zeroes

i got home from dball last night and my bro s-dawg was over. he wanted to watch the season premiere of "heroes" and he wouldn't make it home in time after his game of dball so he came over to commandeer our tv. i wasn't planning on watching it but i got sucked in because really, what was i going to do? hang out in my room while my bro was over? no. that would make me a poor host/sister. so i sat. and watched. and was bored. to. tears.

i'm beginning to think that season 1 of "heroes" was an anomaly. it's gone right off the rails. too much exposition, over-explaining, over-portentousness. it's like all the mystery and wonder are gone...they've sucked all the life and possibility out of a world populated by people with extraordinary superhero talents, which is kind of hard to do, if you think about it. you have to be a pretty spectacular dud to turn superheroes into something boring. i mean, even the crash test dummies managed to make a song about a superhero delivered in the lead singer dude's baritone that was catchy and memorable. "heroes" just feels tired and played out and boring boring boring! i'm through.

maybe it's because i've been reading some a**-kickingly good comics lately. i recently finished the trade paperbacks (i only read trades) of brian wood's "DMZ." DMZ stands for demilitarized zone and the comics cover a young photographer who gets dropped into manhattan, the DMZ standing between what we know as the united states and the land taken over by libertarian southern militias, both groups locked in a civil war. the art is great - gritty and fine with lots of detail. the story is hyper-engaging, invoking the kind of page-turning urgency that leaves you with bags under your eyes the next day at work. it's really political but doesn't come off as preachy because it's still presented with realistic characters and interesting events, so that it doesn't seem like you're getting a lecture. i really enjoyed this. each trade is introduced by a different figure...high-ranking u.s. army officials who have done tours in iraq, cory doctorow, etc.

i'm also about halfway through the trades for "y: the last man" which is about a plague that kills every mammal with a y chromosome except for this one dude yorick and his pet monkey, ampersand. the art for this one is pretty rudimentary (the cover art notwithstanding) but the story is interesting, equal parts adventure/romance/dystopia/gender studies with a good shot of humour thrown in. i think the hard-lined politicism of "DMZ" is more my style, but "y" certainly makes for an entertaining diversion before bed.

s-dawg was thrilled/shocked when my facebook bookshelf revealed i was reading "DMZ" i guess i should have figured that my "graphic novel" love and his comic fanboy-ness would eventually converge. he's got a whole slate of recommendations for me and more importantly, he buys the trades so i have a cherry-picked reading list to look forward to.

tonight for dinner i made a clam linguine...diced up some guanciale, sauteed up onions and garlic in the fat, added a splash of beer, some small manila clams, and steamed those open with the pan covered. when they popped, i added two cans of clams to bulk it up and some parsley and al dente spaghetti and tossed the pasta in the juice. some salt and black pepper and we had a very tasty (and quick!) dinner.

alongside i made a quick salad of roma tomatoes, peeled seeded cucumber, and sliced radish tossed with a good pinch of salt, cracked black pepper, and some balsamic.

and now i'm treating myself to a rare epsom salt bath. i honestly haven't been this tight in a looooong time. reading entertainment weekly in the tub while the scorching hot water leisurely cools is a luxury i seldom afford myself...but desperate lactic-acid infused musculature times call for desperate measures.

fin.