Misting/Comic Book

Ugh. It's misting outside. Misting in great, billowy clouds. I hate that. If it's going to rain, I would rather it just rain and be done with it. Instead, I'm trying to walk home while the heavens spray me like one would spray a cat one is trying to train not to get up on the table. Perhaps the weather gods are trying to train me not to do something, but for the life of me I can't think what it is.

And before you accuse me of being unprepared (something a New Yorker never is) I did bring my umbrella. That's the trouble with misting, however. You feel like an idiot opening your umbrella for such small insignificant droplets, but after a few minutes, you find yourself sort of damp all over, which makes opening your umbrella still more pointless, so you just get more and more damp, and...well, you get the picture.

OK, I wrote that on Saturday night, after walking home from work. I figured I would finish it later and post it, but, as you can see, it is now Monday morning.

Silly me.

I got DISTRACTED! That's the trouble with trying to write at home. There are so many other things to do. Like read. Or watch something. Or clean my room. This last may seem like a good, productive thing to do, which is why it is one of the more cunning procrastination techniques I employ. Don't be fooled.

I got a little stuck. In fact, really stuck. I was going along working on this comic book idea, and I finished plotting out the first issue (some of it is written, some is still just in note form) and now I have no idea where to go from here. I know where I want to end up, but getting there will take some crafty storytelling, and I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge.

There are just so many possibilities! Which is good, in a way, but also bad. I don't want to write myself into a corner, so I have to be careful. Also, there are a few characters I don't quite have a handle on yet. Sophie, for example. She's Greek, can create illusions using light refraction (and will one day learn how to make hard-light constructs) and comes from a big family. That's all I know so far, and that's really not much. Certainly not enough to make a well-rounded character.

Anzu, on the other hand, I know a lot about. She's a ten-year old Japanese girl, and the most powerful one of the bunch. She is the first to suggest they pick superhero names for themselves, and declares that hers will be "Princess Rose". She is in touch with all of nature, so she can help things grow, talk to animals, and control the weather. Fortunately, she has a very sweet disposition, and doesn't abuse her powers. The only thing that makes her mad is when people mess with her friends (animals). Like Rabbit, one of the lab bunnies she meets early on. I have a story in mind where Rabbit dies as the result of an experiment, and Anzu must go through the stages of grief for her friend.

I also have a detective story with very old school Dick Tracy sort of language, where Anzu helps a boy find his lost dog.

My name is Anzu, and before today, I was a pretty happy girl. Then he walked into my life.

He was handsome. But, then, they always are, aren’t they…

It seemed clear he was searching for something, or someone. In a moment, it would become even clearer.

BOY: Have you seen my dog?

Men. Always losing things. Lucky for him, I was good at finding them. Especially when they had four legs and could bark.

In this adventure, Anzu talks with some street pigeons, interrogates Sam Samuels: Pet Store Owner, and ends up punching the boy when he calls her weird. "He'll come around." She thinks as she walks away into the sunset. "They always do."

Perhaps I should mention that I'm writing a superhero comic. Well, of course. I mean, what else could I write? This is what I know, and they always say you should write what you know.

The basic idea is this: what if all your best friends were superheroes, while you remained completely normal? Such is the story of Alex, a woman as normal as can be, who happened to get mixed up in a tragic "accident". It's not really an accident, but we don't know that yet.

1000 were chosen... 8 survived.

The 8 were then put in quarantine for a number of years (I haven't decided on the exact number yet) and 7 of them began displaying incredible powers. Like Rylan, who can read the threads of Fate. And Lukas, who can travel the river Styx, though he cannot touch the far shore (if he did he would, you know, die), and bring others with him. I'm thinking of calling him The Ferryman. And Kat with her invisible shields which form an impenetrable barrier around her whole body whether she wants one there or not. (Things are tough for her for a while, until she gets a handle on controlling her powers.)

That's not all of them, but you get the picture. They don't have secret identities, because the media has documented their every move since the accident, though once they start saving the world, people tend to come up with hero code-names for them (if they haven't already done so for themselves, like Anzu.).

So there it is, in the most general terms. It's the sort of comic book I would like to read, which I think should be the first requirement for any creative venture. If you don't like what you're creating, how can you expect anyone else to like it? And hey, maybe no one will ever like this comic book except me, but that's OK too.

There, a nice long entry to make up for all the slack.

Oh shoot! I wanted to talk about my Justice League video! Mom mentioned that it's not on youtube, and I wanted to explain why that is. Oh well. Next time.

Later,
Jules

Walking Briskly in the Park

What a morning!

First let's talk about yesterday, and how this morning came about.

I was at work (as usual) with Deirdre, when Nancy stopped in. Nancy designs and sews skirts, dresses, and tops, which we sell in our store. Her stuff is always fun and funky, while still being fairly conservative with a great fit. We never have enough Nancy stuff, because it always sells. Nancy herself is quite a character. She's extremely talented in the creative side of designing clothing, but not so good with the business side (which she is the first to admit).

Anyway, she got to talking about exercise and how she'd like to, you know, do it, and Deirdre told us that she used to run through the park. In fact, Deirdre used to run in marathons. She hurt her back, though, and now mostly does yoga. Still, she'd like to get back into at least walking around the park in the mornings. Nancy said that sounded great, she'd love to do that, and I (with my big mouth) chimed in saying, "yeah, I really want to exercise more too."

"Great," Deirdre said. "When do you want to start?" Deirdre's like that. Even if you say casually that you'd maybe like to do something sometime next month or so, she'll want to nail you down to a time and place right there and then. She also manages to get a lot done. Perhaps there's a lesson there. (You would think I would have learned this lesson long ago, since my mother is very much a doer as well. And, I've noticed that when she's around, I get stuff done. Go figure.)

Suddenly, I found myself agreeing to meet them at the park (a good 25 minute walk from my apartment) at 9:00AM. And if I planned on being awake for this power-walk, that meant getting up at 7:00AM.

It all went rather smoothly. Nancy and Deirdre and I arrived, along with Louise, a friend of Deirdre's whom I had met before. We walked around the whole park which is about 3 miles, and it took us 50 minutes. It was just chilly enough that I was glad for the sweater I was wearing, but the day was bright and clear, and the park very beautiful in the sunshine.

At the end of it, we made plans to do it again on Monday. Oh boy. Well, I suppose it's for the best. Working out alone is always harder than working out in a group.

I still want to do some weight lifting (and luckily I have weights) to strengthen my upper body, and tone my lower. I'll have to do that on my own. (Mostly. I will have the Firm girls supporting me from DVD-land.) There was a time when my arms were quite strong, and I miss that. I feel like I can barely lift my own groceries anymore.

I topped the morning off with a trip to Dunkin Donuts for a latte. (Meaning I probably just undid all that hard work, but the latte won't be a regular thing; I just happen to be out of coffee right now. I need to buy another barrel. Sigh. Wouldn't it be lovely if coffee came in barrels? Furthermore, I think it may be time to invest in a grinder so I can have fresh-ground coffee every morning. Coffee...*drools*)

Later,
Jules

Holding Out For the Justice League

Steve. So far we've had coffee and dinner-and-a-movie. We've also talked on the phone, and I haven't hated every second of it. Are these good signs? I don't know; it's so hard to tell with me. I'm trying not to over-analyze it, which is why this entry isn't going to be about Steve. I just wanted to give you an update, 'cause I know all of you are on the edge of you seats.

This entry is really about a new video. I know: "Already?!" What can I say? I just got the urge and went with it. I think this is my finest one yet. It better be, anyway, because I spent half the night finishing it. I just kept saying, "I'm so close to being done, just work a little bit longer..." Pretty soon, it was four o'clock in the morning and I only had five hours before I had to get up and go to work. Oops.
Anyway, I think it's pretty spectacular. Maybe I should look into being an editor. Or someone who puts trailers together...what do you call that person? How do you become that person?
Sigh.
It will be a long week for me. I'm working 9 days in a row, and half of them are full days, so it's a lot of work. I don't mind, really, but it does mean that I have a lot less energy when I get home. Which is why this entry is so pathetic. I really just wanted to get this video up so you could see it. Maybe I'll feel more like writing in the morning. I'm going to try to get up earlier than usual, which means going to bed at an earlier (read: sane) hour.
Goodnight,

Jules

Hawkgirl

Look Ma! A new video!

This is about Hawkgirl, a character that is probably unfamiliar to most of you. So here's the skinny:

She's from a planet called Thanagar, where she was a police officer. Her story is that she was chasing a criminal and got caught in some pseudo-scientific thingamajig which shot her molecules halfway across the universe to Earth. She decided to stick around and fight crime, since she didn't know how to get back home.

That all turned out to be a lie.

She was actually the advance party from her home world, sent there to scout Earth's defenses. See, Thanagar has been at war with these other aliens for hundreds of years, and she was sent to Earth to recon so they could determine how best to protect the Earth from the bad aliens.

This also turned out to be a lie.

That was the story that Hawkgirl was told, but the truth is that she was sent there to learn how best to take over Earth long enough to build a hyperspace bypass which would aid the Thanagarians in their war. Unfortunately, the hyperspace bypass would destroy Earth, thereby upsetting the natives.

Hawkgirl objected to having been used by her own people to betray her new people, so she decided to betray the Thanagarians by helping the Justice League stop their Evil Plan.
However, the Justice League still felt disgruntled and betrayed from the first betrayl, especially Green Lantern, with whom Hawkgirl had recently begun a relationship. Turns out Hawkgirl's got a Hawkman: the commander of the Thanagarian army and mastermind of the Evil Plan. They're betrothed. GL is less than pleased. Hawkgirl is extremely confused, and now, so are you.

Please direct all questions to Bruce Timm.

Or, you could just watch the video.

15 to 5

From 15 to 5 posts per month. That's just sad. I haven't written any more of the comic book either. In fact, didn't I promise to tell you what the comic book was all about? Yeah...about that....

So, here I am, writing this pathetic little update, just minutes before I have to leave for work. Convenient, isn't it?

I'd tell you that I'm going to continue this post as soon as I get home tonight, but I'm going to a concert with my friend, Kathleen, so that probably won't happen. We're going to see my roommate (she's a cellist). I think it's called the World Symphony, or something. I'll tell you more after I've actually gone.

More to come. Hold that thought.

Julia