Steve

Happy Birthday, blythe025!

Seen at the Comics Curmudgeon

I love Rex and June’s facial expressions SO MUCH that that I’ve decided to revive an ancient (yes, five years ago is “ancient,” on the Internet) Comics Curmudgeon tradition: a comics panel lookalike contest! You might recall the finger-quotin’ Margo and self-clubbing Tyler lookalike contests; now it’s time for a Hilariously Overwrought Rex and June Facial Expression Lookalike contest! Here, here’s a close-up of the panel:

Take a photo of you and a friend imitating Rex and June here (no need to include Iris and Mabel, but feel free if you think its important for your take on the tableau) and send éem to me at bio@jfruh.com. The top entry will be arbitrarily chosen by me and whatever friends or family members I rope into helping me pick, and wins … eternal glory? Sure, let’s say that. Eternal glory PLUS your choice of one item from the Comics Curmudgeon merch store, which yes, still exists, even though I haven’t updated it in a long time. Go forth and look like that panel, everybody! Points for style, execution, amusing variations, etc.! I am not legally responsible if you sprain your face trying to match Rex and June’s expressions.

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment(s); comment here or there.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Yesterday was even more entertaining that Thursday. I cracked my happy ass out of bed extremely late by my own standards, hit the health club for some time on the stationary bike, then caught breakfast in the Green Room. After some bloggery and email time and whatnot, I had my massage — And how cool is it that World Steam Expo has a masseur on retainer for the pros!? — and then went exploring. This eventually involved use of the hot tub, among other things.

I spent a decent chunk of the day hanging out with the inestimable Howard Tayler, who created a truly impressive steampunk caricature of me. (When I get home, I shall scan and post this, but at the moment it is my badge art.) Howard is his own self hanging out in the Aegis room, which is basically a camp for combat geeks. Inside the Con hotel, these cats have a rappelling tower, weapons training with actual pointy objects, a bunch of Nerf weapons, and a Victorian encampment. They are pretty much a real life incarnation of the Black Briar group in J.A. Pitt's Black Blade Blues [ Powells | BN ]. The Aegis group helped me make a notable entrance to opening ceremonies.

Also spent a lot more time partying with The League of S.T.E.A.M. and a whole bunch of other folks, including briefly running across the few people besides Howard that I actually knew before I turned up here. Specifically, Gail Carriger, G.D. Falksen (who has an important planet named after him in the Sunspin universe) and Evelyn Kriete (who is responsible for me being invited to this convention). I caught the last part of the The Men That Will Not be Blamed for Nothing concert.

I even got a bit more work done on Going to Extremes.

Today I have lunch with Howard, a High Tea to host, and a plan to hear some more excellent performances. A bit more programming tomorrow.

Interestingly, I am way off my normal schedule here, even my normal convention schedule. I'm not sure what clock I'm living on, but it's neither Jay time nor Con time. I'm just going with the flow. Which it turns out is remarkably difficult for me to do. I feel twitchy about not being up at 5 am exercising (hard to do when you're going to bed at 2 am) and why I'm not writing more.

But I'm here to have fun, which I am decidedly doing; and to see and be seen, which I am decidedly doing.

Is this what time off feels like?

Went to the English Language Bookshop yesterday to get a new book (The Land of Painted Caves. Yes, I know Auel stopped being a good writer 15 years ago but I want to know how the fucking series ends so don't judge.)

Anyway, they were doing a language exchange thing (French people try to speak English to English speakers who attempt to respond in French.)

The bookshop has two floors and the top floor is much smaller than the bottom floor and was fairly crowded.

So, there was this French guy doing the language exchange with an American girl. She complained about how crowded it was.

He then tried to suggest that they go to the downstairs area, but had an English Language Fail.

What did he say, you ask?

"Do you want to go down on me?"

She had a horrified expression on her face until she figured out what happened and said "I think you meant 'Do you want to go down WITH me?"

Your Saturday moment of zen.



Playground equipment, 2006. © 2006, 2012, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

The current photo series is from my 'favorites' file, hence the dates jumping about



This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Book Review: Grants Pass, edited by Jennifer Brozek and Amanda Pillar — A review that includes an interesting comment on my story "Black Heart, White Mourning".

The Nebula Awards 2012: A Look Back And A Look Forward — James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel in HuffPo.

Calvin and Hobbes on unfettered creativity as a writer — Hahaha.

War of the Worlds: The True Story — A new indie flick coming out that looks pretty cool.

Star Wars Turns 35: How Time Covered the Film Phenomenon

Red Planet Becomes Blue In New Mars Image

Astronauts enter world’s first private supply ship

Impacts Spreading Life through the Cosmos?

Colonel Sanders resembles Confucius — Chicken, anyone?

?otd: Charles Darwin: Man or monkey?

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5/26/2012
Writing time yesterday: 0.5 hours (Going to Extremes proposal)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 7.0 (solid)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: Shattering the Ley by Benjamin Tate; Of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht

Picked Mom up in Concord yesterday so she could spend the holiday weekend with us.  Roger, her husband, drives her down and I meet them at the Pizzeria Uno off of 93 for lunch. We're sitting in the booth and Mom has a very mysterious pink folder.  Roger is excited about a ring he found with an inscription on it (some of you know where this is going already I'm sure). He's convinced it's Arabic and it must be old because is doesn't look like modern Arabic; it's all curly and ancient-looking. I offer the obvious suggestion, he insists that it's some ancient middle-eastern relic and I can tell he has the money spent already.  He's been spending time on omniglot and he's convinced it's some kind of Arabic script.  I agree to take the folder (where he has carefully copied the inscription down on paper by hand) and do some more research for him.

This research entails giving the paper to my daughter, the expert, and saying "Poppy found a ring and wants to know what the inscription says." She takes one look at it and exclaims "That's the Black Speech."  One minute on the computer and she has found the matching inscription, and a picture that looks exactly like the ring Roger has except his is silver, not gold.

We gave Roger the bad news this morning over the phone, but he remains steadfast in his refusal to believe this is the One Ring*. The harder part will be convincing him to give it to his granddaughter, who is the biggest LOTR fan in the family and would love to have it to wear on a chain around her neck in true Hobbit fashion.


*replica, of course

The population of Saskatchewan

1901 	 91,279 	 
1911 	492,432

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment(s); comment here or there.

An honor student in Texas was jailed for missing too much school.

"But the judge said Tran's case was bigger than the individual situation of one student.

"'If you let one run loose, what are you gonna' do with the rest of 'em?,' said Judge Lanny Moriarty. 'Let them go too?'"

Maybe the Texas schools need a work-release program.