Procrastination

I'm supposed to be writing something else right now, not making a blog entry, but I've got a wicked case of procrastination. Must...buckle...down!

This blog o' mine has been very political of late, which is reflective of where my head has been, but I've also been thinking a lot about the following:

• Comic books - Always thinking about the comics. Just finished Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, and I have to say, it might just be the finest example of what the comics medium can accomplish, in terms of breaking down the stereotype that comics are kids' stuff.
• Apostrophes - Specifically when used to indicate the possessive. I was told recently that an updated style manual has dictated the use of the "apostrophe-s" at all times, even when the word in question ends in "s" so as to indicate the plural, as above in "kids", so that instead of writing "comics are kids' stuff," I should have written "kids's stuff." That does not look right to me at all, and seems like it should be read aloud as "kidses stuff". I reject that notion completely. If any of my millions of readers know which style manual makes this assertion, please comment below.
• My various projects - I've been pitching some comics projects, and I'm contemplating writing the first eight or so pages of the latest one, called Strange Beasts (created with my friend Carl LaPan) so I can also submit it to Dark Horse Comics, but I don't have any contacts there, so it would just be an unsolicited submission, and I'm not in love with that idea. I've also been contemplating the idea of a webcomic, and whether or not Strange Beasts would be appropriate for that, or if another comics project of mine, a superhero comedy called Sword-Maiden, would be a better choice. Either way, I'd need to find an artist, and pay this person so it actually gets done. Given my current job status, this is not entirely feasible. I also need to get the pilot for my animated web series Comic Shop voiced; it's written, but I need to cast and record it so I can put together a fully-animated one-minute presentation piece. And I've got one other thing that I've partnered with someone on that I can't talk about right now, but that I'm anxious to get out the door.
• Occasional Superheroine - This is a blog that I read regularly, by a writer named Valerie D'Orazio, who at one time worked as an assistant editor for DC Comics, but has since moved on to become the president of the organization Friends of Lulu and the writer of a forthcoming Cloak & Dagger series for Marvel Comics. Valerie's commentary on the state of the industry is no-holds-barred and often very personal; she says what she thinks, and her honesty makes her blog one of those rare places on the web where you can find opinions about comics and the comics industry rather than blind cheerleading. This, however, has earned her some enmity from a particular subset of...gosh, I don't even know what to call these people...internet comics trolls will do, I guess - anyway, she's actually received death threats from internet comics trolls who don't like what she has to say about DC Comics, or a recent issue of Teen Titans, which is just insane, and when I read about this in one of her recent posts, it was maybe the first time I've actually been embarrassed to be a comic book fan, because, theoretically, the bonehead who felt so moved to tell a blogger she should perish in a fire because he didn't like what she said about his favorite comics publisher is one my comics-loving peers. Then I realized that's not the case, because this person is clearly sub-human and needs to realize that everyone is entitled to their opinion, even when it comes to comics, and if you don't like it, don't read her blog! At any rate, this trend left Ms. D'Orazio in the position of contemplating whether or not it's worth the trouble to continue blogging if she is going to have to deal with that much vitriol, but I'm glad to see that she's going to press on despite the idiocy of the internet comics trolls. Good on ya, Val - it's almost trite to say it, but if you quit, it's letting the terrorists win.
• Employment - Man, this is a tough job market.

That's all for now.

-EB

Updated 8:54pm: Man, that's one hell of a run-on sentence in the section about Occasional Superheroine. Apparently, my procrastination does not allow for reading for clarity.