Chicago Comic-Con

Hello again, it's almost as if I haven't written in months! Oh wait, I haven't...I'm going to try to take a page out of my older sister's blog and write regular, shorter, full-of-picture posts that don't take too long to write or read!

Corey as Arrietty (a Borrower) from "The Secret World of Arrietty."

Corey (my younger sister) and I went to the Chicago Comic-Con  (C2E2) last weekend and it was AMAZING. It was for Corey's birthday (as she is an up and coming sequential artist), and she is very inspired now. In fact, she has been staying up way too late creating superheroes like, "WedgieMan," and her own version of Cinderella called, "If the Shoe Fits." Here's a look at one of her short comics, featuring me!

Besides the whole boost in creativity for Corey, my favorite part was the costumes... It was like Halloween for adults. And comic books were our candy.

Jayne and Kaylee from "Firefly." Yeah, I made my costume.
I am  such a  nerd, and proud of it!

Corey was even wearing her Ghostbuster's t-shirt.
You can't see their Proton Packs, but they were really well done.

 A close second were the panels. We were on a female-power kick, going to panels entitled, "Chicks Dig Comics," and "Constructions of Race, Gender and Childhood in Comics," "The Geek Girl and the Artist: Women's Perspective on Geek Culture, Gender Identity and Art/Media," and the best of the bunch, "The Ladies of Womanthology." This book is a great anthology of short comic stories, written and illustrated by women for charity. Corey idolizes these strong ladies, and rightly so- they are exactly who she wants to be. It was interesting to be surrounded by strong females, and then step out onto the main floor and see women objectified into butts and boobs. Small steps I guess. The next step I'm rooting for is a naked Thor. 

Womanthology panel. I should have taken a
picture of Corey  having a spaz-attack of  joy.

 However, the panels I enjoyed the most were the ones where I got to be close to famous people, like Val Kilmer, Anthony Daniels, Shane West, John Cusack, and the funniest of the bunch, Nicholas Brendon. 

It was his birthday.

I even got inspired to introduce comics into my classroom as the central way I teach from the panel called, "Reading with Pictures." I didn't waste any time- four new graphic novels in the classroom and a project where students illustrate the meaning of a new vocabulary word with a comic strip - and this is just in one week!

After the con was done we went out and about in Chicago, seeing what could be seen when the weather allowed. Or even when it didn't and we should have been indoors (see picture below). The wind there is CRAZY. It comes from every direction and cannot be escaped. Believe me, we tried.

I should have listened Corey, sorry. Makes for a good story though.

 After we dried our clothes from a thorough soaking in a BIG thunderstorm Sunday night, we took on the town on Monday, walking from the Sear's, now Willis, tower, to the Bean in Millennium Park, and seeing everything in-between. 

The top was closed due to high winds. CURSE YOU WIND!

I'll leave you with a few fun pictures of the greatest modern sculpture in the world (in my humble opinion). Thanks for reading!

Random Reviews

I've been out sick with a cold that won't quit lately, hence the lack of any post of substance. This is going to be a random collection of thoughts that might just be interesting to you if you are a movie, TV or book buff. Enjoy!

Nikita- A spy thriller based on the french film "La Femme Nikita," only WAY better. I watched the entire first season in three days (to be fair, one was a Sunday and another a sick day) and still felt like I wanted more. The story lines are interesting and full of great twists, but the best part is the character development. There are a lot of strong female characters in this show who kick butt and take names. I felt strangely vindicated as I sat, sick and dejected on my couch, watching Maggie Lee take down five guys that could have played pro-football with a paperweight wrapped in a towel. Sweet.

The Secret World of Arrietty- An adaptation of the book, The Borrowers, the new Studio Ghibli film has a quiet, calm pace throughout that is simply magical. The movie wrapped me up and transported me into a miniature fantasy land, filled with great details (pay attention to the water droplets) and other-worldly music. I love all the Ghibli films, but this was the closest a movie has ever gotten to the feeling I get when I wrap myself up in a blanket and read a good book- comfy, cozy and imaginative.

Life As We Knew It- I don't know what it is with me and post-apocalyptic books, but I have read five of them in the past three months, the most current being a tale told from the perspective of a 16 year-old-girl after an asteroid crashes into the moon, sending it closer into the earth's orbit. All sorts of strange weather starts spiraling the world Miranda knows into chaos, and she records it in diary format. The style and mood of this book reminded me a lot of the The Road (the most stark and depressingly beautiful survival book ever written in my opinion). It's definitely written for the middle-high school crowd, but if you're into the survival-story-in-strange-circumstances-genre, this is a pretty good choice.

Rifftrax- Brought to you by the creators of Mystery Science Theater 3000! If you go to their website, you can download audio files of these VERY FUNNY guys riffing on movies. You play the audio on your computer while you watch the movie normally on your TV, and it's almost like they're in the room, making a horrible movie-going experience hilarious and truly worth while. Corey (my sister) and I have started a weekend routine of watching a movie with Rifftrax playing on the side, the Harry Potter series being our current victim. they've got hundreds of movies to choose from (my definition of heaven). If you're in need of a good laugh, or don't think you can bare watching the new Twilight instillation without some sort of help, I personally recommend the Rifftrax remedy. It does cost about 3-5 dollars to download the audio, just a heads up (it's totally worth it).

These forms of entertainment kept by clogged head above snot level the past few weeks, and if they're awesome when my brain is foggy, chances are, they're going to be spectacular to the fully-functioning mind.

One more thing before I sign off- I made out like a bandit this Valentine's Day. So much for Singles' Awareness Day, I'm going to call it Give Your Teacher Chocolate Day hence-forth. I like that second one so much better...The funny thing about Valentines though...they're really cheesy. I love cheesy. Here's three of my favorites.

Ah, blatant plagiarism, my old friend...

Complete with a parrot tattoo!

Not sure what I think of the DumDum...