12 Weeks Later

Time flies. I can’t believe it’s already the end of the 1st semester of my 2nd year at uni.

To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect from Net Communications at the beginning. I only guessed that we’d be working a lot with computers and that kinda freaked me out a bit because I’m pretty bad with technology.

I found the first four weeks the toughest. I think it was because everything was so new to me then. I’d never before heard of ‘software studies’, and terms like ‘automation’, ‘user agency’, ‘produsage’, ‘protocol’ were all so foreign to me. And I found that the more I read, the more it occurred to me that there was so much I didn’t know about the Internet, even though it’s something I use everyday. I even had a minor panic attack when I came to Alexander Galloway’s Physical Media article because as interesting as it was, I found that I could hardly remember anything I’d read. But I remained curious, and from there I think things got better for me.

I think it helped that we explored the many different aspects of new media because it’s made me more aware of how new media affects us culturally, socially and economically and these definitely weren’t questions that I gave much thought to before, even though I experienced them personally. It seems so simple, because most of the case studies we went through during the course were familiar to me (Facebook and privacy, downloading etc.) but there would always be complexities surrounding them and it was good that we covered these areas. I’m definitely more wary of how I use the Internet now (I’ve actually stopped uploading photos on Facebook…).

And at least now I know the difference between the Internet and the Web, after years of thinking they were the same.

I’d be lying if I said that I was excited when I found out we had to blog for the assessment. Because I’m more of an introvert so it can be challenging sometimes for me to put myself out there and share my thoughts and ideas with other people. I did struggle a little with the 6 core posts, but the readings were useful in guiding me with the answers, and often helped me determine my own position when looking at certain issues (Creative Commons, commenting etc.). One problem that I faced though, was trying to say enough using the least words possible, because I understand that lengthy posts can sometimes turn readers off. But I really hope I haven’t… As a new blogger, I think I just got paranoid and wanted to make sure all my posts were adequate.

Anyway I’m happy to say that I rather enjoyed blogging in the end. It definitely helped that I chose to blog about something that I’m really interested in so it didn’t feel like a chore and that encouraged me to blog more regularly. That’s a good thing about having a niche, isn’t it?

I’d never blogged before so I wouldn’t know which blogging platform works the best (but to each his own right?) although I must say, WordPress does a pretty good job in making blogging a simple task. I suppose you’d only complain if you wanted more freedom in customizing your page but as I said in an earlier post, I like simple designs so no complaints from me. Oh and before I forget, it does a great job sorting out spam.

Umm… I’m not sure yet if continuing with this blog is something I’d want to do in the future. Right now, the fate of my blog seems bleak. I mean, it’s definitely  growing on me, but I have doubts that I’m committed enough to blog frequently.

Maybe if I’m feeling optimistic, I’ll create a new blog after this, one that’s private, and practice writing there whenever I can until I find a stronger, personal voice. Maybe only then will I give it another shot.

Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter

I really liked Watchmen the graphic novel, and I enjoyed the movie enough to view it 3 times. What I also really enjoyed, was Tales of the Black Freighter, the comic book within the comic book, that was made into an animation and released last year.

It tells of a ship captain’s efforts to return home to his family after his ship is destroyed by the Black Freighter and he is the sole survivor, to warn everyone that the bloodthirsty pirates are en route to their town. It’s really quite a journey the mariner (voiced by Gerard Butler) has to make and after a while, he slowly loses it. (This is rated R by the way, “for violent and grisly images” so be warned).

I just found out that TotBF has been incorporated into the Watchmen Ultimate Edition DVD but I recommend watching this separately because the story really does stand on its own.

Anyway, have a look at the trailer:

Now go ‘witness the animated epic.’

Comment Cultures

I read an interesting post today written by Todd Alcott at The Beat: The News Blog of Comics Culture in which he does an analysis on Batman: The Movie (1966).

First, let me say that I am a huge fan of Batman and really enjoyed that post. What really captured my attention though, was the discussion it generated, with many of the comments from people voicing their disagreements.

From that comments thread, I’ll have to say that I partly disagree with Geert Lovink when he says in Blogging, The Nihilist Impulse that, “If you disagree with a fellow blogger, it is even unwise to write a comment” (Reader p. 218). I believe that since blogs, as he says, “create communities of like-minded people” (Reader p. 218), it is always good to hear what others might have to say about a particular topic in a niche. Because if readers are passionate and interested enough, chances are they will have enough knowledge to share their input with other people and maybe even disclose information that the writer might have missed out.

Of course there is a difference between, giving an opinion in a civil and mature manner when disagreeing with somebody and just being a plain troll. Comments like ‘You’re an idiot’, ‘That was stupid’ and other inflammatory remarks certainly do not help in stimulating public debates and would only end up causing non-insightful arguments or lead to a flame war. This is where I agree with Lovink, because if comments that intentionally aim to offend  are all someone has to offer, then s/he is better off not saying anything at all.

So to encourage practical and meaningful discussions in a blog, we have to remember to abide by netiquette rules.

Lovink says that most bloggers do not aim to foster public debates, and I think to a certain extent he is right. But I personally feel that the aim is not what’s important, because a blogger is not gonna know (in most cases anyway) the impact that a post is gonna have on readers until after it is published. What is important, is whether or not the blogger will allow the discussion to continue (by approving even disagreeable comments, not deleting them) or participate if something interesting is said. This determines the success of a blog as a public sphere.

Lovink also argues that people don’t comment but blog instead about a post that they don’t agree with on their own blogs, which he says is a limitation to blogging (Reader, p. 218). Perhaps that’s true, although the thread that I’ve linked here shows otherwise. I believe that if a blogger chooses to do that, that is just his/her way of debating and I would still look at that post as a comment albeit a long one in a different format. I know I’m looking at this optimistically, but I believe that even if a blogger is unaware that someone else has blogged him/her, the fact that it’s happened shows that the blogger has succeeded in starting a discussion and has compelled others to consider their own views (whether intentionally or not), despite it happening elsewhere. It’s still sorta like a public sphere then, only one that’s not restricted within one blog.

I have allowed anyone to comment on all my posts if they wish, because I believe that having a blog where visitors can’t leave comments, like what Claire E. Write suggests (Reader p. 222) is just being close-minded and erodes the democracy that a blog promises. I have also decided to approve all comments (except spam, of course), even the ones where people might disagree with me.

The reason I welcome comments, good and bad, is because they’re my way of learning something new. I’d also like to be corrected if I get my facts wrong. The people that I hang out with aren’t interested in comic books, so in a way I’m depending on the people who come here to have discussions with me and if I’m lucky, maybe even get excited about a new comic book with me.

I will participate, but only when necessary. I probably won’t reply if my comment would be similar to what I’ve already said in my post. Mostly I’d just be interested in other people’s opinions, because I suppose if I’ve already published a post, it means I’ve already said all I wanted to say anyway.

I don’t have many comments (yet), nor have any of my posts ignited debates. Maybe it’s because I’m an amateur blogger and haven’t been blogging for long enough yet. Which got me thinking… Maybe this is one of blogging’s limitation revealed. I mean, with so many blogs out there, I’m competing for readers and more importantly for readers’ time to leave comments and start discussions with me. It seems that blogs with a large readership are likelier to attract comments.

And perhaps that’s a limit to the long tail. A niche blog might only attract a handful of readers, depending on how narrow that interest is. And not all of them who read the blog are gonna participate by commenting. I mean, it is common knowledge that even though the Internet has fostered a participatory culture amongst its users, there are some who still choose to remain silent. And because of that, some niche blogs remain the most silent in the blogosphere.

I’m still hopeful…

Batman: The Killing Joke

I read Batman: The Killing Joke about 2 years ago when the graphic novel’s deluxe edition was released. It was originally published in 1988, if I’m not mistaken, and was written by acclaimed comic book writer, Alan Moore.

If you’re a huge fan of the Joker, than this is a must-read for you. In this story, the Joker is out to prove that all it takes is “one bad day” to drive a person crazy and cause that person to change for the worst. He picks Commissioner Gordon and Barbara Gordon (former Batgirl) as his victims. A key point to note is that the effects of the cruelty inflicted on Barbara here has been adapted into the DC Universe continuity ever since. I should actually add that this book might be more suited for a mature audience, because there’s some content in there that even I found mildly disturbing.

The story alternates from present-day to the past. I think I rather enjoyed the flashbacks more, because I personally love origin stories, and in The Killing Joke, we are told of how the Joker came to be. He narrates his story to us, but just as we think we’ve got the Joker all figured out (and maybe even feel a little sympathy for him), he tells us, “Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another…”, proving to us that he’s just… Well… Insane…

The story also explores and questions the psychological condition of Batman, with the Joker pointing out that Batman is just as crazy as he is.

Does any of this sound familiar to you guys? Well if it does, one reason might be because The Killing Joke had a huge influence on Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. So if you loved the movie, or rather, loved the Joker in that movie, you would be crazy not to grab a copy of this.

Haha! Oh Neil…

Okay, it should be obvious by now that I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman. So during my hour long break from assignments today, what did I do? Look him up on Youtube (for the zillionth time), of course. And I stumbled across a video of him I’d never seen before.

It entertained me…

Creative Commons & Intellectual Property

“Creative Commons licenses enable people to easily change their copyright terms from the default of ‘all rights reserved’ to ‘some rights reserved.’” – Creative Commons

After much thought and deliberation, I’ve decided to have my blog attributed under the Creative Commons Licenses.

I suppose I wouldn’t mind sharing my content, as long as I still have the power to set out the conditions in which my content will be used. And that’s just what Creative Commons is all about. It allows the current copyright holder to retain his/her copyright while allowing certain uses of that copyrighted work (Creative Commons).

Perhaps we should hear a little from Lawrence Lessig, a key founding member of Creative Commons.

Missed something there? Take a look at the Creative Commons Comic!

Of course, copyright laws have been around for a long time now, since it was originally established by Thomas Jefferson. Today’s copyright laws however, are somewhat different.

I believe that copyright laws today have become too rigid, as a result of Web 2.0, which has no doubt dramatically changed the way content is distributed. And as Marc Garcelon points out, “Copyright law bears directly on the interests of large media companies…” (Reader p. 290). Use an image without permission, and you could be slapped with a lawsuit, sometimes amounting to millions of dollars because you have just stolen intellectual property. In some cases, those accused of doing so aren’t even aware that they’ve broken the law.

I’m not advocating piracy here. I think that piracy is wrong. But I agree with Lawrence Lessig that these tight regulations are certainly shifting us from a ‘free culture’ to a ‘permission culture’. I admit, I get paranoid sometimes about taking images from the Web, even if I don’t use them for commercial reasons, because I’ve read so many stories about people getting sued (though this usually involves downloading music and movies illegally) and I really don’t wanna be another scapegoat. But let’s use my header as an example. I certainly don’t own those images and I think this fact is obvious to my visitors, but I’m still using them anyway on my blog page. It’s not for commercial gains and I obviously don’t get anything out of it, except the joy of sharing these great cover arts by great artists with other people. I even think it’s kinda like I’m promoting them in a way. But does this use fall under copyright infringement? (Hmmm I’m getting a little worried…)

See. This is what media conglomerates and their iron copyright laws do to us. They intimidate and turn everyone of us into potential criminals.

This is what Creative Commons is against. Again, it has nothing to do with piracy.

“The goal of Creative Commons was to recover the Jeffersonian conceptions of copyright as a limited monopoly in order to ‘rebalance’ copyright law in terms of maximum openness to creative and scientific work, not to prevent commercial restrictions on such work entirely by opposing the very idea of copyright.” – Marc Garcelon in An Information Commons? Creative Commons and Public Access to Cultural Creations (Reader p. 293)

As I mentioned earlier, I will be using a Creative Commons license because I believe that the current copyright laws stifle creativity and take away a lot little bit of our freedom. But at the same time, I understand that they are necessary. For now, Creative Commons seems to be the answer to the copyright/left conflict. But is this only because there are no other solutions? Because while I think Creative Commons is great because it gives people the option of choosing what they wish to do with their copyrights, there are obviously still limitations to it.

I think in a way, it was easier for me to make a decision as to whether or not I would license my blog under Creative Commons because I’m not writing as a profession. I blog under no obligations. This is something I’m doing because I want to. There are no risks involved and my blog is not my source of livelihood. I mean, if I were say, a professional blogger, my decision might’ve been different because I know that it would probably have a bigger impact on me financially. It’s not that money is all I care about. No. But as Armin Medosch argues, “CC does not pay attention at all to the issue of an economic model for supporting cultural production” (Reader p. 315). People who create culture professionally, be it art, music, movies, writings, all have to live off something. Okay there might be some who are so in love with what they do that they’d share whatever they produced for free. But realistically, money is an incentive and helps the culture industry survive.

Anyway, I don’t mind sharing my reviews and photos which I’ve put up here with other people, because as the saying goes, “sharing is caring.” But I’m not gonna get carried away and romanticize Creative Commons because I can’t be too sure if it will succeed in doing what it’s supposed to or not, even though deep down I really want it to because I really do think it’s a step in the right direction. But I’m keeping in mind that there may be complicated legal matters surrounding Creative Commons that I might still be unaware of, so that’s why I’ve chosen the license which is the ‘most restrictive’, because I wanna remain cautious at the same time. I won’t know for sure if people are gonna follow the conditions I’ve set out anyway.

I suppose with Creative Commons as with copyright, there’s a need to rely a little on the integrity of the people out there.

Wonder Woman – The Animation

Last night, I watched Wonder Woman, the animated movie again for like the 5th time, I think. And (no surprise), I found I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

This direct-to-video film, one of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies, was first released last year and follows Diana, the Amazon princess of Themyscira on her journey to become one of the greatest superheroes of all time – Wonder Woman. After proving herself worthy in a tournament, Diana is chosen to venture into ‘man’s world’ to recapture and stop Ares, The God of War, from propagating terror and destruction in the world.

I think one of the reasons I like this movie a lot, is because it isn’t really a ‘for kids’ kinda film. The dialogue is not cliche, it’s got humour and there is definitely the theme of feminism in there. The battle scenes are also pretty intense i.e. there are several decapitations. So the content is pretty much for a mature audience.

There are a number of big name stars in this production – like Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson – and I think they all do a pretty good job in lending their voices to the characters. Alfred Molina as Ares especially, in my opinion. Kerri Russell impressed me too voicing Wonder Woman. She gave the character a balanced voice, one that was strong, yet feminine/sexy (if that makes sense). I mean, I honestly didn’t know it was her until I saw her name in the credits.

Anyway, do check it out. It’s great. Here’s the official trailer (I get goosebumps watching this)…

A Day With Death

So while The Sandman is still fresh in our minds, as well as after being introduced to the other members of the Endless in my previous post, I figured it would be appropriate to review a spin-off from the series next.

In Neil Gaiman’s Death: The High Cost of Living, we follow Death through New York as she becomes human for a day in the form of a girl named Didi. As she explains to Sexton Furnival, the 16 year old suicidal boy she befriends…

“One day in every century Death takes on human flesh, better to comprehend what the lives she takes must feel like, to taste the bitter tang of mortality.”

“This is the price she must pay for being the divider of the living from all that has gone before, all that must come after.”

In The Sandman, Death’s perkiness and sense of humour quickly made her a fan favourite, and some even go as far as to say she’s become more popular than her younger brother, Dream. But readers never actually got to know Death personally until 1993, when Death: The High Cost of Living was first published.

The story is a real treat for fans of this Endless who dresses like a rock star/goth, and who looks nothing like the grim reaper we see on television (nope she doesn’t even carry a scythe). As a human this time round, Death and Sexton spend the day together after she saves him in a garbage dump and pretty soon, they find themselves on a quest to find an old witch’s lost heart.

This story is a treat because we get a better sense of who and how Death really is. Readers who love her already will love her even more. And readers who hadn’t met her before this, will find themselves won over by her charm. I mean, we already get the idea from The Sandman, but somehow I think her personality shines through a lot more in this. Her fascination at something so  mundane – like how you get juice in your mouth after crunching an apple and the lingering taste of a hot dog – and her willingness to save a thug who had the intention of harming her don’t just reveal her soft side. What they do is show more of just how much she appreciates life. Some of the stuff she says might even make you think about what it means to be alive (Well, I did anyway).

Gaiman includes some familiar characters in this like Hazel and Foxglove who first appeared in The Sandman: A Game of You. The familiar characters establishes a sort of link to the original series, but you don’t have to have read The Sandman first before reading this. You could start with this and still be able to follow. Ain’t that great? Gaiman’s writing is as usual superb, and so is the story’s artwork by Chris Buchalo, Mark Buckingham and of course, Gaiman’s long time friend and collaborator, Dave Mckean.

By the way, did anybody notice the print on Sexton’s shirt?

Anyway, read it. It’s pretty light and definitely enjoyable.

I should also say that after Dream, Death would be my next favourite character from the series. Because besides being arguably the most powerful of all the seven Endless, as well as being the most fun and approachable, she’s also a woman. And yeah, she definitely gets points for that…

The Summer I Realized My Life Is Mediocre

Last summer, I hardly set foot outside my house. I hardly saw the sun, didn’t hang out as much with my friends, didn’t see much of my parents (even though we live under the same roof) and sorta forgot how it was to have conversations with real people.

Okay fine I’m exaggerating a little… Okay fine a lot…

But I really was in a world of my own. Or more like in the world of The Sandman.

Yes. I spent my long break with some friends who don’t really exist (Ugh it upsets me to say that). I read several graphic novels, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series among them, and I can now say that it is definitely my favourite comic book series of all time.

The series originally ran from 1989 to 1996 and is to this day one of Gaiman’s best works (in my opinion). The story chronicles the adventures of the series’ protagonist, Dream, or Morpheus as he is otherwise known (he never actually gets called ‘The Sandman’ in the stories by the way, and no he does not sprinkle sand in people’s eyes to make them sleep). Dream is one of the seven Endless, the other Endless being Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium. They aren’t Gods, but are rather the personification of the things themselves. That’s called anthropomorphism, isn’t it? Well, all seven are siblings and though they each have their own role to play in the series, their roles most often centre around the The Dream King’s quests.

The Sandman is a great fantasy series for anyone who wants to transport themselves into another universe, where there is no limit to the imagination and where dreams are powerful enough to affect reality. I think that’s the core essence of Sandman. It just takes you anywhere you wanna go. And if you find it hard living in the real world, like I do most of the time sometimes, Sandman allows you an escape.

To me, Sandman is not just a comic book. It’s literature as well. Gaiman, with all his brilliant knowledge in the art of storytelling, brings diversity to the stories by adding characters that might be familiar to us, and having them interact with the Endless. Picture Shakespeare in a tavern, as he strikes a bargain with Dream. Even Lucifer is featured in several story arcs. The stories are rich because Gaiman incorporates myths into Sandman, but doesn’t fail to somehow make them his own. Norse Gods like Loki and Odin, the Egyptian Goddess, Bast, and Orpheus, who within Sandman is Dream’s son, are among the many characters who appear in the series. A certain caped crusader (one that I like very much) even makes an appearance albeit briefly.

There are a total of ten books in the Sandman library (excluding the spin-offs) and as a side note, I’m really happy that my collection is finally complete. Wanna see? Sure you do.

From the first book, Preludes and Nocturnes, we sort of already get a glimpse of Dream’s role as a tragic hero even though that role is not fully established until later on. He is stubborn, and sometimes cruel – he sends a woman to hell for eternity for rejecting him in Season of Mist – but we also see his softer side, like when he rescues a former lover from years of captivity in the short story Calliope in Dream Country. We also occasionally get a glimpse of his dry sense of humour. Dream may be the prince of stories, and you would think that someone with that title would be fun and carefree but that’s far from how Dream really is. He takes his responsibility as an Endless very seriously and would sacrifice anything for the dreaming (his domain). I think by allowing Dream to make mistakes, Gaiman has made him a character that’s not perfect and therefore more human. But it is also the ramifications of his mistakes and his inability to change that ultimately seal his fate.

One of the many things I love about Neil Gaiman, is the way he pays attention to detail. He adds layers and sub-plots within Sandman that tie back to the central theme, and there are many references throughout the series to things that seem to have been set up from the very beginning. He does this so well, it makes me wonder if he knew all along exactly how he wanted the series to end. If he did, wow… what a writer… The layers within the story arcs add to the complexity of the plot and definitely give the series more depth.

I was pretty sad after I’d finished The Wake. Because after reading Sandman and after going on a long journey with Dream (who I actually have a crush on but shhh don’t tell anybody it’s a secret), I suddenly realized just how mediocre my life is. Yeah, Sandman is that good. Reality suddenly seemed boring and colourless. Ah well. I’ll get over it one day. At least I have dreams, and dreams make me happy.

Another thing that makes me happy! The possibility of Sandman coming to the small screen! Neil Gaiman himself thinks it’s a good idea. Watch the short interview with him here.

This Is What I’m About

I think my domain name is very misleading. People might come here actually expecting to read about coffee. And for that I’m sorry. I love coffee. I love it so much I think I’m addicted. In fact, I think I might’ve experienced caffeine withdrawal a couple of days back, which was something… new. But anyway back to what I was saying.

So, graphic novels and anything related to them are my niche. It’s the stuff that I’ll be discussing in my blog. I think it’s important to focus on a particular topic when blogging, especially now that we’re in the era of “the long tail”. In Chris Anderson’s words, “The theory of the Long Tail is that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of “hits” at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail.” (The Long Tail) So even if only a few people are interested in a product, chances are, their needs will be met due to the growing number of unlimited suppliers made possible by the Internet.

Anybody can blog and everybody can have the freedom to talk about whatever they want. So I think the key here is to have a focus. Without it, I imagine it would be hard to satisfy a visitor who wants to read about that particular thing s/he is interested in, that brought him/her there in the first place. Yeah? Imagine if I started talking about cupcakes even though this is clearly not a food blog.

What I’m trying to say is, we see more niche blogs arising as a result of the many niches in the market today, so more people and their once narrow interests can now be satisfied. These blogs which cater to specific niches allow us to connect with other people who share the same interests as us. And we can only connect successfully if a blog’s content is relevant to what we’re interested in, because only then can we really get involved (by commenting, linking etc.). This is crucial in maintaining an audience.

Anyway back to my blog. As mentioned, my niche is graphic novels, or comic books if you like. Basically I’ll just be reviewing some of the stuff that I’ve read and maybe divulge some of my personal feelings from having read them.

Comicsgirl is a blog that is similar to my niche. Besides reviewing current comic books, she also talks about older comics and movies that have struck a chord with her. This is one of the reasons I like her blog. As I mentioned, I only started reading comic books a few years ago. So I would really love to get recommendations on some of the older stuff that’s out there, because let’s face it. Sometimes, the older the better. I want my blog to be similar in that sense. Because I want my blog to be able to inform other girls (or guys), who are just beginning to read comic books, about comics that are good, even if they’re not current.

Has Boobs, Reads Comics has also been a real inspiration for me. Her blog deals with more current stuff related to comics. She provides readers with news about what’s going on in the comics world, which I find really informational and it’s a quality that I will try incorporating into my blog too. And I like that even when writing news, she still applies very conversational tones to her posts, which I feel engages the reader and makes it easier to follow. It gives her blog a more personal quality. Writing with a casual voice like she does is something I aim to do with my blog.

I really enjoy reading these two blogs. Why? Because they’re both written by girls who love comic books! Like me. There are a couple of other blogs, but even so let’s face it, comics are still thought of as “boys only” territory in mainstream society. Well I mean, I have gotten so much shit crap from my friends for it anyway.

As I was saying…

I like how their target audience is, in my opinion, girls who are fans of comic books. I find that strangely empowering. They sorta fulfill that niche for us girls who read comics. But the one thing great is that they don’t try to exclude boys. So this makes them accessible to fans regardless of their gender.

I noticed that the two blogs designs’ are pretty minimal too. Which is the style that I’m going with. I mentioned this in my previous post. It’s clean and allows for easier viewing by visitors. Another thing I’d like to perhaps emulate is including pictures in my posts, like what they do. I mean, who doesn’t love pictures? They grab attention better than words. They’d perhaps breathe more life into my blog and make it more entertaining. More importantly, they would add colour.

And they post regularly which is good for maintaining an audience. I think I might struggle a little bit in this area, but I promise to update as frequently as I can!

I think I’ll end this post by saying, I’m gonna try to be part of that niche by sharing with girls like me – Girls who enjoy reading comics, girls who embrace their um… inner-nerd maybe, with stuff that I might know about comics.

Girl power. Yeah…

Hmm I did say I’ll try to include pictures… And after that long post, I think we need one. Or two.

So…… Here’s a photo of some of the graphic novels that I’ve collected so far.

And this one’s a shout-out to the beverage that keeps me going.

Next: Sandman