Girl Genius vs Games i don't suck at

It's been a snowy week. Usually, that would mean i'm cooking and reading like mad, but the evilness known as Guitar Hero has entered my home, and is sucking my time like you wouldn't believe. i finally found a video game i don't suck at. On New years I played Settlers of Catan for the first time, and won by a long shot. maybe i should rename this blog "games i don't suck at". what i really hate about guitar hero is that it's so fun, i don't want to practice my real guitar.

been making some oddly mediocre stuff lately. either rehashing old recipes, or trying new ones that aren't the best. Note to self: raw onions and carrots don't work well in a hot pasta dish, and pork is not the best chili meat.

I did have one success, and this one is so simple as to be rediculous.

Kidney Beans w/Tomatoes

olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp dried cilantro
good pinch or two of hot pepper flakes
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
salt & pepper

saute onion in oil over medium heat. cook until onions are soft, but not browned. stir in tomatoes, cilantro and hot pepper flakes. simmer for about 5 minutes so it can thicken a little. stir in kidney beans and season with salt & pepper. simmer another few minutes to heat beans through. Enjoy.

The comic shop will be my doom. We lent out our Girl Genius volumes 1-3 and got it back over new years. After re-reading the entire thing (and realizing the quality of the binding was utter crap), we realized we had volumes 1,2,3,4 and six. no five? off to the comic shop to rectify the situation. all six volumes in hand, i got to reading the entire series. and realizing the binding was still utter crap. Someone should really tell the Foglio's that steampunk/gaslight wasn't designed for comedy. Agatha is the bomb and gets all the boys, the Jagermonsters are rocking my world even more, and damnit, i want to know who Agatha's father is! and it would help to know who Gilgamesh's mother is as well. Regardless of my terrible superquick summary, if you like steampunk, or you like romance, or you like comedy, check this series out. the binding might be shit, but the story is worth it. So get to writing more Phil & Kaja!! or us fans are going to start rioting in your front yard to find out what happens!!



I also looted the library right before New Years, but haven't been plowing through the books at my usual speed. damn video games eating my time.

Brian Vaughan's The Escapists is a psuedo sequel to Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and it's a blast. Written mostly in comic book form, it takes places right now, where a young man spends his inheritance to purchase the rights to the original Escapist character. trouble, adventure, and romance ensues. The artwork is beautiful, the story line is nice, and I couldn't ask for a better homage to Michael Chabon's Amazing Adventures novel.



Walking the Dog, by Charles Davis. This is one odd book. but it's full of dry satire, one of my favorite flavors. If Kurt Vonnegut was friendlier, and had a more varied sense of humor, he and Charles Davis would be bosom brothers. because of the odd style, i think readers will either love this book or hate it.