I Know What I Want My Kids To Do Some Summer

A summer camp for teen sci-fi and fantasy authors where they create a shared world setting.  This is so cool.  I had run a website on GeoCities in the early 90's that was a shared world fantasy setting called Hadelphia.

I really hope this program is still around when my kids are old enough... 

You never forget your first time...

As I mentioned previously, I was a Marvel Zombie when I first got into comic books.  In thinking back, I don't recall a specific reason it took me almost 3 years before I picked up a DC book.  Was it exposure to the Super Friends cartoon and I assumed that the comics were too childish?  Was it a case of branding?  Make Mine Marvel?  I honestly can't recall a reason.

I do remember my first though.  One night I was out running errands with our neighbor, a gentleman who was confined to a wheelchair.  I would help him get his wheelchair in and out of his car and help him shop a couple times a week.  I also did his yard work.  We had stopped at the Big Y and while he shopped I headed over to the magazine aisle and the comic book racks.  I don't remember what prompted me to pick The Year's Best Comics Stories digest up.  Was it the bold "Year's Best" proclamation?  I had just started reading and enjoying Squadron Supreme. Did I realize that it was based on the JLA and that factored into my decision?  Was I just bored and had already read all the Marvel comics that were for sale?

Regardless the reason, I bought it and started reading it on the way home.  It had a variety of stories that I was fascinated by.  It started out with a heady story that was unlike anything I had read up to that point and was followed by a super hero story that posited that the hero didn't exist.  It had a WWII story and a story about Green Lantern-but not the guy from the cartoon.  Some stories were great (as advertised) and some lost on me:

• "The Anatomy Lesson" from Swamp Thing- As comic fans know this was the 2nd issue of the Alan Moore run on the character.  At the time, I'll admit this story was lost on me.  There were no superheroes; nothing that at that time interested me.  Having re-read some years back, I appreciated it much more.  
• "If Superman Didn't Exist" from Action Comics- At the time I enjoyed the story for the story.  Two kids 'invent' Superman and he saves the day.  Re-reading it today (for the first time since then) I see that it was DC Comic's (Well, Marv Wolfman, Gil Kane and Julius Schwartz at least) love letter to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.  
• "Killers Also Smile" from Sgt. Rock- This may have been my favorite story at the time.  I was a huge WWII buff growing up and here was a story that took place in the European theater.  Sarge Rock and Easy Company take on a SS unit that is moving from village to village massacring civilians.  A poignant story then and now.  Interestingly, Joe Kubert and his son Adam both worked on this story as editor and letterer respectively.
• "Guess What's Coming To Dinner?" from Legion of Super-Heroes- Another super-hero story with no super-heroics.  This one dealt with a controversial mixed marriage between two members of the Legion.  Oddly, also lettered by Adam Kubert.
• "Final Duties" from Green Lantern- This story was a tales of the Green Lantern Corps back-up story about a GL's last day. Kwo Varrikk's last day is filled with his heroic feats: stopping an interplanetary war, stopping a planet wide earthquake, diverting a meteor swarm from destroying a planet.  As he retires though, his thoughts are of a runaway kite he retrieved for a little boy.  At the time, the moral of the story was lost on me.
• "Viva Nebiros" from Blue Devil- A fun, goofy tale featuring a team up between Blue Devil and Zatanna.
• "Who is Donna Troy?" from Teen Titans- This Titans tale was and is still lost on me.  Then, because I had no idea who Donna Troy was and now, multiple retcons later, I still don't know who Donna Troy is.
• "Babe's Story" from Atari Force- I'm sure this origin story would have made more sense if I knew what Atari Force was.  As a stand alone sci-fi tale, it's decent, but formulaic.

In hindsight, I don't know what grabbed my interest so much, but I was soon reading DC titles.  Searching through the cover galleries at DC Comics Database at Wikia Entertainment for July 1985, I remember reading Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 (there's a gateway comic for you!), All-Star Squadron #47, Infinity Inc #16 and Green Lantern #191.

What was your first comic?

Yo Joe!

My love affair with comic books started when I traded a bag of shooters for G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #2 during the summer of 1982.  I read it that sunny afternoon and within minutes of finishing it, I was on my bike riding to the Dairy Mart 1/2 mile away where my friend said he bought it.  I walked into the convenience store and there it was- a circular wire rack of comic books.  I remember finding G.I. Joe #3, Avengers #225, Star Wars #66 and Captain America Annual #6.  I don't remember any DC Comics from that trip or for quite awhile to be honest.  I was a Marvel Zombie.  DC didn't get their hooks in me until 2 1/2 years later.  Rom, The Incredible Hulk, The Defenders and Spider-Man all quickly followed.  The Fantastic Four.  Marvel Two-In-One starring the Thing.  Marvel Team-Up.  Before I knew it, I had read everything that Dairy Mart could provide.  The phone book led me to three different comic book stores in Springfield (AKA the "Big City" in Western MA): Treasure Island, Rebel Peddler and Bob's Hobbies & Collectibles.  There were whole stores devoted to comic books!  This was too good to be true.  I convinced my mom to drive me to the Rebel Peddler.  It was a hole in the wall little store that had tables of long boxes.  I had discovered back issues!  My meager allowance wasn't going to be enough.  I quickly got two paper routes (the daily Union News and the weekly Pennysaver)  to make money.  Within months, I was taking the bus into Springfield every Friday afternoon, catching one or two transfers depending on the shop I was going to.

Looking back at G.I. Joe #2, I can't honestly say what it was that hooked me so hard.  It's a great story (I recently re-read it as part of IDW's collection of the Marvel run).  A Joe team consisting of Stalker, Breaker, Scarlett, and Snake-Eyes parachutes into the Arctic to investigate what happened to a US research station that was attacked. They cross paths with Kwinn, an Eskimo mercenary who is working for the Russians.  The Russians were preparing to use a fear wave on the US, but it backfired on the Russian team that was deployed to use it.  The Russian team, in a fit of paranoia, attacked the US research station.  Kwinn was hired by the Russians to recover the fear ray and destroy the evidence.  Kwinn gets the drop on the Joe team (so much for them being an elite counter terrorist outfit) and takes the firing pins from their weapons, adding them to his weasel skull necklace and he leaves the Joes stranded at a deserted Russian base.  Kwinn is torn by his conscience; not wanting to work for the Russians once he realizes they were using fear as a weapon, but forced by his word to honor his contract.  The Joe team scavenges enough equipment from the research station to make an ice sailboat and chase after Kwinn.  Meanwhile, Kwinn leaves his weasel necklace (with firing pins) hidden in an ice cairn and delivers the fear ray to the Russians and leaves, warning them that the Joe team is on the way.  The last panel of the comic shows the Joe team with Snake Eyes on point wearing the weasel skull necklace marching through the Arctic towards the Russians.

Can We Build It?

Yes we can! At least, we are learning to. One of the skills that my father neglected to teach me was how to do anything with tools. Just ask my my mom about my aborted attempts to fix a shower head or install a screen on the back door. My only official learned experience with tools was 7th grade shop class and to be honest, I was much more comfortable in Home Economics.

I truly hope my children know the difference between pliers & wrenches and know which screwdriver is called Phillip. Lex & I have begun attending Lowe's Build & Grow clinics.  Thus far, we have built a kaleidoscope, a mini basketball game, a baseball game and last week a planter.  With the exception of the kaleidoscope, all have been great successes.  Daddy failed to read the instructions for the kaleidoscope and ours ended up being quite lopsided.  Lesson learned: Read the directions.  Right up there with Measure twice, cut once.

So far, Lex seems to really enjoy it and we're talking about getting him his own real tool kit for X-Mas.  I highly recommend the classes.  The website says it's for grades 1-5, but as long as you're willing to help the little one, it seems any age can participate.

Dead Or Alive

We've all played the game before, no not necessarily this one. The momentary exchange when you're confused about whether or not a celebrity is Dead Or Alive. "Did you hear X is going to be in that new movie?" "Isn't he dead?" "No, I'm pretty sure he's alive."

Let's play a quick round. Kirk Douglas. Harry Morgan. Herman Wouk. Tom Clancy. Tom Clancy's writing career.

Alive. Alive. Alive. Alive. Huh, that last one is a tough one.

Earlier this week, Penguin Putnam announced the first new Tom Clancy novel in 7 years would be released in December. 


In the interests of full disclosure: I will be at Borders or B&N on December 7th to get my copy. I am a huge fan of Tom Clancy's Ryanverse.  I can't stand Clancy's politics (He makes Sarah Palin look liberal).  His last two books have really disappointed me.  I can't read Clancy now without picturing Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan.  Air Force One, although not written, created, conceived or even thought about by Tom Clancy should have been a Jack Ryan story.

Reading the description of this latest novel, I am intrigued and bothered by a few points. 

• It's a Jack Ryan novel. This should be a bonus, but I feel like having followed Jack Ryan through his progression from Marine to CIA analyst to Director of the Intelligence to Vice President to President and into retirement, we've pretty much run the gamut of life experiences.  No offence to The X Presidents, but all relevancy ends the moment you leave office.     
• It's "ripped from the headlines". The plot revolves around trying to catch "The Emir, a sadistic killer who has masterminded the most vicious terrorist attacks on the West." Emir=Bin Laden. No subtlety there. 
• The suspension of the suspension of disbelief.  I read fiction because it allows me to escape from our world.  I love fantasy novels; I love comic books; I loved Star Wars novels until the prequels ruined the franchise.  I allow myself to believe that a man can fly and that another man would dress up as a bat to fight crime.  I enjoy those stories.  What disappoints me is when something comes along in story that ruins that suspension of disbelief.  In the Ryanverse, the following things have happened: The FBI Director was assassinated by the Colombian drug cartel. The city of Denver was nuked by a multi-ethnic group of terrorists including Palestinians, East Germans and an American Indian.  Washington DC is the site of a Japanese terrorist attack resulting in the death of the President, 98% of Congress, the entire Supreme Court, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the President's cabinet.  An Iranian coalition attacks the US using a biological weapon that releases an airborne Ebola virus.  US based eco-terrorists almost wipe out all of civilization by trying to disperse Ebola at the Olympics.  The Vice President of the United States is assassinated by white supremacists.  All of these terrorist attacks were hatched by someone other than The Emir.  Half of these are arguably more vicious than 9/11.  Tom Clancy prognosticated some pretty horrible events, but now it seems he wants to revisionist history all that away so he can write a thinly veiled attack on the Obama administration.
• It's co-written by Grant Blackwood.  Rumors abounded that Clancy had a ghost writer during the 90's.  That's when I liked his books.  As I said, his latest two have been disappointing.
• It's being released on December 7th.  Pearl Harbor Day.  Really?  Couldn't get it done to be released on September 11th?  (And yes, I know September 11th is a Saturday this year and new books are released on Tuesdays).  Subtle.
• It's a team-up.  The initial press release must have hammered home the idea that this book is special because it's going to feature all of Clancy's characters together.  A sampling of headlines from newspapers: Tom Clancy Heroes Team up to Fight Terror, New Clancy Thriller Contains the Sum of All Characters, Tom Clancy's 'Dead or Alive' to feature all-star list of Clancy characters, Tom Clancy's All Star Reuinion Novel (their spelling error, not mine), and New Tom Clancy book has all-star lineup.  These characters have always interacted.  All these characters have been in or mentioned in 3 of the last four books. 
• It's Clancy's first new novel in 7 years. Could the wait be a good sign?  Or will it leave me wanting, like John Grisham's pseudo sabbatical from legal thrillers fromm 2005 to 2008.

How've you been?

I am continually amazed when I open my Facebook page and find friend requests from people with whom I went to high school. As I am now, I was a geek in high school. Unfortunately, being a geek wasn't as cool in the 80s as it is now (unless you looked like Val Kilmer in Weird Science Real Genius, but that wasn't happening-I was more a cross between Crispin Glover from Back to the Future and John Cusack from Better Off Dead). I had a small handful of really good friends but otherwise kept to myself. I didn't branch out socially until I got a job at the local Stop & Shop and made friends from all over the Pioneer Valley area.

So I find it humorous when people with whom my only interaction in high school went kinda like this actually want to be my Facebook friend.:

THEM: Hey, there's Genny (my delightful high school nom de non-choice). Let's shove him in a locker!

ME (studiously ignore THEM)

Really? Should we get together for beers and swap stories about high school? Like that time we...oh, wait, you didn't talk to me in high school. I've actually challenged people to recall their favorite memory of me from high school.  I usually don't get a response, which pretty much sums up my favorite memory of them, but I've actually gotten responses of "I don't really remember, but we should definitely catch up."  What I want to respond with is: 'Uhm, there's nothing to catch up on.  This Facebook interaction is 10 times the amount of conversation we had in high school.'

Thou Shall Not...

I have decided that one of the things I hope to accomplish with this blog is to produce a list of rules, laws, and/or commandments to raising the next generation.  You don't have to follow them, but I hope they make you think about your parenting style.

Today was Lex's first trip to the dentist.  I was very nervous about how it was going to go.  I remember nothing pleasant about my visits to the dentist as a child.  The sounds of the drill, the antiseptic smell, the gooey taste of the fluoride, the way my dentist would laugh off my complaints of pain.  I'm fairly certain of one of two things: my dentist didn't know how to administer Novocaine or I am immune to it.  Going to the dentist was not something I would wish on my worst enemy.  As a result, I had gone a good 15 years without going to the dentist.  Within the last 5 years I have gone back to the dentist and overcome (partially) my odontophobia.  My first choice for dentist was not the best choice as her smarmy attitude just reinforced my disdain of dentistry.  When I moved to Worcester, I was fortunate to find a dentist that my mom had recommended to me some time ago, but had relocated from Western Mass: Dr. Haselkorn.  It was with some trepidation that I went to my first appointment, but the staff and dentist there have been nothing but great.  Dr. Haselkorn is patient, understanding and honest.  He addressed all my concerns and we have put together a plan to get my mouth back in shape.

At Lex's last doctor visit, they suggested that Lex was ready to go to the dentist.  Visions of my childhood dental  torture danced in my head.  I called Dr. Haselkorn's office and found out that they accept toddlers as patients.  We made an appointment and we talked to Lex about his visit and we were encouraged about his response.  Then last week, one of his shows featured a visit to the dentist and Cute Fan Girl explained that Lex was going to the dentist.  As a result of the show, however, Lex wasn't as excited and even went as far as to say that it would hurt.  It was with some trepidation that we made the journey this morning.  My mom and I also had appointments scheduled and the plan was that she would sit with Loki while I went in with Lex.   However, she was running late and we arrived on time.  As I filled out the endless reams of paperwork that fuel the medical and dental industries, the hygienist came out and said hi to Lex.  Before I knew it, he was following her back into the exam room.  From where I sat, I could hear her explaining to Lex what all the things in the exam room did and what they were going to do.  Before I knew it, she must have had him in the chair and was working on him.  I was amazed.  15 minutes later, he came running out, beaming and shaking a light-up toothbrush like it was a lightsaber.  The hygienist's report:  great teeth and great disposition.

On the ride home, I had an epiphany.  I had built this trip in my head as something potentially traumatic, but for Lex it was more of an adventure.  I realized that I was projecting my fears onto him and I had anticipated his reaction to be like mine.  I furthermore realized that I shouldn't be doing this.  My fears are my fears and not his.  And thus was born my first parenting commandment:

Thou shall not project your fears onto the next generation.


My kids will have fears, but they will be their fears.  I will do my best to make sure that Gigi, Lex and Loki are not afraid of: dentists, bees and heights.

Bunnies, Baskets and other B words...

Late Saturday night, the Easter Bunny paid a visit to us.  EB (as his friends call him) hopped on through Worcester and left three baskets here for the kids.  Gigi's basket remains unopened until she arrives in June, but Lex & Loki made short work of their baskets.  Easter grass is still strewn around the house and the kids have thoroughly enjoyed their gifts.  Lex got a new cartridge for his Leapster 2 and Loki got a drum set.


Lex and his Leapster 2 are inseparable.  If Leapfrog ever offers a cybernetic implant (Leapborg?  Leapjack?  Leapdroid?) Lex will be the first toddler in line.  His latest cartridges are Creature Create and Finding Nemo. The Leapster 2 is great because it tracks his progress and highlights his strengths and areas of improvement.  


From before she could sit up, Loki has shown great interest in percussion.  Put anything in her hand and she'll bang it against something.  Give her a bowl and she'll turn into a drum.  EB must have known this, because he obliged her with her own drum set.  Loki has taken to her drum set-she loves to bang away.  We're trying to teach her to bang her sticks over her head before she starts to play.  Having been told by my elementary school music teacher that it was a waste of his time to continue to teach me, it makes me happy to think that Loki may have an aptitude for the drums.  If she has the desire to play, we will support that decision-even if it means loud practice sessions in the house.


As I mentioned, Gigi's basket remains unopened, but she did inquire what she got.  We don't tell her, opting to leave it a surprise.  When she did call Easter morning, she was audibly upset and I asked her what was wrong.  Gigi's mother had yelled at her because Gigi received a basket here in Massachusetts.  Huh?!?  Yes, you read that right.  Gigi got yelled at because EB brought her a basket.  But why you ask?  Why should it matter?


I can only speculate, but I believe this can all be blamed on that evil man Santa Claus.  Gigi spends every Christmas with us and when she is here for Christmas, Santa brings her presents here.  For some reason, he conveniently doesn't leave any presents for her in Wisconsin because, well, I guess he's trying to cut costs?  He leaves presents for Gigi's half-sister and pseudo-step-siblings so it's not like he doesn't stop there; Gigi doesn't get anything from Santa (or for that matter from her mother for the last 2 years, but thats a completely separate post).  As Gigi gets older and certain truths become evident, I can only speculate that her mother is realizing that Gigi is going to remember that EB made it a priority to ensure that she received a basket at both her homes and that Santa only left her presents in Massachusetts.


It's sad that in attempt to save a few bucks, my ex is going to end up spoiling what should be a treasured childhood memory.

Good Friday and Good Night

Having tweeted all day I honestly don't see the appeal outside of helping my swiss cheese brain remember stuff.  I'll probably not tweet again unless some significant occurs.  Like "OMG there's a UFO n da street.  Alienz r 4nic8ng w/the neighbor's dawg." significant.

But I promised an annotated version of my tweets, so here we go:


And we're up and running. Laundry and dishes both in their magic cleaning boxes. Lex is potty training today. Fingers crossed there. So I was a bit on the slow side getting up and didn't actually get up until everyone else in the house was up.  Cute Fan Girl got Lex started on the potty and I dragged myself up after Loki was ready to get up.  Started the whole clean the house process (which didn't get as far as I had planned) by starting laundry and dishes.

Potty attempt #1 & 2-SUCCESS!- Lex was successful on his first two (and ultimately only two) potty sessions this morning.  When he woke up from his nap, he had zero interest in using the potty.  Later, he did sit on the potty, but no action.  I'm hoping that this process continues to go smoothly.  This weekend will be a big step I hope!

Is it wrong that I'm nervous having Lex sit on my lap? Potty training is so nerve wracking.- I was so nervous he was going to wet himself and me, but luckily it didn't happen.  As he sat there he "drew" a house using stickers to make the outline.

Kids are dressed! Maps are printed! Hopefully, my local hunt stays local. Mom is getting a local kielbasa and making local chicken salad.- I was fully prepared to trek as far as needed to get the items on my list.  The milk and eggs weren't the issue, it was the seafood.  Ultimately, Cute Fan Girl stopped off at Whole Foods and saved me the hassle.

Lex: Me Sean. Me Sean.- Lex got himself dressed this morning.  Khaki shorts that rode down on his hips, a t-shirt and sunglasses.  He comes walking into the living room declaring that he was his Uncle Sean.

And we're off....- Left the house about 9:30.  A little later than I hoped, but oh well.

Milk n eggs. Not what I expected.- The Farm Store wasn't what I expected.  Also, I made the mistake of not putting Loki in the stroller so I had my hands full.  I'm sure that if I had, I would have had better success looking around.  But I got the eggs and milk and peanut butter cookies.  We saw the token cow.  All the other cows must have been in the barn, but the kids got to see the cow and a cat.

Going to the fish market on Good Friday. Not the smartest choice.- Up there with a toy store on X-Mas Eve, a florist on Valentine's Day or the Hallmark section of a Target about 4:30 PM on Mother's Day.  It was jampacked.


Don't tell a 3 year old you're going to a fish market. He wants to bring Nemo home. Lex thought we were buying a fish for his aquarium.  He did get excited about seeing the lobsters in the tank.


No luck on the local fish front.-  Considering how busy it was I didn't get a chance to really talk to the guys working behind the counter.  They had Gulf shrimp and Maine lobster, but the sources of the other fish were unknown.

Does eating at Burger King negate the whole sourcing locally concept?-I know it's horrible to feed them fast food, but at this point it was past noon and I had little desire to go home and make lunch.

Home...lunch is done and we're getting ready for naptime. Which works out nicely, cuz I need a nap.- Today was a good nap day.  Two of the last 3 home days Lex hasn't napped.  Today they both napped and I got some much needed quiet time.

If it smells like lighter fluid, do you really think the burgers will taste good?- Really, the only tweet I'm proud of.  Now that the weather has turned nice, the folks in the basement apartment pulled out their grill and made Kerosene Cheeseburgers.  Someone has a heavy hand when it comes to the lighter fluid.  If it smells that strong, I can only imagine what biting into one must be like.

The rest of the evening went tweet-less.  We made Shrimp and Pasta and a garlic bread.  Lex helped us cook and the food was delicious.  After dinner, Lex & I went for a walk as he tried to learn to ride his bike.  He doesn't quite have the pedaling concept down yet.  We came home and decorated eggs for Easter.

All in all a very Good Friday and now I bid you a good night!  Or in tweet speak Gud nite!

Long Live The Blue Beetle! (Spoilers for Blackest Night #8)

Wednesday saw the arrival of 3 books I was eagerly anticipating.  Some time ago, I had sent off my complete run of Blue Beetle (1986-1988) along with his DC debut from Secret Origins #2 to be professionally bound into two hardcover volumes.  Library Binding, a company based in Texas that I found about from Collected Comics Library, did a great job.  Incidentally, if you're a fan of comic books in general and trade collections in particular, you should give the CCL a listen.  Chris Marshall does a great weekly podcast and he has a complete release schedule of collected editions that stretches from 2006 out into 2011.  My bound editions of Blue Beetle arrived Wednesday and I couldn't be happier with them.  They are both bound in blue imitation leather with a metallic blue font to mimic the Blue Beetle's color palette.  I'm kicking myself for not splurging and getting the ribbon markers, but the next books I get will have them.  I had the comics bound as is, so they are complete with front & back covers and ads.  I think next time I may make the effort to separate the books, discard the back covers and as many ads as I can.  I may also group the front covers together as a feature section in the back.

Wednesday also the release of Blackest Night #8, the final issue of DC's blockbuster mini-series.  As a DC fan, I was very happy with the story with one exception.  Without getting into too much spoiler detail, a host of characters who have been killed off over the last 10 years were resurrected as a result.  There were a number of notable exceptions, but none (to me at least) as glaring as Ted Kord.

Ted Kord, the Silver Age Blue Beetle, was murdered by Maxwell Lord in the events leading up to Infinite Crisis.  In the years leading up to Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Ted (along with his ever-present sidekick Booster Gold) had become a laughing stock.  None of his fellow heroes took him seriously and despite several editorial attempts, neither did comic book fans.  Countdown to Infinite Crisis followed Ted as he tracked down a mysterious organization that was targeting super-heroes.  Ted was in top form and discovered his former Justice League cohort Max Lord was behind the organization.  Ted refused to help Max and Max murdered Ted.  Ted has since shown up in issues of Booster Gold, when Booster had traveled back in time and rescuing Ted moments before he was to be murdered.  When they returned to the present time, they found that Max Lord had managed to kill or enslave the majority of the world's superheroes.  Ted realized that his death was the key to stopping Max Lord and taking a time machine he traveled back in time sacrificing himself to save the world.

Ted returned again in the form of a Black Lantern raised from the dead to fight Booster Gold.  Booster, along with the Modern Age Blue Beetle, defeated him using technology developed by Ted Kord.  In the course of this, Booster discovered that someone had accessed one of Ted's secret hideouts in the recent past; something that only Ted could have done.

With the absence of Ted from the resurrected heroes in Blackest Night #8 and the hints dropped, I can only hope that it's going to turn out that Ted has somehow managed to return using his brain and time machine.  Hopefully Ted will be back-either as the Blue Beetle or a mentor for the next generation of heroes.

Milk, Eggs & Fish

Easter is 3 days away and tomorrow the kids and I will venture out to get milk, eggs and fish for our 100-mile Easter celebration. We have a lot to accomplish and I want to share the fun and excitement of our hunt. I will be tweeting our escapades on my Twitter account: So point your tweet-thang at whoknowswhynot. I'll also be posting an annotated version tomorrow night right here.