A Slight Delay

This week's update won't happen until Monday (at best). See you then!

I think I've taken this quiz before

You scored as Heart of Gold (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), You are a light and humorous person. No one can help but to smile to your wit. Now if only the improbability drive would stop turning you into weird stuff. Moya (Farscape) 88% Heart of Gold (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) 88% Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 81% Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 75% Serenity (Firefly) 75% Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 50% SG-1 (Stargate) 44% Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) 44% Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 38% Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) 38% Enterprise D (Star Trek) 38% Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 38% FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) 25% Which sci-fi crew would you best fit in with? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com

The last time I tried this quiz, I got Moya.

One Series Done

266. Hunter X Hunter, vol. 8 by Yoshihiro Togashi. (Checked out of the library.)
     
267. Northwest Passage by Scott Chantler. Frontier adventure set in the wilds of 18th century Canada.
     
268. Zombie Powder, vol. 3: Pierce Me Standing in the Firegarden by Tite Kubo. I generally like Kubo's work, but I often find it hard to follow his action sequences.
     
269. Usagi Yojimbo, vol. 16: The Shrouded Moon by Stan Sakai. I am amazed at how good Usagi Yojimbo has been for so long. Sakai really knows what he's doing.
     
270. The Louche & Insalubrious Escapades of Art d'Ecco by Andrew & Roger Langridge. (Library.)
     
271. The Dark Tower, Book VII: The Dark Tower by Stephen King. At last, I have completed reading this series. I liked it from the beginning and think the books improved as they went (although I have a few issues with the ending). Reading these books has made me a King fan, and I will be reading more of his books in the future. (Not for a while, though. Once I finish the Harry Potter books, I'm going to need a break from huge, thick books for a while.) (Borrowed from Teena.)
     
272. 52, vol. 1 by various. I enjoyed this well enough, but I think it would have felt more exciting if I'd been reading this weekly as the issues were published. Still, it's good enough that I'll be getting the other volumes. (However, from what I've read online of DC's follow-up weekly comic, I will not be buying the collections to Countdown.)
     
273. The Complete Peanuts: 1961-1962 by Charles Schulz. I was amazed at how many of the comics in this book (and the other Complete Peanuts volume I read) are ones I remember from the many, many Peanuts books I had as a kid. It's been close to 30 years since I read those books, but they still remain in my head. I wish Schulz had felt better about what he did. He was a treasure.
     
274. Usagi Yojimbo, vol. 17: Duel at Kitanoji by Stan Sakai. This will be the last UY book I read for a while, unless Dark Horse reprints volume 18 soon.
     
275. Bleach, vol. 20: End of Hypnosis by Tite Kubo.

Quiz Time!



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

I didn't include several states that I have only passed through on the way to other states.

Also, the quiz told me that I have visited 10 states and that's 19% of the total. I'm a little worried about the math the quiz is using.




create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Well, There Goes that Resolution

Before, when I missed updating within a week, I was only off by a day. This time it's been over a week. Hell, if it weren't for the blog rating quiz, it would have been two weeks. Anyway, I'm back.

253. John Constantine, Hellblazer: The Devil You Know by Jamie Delano, et al. It's about time they started reprinting more of Delano's run on Hellblazer. He defined the character & made Constantine viable as the focus of an ongoing series (instead of just a mysterious guest-star).
     
254. The Drifting Classroom, vol. 5 by Kazuo Umezu. More hystrionics. (Checked out of the library.)
     
255. Grendel Archives by Matt Wagner. I'm happy to see Wagner's first professional work reprinted, but I'd rather see collections of later storylines, particularly the last two stories from Grendel's original run at Comico.
     
256. Conan and the Songs of the Dead by Joe R. Lansdale & Timothy Truman.
     
257. Dragon Head, vol. 6 by Minetaro Mochizuki. (Library.)
     
258. Gotham Central, vol. 5: Dead Robin by Greg Rucka, Kano, et al. I really enjoyed this series about the police that work in Gotham City, but it annoys me that this is almost certainly the final volume when there are seven issues that remain uncollected.
     
259. Bleach, vol. 19: Black Moon Rising by Tite Kubo.
     
260. InuYasha, vol. 28 by Rumiko Takahashi. (Library.)
     
261. Usagi Yojimbo, vol. 15: Grasscutter II: Journey to Atsuta Shrine by Stan Sakai.
     
262. Death Note, vol. 12: Finis by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata. I had grown dissatisfied with this series, but I think it wrapped up nicely. I found the ending very satisfying.
     
263. The Order of the Stick, vol. 1: Dungeon Crawlin' Fools by Rich Burlew. Finally managed to find a copy of the first volume to buy. One of my favorite web comics. Check it out via the link in my sidebar.
     
264. New Avengers, vol. 5: Civil War by Brian Michael Bendis, et al. (Library.)
     
265. Silver Star: Graphite Edition by Jack Kirby. One of the King's final complete works. (Library.)

Some Material May Not Be Suitable for Children

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

That rating is based on the presence of the words "Death" (3x), "Corpse" (2x)and "Sexy" (1x). I wonder if listing them again will push me into PG-13 territory.

Edited to add: It did!

Books, Books, Books

239. The Complete Peanuts: 1955 to 1956 by Charles M. Schulz. I'm glad somebody is publishing a definitive Peanuts collection; I just wish the books were a bit less expensive. If I had a bit more disposable income, I would be getting this series. As it is, I picked this one up because it was on sale. Schulz was a master.
     
240. Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace, vol. 1: 1951-1952. Unlike the Peanuts volumes, this series is one I would only buy if it were marked down quite a bit.
     
241. Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace, vol. 2: 1953-1954. I will say that Ketcham was a better artist than Schulz. There's some spectacular drawing on display in these books.
     
242. Usagi Yojimbo, vol. 13: Grey Shadows by Stan Sakai.
     
243. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling. Man, I thought Harry was angsty & whiny in the last book. At least the pissy mood only really lasts until he gets to Hogwarts. I really like this volume. It's the longest book in the series (at least so far), but it doesn't feel as bloated as Goblet of Fire did. Prof. Umbridge is a great villain. And I love the developments with Fred & George.
     
244. Spider-Man Visionaries: Roger Stern, vol. 1 by Roger Stern, et al. These stories are from pretty early in Stern's writing career, and aren't the best, but they are entertaining.
     
245. Monster, vol. 7: Richard by Naoki Urasawa. (Checked out of the library.)
     
246. Bucky O'Hare & the Toad Menace by Larry Hama & Michael Golden. Some nice art from Golden, but otherwise, eh. (Library.)
     
247. Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace, vol. 3: 1955-1956. I really lucked out in spotting the sale Amazon was having when I bought these books. (Of course, if they hadn't been having a sale, I wouldn't have bought them.
     
248. Fables, vol. 9: Sons of Empire by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Mike Allred, et al. One of the things that I like about this series is that it feels like Willingham has a plan for these characters & knows where the story is going. So often in serialized stories it's clear that the creators are making it up as they go along, and it's always refreshing to find a creator who plans ahead.
     
249. Otherworld, Book One by Phil Jimenez. At first, this seemed like an extremely cliched story about good magic vs. evil technology, but it proved less simplistic than I first thought. (Library.)
     
250. Hikaru no Go, vol. 6: The Insei Exam by Yumi Hotta & Takeshi Obata. As this series progresses, the supernatural aspect (the ghost stuck in the main character's head) becomes less & less prominent, and the series becomes more & more about the main character's progress in playing Go.
     
251. 28 Days Later: The Aftermath by Steve Niles, et al. This provides a bridge between the first movie & the sequel. (Library.)
     
252. Usagi Yojimbo, vol. 14: Demon Mask by Stan Sakai.