Messages Unlimited

I have a headache. I should just probably go to bed.

Well, not much has happened since I last wrote here. It has only been a day. I went and changed my phone text messaging plan. I was 94 messages over my alloted limit, which means a 10 cent payment for each. And that's only so far this month. So, I went and upped it to the unlimited one. Now, I won't feel stingy when texting people, and I can cause less guilt to people who text message me a lot.

I still don't have one functioning button on my phone. It's the "star" key, which eliminates my shifting to capital letters. It also doesn't allow me to lock my keypad. There is a reason I don't carry my phone in my jeans pocket anymore. I got tired of calling random people and sending the occasional request for overly expensive, crappy internet. Yes, despite my phone being from the bronze age, it still gets a rudimentary internet. It shows a satellite as it's image for it and everything.

Now, I just have to breakdown and figure out what new phone I should actually get. If I get one of those "smart" Phones, yet even more billing is in my future. Data plans allowing me access to the real interwebs could be too much of a distraction. We shall see.

I should sleep now. My bed is texting me.

Celebratory 150th post!!1!!

Christ, I haven't written anything in a very long time. And I honestly mean that. I'm calling on you, Lord. Grant me the inspiration to try to make something that is passably readable.

My choices for this late hour were slim at best. I could continue strolling through the internet, where I would waste time looking at things I shouldn't care about. (Jesus, I don't even remember the last time I looked at porn.) I could listen to some podcast that is waiting on iTunes. Granted, most of my podcasts consist of video game crap. Seriously, I don't even play video games that much any more. It's just one of those things I just need to keep up on. I could play World of Warcraft. Yes, I play WoW. I started at the beginning of the summer at the encouragement of a friend from work. I wouldn't say that it succumb my life because: 1) It's not like I had a real life to begin with, and 2) I'm not doing right now, am I? I could have started reading a book. God knows I have a lot of them. I wouldn't even know which one to begin with. There are literary pieces, sci-fi novels, biographies (ok, wrestling biographies), countless comic books and graphic novels, and magazines (both video game ones and ones about writing... go figure).

Instead, I popped on iTunes and am listening to daft punk's Discovery. It has enough energy and mellow parts to continue shifting my perspective. Of course, what that perspective is, is entirely up for debate.

If you have ever read anything I have written, especially here, I am not entirely forthcoming with things I should be writing about. I will never be a good writer because I don't discuss or lay on the table what is actually going on with me. I know my readership isn't huge, but this is the internet. Only God knows what will be seen by the wrong (right?) person. I could sit here in a semi-uncomfortable chair, drolling about my feelings. But, I don't do that. I don't have feelings, do I?

No, I do have feelings. They sting and squeeze like a bitch, though. Now, what could these feelings be about? You have 3 guesses and the first two don't count.

Did you know this is apparently my 150th post on this blog? I was surprised too. See, that whole thing in the beginning of the year really boosted my numbers. It didn't last long though, did it? I had a shallow attempt to write 500 words a day. I should get back to it. It would just be fairly tough trying to write that much while avoiding the object of my feelings.

I'm already running stagnant. I just stared at my keyboard and clicked on iTunes 3 or 4 times without writing anything. I'm not quite sure what to continue with. I guess that should be an indicator to stop what I'm doing. If I plan on writing more, I guess I just have to ease myself back into things. No need for a novella every time out, right? I need to start putting this English degree to work (even though a degree in English has nothing to do with actual writing).

In the cool of the evening

Hanker for a hunk of cheese.

I have no idea why I wrote that. It probably encompasses something Freudian. I have had an itch to write something lately. The problem usually arises as to when to write. I tend to involve myself in many other projects that take away from the whole focus on writing thing. It's probably this overload of information and activity that sparks the urge to chronicle.

At the moment, I am mainly just sifting through information. I need to settle on something to at least expand on. I little while ago a friend gave me some notes he made on a comic project. He wants to do the art, he needed someone else to write it. Granted he probably could have done it all himself, but a collaborative effort is sometime beneficial. I know there were a couple others that attempted to help, but things change. I guess it is now my turn to make heads or tales of it. Yes, I wrote that on purpose.

I went to one of those small comic conventions on Sunday. I wanted to make a day of it. It wasn't that far from my house, and I set my alarm to wake me at 10. Unfortunately, I set it to PM instead of AM. I finally awoke at 1:30, and the convention ended at 4. I made it down there close to 3, and thought I would be staying for the remainder. I didn't. I was actually home by about 4.

Still, while I was there, I talked with the one comic publish that showed his face there. Ever one else was a vendor selling their wares of beat-up comics and bootleg DVDs. I actually wound up buying about 8 books from the guy. He was from Ultimate Comics Group. Apparently, they are based in Atlantic City. The guy I talked with was, John, the COO and Editor-in-Chief. He also happened to write all the comics.

I usually like to give some credit to independent publishers. They are at least trying. So far, I have read about 4 of the comics I bought. They aren't really that good, but they aren't exactly terrible. The last independent book I read was Dinoman. It was self-published by a couple guys who thought they created the best thing on Earth. They were wrong. The premise was fine, but the execution was wrong. The art was pretty bad, something I could have done in 8th grade and the line tool in MS Paint. That could have been forgiven if the story was actually interesting. Instead it was all gay jokes that were just derogatory and didn't really seem appropriate in a book called Dinoman. Needless to say, my store didn't carry it. I even had some people read it just to show them how a comic shouldn't be.

Now the couple I read of the Ultimate Comics Group stuff could use a little work, but so can much of the professional stuff out there. It was standard superhero fare. It didn't hide what it was. Most of it was typical good guy vs. bad guy. People have super powers, some are good and others use power for their own gain. There were some glaring mistakes with the layout and structure of the comics, but nothing that couldn't really be fixed. Useless panels, poorly placed word balloons, and bad pacing were just some of the faults.

See, what I admired about the Ultimate Comics Group, is not only did they have a full color comic that was self-published, they had several. I'm talking over 20 books. They make it seem that they have been around a while, but the publishing dates on the few I have are from late 2009. It's hard enough to get one book out a month, but they want to seemingly do at least 3. They even have a distribution deal with the secondary distributor of comics in the country, Haven. John even told me why they didn't go with Diamond, the main distributor of comics (almost a monopoly). Diamond requires a minimum that's too high. Basically, you pretty much have to guarantee a certain amount in sales for it to be in their catalog. Haven is a little more forgiving. I even checked Haven's site, and the books were there to be ordered.

Now, will I order them? Probably not. I do want to keep reading them. I will try to grab the ones I missed whenever I see their booth again. The 4 that are order-able are the ones I already bought. I think I want to support them because they are trying and I feel there may be some potential there.

News bit.

It's really too late for me to write anything of length. I'll just say that Easter was good an bad. Good in that it was a nice day and seeing family was good. People generally got along, and even my mother and father were in the same room for extended lengths of time. The bad news is that this comes in the wake of my Aunt Trudy succumbing to cancer at 2am on Sunday.

I will write more on this in a bit. To be honest the reality of it hasn't really hit me yet. She was only 54, and usually in good spirits. Her funeral is Friday, so I have off from work. I will write soon, I hope.

Seems like 500 Days till Summer

I have a headache. It is rather annoying.

I just finished watching (500) Days of Summer. I am a huge sucker for these types of movies. It's not really a romance movie, but it's not really a comedy either. It is definitely fun, and sad, and hopeful. Zooey Deschanel plays the perfect girl next door roll. Maybe not in the movie, but I would have died trying to get her to notice me if she was next door to me growing up. Nowadays, I would probably awkwardly smile when I would see her on the street, picking up her mail. Still, even disjointed as the movie was portrayed, it told a good story without the need of an over the top cast. I liked the little sister character of the protagonist, but she filled the typical "too smart for her own age" template.

Other than Zooey Deschanel, the movie entered my radar because the director, Marc Webb, has been tagged to possibly direct the next Spider-Man movie. I needed to see something of his work if I could make an accurate judgement as to if I feel he could do it. Granted, I am not an expert in the movie field at all. My only experience were bit parts in student films and writing scripts for classes. Still, the powers that be feel they need to relaunch Spider-Man with a fresh beginning. Apparently from what I know, Sam Raimi, the director of Spider-Man 1, 2, and 3, had a conflict with the people with the money. It could have been timing, direction of story or maybe he just couldn't find the right role for Bruce Campbell. Sony, the company that can make a Spider-Man movie, feels they want to cash in on a still acknowledgeable product.

Relaunches are weird. For the most part, they can work with comic book adaptations. Most of the time, the comic a movie is based on has been around for at least 40 years. This is different than remakes of movies, like Halloween or the upcoming Nightmare on Elm Street. Too many things are being remade in my opinion. Some of them are fine (Dawn of the Dead), while others seem unnecessary (Psycho). The more annoying ones are the too soon remakes of stuff that is younger than me (I'm looking at you Karate Kid). Still, comics skirt the issue because it's just another story with those characters. There doesn't need to be a progressive story between some movies, like Hulk and Incredible Hulk. Of course, the latter was far better as a comic movie fun. It can work extremely well with a connecting story structure, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Of course with Dark Knight, I have no idea how they will top that for a sequel.

From watching (500) Days of Summer, I think Marc Webb can definitely pull of the atmosphere of Peter Parker (Spider-Man in secret identity mode). There was one sequence in Summer that I thought the main character was Peter Parker. Hell, he even looked exactly like him, sweater vest and all. My only concern is the action scenes. Doing those is a bit different than trying to make your actors come across as real people while dealing with what Love means. The depth of Spider-Man and his inner conflicts can definitely be portrayed by Webb. I just don't know if he can make the punches count.

All I know is that I will boycott a remake of Back to the Future.