The Epic Webcomic Post

Lately I haven't been doing anything terribly interesting. That makes it a little difficult to blog. I have, however, been reading a lot of webcomics lately, and I thought I would share some webcomic blurbs with you, in case you are looking for some to read. Keep in mind that these are just what I like - there are some well known comics out there that I just haven't been able to get into and never found funny.

Background - my introduction to webcomics came through a guy who I was kinda-sorta dating. It didn't work out (my fault - I just wasn't that interested) but I am eternally grateful for the push towards some awesome comics.

The first comic I started reading, thanks to above-mentioned guy, was Questionable Content, which I still read failthfully every week day. QC is about some pretty normal, semi-hipster young people, doing the things young people do. It centers around a coffee shop one character owns, the owner's boyfriend, and their assortment of friends, roommates, and friend's roommates. It's generally funny, often quirky, and occasionally really moving. There are a few moments of suspension-of-disbelief, like the girl who grew up on the moon. Overall an excellent comic, and the progression of the art is absolutely amazing. This is probably one of my favorite strips.








Most people I know read xkcd at least occasionally, so it doesn't need much explanation. As far as art goes, there isn't much - the comic mostly consists of stick figures. But it's seriously heavy in smart and hilarious punchlines. I've learned a lot from this strip, since half the time the joke is too technical to get and I have to look it up. It's also the reason I watched Firefly, which in itself is a good enough reason to love it. The smart, geeky jokes are mixed in with occasional really cute comics about love and relationships. The comics are usually standalone, although there have been a few storylines.


Girls with Slingshots is another really awesome, hilarious strip about more-or-less normal young people being the awesome people they are. Danielle Corsetto does a great job of making every character unique in art and personality, and they all have good storylines. This one gets slightly NSFW - two characters work in a porn shop (just because they need jobs, of course!) and there's a dominatrix who shows up every once in a while. Like QC there's some minor quirkiness, like a talking cactus and a hypoallergenic cat with a seriously mischievous personality.




Gunnerkrigg Court is a little different from the above in story and the amount of work it takes to read. It's a beautifully done, fascinating comic about a mysterious boarding school situated at the intersection between an institution based in technology and a mysterious, magical forest. It combines British boarding schools with fantasy and sci-fi in a totally unique way. It feels a lot like several books in a graphic novel series, and it helps to read it that way - I get lost if I read one comic a day without refreshing myself on the backstory. Sit down and read it like a novel.


The Phoenic Requiem reads a lot like Gunnerkrigg Court, in that the reader needs to keep up with the story to avoid getting lost. It likewise has absolutely beautiful artwork, which means the comics come out less frequently. It looks and feels like it should be a period piece, but I think it's possible it actually takes place in a completely alternate world created by the artist. There is plenty of backstory and interesting details to learn about the main conflict in the story - the Shades that are somehow coming to life from the ashes of cremated dead and infecting people with a strange illness. There is also a counterbalancing element of (possibly) good spirits and male characters who somehow manage to be eye candy despite being artwork.


The Dreamer actually has been published as a graphic novel (actually, most of these have books) and really feels like one. The heroine in this comic lives a normal high school life most of the time, complete with a crush on a hunky football player. But every time she falls asleep, she's transported back to the American Revolutionary War, where (when?) she's apparently a real person who plenty of people know - but she can't remember anything. The Dreamer is aimed at teen girls, and there is plenty of teen-angst, hot guys, and fashion, but it's also historically interesting and very well-drawn. I recommend, again, reading this one like a book - it's easy to lose the plot if you're gone for a while.



Schlock Mercenary is one of the giants of the webcomic world. It updates every day, and has been running for what is best described as "ages." The comic follows the misadventures of a space-aged mercenary troupe named after a sergeant who most resembles a huge blob of...excrement. It's set incredibly far in the future, so there are occasionally long passages describing futuristic "technology" and customs. It's not my favorite, but I bet guys who love sci-far are all over it.


Heliothaumic is a comic that I'm still getting used to, and I'm not entirely sure how I think. It takes place either in the distant future or a completely different world, and there are plenty of new customs and cultures to get excited about. It's hard to say what exactly it's about, because there are storylines that currently include a sentient machine, a rebellion on another planet, a mysterious stranger, and several romantic relationships. I like that even though they live in a world that is a fantasy to the reader, the characters have very human skepticism - for example, despite being nearly immortal herself, one character refuses to believe in vampires (who happen to be harassing her roommate). I wish the artist differentiated between characters better though, because some of the members of the same race look nearly identical.


I'm listing Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery together because they're by the same artist and share a website. Scary Go Round is officially finished and Bad Machinery is relatively new. They also share a few characters. Scary Go Round is about...uh...a lot of people, doing a lot of weird things, including coming back from the dead, chasing the Kraken, saving the world, inventing a lot of stuff, getting kidnapped, and a heck of a lot more. It's a seriously odd and quirky comic with a fairly tenuous grasp of an overall storyline. I read it all and I'm still not sure I like it. Bad Machinery seems to be a little less bizarre and more grounded, and so far deals a lot with the mishaps of schoolkids (British) and an odd antiques dealer.


DAR is possibly the shortest and definitely least safe for work of the comics I've listed so far. It's the real comic-diary of a young artist who deals with the fact that she's pretty sure she's a lesbian but she's falling in love with a man, among other challenges. It's sometimes crude and sometimes funny, but always authentic. Don't read if you're offended by comic penises, the "c" word, and frank comments about sex.




There was supposed to be one more after this, but for some reason it was messing up the way the blog viewed. So, too bad, it's not one of my favorites anyway.


I'm not listing Unshelved because most people associated with libraries already know about it, and to me it has always felt more like a newspaper comic strip than a webcomic. My personal favorite way to read webcomics is like books - straight through from the beginning to the end/as far along as it currently is. I know there are some well-known comics I excluded - that's because I don't read them! I might have tried and not liked them, or I might not know they exist. If there's something I should read, let me know!

Today is not a good day

I should post more often so these posts aren't so out of the blue. Especially this one, which is essentially a bunch of complaining.

I had to get up early this morning to go to a dentist appointment, my first dentist appointment in an embarrassingly long time. That wouldn't be too bad, if I weren't still somewhat sick with a mysterious sore throat that won't go away and probably unrelated nausea (no, I am not pregnant). So that sucks. But I'm not even the sickest one in the house - the BF has a full-on cold, and my cat has what looks, in human terms, like an epic stomach flu. I'm only partially responsible for the BF's health, and I've been appropriately sympathetic and helpful, but I am responsible for my cat...and the messes he makes. There have been many messes lately.

After the dentist appointment I called the vet and got in within the hour, around which time my head started to throb. The vet gave the poor cat some medicines and some special food and gave me instructions on how to take care of him - and to come back in 48 hours if the violently ill illness continues. I'm worried about him, because I have had terribly bad luck with cats before, and he's a pretty wonderful cat. The vet and animal techs also seemed somehow apprehensive, which makes ME really apprehensive.

After I drove home, again, I drove back to campus to go to job 1, late. Then job 2, by which point the head throb had escalated into full-on epic migraine mode. As I write I am waiting to go to class, because of course this bad day has to be on the one really long day I have in the week. After class I finally get to go home...where the contractor will be working on the cabinets. Loudly.

On top of all of that, I've been anxious about finding a job (yeah, I know, who isn't anxious about jobs now?) and what I'm going to do with myself after graduation. I've also been having a hard time staying friendly with my friends, for a bunch of reasons. I'm so tired so often and I live with the BF away from everyone, but I feel like I am excluding myself or something. I know awesome people around here and I want to do awesome things with them! Though I also want to sleep. And get a job.

Yes Yogurt Moon, I do need to update. Sigh. I liked the "15 things about you and reading," so I am going to do it. Without further ado, here are:

15 Things About Me and Reading

1. Apparently I was one of those kids who came home from school on the first day of first grade angry that they didn't teach me how to read. I don't remember this, but I remember people telling me about it. Now that I read other people's 15 things, I realize I was apparently a slacker for not ALREADY knowing how to read by first grade.

2. I wanted to learn how to read so badly that I actually memorized at least one of my children's books before someone finally taught me. It was some little red book about a bright green worm that I remember best. Also, this makes me wonder why the heck my parents didn't just teach me to read.

3. I used to spend a lot of time in the local public library before I was even able to read. At that point, my family lived within walking distance of the library and we would often walk or ride our bikes there, me on my little pink and white bike with training wheels. One day, I couldn't find my parents after I was done looking for kid's books, so I assumed they had gone home without me. Naturally, I hopped on my bike and scooted off home, prompting some serious parent and librarian panic (and a lot of trouble for me once they found me). This isn't entirely about reading, but the librarians there still remember it and tease me for it.

4. A lot of these stories are actually pre-real-reading: My kindergarten classroom had two huge claw-foot bathtubs, painted in bright red and yellow, with beanbag chairs in the bottom. The reward for finishing your independent tasks was to sit inside a bathtub with a book for the rest of work time. Of course, that was pretty much my life goal that year, and I still remember the sweet success of the few times I managed to sit in the tub.

5. The Boxcar Children was my first love as far as series go, but I eventually got annoyed by their chirpy attitudes. I devoured series when I first started reading, and went through Nancy Drew even though it was a little before my time, and the Baby Sitters' Club even though I didn't like kids even as a kid. I also read a terrible historical Christian detective series about a girl named Mandy who had a fluffy white cat. Good grief. I was desperate.

6. My dad introduced me to The Hobbit in third grade, and it changed my life. I was obsessed with that book, and even made up little tunes to go with the poems in the book. We had a silent reading day in school for a special reading week, and I forgot the book. I was pretty much in tears until the teacher sent me down to the library to look for it, where lo-and-behold, it was.

7. I had a serious reputation as "that girl with the book" through pretty much all of middle school and some of high school. I once was so enthralled by The Hero and the Crown that I read it during the rests in my piece of music in band class. I once caught my science teacher timing me as I read Harry Potter to see how fast I read a page. I also made my sophomore year English teacher flip out because I was reading The Tempest on the first day of school (I was bored; she was thrilled). Those are several stories in one.

8. Another middle school story: in sixth grade we did Accelerated Reader, which I took as a personal challenge. For the first time ever I started reading the classics and dramatically expanded the range of things I would read. I also was the first person ever in the school to get 1,000 points, and the teacher gave me an award at "graduation" which also involved hauling all those books I had read up on stage.

9. I love the size and shape of books, and I always struggle between the price of aesthetically pleasing books and having more money to buy more, cheaper books. This was always a problem at those Scholastic Book fairs, where I wanted everything, plus a bookmark. One year I bought a cute little paperback copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which I then carried in my coat pocket all over the place for a long time.

10. I have always had a good example of parents reading, especially my father, who will pick up any book in any genre that looks interesting and slog through it till the end. But, my worst two reading experiences ever were reading The Handmaid's Tail at the same time as my mom, when I was way too young, and reading something by Hemingway at the same time as my dad - we both hated it.

11. The last story made me think of another reading negative - since I get so drawn into books, I often feel the plots and emotions incredibly strongly. I also read so much as a kid that I was always reading beyond my age level. I once got halfway through a YA book when I came across a horribly disturbing description of a rape which left me literally sick, nauseated and trembling, and unable to forget the passage for days. I never finished the book, and even now I struggle to think about it without feeling uncomfortable.

12. I have considered Jane Eyre to be my favorite book from the time that I first read it, but going back to it now makes me realize how amazingly Gothic, in the literary sense, it is. And it also has ridiculous dialog. I still love it though, and should eventually get a copy that is in better shape than my 25 cent used-book store paperback.

13. In college I worked in the special collections of the university library, doing copy-cataloging of the Methodist materials. It was the first time I had gotten to handle any old books, and I really enjoyed the feel and smell of books bound in leather. Unfortunately, they were usually incredibly boring books, and I was always covered in crumbled bits of books.

14. The first time I ever really had a conversation with my boyfriend was at a book party at a friend's apartment. We were to bring and share our favorite books, and he left with my copy of Fahrenheit 451, which I had more or less forced on him in my enthusiasm for both book and boy. I later retrieved it, unread, from his house.

15. I am just now getting seriously back into reading after college, when I read so much for school I didn't have the time or energy to read for fun (liberal arts majors, three of them!). I consider it a little bit of a professional obligation, and I have seriously been enjoying reading frequently. I depend upon my librarian friends for reader's advisory!

Awww!

The BF, who I know I keep mentioning (I'm no less intolerable about him in real life either, sorry), has been away on travel for work for over a week now, and won't be back until Saturday. At first we thought he would be gone a week and a half. then we thought it would only be a week, and then he called me in the middle of the night one night to tell me he would be gone another week. I was pretty unhappy about that, especially since we had made some plans that he would be missing.

So, I was pleasantly surprised when I came home yesterday to find flowers on the porch. I literally did a double take - I looked at them, closed the door, opened it, and looked at them again to determine they existed and were for me. There was even a note! I was thrilled.

xkcd cake

Back a month or so ago when I still had time to bake things, I made this. It's three out of four panels of an xkcd comic. I sent it to work with the BF and his coworkers chose which xkcd strip to use. It is far from my best work, but it was good practice with both fondant and piping. I got a little impatient near the end, so some parts are sloppy.

I'm turning into a housewife

For our one-year anniversary, the BF thought up an awesome gift he was so sure I wouldn't guess. After he told me he got me the "next level up" version of whatever it was, I knew immediately. He got me a KitchenAid mixer. He apparently spent some serious time researching them, and got me a shiny new professional series standing mixer that matches our kitchen.


















Creaming the heck out of some butter and sugar.



















This was a definite user error. I wanted to see just how much flour it could handle' I should really have used the splash guard and started it out slowly.















And here is a not-so-great picture of something I made with the mixer - a 12 layer cake! It was tasty.

I'm back! And I've moved

Whoops, there was a SERIOUS absence on my part there. I'm back! I will...probably blog more!

The biggest, most possibly life-changing event that has happened in my life lately has been yet another move. I moved for the third time in maybe 13 months, and this time it was a big deal. I moved in with my boyfriend. I spent a heck of a lot of time and thought and angst, condensed into about a week to make the decision, before I made the move. I'm glad I did.

There are tons of things I could say about the whole shebang, but one thing keeps coming to mind...I live in suburbia now! I have not lived in anything resembling a suburb since I was four, and even then it was more of a small-town neighborhood. Where I live now isn't hard-core suburbia for sure, no housing developments named after trees with cul-de-sacs and dead ends and new trees, but the BF still calls it "lovelyland."

And, despite my usual antipathy towards suburbia, I really like where I live! There is one serious reason: I am close to EVERYTHING. Specifically, a Target, a Joanne's Fabrics, two grocery stores, and a good pizza place. I can walk to church if the urge strikes me, even if the walk is long. I'm pretty close to the smaller mall in the area, which has a movie theater. I could use a closer ice cream shop, but this whole region seems to be bad at ice cream shops. I think it's the winters.

Overall, the move was a really good idea.