Goodwill Finds

From our house, there are three Goodwill stores all within fifteen minutes of us. I love Goodwill so this works out well and I usually check one of them out each week. I've had good luck finding some pretty sweet things. As of late, though, I've been feeling like my luck has run dry. Is my timing off? Are the donations being spread thinly throughout the new Goodwill stores? Are all the good things going on Goodwill's Auction site? Or, am I just unlucky?

Whatever the problem, those unlucky feelings disappeared Saturday. Jesse and I were dropping off a few things and decided to quickly buzz through the store. I've been looking for small, retro-looking desk to replace our over-large corner desk and I thought it was worth a shot. Well, no desk but here's what I did find:


That's right...a Nintendo AND a Super Nintendo. $5.99 each! Score. I admit I have no idea whether they work or not. They do power up so that's a start. They're reasonably clean and had all the cables and controllers so they look well cared for. It doesn't end there...


I've been looking for a kneeling chair for my drawing table for quite some time. Here's the story: I picked up a desk chair at Goodwill awhile back and Freecycled our old chair before I remembered that I had been using the desk chair at my drawing table (this was during our move and the table was in storage). And the new chair was terrible at the drawing table so I've just been kneeling at my drawing table. It works but isn't exactly comfortable. The kneeling chair seems like a good answer to the chairless table problem. I did clean it up and quickly recovered it. The final result looks a lot better.


Thank you Goodwill.

Book Review: Reinventing Comics by Scott McCloud

This is part two of my Scott McCloud book reviews. The earlier review focussed on his book, Understanding Comics. This will focus on Reinventing Comics.

Where Understanding Comics looked at the magic and the mechanics of comics, Reinventing Comics, as expected from the title, looks at some of the history of the comic along with where comics are/can be going. It also provides McCloud's ideas as to how creators and readers can maximize the potential for comics.

The first section of the book hits on a lot of history. There's a great deal of information regarding the birth of modern comics, the periods throughout history where comics experienced highs and lows. There is also a great deal of focus on Fredric Wertham, M.D. and his book Seduction of the Innocent, the resulting censorship, and the Comic Code Authority which greatly limited what was deemed publishable. Little violence. Restricted language. Most importantly, absolutely no zombies. All that was left was a lot of funny, talking animal comics.

Looking to the future, McCloud points out several events that need to take place before comics can really reach their potential. The general theme here is that comics need to reach more people. In order to reach more people, they need to appeal to more people. In order to appeal to more people, they need to grow more diverse. In order to be more diverse, they need creators that are more diverse.

The bigger question is this: how to get more diversity? If you walk into you average comic shop, the majority of it is dedicated to mainstream comics. That is, superhero comics published by a handful of publishers. These are the biggest sellers, so these are what shops, all subject to limited shelf space, stock. That makes sense. It's kind of a Catch-22 in that shops have to stock what people buy...but people won't buy what isn't stocked. McCloud gives a good timeline/sequence of events for this phenomena:

1. Comic shop opens and they give comics A-Z equal shelf space.
2. People come in and buy comics. They buy a lot of comics A, B, and C.
3. Comic shops start stocking more of A, B, and C. This eliminates some of the shelf space for D-Z.
4. People come in and continue to buy A, B, and C as that's what appears to be popular.
5. Eventually, the entire shop is A, B, and C and D-Z have all but disappeared.

At this stage, I doubt people just "wander into" a comic shop. I'm thinking the average buyer is something that makes a weekly Wednesday trip to the shop to pick up superhero books. I know that's a broad generalization but, let's face it, if someone is looking for a really good Crime Drama story, they probably aren't heading down to the comic shop.

Does that mean the biggest opportunities for comic book innovation aren't in the local comic shop? Well, I don't know. What does seem apparent is that the web offers amazing opportunity. This is where it really started to hit home for me because of my interest in web comics. McCloud provides another series of events, outlining the career of a "successful" comic creator:

1. Creator folds a 8.5 x 11 paper into fourths. They use each section as a panel and they draw a cartoon. It's for their own benefit and they do it because they enjoy drawing, creating, and their time at the drawing table. They have complete control over what they create.
2. Creator shows their comic to a friend. The friend likes it and encourages the Creator. Creator sells the comic to their friend for $.25. Viola! They've made their first sale!
3. Creator's friend shows the comic to their friends. They like it and also want to buy $.25 copies. Creator busts his bottom to hand-create comics. They still retain complete control of the work.
4. Popularity grows and Creator can't keep up. They start selling photocopies. They still retain full control but now they suffer three things: a) the degradation of quality via the copy process, b) the cost of making the copies which cuts into their profits, and c) time spent in the copy shop instead of at the drawing table (which is where they'd rather be, anyway).
5. You can probably see where this is going. The creator prospers and the comic's popularity continues to grow even outside the local area. To keep up with demand, the creator now spends a lot of time boxing and shipping books, handling payments, and filling out paperwork. This means even less time at the drawing table.
6. Finally, the creator farms out some of the responsibility for printing, shipping, marketing, etc. This buys them more time but the increased number of middle-men cut more into profits. Even worse, more people are trying to tell the creator what to do.
7. In the end, what was once done for pure enjoyment and art is reduced to business.

I know it's probably overly cynical but I'm not sure it's that far off. There's good news, though! with modern technology, there's a way to not only maximize the art and the enjoyment of the creation but also maximize distribution. Here are the things that struck me as major benefits to online comics (from both the creator and the reader standpoint).

1. Very little overhead. With software advancements and cheap internet hosting, the publishing of online comics is surprisingly easy and affordable.
2. The creator retains all creative control. No one telling them what to do, how to run the business, or how to be more marketable.
3. Assuming the comic is strictly online, the delivery charge amounts to nothing other than web traffic. What you deliver is entirely digital...no paper, no ink, etc. That translates to even fewer costs and fewer middle-men.
4. The degree of separation between the artist and the online comic book reader is (or can be) exactly one.
5. With all of this, we're right back at the beginning of the above scenario where the creator sells a folded 8.5 x 11 to a friend and they retain complete control over subject and quality.
6. Honestly, the web offers a lot of creative potential, too. The standard comic is typically confined to a certain, standard size for print and delivery. The web page is virtually endless. The potential for creative use of that space is incredible.
   

Now, there's some work involved in making money at it. McCloud is a big fan of what's called micropayments. I admit I haven't investigated the concept extensively but, at it's core, the creator would be able to accept very small online payments (i.e. the aforementioned $.25) in return for an online comic. It's something but it's still small enough that a buyer unsure of whether they'll enjoy a comic won't be discouraged.

Reinventing Comics was published several years ago so you'd think that, as far as technology goes, it would already be somewhat dated. Fortunately, the book sticks to broad concepts that don't really go out of date. If anything, the improvements in software and hardware have made McCloud's statements even more valid. Some might argue online publishing is getting too easy as it floods the web with, well, junk.

Do I think print comics are on their way out? No. At least, I certainly hope not. I still love the feel of the comic book in my hand. I like to flip through the pages repeatedly and I enjoy the tactile side of it. Though I don't make the weekly trip to the comic shop anymore, I still actively read graphic novels and I don't see that stopping anytime soon.

So, I actually found the book really encouraging to my efforts. McCloud has a newer book titled Making Comics. I haven't read it yet but it has definitely been added to the list.

Book Review: Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

In the past, my book reviews have been pretty short. That is partially because I don't want to "give away" too much about the books. But, I'm also kind of picky about what I read and I have no trouble putting down a book if I don't like it. The fact that I finish a book is indicative that I enjoyed it and would likely recommend it. Unlike my other reviews, this one horrifically long. I also know many of the readers of this blog aren't necessarily comic book fans so they may not jump out there and read a book about comics so I'm not really concerned with giving away the surprise ending.

While I'm not making a weekly trip to the comic shop, my interest in comics is as strong as ever. Most recently, I've grown more and more interested in the art and the future of comics. This is, in part, due to a renewed desire to work on some web comics and to increase my chances of making those web comics...not stink. In an effort to expand my knowledge of both the nature and the potential of comics, I went to two books by Scott McCloud. This was actually a re-read of these book but they were no less informative the second time around. I thought about doing one review of both but am, instead, opting for two separate reviews. This review is the first. My thoughts on McCloud's Reinventing Comics will be posted in a few days.

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud is an interesting read for anyone at all interested in comics. It certainly takes what is often viewed as low-brow, trivial junk to be tossed in the garage sale pile or garbage pail and begs you to take a second look. McCloud breaks comics down, redefining the lowly medium as not only art but, specifically, as sequential art. That is, art that encompasses time, action, or motion (or all of the above) rather than one moment in time. The history of the medium is traced from ancient cave paintings to the Column of Marcus Aurelius to a visual depiction of the Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus all the way up to the works of such greats as Art Spiegelman (Maus), Will Eisner (The Spirit, et al), Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (Watchmen), and Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns).

McCloud also discusses the nature and perception of comics in other (i.e. non-North American) cultures. Specifically, he looks at the comics of Japan and contrasts them with western comic (comics from western culture...not comics about cowboys). Where western comics tend to focus on the superhero and non-superhero action comics that still feel like superhero comics, Japan comics are more diverse with genres that mirror your local library's selection (action, drama, romance, etc). The superhero theme is, of course, to be expected in the West as that's what sells the best. Naturally, publishers will print what people buy (more on that in my follow-up review). Also, Japanese comics are more often published and bound as novel-sized volumes rather than in monthly, episodic increments. The cultural differences run deeper and well into the actual art. Read on.

Even more interesting than the history and demographics of comics is the, for lack of a better term, magic of comics. Really, the relationship between what comics are/can do and how they relate to the human mind is fascinating. In particular, McCloud discusses the way time is represented in comics. More accurately, how time is perceived in comics. We look at a photograph and understand that it's a snaphot of a single instant and nothing more. However, if we look at a single panel of a comic, it could encompass any amount of time. It could be an instant (i.e. an image of a gunshot) or it could represent several minutes (i.e. an entire conversation). Actions and reactions can be captured within a single bound box. The tools used by the comic creator to represent time are varied with the most common being the basic word/thought balloons and simple object placement (following the Western left-to-right reading). There's more, though. A dramatic pause, for instance, could by shown via an extra wide panel, multiple silent panels, or a normal panel with extra wide gutters (the space between panels). Even more details are given regarding the mystical space that is the gutter.

Motion, like time, is another less tangible concept that requires some doing to fit into a static, two dimensional panel. McCloud looks at the various means comic creators have used to represent motion. The common methods involve multiple panels, motion lines, and the use of subjective motion (previously common to only Japanese comics but growing in popularity) which places the object as the focus and the surroundings being "blurred".

The nature of the panel is also discussed in great length. The various kind of transitions between the panels is the focus. What's represented when moving from one panel to the next? Motion? Action? Emotion? Tension? Nothing except a pause? Details and examples of all these are provided. The power of the panel is no more obvious than in the previously blogged Garfield minus Garfield comics. I'm not sure anything could represent awkward creepiness as well as an empty panel portraying absolutely nothing.

All in all, the images on the page are representative of some thing. McCloud points out that, no matter how realistic a drawing may be...it's still just a drawing. A highly detailed image of a pipe, for example, is still not an actual pipe though the eye and the brain still recognizes it as a pipe. A simplified drawing of a pipe is still translated into a pipe in the brain. Even more simplified would be the word "pipe" written on a page. It still invokes the image of a pipe despite the fact that the lines that make up the letters look nothing like a pipe. Stylization isn't bad by any means. In fact, making an overly detailed drawing can actually be distracting from the point. What is more evocative of a pipe? Something in a simple Courier font? Or something written in in a flowery calligraphy script. Both work, but which is better? The same idea works for drawings.

Finally, McCloud discusses the comic creators. What makes a creator great? Essentially, comics are a representation of something in the creator's mind. No matter how good a comic is, it will never rival what's actually in the imagination. A creator, then, is measured by their effectiveness at getting their imagination transmitted and translated into the imagination of the reader.

In short, I would recommend the book to my friends. In fact, I own a copy so if any of my friends want to borrow it, feel free to ask.

This is your brain...

I realized two very cool, somewhat related things, this morning.

First, a close college friend--we'll call her NerdGirl--has a blog. I don't know why I didn't realize that before. I'll be checking it out on a regular basis. She is, after all, at least partially responsible for initiating the first date between my wife and me.

Second, I realized another college friend (also my wife's ex-roommate) is not only reading my blog but also has her own. Alexis, I'll be reading so let's keep it clean. :)

So the first thing I noticed while perusing the above sites was the great big image of a green brain on NerdGirl's blog. Anyway, it was an entry about a site that will help you determine the color of your mind. Interesting. With only a few questions answered, it figured out mine was purple. I assume that's under the gray matter. Either way, the diagnosis seemed spot-on.

What Color Is Your Mind?

Loveseats and Zeppelins

My lovely wife and I just got back from what many people call a "Baby-moon." We took a long weekend to enjoy some time together before Baby Dos moves in this May. It was a the fun and relaxing few days we both needed. Here's how it went down:

Friday afternoon: We dropped Jesse and our dog, Maggie, off at my in-laws and headed out to Cincinnati. We arrived at our hotel, a SpringHill Suites, right around dinner time. We scoped out the local area, had dinner, and relaxed at the hotel that evening. We don't go out of town often but, when we do, we've really liked the suite-type hotels. They usually feel a little more spacious with multiple rooms and often have things like microwave ovens, small refrigerators, and better-than-average breakfasts. And they really don't cost much more than a non-suite hotel.

Saturday: We drove up to Dayton to the National Museum of the USAF and spent the day there. I'll try to write more information on this in the near future. I first need to see if any of the pictures taken in the various hanger buildings are actually worth posting. I will tell you this...the place is awesome. We went a few years ago and they've since expanded significantly. Really, we were there from 10am - 4pm and still managed to miss a lot. We saw the aircraft stored inside but we didn't get a chance to read all the historical data or see the outside planes (it was raining). And finding time for the Presidential Gallery or the Research and Development Gallery was out of the question. Another trip is definitely in order.

Sunday, we hit the new IKEA in West Chester, OH. It opened just last week so we expected it to be a complete madhouse. We were right about the madhouse thing but it was certainly tolerable. The place is well designed and, despite the sheer number of people, it didn't feel claustrophobic. We picked up a few things: shelves for Jesse's and Baby Dos' room, one of those kiddy-tunnel things, place mats, curtain rods, and a step stool). Anyway, we didn't exactly spend a lot of money and that's perfectly fine. The best things we took home were ideas for future decorating. And the nice thing about this IKEA is that it's only a couple hours away so a quick day-trip isn't out of the question if/when we start thinking about remodeling projects.

Finally, we came home Sunday afternoon. I took Monday and Tuesday off to recuperate and enjoy some non-committed, margin time. It was spent working on some drawings for a web comic idea, a nifty sculpture, and, most importantly, enjoying my family.

I also bought some new wiper blades (but not at IKEA).

Less is More. Also More Funny

Less is often more.

We at the home office have realized this most recently when someone discovered there is a brilliant mind doctoring Garfield comics so as to completely remove Garfield. That's right, Garfield minus Garfield. At first, it sounds like a silly and unfunny idea. Trust me, it's neither. Well, maybe a little silly. But definitely funny.

Having attended college in Muncie, the home of Jim Davis, Paws, and all things Garfield, this hits a little close to home. But I'm not bitter in the least. What was once a comic strip about a fat cat and his quirky, neurotic owner, Jon, has been transformed into a hilarious but often disturbing strip about Jon, a man barely holding onto the fringe of reality. No longer do I feel sorry for Jon, his struggles to get a second date, or his having to purchase fern plants at an alarming rate. I think I'm a little afraid of him.

From the Vault: The Great Train Robbery

In addition to westerns, I've always been a fan of superheroes. I don't really know where that came from. My parents aren't really fans. And I don't remember my older brother reading comic books. Still, he has mentioned that I used to go around the house saying things like "Brett Smash!" I don't remember that but, apparently, my love of comics and heroes goes back quite a way.

So, here's another good drawing from my archive. There's a lot going on here with two heroes and a lot of action.

- Dude with a power beam. I'd think it was Green Lantern except the modern Green Lantern doesn't wear a cape. Maybe it's the Golden Age Green Lantern.


- Another dude. This one has x-ray vision as evidenced by his ability to see through the truly gigantic flying safe to the bomb and/or money inside. Seems like it might be Superman except he also has some kind of rapid fire beams emanating from his hands. Doesn't appear to be a gun. I don't know.



- An old timey train. Not sure what it's carrying but it's obviously something worth stealing.

- A villian. Not just a villain, a big villain. One willing go at a train head-on. I don't want to mess with him. It kind of looks like he may have a horn. If so, I'd think he was the Rhino but everyone knows he's a Marvel character whereas Green Lantern and Superman are DC. I wouldn't have made that kind of mistake. Maybe that horn is just brain splatter.

Canned Ham: Thanks, but no thanks.

Find out if Jerry is a real woman.

Hey, if it's that much of a mystery, I'll just pass.

Money won. Money spent.

I recently participated in a writing contest hosted by the Professional Cool blog. I'm proud to say I won. This is actually the first time my writing has actually paid off and I'm a dollar richer because of it. Of course, I think I was the only entry but that's the kind of contests where I can really excel. In short, though, the challenge involved writing a 200 word story about how bad of a situation a lost dollar could create. My story will be posted below.

What am I going to do with my new-found cash? I'll be honest, I've already spent it. In fact, I spent that dollar plus another two purchasing the cheapest baking sheet I could find at the local super center. I know that seems like a strange thing to splurge on. I mean, I could've been using it to buy candy, soda, or one-eighth of an Automoblox mini now being sold at Target stores (those are...so...cool). Strangely, the baking sheet counts as a non-cooking hobby/art expense as I'll be using it to bake various Sculpey projects. I figured the baking sheet is going to get nasty and gross over time and wanted something dedicated to Sculpey rather than something we'd later want to use in making cookies or something. Anyway, I used the baking sheet for the first time last night in the first round of baking my next project. I hope to complete and post pictures of that project in the near future.

Anyway, the story:

Rod McDurmitt is walking through the office with a cup of hot coffee. Being of the clumsy sort, Rob trips over his shoelace and takes a tumble into a bookcase. Several outdated programming books topple onto Rod and he suffers severe head trauma and extreme swelling around the head and neck. Fortunately, someone trained in handling that sort of thing—we'll call him Rhett—is available. Rhett quickly assesses the situation and springs into action. He produces a small penknife from his pocket and, using his own glasses to focus the light of the sun (pouring into the office via several large windows) into a beam of burning cleanser, he sterilizes the blade. In seconds, Rhett has begun and emergency tracheotomy on his coworker. But Rhett has nothing to use as a tracheostomy tube. No empty pen. No stir sticks (the coffee service is late this week). Nothing.

"Does anyone have a dollar bill and I roll and use?" he cries.

"I do. Just a sec," another coworker, Mavid, responds. There's a pause. "Well…there was a dollar bill here just the other day. I wonder what happened to it."

The story does not end well for Rod.

Baby Dos: Week 28

Size Comparison: Lego Set #6951, The Space Series Robot Command Center. I loved this thing. Still do, actually. It's in a box in my bookcase and I keep meaning to get it out again. It had the core robot command center that featured robotic "arms", a huge missile, and some pretty sweet computer printed bricks. On top of that, it had a small rover, a small flying vehicle, and three minifigs.

Things are still lookin' good. Last week's appointment with the doctor went well and blood glucose/gestational diabetes test wasn't a problem. We're definitely feeling the new baby move a lot. And it's more than just kicks now and then. We can really feel solid movement as the baby shifts from one position to another. We're even able to make out real body parts. You know, that feels like a pointy elbow. That feels rounded. Cool stuff.

Jesse's room did get painted and we moved him back in last weekend. I'll be moving on to the baby's room shortly. We haven't officially picked colors for the room that that should be coming soon.

Big Brother

The above pictures are of my older brother and I. I am, of course, the younger of the two. I think our ages were 2 and 10 in one and 3 and 11 in the other. And, yes, these would be from the late seventies.

My older brother got married this past weekend. I'm saddened by the fact that I wasn't there to help celebrate the event. I'm bummed I wasn't able to support my family in person. I'm also bummed that I missed the fireworks. On the other hand, I hope my immediate family can plan a real trip out to Texas to visit my brother and his new family in the near future.

In honor of my big brother's new venture, here are a few memories I have of our childhood:

1. Being out in the field behind our house. Ron would pick up a clod of dried dirt, say "This is your face!", and smash it into the ground.

2. In the same field, firing off Ron's model rocket.

3. Going with Ron in his 1967 Firebird Convertible (white, white top, red interior, and a 327 V8, I believe) to pick up a pizza at Godfather's pizza. I also remember his car breaking down on the way home and a flatbed trailer having to pick it up.

4. Trips to the arcade. This is back when games were $.25 and Q-Bert was the rage.

5. Going to Ron's baseball games, basketball games, and cross-country meets.

6. Playing Intellivision and being awed by my brother's prowess at Lock and Chase.

7. Water skiing with the family. Ron was extremely good at skiing and the knee board.

8. Ron had a Billy Idol button.

9. Ron once dated a girl with the last name of "Butz." I remember thinking that was pretty funny as a little kid.

Butz. That's funny.

From the Vault: Fool's Glod!

I've always liked westerns movies. I'm particularly fond of the Eastwood flicks like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Pale Rider, and the strange but fascinating High Plains Drifter.

A side note here: my wife and I have been watching a lot of the old Batman series off VHS tapes recently. The pair of episodes we watched last night actually featured Eli Wallach as Mr. Freeze. Eli, of course, played Tuco (i.e. the Ugly) in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

Back to westerns. There was a time when I wanted to be a cowboy when I grew up (I'm not convinced I've outgrown that phase) and the attached drawing is evidence of that. At first, it looks like a pretty straightforward depiction of an epic battle between two cowboys and two Native Americans. However, this battle comes with a couple twists.

• One cowboy has not only a jetpack but a DOUBLE jetpack. In this little scene, the cowboy has emptied his entire six-shooter in what I would call the unkindest shot.
  
• One Native American appears to have a rocket arrow which he's using to actually transport himself.

• The second cowboy controls some sort of auto-firing, multi-projectile launcher. It's firing knives and cannonballs with incredible efficiency.

• It appears that the entire battle revolves around a dispute about the local Glod Mine. All that fighting...more like Fool's Glod, if you ask me.

Baby Dos: Week 26

Size Comparison: a fondue pot. I know fondue pots are still around. For that matter, there are even fondue restaurants like The Melting Pot. Still, fondue pots always remind me of the avocado green pot my family had while I was growing up. Whenever birthdays came around, I'm pretty sure fondue was a pretty frequent celebratory dinner request. No doubt is was terrible for my parents to clean up but I remember that fondue sizzle with oil-splattering fondness. Besides, this was the week our pregnancy book likened the size of the baby to a 2-pound pot roast so the food comparison seemed appropriate.

Things are good. We have an appointment next week. This may be our last monthly appointment. I'm not sure on that. We'll be going down to every other week appointments shortly. We're busily trying to get ready for the new addition. I'm planning to paint Jesse's room this weekend. Once that's done, I'll move onto the baby's room. We're also pondering what to do about the whole stroller situation. Should we get a double stroller? Do we need one? We're also strongly considering a pouch carrier from Wallababy. We've heard very good things about them and the fact that they're made locally is another plus.

How about the other parents out there? How did you handle multiple kids and things like trips to the grocery store?

From the Vault: Tiny Battles

I'm fortunate that my parents saved so many things from my childhood. It's fun to go back and look through some of the photos, drawings, and writings that made up my childhood. More importantly, what do these thing tell me about the kind of kid I was? I still don't know that answer.

Anyway, here's a pretty exciting drawing. Check it out...it has everything you'd expect from a big-budget Hollywood movie. Fiery parachutes. Planes hitting helicopters. Motorcycles fitted with right-angle guns for mid-jump tank attacks. Finally, there's what appears to be the bombing of a Cord convertible. That's a lot of action to pack onto one sheet of typing paper.

I especially like the segment where it states the drawing represents WWII that Brett made. Don't count on it being historically accurate.

Canned Ham: Alarming

Your neighbors lost their alarm-clock

Three words: NOT MY PROBLEM

Breed Schmeed

I've had many pets over the years. I'm a pet person. When it comes to dogs, I tend to favor the mixed breeds. Our Maggie is a mix of...I don't know...brown dogs...and she's terrific. When we're ready to adopt another dog, we'll likely go to a local shelter and take home whatever we like. There's a good chance it'll be a mixed breed. Don't get me wrong, I like purebred dogs as well. To me, the biggest benefit to a purebred dog is the breed standards and the consistency you can expect. If I'm looking at a puppy of a certain breed, I know, based upon breed standards, the kind of adult the dog will likely be. How big? How much exercise will they need? What will their temperament be? For example, I know a Fox Terrier pup is likely to grow into an adult that's small, energetic, and constantly chasing things . And if I'm getting a dog from a reputable breeder, there's a good chance I can actually meet the pup's parents. That situation is even better. Let's face it, owning a dog is a huge responsibility that lasts many, many years. Knowing what to expect is a great idea...much better than getting a dog you're unhappy with later.

Anyway, I'm fascinated by the semi-recent popularity of hybrid/designer dog breeds. Have you noticed? I think it started with the Labradoodle but it's simply gone crazy since. Looking through the pet section of the local newspaper reveals numerous dogs with names made up of existing dog breed combinations. Even more fascinating are the asking prices for these dogs. Seriously, $1200 for something called a Havamalt?! I know they're trendy and hip but, designer or not, they're the same mixed breed dogs that have been in shelters for decades. You might you have a better idea of what the dog will grow into but I don't think there's any guarantee. Will my Poodle-Afghan Hound mix get the Poodle intelligence or the Afghan's supposed lack thereof?

Sidenote: there are still a number of mixed-breed dogs in the paper with reasonable prices (high enough to discourage those with less-than-honorable intentions but low enough to be sane) and I'm perfectly fine with those dogs and their owners. I hope these dogs don't go unwanted and unadopted because of the popular designer pups.

I'd be interested to know how the designer dog trend got started. Who first decided designer dogs were such a gold mine? I'm guessing one guy had a Lab, his neighbor had a Poodle, and, somewhere in there, the dogs got a little frisky. Just before they were about to give the pups away for free, there was a conversation between a poodle owner (PO) and an allergic friend (AF) that went something like this:

AF: Hey, do you hear that?
PO: What? The dogs barking?
AF: No, my sneezing, wheezing, scratching, and sniffly nose.
PO: But you're not sneezing, wheezing, scratching, or sniffling.
AF: Exactly!
PO: These dogs must be hyperallergenic! I'll be rich!
AF: I think you mean hypoallergenic.
PO: Whatever. I'll be rich!

On the positive side of the trend, making up dog breeds can be fun:

Spitz-Chow

Hava-Great Dane

Skye-Mal

Whippet-Whippet-Pood

Retrospective: October 1988

I have a small box of old papers that I've been sorting through. It's mostly report cards, drawings, and occasional projects from school. I'll post more about some of this later but, for now, I want to look on an interesting newspaper clipping I found stashed in amongst the teacher reviews and little league photos. The clipping is from the 10/12/1988 issue of USA Today and focuses on academic advice for students looking forward to college. It's interesting but nothing that I'm overly excited about right now. Really, I'm surprised that in the midst of mowing yards to earn money, running cross country, and just being awkward around girls, I had time to look forward to college back then (I would've been thirteen and in seventh grade at the time).

Anyway, I was about to toss out the article when I struck gold! On the back of the education article was printing the TV Ratings for the week of 10/3/1988 through 10/9/1988! I don't have the bottom section of the ratings but it's still a pretty sweet score.

So, let's look back at the top 10 shows for week:

1. The Cosby Show
2. A Different World
3. Golden Girls
4. Empty Nest
5. Dear John
6. Jesse
7. ALF
8. NFL Football/60 Minutes/Hogan Family/Tonight Show Anniversary (tie)
   

Now, the bottom 5:

1. The Cavanaughs/Bugs Bunny Special (tie)
   
2. Perfect Strangers/Wiseguy (tie)
3. Simon & Simon
4. Live! Dick Clark Presents
   

I'm shocked that Simon & Simon rated so poorly. Then again, they were on Saturday night, opposite that ratings juggernaut, Golden Girls with their Amen lead-in and Empty Nest trailer. Perfect Strangers rated surprisingly low, too. Poor Balki. I do like the fact the Perfect Strangers and Wiseguy tied. Not only did the have similar ratings but they'd make a terrific bit of crossover fan fiction.

It really is a time capsule in print. There's ALF. Mr. Belvedere. 227. Vice Presidential Debates. It's all there. But not a single reality show. And, apparently, the FOX network isn't even on the radar. How times have changed.

Baby Dos: Week 24

Size Comparison: A Capsela Kit. Ok, I never actually had Capsela. I leaned more towards Legos. But I had friends with Capsela and they always seemed interesting. Building toys have been big for a long, long time. They've grown increasingly more specialized which I find to be a bit of a bummer. Sure, the Star Wars themed Legos look cool but once you've built an X-Wing Fighter, what else do you do with all those special parts. Like Tinker Toys, Erector sets, and many Legos, Capsela was pretty open to design and redesign.

Baby Dos is growing. She's moving around a lot, too. It seems like her schedule syncs up well with ours, being more active in the evening but quieting down about the time we're going to bed. I hope the continues for, you know, the next several years.

Our appointment with the doctor went smoothly on Monday and it really was a quick checkup. The doctor listened to the heartbeat, asked if we had any questions, and confirmed that Denisa was feeling fine. All is well. The next appointment will iunclude the gestational diabetes test. As you can imagine, Denisa is really looking forward to that.

Maggie

Around nine years ago, a mixed breed dog joined our family. My in-laws own a business near the Indy airport and, one day, a dog took up residence under their dumpster. We don't know where she came from or how she came to be sleeping under a dumpster. We checked newspapers and shelters to see if anyone reported a lost dog matching her description but never found a thing. We assume someone dropped he off somewhere. Terribly sad.

Fortunately, though, my in-laws like dogs, fed her a few ham sandwiches, and took her home. Anyway, she stole my then-fiancee's heart and has been with us ever since. Maggie is part of our family and we love her dearly. She's a terrific dog but still somewhat of a mystery as we have no idea what breeds combined to create Maggie. When people ask what kind of dog she is, we usually answer with something like "brown" because that's the best we've got. There are a couple tests (Mars Wisdom Panel™ MX Mixed Breed and MetaMorphic Canine Heritage Breed) available to help track down your mixed-breed's heritage and I admit that I'm tempted. We haven't sprung for it and I doubt that we will. Still, it's an interesting proposal.

Has anyone else tried one of these tests? What was your experience? Looking at these pictures of our 23 pound brown dog, any thoughts on breed? Lab? Dachshund?

Canned Ham: Conspiracy Theory

The Secrets to Aging

I'd really like to know about this big aging cover-up. I mean, I've managed to age but that was mostly due to my own tenacious hardheadedness about not wanting to be dead.

Surely there's an easier way. There's probably some suit in a high-rise office that's keeping it from us.