Don’t you want to be like him?

Today started so fresh and clean in the weather department. And it’s turning greyer by the minute. I’m relieved to have some time around the house. Almost every sheet I own has been been washed. Still a bunch of other clothes to work my way through and I should also do some weeding of my various outfits. Last night I had an online exchange with a friend that unexpectedly turned revealing and tender. What a gift. He talked about me becoming more myself. Is that the trajectory I’ve been on for the past few years? It’s all muddled from where I sit.

I’m trying to work up the enthusiasm for Watchmen, but it’s not forthcoming. I only found out about the books about ten years ago when people were insisting on their importance. My memory of them is that they were intriguing but not epoch-making. So I’m not a first generation fan, and I’m not sure I want to sit through three hours of something big and shiny that doesn’t really matter to me. As a result of the past year’s hoopla about the movie I’ve been trying to locate my copy of the trade paperback for the past ten weeks or so. (That should tell you something about the state of my apartment if a book could hide out in it for more than three months) I’ve been thinking about comics a lot lately though, partly through listening to the “Comic Book Queers” podcast and checking out the comic reviews on the Onion. I’m making my way through Scott McCloud’s Zot at the moment, thanks to the latter, but it isn’t doing much for me, neither on the drawing level nor that of the writing.

If there there was a 1980’s comic adaptation that I would geek out over, with all the attendant anxiety about casting and whether they could “get it right”, it would be Jaime Hernandez’ Hoppers stories from Love and Rockets. I’ve just read two recent collections of the newer books and my admiration continues unabated, as well as my massive crush on Margarita Luisa Chascarrillo. Reading those stories back to back with being in Los Angeles again puts me in a nostalgic mood.