stories titled Illuminationsreleasing later this year, with one chapter apparently constituting a novella in itself called What We Can Know About Thunderman, which “charts the surreal and Kafkaesque history of the comics industry over the last seventy-five years through several sometimes-naive and sometimes-maniacal people rising and falling on its career ladders…Moore reveals the dark, beating heart of the superhero business”.

This called attention to a sketch Rick Veitch had posted last year without much notice of a character named Thunderman, perhaps a notion carried over into Illuminations, from the scrapped project titled Superverse. It turns out he spoke quite a bit about it: it was a project he described as covering the whole of superheroic history, “like ’League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ but with long underwear guys,” with Thunderman and his counterpart Thundergirl meant to be siblings sent from their presumably-doomed world to parallel Earths and unaware of one another’s existence.

It was of all things meant to tie into Moore’s film The Show, with in-universe comics appearing in it (probably somehow via the film’s ‘superhero’ supporting character The Flash Avenger) which Veitch and Moore would have actually made, each essentially promoting the other. This was conceived of roughly 8-9 years before Veitch originally decided to start rounding up his assorted character designs and posting them to Facebook, and he alluded to part of why it fell through being due to some outside funding being cut off. There were no formal scripts or plot outlines, these sketches were purely spawned from conversations between Moore and Veitch and apparently there were ideas for a couple hundred more characters before the plug was pulled.

A loss for the medium for sure, as evidenced by the remarkable flair and cleverness on display in the linked album above, but keep in mind two things to ease your soul:

* Moore would have been forced to give even more interviews about superheroes than he already does, and the man’s miserable enough having to talk about them once or twice a year.

* Given Moore’s notorious apparent fondness for Superfolks, the imagery of the two evoking the Silver Age Superman/Supergirl with all the memetic weirdness their relationship occasionally brought about, and that it’s specifically noted they didn’t know they were siblings, Thundergirl and Thunderman absolutely would have fucked, so we dodged that bullet.

I’m halfway through bullets and I can see why people say to skip it. I don’t think it’s necessary a bad album, but it’s rough.

The transition from bullets to 3 cheers is a major improvement. 3 cheers definitely got more funding which meant better sound quality. Also the gap between albums allowed the band to get a clear direction musically wise where to go.

My personal view is that the albums main problem is that many of the songs have same song syndrome. And you can tell that the band tried to work on it on later albums such as 3 cheers and black parade.

Still, bullets its a delight to listen to because mcr is so young and you can pick out the foundations for future songs. So far my favorite songs off the album are vampires will never hurt you, demolition lovers,cubicles,and drowning lessons

What makes people think that they can sit at home on their computer, rewrite definitions like “Racism”, and expect the whole world to follow them?
Black people can be racist, women can be sexist, Christians can be discriminated against. They’ve had their own definitions since before you were born, and you sure as hell don’t get to decide what it means.
You sitting on your little IPhone 5, telling us reasons that that isn’t true, isn’t going to change that. You aren’t our authority. Think what you want. Don’t try to force others to.

2013/08/03

In my line of work I repeat myself a lot, and that’s to be expected; the guests probably don’t think about the fact that I regurgitate the same info three hundred times a day. But one question that people ask has been getting to me a little bit: “Do you have any owls?”

The answer, most days, is yes. We do have owls. We just don’t have any owls here today. And to tell you the truth, at first the question sort of offended me. I mean, Jesus, is seeing hawks and falcons up close just not good enough for these people? Are they not beautiful? Do they not deserve the same awe and adoration?

I work with three owls:

Stomper, 6 y.o. female Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

Chico, 2 y.o. male Barred Owl (Strix varia)

Lucy, 11 y.o. female Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)

I will not deny that they are some of my favourite birds to work with–my pottery signature is a doodle of a barn owl, fergodssake–because they are so private and so different from the others, but last week a sixteen-year-old girl pitched a fit complete with pouting and foot-stomping simply due to the fact that we didn’t bring in any owls that day. It really made me question, why does everyone sigh with adoration at the sight of a fussy nocturnal bird? Why is it that when we’re doing a hawk presentation, people are laughing and generally in a spirited mood while the minute we bring out an owl, voices drop to whispers, faces go solemn and parents shush their children?

Now, I’m no psychologist, but I have a few hypotheses.

When the Empress of Everything gives you a look, start groveling.

It’s common knowledge that most owls are active at night (though strictly speaking, their nocturnal nature is by no means compulsory; they can see ten times better than we can during the day), and thus are doing most of their errands when people are asleep. People tend to equate nighttime with mystery and furtiveness as well as with romance, especially where the moon and the stars are concerned. The image of a white barn owl cutting a streak through the night, looking itself like a sibling of the moon, definitely has some romance to it. Owls lead mysterious and very private lives, and I think the fact that they are seldom seen really gives them a sort of mythic air for a lot of people.

Another reason they might be so loved is that like us, their eyes face forward, their beaks fall away from their faces just like our noses, and some species even look to have eyebrows. It’s these similarities to our own features that makes the owl the most recognizable animal to children. Maybe it plays a part in why we find them so cute, because their expressions mirror our own, only…featherier.

Cheeky on his favourite perch; above everybody and perfect for narrowly missing me with poop.

One thing still sort of stumps me, though. Why have owls become so popular when in many cultures they are still feared as harbingers of bad luck and death? In a large part of Africa they are persecuted fiercely as “witch-birds”, many First Nations cultures in North America have severe taboos regarding owls–some even consider looking at an owl to be sure sign of death–and in the Arabian Peninsula owls are purported to carry off children and are haram (taboo) to eat under Muslim law. Even the western world has its superstitions: as late as the 1950’s dead owls were commonly nailed to barn doors in the UK and France to ward off lightning strikes and the evil eye. Interesting how in just 70 years, things have turned 180° and owl-mania has set in.

All this being said, I am fine with people loving owls. Actually, I love that people love owls. It makes me smile. It gives me hope that they’ll listen to the conservation advice that we give at the end of each presentation. But the one thing that drives me up the freaking wall, especially online, is people saying one of the following:

• “I want a pet owl.”
• “Having an owl would be so dope.”
• “How do you catch an owl? I want one sooooo baaaadddd.”

I realize what a losing battle responding to these people is, but I feel somehow responsible as a representative of the industry. You guys, owls can be pretty dreadful at times. Especially when they decide to sit on your head with these bad boys:

Stomper’s foot. It’s been on my head, and it sucked.

Owls are totally unlike any bird you will ever meet. Their behavior is different, their demands are different, they even fly differently. They tend to be a lot more difficult, especially once they are grown and established in their habits, and make really terrible pets.

Owl tantrums are a thing. And not just a sometimes thing. Some owls will flip a table every time you try to pick them up. Lucy is like that, and I have tremendous respect for that bird because she has 450 PSI of pressure in her feet and if she wanted to she could snap my ulna like a dry twig. Kim has been working with her for seven years and it took all of them to get her comfortable enough to sit for a few hours on his fist. Comparatively, he had Rusty, our rescued Red-Tailed Hawk, flying the length of the yard and back to him within 3 days of getting him from the rehab. Now that is a bit of an extreme comparison, but it can be commonplace for an owl to “shut down” on you seemingly at random and force you to start at square one again.

Owls generally don’t give a shit about anything but sleeping.

I see so many videos on Youtube of people with “pet” owls and it makes me so sad because I know that a lot of them will end up surrendering their owl to a falconer because it’s just too much work. This I say expecting the resounding echoes of “How dare you! I’m a great owner!” I wish I could believe you, but we see it every year: Karen gets the call from someone who got a permit, bought a bird and just couldn’t keep up the slack. Mind you, this mostly happens with hawks as in this province there are only a handful of people who have permits for owls but the principle is the same. Once an owl, no, ANY animal imprints on you, you have a responsibility to that animal. When another life is involved, fall in love with your head before you do with your heart. 

The worst.

And if you really want to help owls, there are fortunately plenty of things that you can do! Barn Owl numbers are dropping at an alarming rate, so encourage nesting by building and installing a Barn Owl box (pattern here). Volunteer at your local rehab to promote breeding programs and re-release. That being said, the number one thing you can do is to stop using rat poison. Tell your friends, tell your neighbours; rodenticides are the leading cause of raptor death in the world today, and with fewer owls, the rodent population only continues to climb. And poisons don’t just affect wild animals: say your dog runs off into a bush while you’re walking with them and eats part of a dead owl. A week later, your dog dies of internal hemorrhage. Your kid picks up a stick, pokes the dead owl, touches the end of the stick, touches his mouth, he gets sick too.

The owls are doing their best, so it’s up to us to keep our lifestyles owl-positive. I have lost count of the people I see every day who are moved by the beauty of these enigmatic animals, and I hope that those people will spread the word.

Seriously though, grow a pair and switch to snap traps.

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21279609

http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=owl+mythology&title=World

Yep, I’ll put them under spoilers, but I’ve been ruminating on Mei’s observations last chapter.

Of course it’s interesting to me that Mei picks out Eijun and Miyuki working together to try and bring him down. But I think he’s maybe…wrong. 

I don’t think Eijun and Miyuki alone are trying to bring down Mei. I think the whole Seidou team are working together to try and bring down the whole Inajitsu team. 

There’s been a lot of connection in this game. Furuya gave up the mound to Eijun without complaint, just as one example. They all understand that the rival here is Inajitsu, not each other. I don’t ever feel like Inajitsu play to connect with each other, or really build momentum. They all play to show off. So I can understand Mei’s interpretation, I’m just not convinced he’s right about it. 

The only Inajitsu player I think who understands ‘team’ is Itsuki. It’s interesting because it’s that fact which means Mei can do what he does. 

Next week is the Inajitsu battery vs Miyuki, according to the end note. So it will go to Miyuki’s at-bat. But I wonder if it’s that simple. I don’t really feel like Inajitsu’s players talk tactics in the dugout in the way Seidou do. (Even at the Tokyo senbatsu, it was Miyuki who was giving out tactics in the dugout, so). So I think it might be Inajitsu battery vs Miyuki, but I won’t rule out what Miyuki’s already taken on board from watching Mei and the others playing as individuals. I think it will depend a lot on whether Itsuki can hold things together.

Billionaires should not exist

No one deserves that much money

If you wait until its perfect, it’ll never see the light of day. Submit that story, query agents - fail upwards until you find a foothold.

I understand the concept of racial fetishism, but I fail to see why it’s problematic.

So a white guy likes asian women because they’re asian (and thus he associates them with stereotypes like submissiveness and softness etc) and he likes manga and schoolgirls and japanese culture etc. And he wants a gf who looks east asian… so what ?

It’s not that he doesn’t care about these women or doesn’t see their humanity, it’s just that he likes their appearance. And he’s not appropriating the culture or doing anything disrespectful, he just has a preference when it comes to his romantic partners.

Before multiculturalism was a thing, people could say “I prefer blonde girls, I prefer girls with big thighs, I don’t like skinny, I like brown-hair, I like a submissive girl, I like an assertive girl” but now that different people live together and cultures mix together, it’s somehow innapropriate to say “I prefer Japanese girls, or Latinas, or "I don’t wanna date within this particular ethicity”. Why ?

If you’re interested in international education, there’s a good chance you’ve read or heard of the New York Times’ recent article, ‘Study Abroad’s Seven Deadly Sins.’

I have been ruminating on the article since I read it. Is the author being flippant? Or does he genuinely mean to use that tone? It reads as a stuffy intellectual’s chide to some empty-headed young students, at whom he turns up his nose, self-assured of his superiority.

“A foreign country isn’t the place for a childish 20-year-old to grow up, especially when representing an American university.”

It’s this, right here, that I can’t let go of. We are consistently told that our college years are some of the most formative of our young adult lives: the experiences we have there, the choices we make, and the people we meet all remain with us, shaping the paths that we continue on. So, you know, isn’t it a good thing if we grow up (at least partially) in a place where we are forced to be more independent, are out of our comfort zones, and where we are exposed to new ways of thinking and behaving?

Let’s think about that. The oh-so-alliterative deadly sins? Slide courses, suds, sexual fervidity, shopping, self-segregation, smartphones, and selfie-taking.

I agree with the sentiment that the more you try to get out of your experience–that is, the more ‘mature’ you are about your goals and your actions–then yes, the more you’re going to get out of it. You’ll be able to reflect more clearly, be a better representative of your home country, and you’ll expose yourself to different values, beliefs, behaviors, and priorities. But is there anything wrong with being a bit immature about it? And are these ‘sins’ wholly wrong? 

1. Slide courses
Strictly speaking, the experience of study abroad has to include the former part of the phrase. I think you should always ascertain the academic quality of your program provider or host institution before making a decision, but I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking easy classes. Easier classes mean less time studying or completing work and more time traveling, making social connections, and learning outside of the classroom. I didn’t take ‘slide courses’–I directly enrolled in major level classes–but taking fewer credits gave me those opportunities, and helped me learn to stress a little less about academics. I mean, really, I’m a big ol’ nerd that still sometimes determines my overall success and self-worth by my academic success, and it was while abroad that my priorities shifted and I learned to question that assumption. (And in case you’re thinking I just stopped caring and am using this as an excuse, I still feel the need to defend my academic calibre by pointing out that I graduated with honors from my undergraduate double major and with distinction from my master’s degree. But I also learned that that’s not all that matters.)

2. Suds
For sure, if you drink every single night, spending all your money on alcohol, forgoing other experiences in favor of a night out, and showing up to all your classes hungover, you’re not only wasting your time abroad, but you might also have a serious problem. This article, though, approaches drinking as if it shouldn’t even be touched. As if students aren’t drinking in their home universities! As if local students aren’t drinking at their universities! Drinking abroad was my first time legally drinking, and I definitely spent a good number of Glaswegian afternoons hungover in bed learning the hard way what ‘too much’ meant. But going out, even drinking too much, was a learning experience, and it greatly facilitated socializing with my fellow students, American or otherwise. My archery club was sponsored by a pub, and one of the university’s several bars was always the cheap place to meet up with other students. My experience isn’t unique either. Even if I chose not to drink, as plenty of people did, I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on those nights where I got to know the people who are some of my best friends now (and even one who’s my husband…). Which brings me to:

3. Sexual Fervidity
This one annoys me perhaps more than any of the others, mostly because I fail to see how having sex with people stops you from having a positive and engaging study abroad experience. Again, it’s not like people don’t have sex at American universities…! These students are adults and are completely allowed to have consensual sex with as many people as they want. Or as few. Whatever, who cares? This doesn’t read to me anything as more than a bitter comment about the state of millennials’ relationships these days. Honestly, my biggest study abroad regret was that I didn’t break off my then relationship before I left, because it kept me tethered and choked my freedom, which includes my sexual freedom, whether I was planning on having sex with one, ten, or zero people. Eventually, I did start seeing someone abroad, and I really don’t think it affected my ability to experience my host culture, learn about local heritage, go to class, travel to new places, make friends, or get involved on campus–I still did all those things!

4. Shopping
I had never even considered that this was a problem. I’m not convinced it is. I haven’t seen people spend all their time shopping or get distracted by buying tons of souvenirs, despite my few years abroad and working with international students and in study abroad. Just because I haven’t seen it happen doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, absolutely. But I’m just a little hesitant about believing it happens based on a vague personal story. Still I come back to the question–does this really detract from the experience? Shopping is a minimal part of everything a study abroad student gets up to, “when not drinking or looking for sex,” and it could even be seen as a positive. For example, if you’re studying fashion abroad, surely it’s not a bad thing to peruse local designers. I always wanted to show my fashionista friend around Glasgow’s thriving thrift shops and take her through its Style Mile, because I think she’d genuinely get a lot out of it. (Buchanan Street is also a great place to hang out and people-watch, by the way.)

5. Self-segregation
This is the only point in the article with which I have next to no issue. At my home University of Iowa, this is always a point of discussion when it comes to the international student population. It’s the same abroad. Of course you should always try to step outside of your comfort zone, and that definitely means hanging out with more than just other nationals. ‘Island’ programs in particular can make that difficult, where American students take classes with other American students and an American professor, and I do think this is something students need to avoid in order to immerse themselves more fully. You’re unlikely to expose yourself to new ways of thinking if you only ever speak to people in the same boat and from the same place as you. On the flip side, however, having my fellow study abroad friends really helped when I wanted to travel: they’re there to travel, too!

6. Smartphones
Sorry, is this another millennial complaint? It’s a trend to point out how glued people are to their phones, missing out on experiences because they’re looking at a screen. It’s valid, to an extent, but just having smartphones does not mean students are wasting their time abroad. Consider how many uses they have. Have a decent camera phone? Now there’s no need to carry a camera with you, too. Lost? Wifi or 4G + GPS could be a lifesaver. Real time updates on flight changes, anyone? Maybe you find out about an event from a facebook invite while on the go, and you head there instead of home. I’ve used my phone to transfer money from one account to another when I realized I couldn’t access a particular bank account. “If I ruled the world, no student abroad would be allowed a smartphone.” Oh, give me a break! I had a £10 flip phone while I was studying abroad. I got along fine with it, but it would have been really useful to have had a smartphone instead. At one point, I lost a printed bus ticket and ended up on the bus that day because my friend was able to use her smartphone to access my confirmation email in lieu of the ticket. I should have kept better watch of my ticket, but accidents happen. Her smartphone then made few other appearances on our weekend trip through the highlands. The problem is overuse, not the use entirely.

7. Selfie taking
This is an unsurprising complaint, and not without some foundation. If you take selfies everywhere, you’re likely wasting time; if you go somewhere and snap a shot of yourself without taking any of the location in, you’re not really experiencing it. And without a doubt, you should not be doing offensive and dangerous things full stop, let alone just for a photo op. I personally find it really annoying when people insist on retaking photo after photo somewhere, though I’m sure I am that annoying person sometimes. I do, however, greatly value being able to look back at photos of myself and friends traveling, hiking, at the pub, wherever. Those selfies show times when I was really happy; they’re snapshots of the experiences I had, and they bring those memories more freshly to mind. We’ve always done some version of the ‘selfie,’ and it’s usually to try to capture a memory, feeling, or experience, isn’t it? That’s no bad thing.

Supposedly, if we grow up before we go abroad, then we won’t fall prey to these sins, which ruin any given person’s study abroad experience and make us all look bad. Exactly when and where are we all supposed to grow up, other than not abroad and not while we’re “childish" twenty-somethings? I suspect that growing up is a process that does not actually end, so I don’t expect there is an answer to that. And I don’t think students need to grow up before they go abroad.

I say: be immature. Make a fool of yourself, and then be a better example. Question your priorities, and question your values. Learn from your mistakes. Have both a wild night out and an informative museum visit, without denying yourself the possibility that both of those things allow you to experience life more fully. Strive to open yourself to new experiences and give back positively. Ignore everything I’ve written, if you want. For study abroad and in a much wider sense, your experiences are for youto have. Don’t let someone else tell you what your process of self growth should be. 

Greek or Latin?

Black ink or red ink?

Fountain pens or dip pens?

City or country?

Skirts or pants?

So I am going to get my first tattoo this Saturday!  I’m super excited!! But I’m also really nervous.  I don’t have a very high pain tolerance!  But this is something I have wanted for a really long time and it means a lot to me!  Really, I’m just wondering what are your opinions on tattoos?  Do you have any?  Do you judge people that do? How much do they hurt?  I appreciate any advice you have for me! And I promise I’ll put up a picture as soon as it’s done!

I had to submit some health check documents for my insurance from work, it highlighted that I am under the national average weight for my age, sex and height, and that this is ‘unhealthy’.

I’m sorry, United Kingdom, but since I was a kid here the UK sizes have gotten so much bigger - measurably too! Up until recently I was generally a size 10, which through exercise and healthy living dropped to an 8, but recently because of this average size increase I tend to buy 6. Just because a nation is downward spiralling into a lazy, half-assed lifestyle doesn’t mean that being active, eating well and paying careful attention to my diet makes me ‘underweight’, 'unhealthy’ , 'overly concerned with my body’, 'anorexic’, 'stick thin’ and most certainly of all 'WEAK’.

I can guarantee that my weight will not be an issue on my following check in Japan. Why? A lower national average, yes. An overall healthier attitude to eating in Japan? Not sure I can agree with that, but what is getting under my skin is particularly the amount of comments from people I have seen over the past month whilst visiting my home town.

'Oh my haven’t you lost weight! You look so dreadfully thin.’
'Are you eating properly?’
'You look very frail now, don’t you.’
'Have you been ill recently?’

- yes, I have lost weight mostly through cutting processed food from my diet and exercising daily.

-being fit, slim and in CONTROL of my body suggests -to me, anyway - strength, not weakness. Why don’t you try and see?

-you want to slack, fine. I DO NOT. Excessive eating is not necessary. Why is it becoming normal to shame those who make an effort to keep their bodies happy?