After the usual dicking around this morning I got showered and dressed and headed out to the comic book store.
I had not previously been to their new location, but I knew, roughly, where it was, so I didn’t bother mapping it or getting an address or anything like that.
Naturally I regretted that once I got to the area.
I hadn’t realized that there was such an expansive (and expanding) shopping plaza there. I drive by that area regularly (like pretty much every time I go someplace outside of Leesburg), but I guess I’ve never really looked over that way (though I doubt you can see much of it from the road anyway).
The place is really nice, and will likely be even nicer when it’s done. It reminds me of the area around that nice movie theater that Scott and I sometimes go to.
Of course, niceness aside, I had no idea where the comic shop, there were far too many shops (open and not quite yet open) and too few signs up, so I wandered around aimlessly for a while before calling Scott to see if he had a copy of the “We’re moving!” flier, or could look up the address for me online.
He wasn’t at home, but his cell phone’s Internet capabilities are vastly to superior to those of my phone, so he looked up the address and called me back.
Once I got to the store and was ready to check out, I ended up causing some confusion.
Scott is taking advantage of their subscription service, and authorized me to pick up his comics for him. When I asked for his stuff, this led them to think that I was him, which is a notion that I never quite disabused them of, and the fact that I was buying many of the same titles that Scott had subscribed to only added to the confusion. Plus there’s the issue of the discount you get if you subscribe to a certain number of titles. They ended up just applying the discount to the entire purchase, which included some long boxes that I figured I might as well finally get around to buying.
To avoid confusion, I’m going to sign up for the subscription service as well, that way I can pick up two separate orders and have two separate discounts.
On the way out I noticed that there was a rather upscale (compared to like Wal-Mart or something at least) women’s clothing store right across from the comic book shop, which meant, as it did today, that there will be frequent encounters between schlubby comic book geeks and snooty rich bitches who look disdainfully down their noses at said schlubby comic book geeks.
From there it was off to Super Target, where I was just going to pick up a few things before heading over to Shoppers to pick up some groceries.
However, in the interest of lessening time spent out in the world I decided that I’d just get everything from Super Target.
I kind of wondered why I don’t do that more often, until I got to the register and saw the total.
The whole time I was there some kid was screaming off in the distance. As his screams echoed through the aisles it was like being near some medieval house of torture or something.
I just don’t get that. I mean, you’re a freakin’ kid; what in your life could possibly be that horrible? Enough with the damn screaming already.
We’re not talking about a baby, either, so it’s not like it was hunger pains or teething pains or the need for a diaper change. This was a kid who actually had the ability to articulate his problem in some other fashion, but was simply choosing not to do so.
Oh well, what’s life without screaming kids?
(It’s much better is what it is.)
Once I got home I set to work on assembling the long boxes, which was a first.
Back at my old store the boxes were sold already assembled.
It was just a simple matter of folding them into the correct shape, but that matter proved to be anything but simple, especially in the case of the deformed box that had to be snipped in some places in order to actually fold properly.
However, after a sweaty struggle that resulted in a few corrugated paper scrapes on my arms, I had four boxes assembled, which should be enough to hold at least the majority of my collection (for the time being).
I haven’t decided if, for the sake of freeing up floor space, I’m just going to throw the comics in as they are, or if I’m going to wait until I’ve figured out where to buy the additional bags and boards I need (since I had to cancel my last order of said supplies).
I suppose I should wait, because then I could get around to actually organizing them and entering them into the database, killing multiple birds with one stone. One long, arduous, expensive stone.
I spent much of yesterday working on an element of the bigger picture that I’m working on. While I knew that it wasn’t working out quite so well as I’d have liked, it wasn’t until I took a break and looked at it with fresh eyes that I realized what an abomination I’d managed to create. I hate to even think that I’m responsible for brining that thing into existence. It was horrific, and I really don’t want to talk about it any more.
Needless to say, I need to try that one again.
Another work week is nearly upon me, and once again I’m aware of how rapidly my days pass. All I can say is that it’s a good thing I don’t really have any fun on my days off.
Showing posts with label comic book stores. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comic book stores. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Jon: The Triumphant Return...No, Wait. Not "Triumphant." Let's Just Call It The Return.
So it’s been a few days since I posted anything, and I can’t help but wonder how you managed to get by without reading about how boring my life is and how I don’t like people and I’d rather not go anywhere and I read comic books and etc., but somehow I’m sure you did.
What’s happened in the interim? I finished my Flash training...without calling the instructor rude names or telling her where she could shove various and sundry items.
God she was annoying.
Basically, any time she said something she would need us to tell her that we heard and understood what she said. She would not proceed until she got feedback.
And it had to be universal. It wasn’t enough for Scott and I to tell her we heard/understood, she would also need the people on the other side of the room to acknowledge her.
I can’t imagine how anyone could go through life being so needy.
While I avoided lashing out at her, I did make my feelings pretty clear.
Whenever she would ask something, like, “Guys, you with me?” I would respond in as annoyed a tone as possible with something like, “Yes, we’re with you.”
Scott found my unbridled annoyance amusing, though I think it went right over her head.
Beyond her neediness, she also didn’t seem to be very bright, and a lot of the Flash-based sites that she showed us as examples and referred to as being “tight” were perfect examples of all the things that are wrong with so many Flash-based sites, though in fairness some of them were pretty cool.
There was one chick in the class who was pretty hot, though much of her hotness stemmed from the fact that she had a really nice ass, which sort of balanced out some her shortcomings, though even with a lesser ass she still would have been cute.
At one point in the class I leaned over to Scott and told him, “I would totally bang her. I just wanted you to know that about me.” He said that he pretty much already knew that about me.
On Thursday Scott and I stopped at the comic book store on the way home from work. I dropped another $60 bucks, but that was largely because I bought the hardcover collection of issues 1-6 of All Star Superman.
Once I get into the groove of buying only the regular series I intend to buy, it should start getting a little cheaper.
I hope.
On Saturday we made another dash there because we thought we’d forgotten something, or rather, I thought we had, but it turns out it’s not coming out until this week.
(The book in question was Amazons Attack, which we figure we should read because we’ve started picking up the latest Wonder Woman series based on the rumor that Gail Simone is going to be taking over the writing chores. I hope it’s true and that she does it soon, because so far, New York Times best-seller or not, the current writer, Jodi Picoult, is not impressing me. In fact, she’s doing the exact opposite of impressing me. She’s kind of like the Anti-Gail, and Gail can’t come riding down from heaven to defeat her soon enough. The current penciller, whose name escapes me, is okay, but is not as good as the husband and wife team of Terry and Rachel Dodson, who had been handling the art on the book.)
While I was there, as I still haven’t been shipped the bags and boards I ordered almost a month ago, I picked up some bags and boards, figuring I could at least bag my latest purchases and some of the older stuff that’s precious to me.
Speaking of books that are precious to me, I also spent $50 on Friday ordering some back issues to replace lost and/or damaged comics from year’s past.
This picking back up an old habit thing is pricey. It’d probably be cheaper to start smoking again, and about as worthwhile.
Being able to sleep past 7 AM on a Sunday morning really doesn’t seem like that much to ask for, but, based on the barking dog, sirens, and helicopters that made doing so impossible this morning, it seems that the Universe just doesn’t see it that way.
I did eventually get back to sleep and make it all the way to 9 AM, but I had to put so much energy into making myself sleep despite the cacophony that I woke up exhausted.
I’m the only person I know who can wear himself out by sleeping.
Honestly, though, I think the reason I’m so angry all the time is that I really don’t ask for much out of life – a little peace and quiet here and there, a decent night’s sleep, etc. – and yet I don’t even manage to get that.
Oh sure, I’m doing okay as far as material things go, but when it comes to the little things…well, every once in a while I’d just like to have a day on which I don’t have to listen to barking dogs, I don’t bang my head against something, stub my toe, cut myself in some mysterious and bewildering fashion, or choke on food/water/my own spit.
Oh well. At least there are some things in life that are good, like The Venture Bros. Season Two on DVD, which came out on Tuesday.
On the way to the comic shop yesterday we stopped at Target so I could pick up a copy, though I actually ended up watching Scott’s copy while I was at work (very slow day).
I watched the entire season, except for one episode that, while great, I’ve seen a lot.
That’s twelve half-hour episodes of the show. And that’s on top of having read all the comics (except the All Star Superman HC) I’d bought on Thursday and several comics online, filling 100 comic book bags with backer boards and bagging all the comics I had with me. Add on some Web surfing, the aforementioned trip to Target and the comic shop, and some actual work, and you begin to get an idea of just how long a twelve and a half hour workday is when your job is almost entirely reactive and there’s nothing going on for you to react to.
(It’s worse when there is something to react to because it doesn’t make the time go faster it just makes it more irritating.)
Today, after talking to my mother and spending some time doing not much of anything, I decided, because it’s gorgeous out, to walk down to Subway to pick up lunch and dinner.
There were about eight people ahead of me in line, and out of all of the people there I was the only one who was ordering something only for himself. Everyone else was placing family orders.
So it took a while.
After getting home and eating half my sub I went to work on writing some Web site copy for Kathleen’s company. Her boss had called me on Wednesday when I’d forgotten to turn my cell phone off in class and asked me if I was up to maybe taking on some writing projects, which, of course, I was.
And all of that, brought me here, though not entirely in that order.
And now you have your fix of random complaints, observations, and pointless Jon minutiae.
Happy?
What’s happened in the interim? I finished my Flash training...without calling the instructor rude names or telling her where she could shove various and sundry items.
God she was annoying.
Basically, any time she said something she would need us to tell her that we heard and understood what she said. She would not proceed until she got feedback.
And it had to be universal. It wasn’t enough for Scott and I to tell her we heard/understood, she would also need the people on the other side of the room to acknowledge her.
I can’t imagine how anyone could go through life being so needy.
While I avoided lashing out at her, I did make my feelings pretty clear.
Whenever she would ask something, like, “Guys, you with me?” I would respond in as annoyed a tone as possible with something like, “Yes, we’re with you.”
Scott found my unbridled annoyance amusing, though I think it went right over her head.
Beyond her neediness, she also didn’t seem to be very bright, and a lot of the Flash-based sites that she showed us as examples and referred to as being “tight” were perfect examples of all the things that are wrong with so many Flash-based sites, though in fairness some of them were pretty cool.
There was one chick in the class who was pretty hot, though much of her hotness stemmed from the fact that she had a really nice ass, which sort of balanced out some her shortcomings, though even with a lesser ass she still would have been cute.
At one point in the class I leaned over to Scott and told him, “I would totally bang her. I just wanted you to know that about me.” He said that he pretty much already knew that about me.
On Thursday Scott and I stopped at the comic book store on the way home from work. I dropped another $60 bucks, but that was largely because I bought the hardcover collection of issues 1-6 of All Star Superman.
Once I get into the groove of buying only the regular series I intend to buy, it should start getting a little cheaper.
I hope.
On Saturday we made another dash there because we thought we’d forgotten something, or rather, I thought we had, but it turns out it’s not coming out until this week.
(The book in question was Amazons Attack, which we figure we should read because we’ve started picking up the latest Wonder Woman series based on the rumor that Gail Simone is going to be taking over the writing chores. I hope it’s true and that she does it soon, because so far, New York Times best-seller or not, the current writer, Jodi Picoult, is not impressing me. In fact, she’s doing the exact opposite of impressing me. She’s kind of like the Anti-Gail, and Gail can’t come riding down from heaven to defeat her soon enough. The current penciller, whose name escapes me, is okay, but is not as good as the husband and wife team of Terry and Rachel Dodson, who had been handling the art on the book.)
While I was there, as I still haven’t been shipped the bags and boards I ordered almost a month ago, I picked up some bags and boards, figuring I could at least bag my latest purchases and some of the older stuff that’s precious to me.
Speaking of books that are precious to me, I also spent $50 on Friday ordering some back issues to replace lost and/or damaged comics from year’s past.
This picking back up an old habit thing is pricey. It’d probably be cheaper to start smoking again, and about as worthwhile.
Being able to sleep past 7 AM on a Sunday morning really doesn’t seem like that much to ask for, but, based on the barking dog, sirens, and helicopters that made doing so impossible this morning, it seems that the Universe just doesn’t see it that way.
I did eventually get back to sleep and make it all the way to 9 AM, but I had to put so much energy into making myself sleep despite the cacophony that I woke up exhausted.
I’m the only person I know who can wear himself out by sleeping.
Honestly, though, I think the reason I’m so angry all the time is that I really don’t ask for much out of life – a little peace and quiet here and there, a decent night’s sleep, etc. – and yet I don’t even manage to get that.
Oh sure, I’m doing okay as far as material things go, but when it comes to the little things…well, every once in a while I’d just like to have a day on which I don’t have to listen to barking dogs, I don’t bang my head against something, stub my toe, cut myself in some mysterious and bewildering fashion, or choke on food/water/my own spit.
Oh well. At least there are some things in life that are good, like The Venture Bros. Season Two on DVD, which came out on Tuesday.
On the way to the comic shop yesterday we stopped at Target so I could pick up a copy, though I actually ended up watching Scott’s copy while I was at work (very slow day).
I watched the entire season, except for one episode that, while great, I’ve seen a lot.
That’s twelve half-hour episodes of the show. And that’s on top of having read all the comics (except the All Star Superman HC) I’d bought on Thursday and several comics online, filling 100 comic book bags with backer boards and bagging all the comics I had with me. Add on some Web surfing, the aforementioned trip to Target and the comic shop, and some actual work, and you begin to get an idea of just how long a twelve and a half hour workday is when your job is almost entirely reactive and there’s nothing going on for you to react to.
(It’s worse when there is something to react to because it doesn’t make the time go faster it just makes it more irritating.)
Today, after talking to my mother and spending some time doing not much of anything, I decided, because it’s gorgeous out, to walk down to Subway to pick up lunch and dinner.
There were about eight people ahead of me in line, and out of all of the people there I was the only one who was ordering something only for himself. Everyone else was placing family orders.
So it took a while.
After getting home and eating half my sub I went to work on writing some Web site copy for Kathleen’s company. Her boss had called me on Wednesday when I’d forgotten to turn my cell phone off in class and asked me if I was up to maybe taking on some writing projects, which, of course, I was.
And all of that, brought me here, though not entirely in that order.
And now you have your fix of random complaints, observations, and pointless Jon minutiae.
Happy?
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Crazy Money-Spending Fool
I got a call this morning telling me that my taxes were ready to be sent out and that I had to stop in to pay for them and sign some stuff, so I sat around for a bit, showered, dressed, drove over to H&R Block, paid for them ($161…yikes. Good thing I’m getting a lot of money in my refund.), then headed off to Wal-Mart.
While there I randomly saw the DVD for one of my all-time favorite movies, Night of the Comet, for like $10, so I grabbed it.
For those unfamiliar, Comet tells the story of the night the greater part of humanity is whipped out by some substance contained inside the tail of a passing comet. There are a few survivors who came through unscathed, while some others have turned into flesh-eating zombies.
It’s a low-budget, totally 80s cheesefest, but that’s pretty much its charm. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and honestly has some great gags.
(FYI, I just noticed in its IMDb entry that it will be airing on The Movie Channel tomorrow morning at 7:30)
Back when the movie came out I was completely in love with its star, Canadian actress Catherine Mary Stewart.
My love for her, which started with her role in The Last Starfighter – another one of those favorite movies that I ought to own but don’t – has led me to sit through a lot of painfully bad movies just because she was in them, but Comet is not one of those. Not only is CMS hot, the movie is actually enjoyable, so bonus.
Speaking of movies I love but don’t own, while I was there I saw The Princess Bride on DVD for $7.50, so I picked that one up as well, and now it no longer falls into the love but don’t own category.
(Along with the aforementioned Last Starfighter, that category pretty much consists of The Crow – which I once owned – though maybe I should consider adding some of those “powerless to do anything but watch” movies I’ve mentioned, like Strange Days or Real Genius.)
From Wal-Mart I went on to Best Buy, where I was going to pick up Season 1 of Justice League Unlimited. I grabbed it, but then realized that I’d grabbed Season 1 of Justice League, which is different, and which I’ve been reluctant to buy because I thought that buying Justice League would be a big, multi-season purchase, as opposed to JLU, which was just two seasons. In any case, they didn’t have Season 1 of JLU, so I took my leave and headed to the comic books store in Herndon.
Where I dropped $86.
On comic books.
And that’s just comic books. No boxes or bags. No hardcover collections or trades. Just a stack of regular comics.
In fact, it was only 25 comic books.
I remember the first time I ever went to a comic book store, probably like 21 years ago. I spent $20 and bought way more comics than I did today, plus a couple of posters.
For the record, that first trip to a comic book store was a magical experience for young Jon. I mean, I knew that such places existed, but for me they were still sort of semi-mythical, places that only existed in stories.
Atlantis. Avalon. Hy-Brasil. Stores that just sell comic books.
It’s been a long time since I was last in a proper comic book store (or sine I viewed them as being magical places). One thing that struck me as I walked into this one today was the smell. I’d forgotten about the smell.
No, I’m not talking about the sweaty goatlike smell of the overweight and virginal staff and customers, I’m talking about the smell of comics.
For me, it’s a familiar, comforting smell, like the smell of a new car, or the inside of a leather store (I frequently go into Wilsons at the Dulles Town Center to just breathe in the smell of leather, then get out before I become too tempted to spend a lot of money on jackets and coats that I don’t need.).
In a month the store will actually be moving closer to Leesburg, which is excellent timing considering that it coincides with my plans to get back into regular comic book purchasing.
(Sucks for Scott, though. Still, that’s what you get for living in Manassas.)
For any of you wondering what I bought, here’s the list:
The Authority 1-2
Birds of Prey 102-104
The Brave & The Bold 1 -2
Daredevil 92-94
JSA 1-4
The Eternals 1-7
Welcome to Tranquility 1-4
There are some books that I plan to get caught up on by picking up the trades and then I might start buying the monthly books. Books like Fables.
I might also pick my Superman habit back up, but I haven’t been terribly impressed by anything I’ve seen there. I might buy the trade of Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman, and then start picking up the regular books as they come out. We’ll see.
Not looking to add much from Marvel. I really can’t see myself getting back into buying X-Men, even with Ed Brubaker writing.
(Note that there were two Gail Simone titles in what I picked up today: Birds of Prey and Welcome to Tranquility. )
After that bit of splurging I stopped at the Best Buy in Leesburg on my way home to see if they had Season one of JLU. They did, and were selling Season 1 and 2 of JL for the same price, so I just said, “Screw it,” and bought those, too.
(Turns out there were only two seasons of JL, so I have the complete JL and JLU now.)
All told, not counting what I paid for getting my taxes done, I dropped around $200 today.
(Of course, that includes non-comics or DVD-related stuff like toilet paper and various other sundries.)
Anyway, that was my big day of spending money. There’s not likely to be a repeat of it anytime soon, as the refund is going straight into my savings account.
That’s too funny; just as I wrote that I got an e-mail from my bank telling me that I should put my refund into my savings account.
In any case, I’ve got some comic reading and DVD watching to do before getting ready for my workweek.
While there I randomly saw the DVD for one of my all-time favorite movies, Night of the Comet, for like $10, so I grabbed it.
For those unfamiliar, Comet tells the story of the night the greater part of humanity is whipped out by some substance contained inside the tail of a passing comet. There are a few survivors who came through unscathed, while some others have turned into flesh-eating zombies.
It’s a low-budget, totally 80s cheesefest, but that’s pretty much its charm. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and honestly has some great gags.
(FYI, I just noticed in its IMDb entry that it will be airing on The Movie Channel tomorrow morning at 7:30)
Back when the movie came out I was completely in love with its star, Canadian actress Catherine Mary Stewart.
My love for her, which started with her role in The Last Starfighter – another one of those favorite movies that I ought to own but don’t – has led me to sit through a lot of painfully bad movies just because she was in them, but Comet is not one of those. Not only is CMS hot, the movie is actually enjoyable, so bonus.
Speaking of movies I love but don’t own, while I was there I saw The Princess Bride on DVD for $7.50, so I picked that one up as well, and now it no longer falls into the love but don’t own category.
(Along with the aforementioned Last Starfighter, that category pretty much consists of The Crow – which I once owned – though maybe I should consider adding some of those “powerless to do anything but watch” movies I’ve mentioned, like Strange Days or Real Genius.)
From Wal-Mart I went on to Best Buy, where I was going to pick up Season 1 of Justice League Unlimited. I grabbed it, but then realized that I’d grabbed Season 1 of Justice League, which is different, and which I’ve been reluctant to buy because I thought that buying Justice League would be a big, multi-season purchase, as opposed to JLU, which was just two seasons. In any case, they didn’t have Season 1 of JLU, so I took my leave and headed to the comic books store in Herndon.
Where I dropped $86.
On comic books.
And that’s just comic books. No boxes or bags. No hardcover collections or trades. Just a stack of regular comics.
In fact, it was only 25 comic books.
I remember the first time I ever went to a comic book store, probably like 21 years ago. I spent $20 and bought way more comics than I did today, plus a couple of posters.
For the record, that first trip to a comic book store was a magical experience for young Jon. I mean, I knew that such places existed, but for me they were still sort of semi-mythical, places that only existed in stories.
Atlantis. Avalon. Hy-Brasil. Stores that just sell comic books.
It’s been a long time since I was last in a proper comic book store (or sine I viewed them as being magical places). One thing that struck me as I walked into this one today was the smell. I’d forgotten about the smell.
No, I’m not talking about the sweaty goatlike smell of the overweight and virginal staff and customers, I’m talking about the smell of comics.
For me, it’s a familiar, comforting smell, like the smell of a new car, or the inside of a leather store (I frequently go into Wilsons at the Dulles Town Center to just breathe in the smell of leather, then get out before I become too tempted to spend a lot of money on jackets and coats that I don’t need.).
In a month the store will actually be moving closer to Leesburg, which is excellent timing considering that it coincides with my plans to get back into regular comic book purchasing.
(Sucks for Scott, though. Still, that’s what you get for living in Manassas.)
For any of you wondering what I bought, here’s the list:
The Authority 1-2
Birds of Prey 102-104
The Brave & The Bold 1 -2
Daredevil 92-94
JSA 1-4
The Eternals 1-7
Welcome to Tranquility 1-4
There are some books that I plan to get caught up on by picking up the trades and then I might start buying the monthly books. Books like Fables.
I might also pick my Superman habit back up, but I haven’t been terribly impressed by anything I’ve seen there. I might buy the trade of Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman, and then start picking up the regular books as they come out. We’ll see.
Not looking to add much from Marvel. I really can’t see myself getting back into buying X-Men, even with Ed Brubaker writing.
(Note that there were two Gail Simone titles in what I picked up today: Birds of Prey and Welcome to Tranquility. )
After that bit of splurging I stopped at the Best Buy in Leesburg on my way home to see if they had Season one of JLU. They did, and were selling Season 1 and 2 of JL for the same price, so I just said, “Screw it,” and bought those, too.
(Turns out there were only two seasons of JL, so I have the complete JL and JLU now.)
All told, not counting what I paid for getting my taxes done, I dropped around $200 today.
(Of course, that includes non-comics or DVD-related stuff like toilet paper and various other sundries.)
Anyway, that was my big day of spending money. There’s not likely to be a repeat of it anytime soon, as the refund is going straight into my savings account.
That’s too funny; just as I wrote that I got an e-mail from my bank telling me that I should put my refund into my savings account.
In any case, I’ve got some comic reading and DVD watching to do before getting ready for my workweek.
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