Whine and Cheese

I've lived in my house for 17 years now and as I'm working on upgrading things, I've realized that the dining room might just be a waste of space. In all these years, I think I've eaten at the dining room table with guests or family probably three or four times.

It seems strange to have a room that gets so little use, kept just "in case" or because it's defined that way in a house design. A house has a dining room. What would happen if a house didn't? Right now the table in the dining room serves as a place to stack the mail and gives Boo the Cat a place to sharpen her claws on the legs.

I've given it some thought and I think I might get rid of the table and chairs and turn the room into something else. I'd enjoy having a sitting area, just a couple of comfy chairs and a low table, with maybe a couple of book shelves. I've also thought of moving my drafting table down there and buying some high stools that can fit around it. That way, at least it can function as both.

Has anyone else ever done this or thought about doing it?

Back in the late 1960's/early 1970's, DC Comics made the decision to have Wonder Woman give up her Amazon powers (as the result of the Amazons leaving this dimension for another) to stay in "Man's World." Without her powers, Wonder Woman left the Justice League and opened a mod-fashion boutique. She trained with a mysterious martial artist named I Ching and became an adventurer, fighting street thugs and the occasional spy. Comparisons to Emma Peel of The Avengers TV-show were made. The title of her comic became "Diana Prince: Wonder Woman" and she did not use her Wonder Woman alias.

Recently, I bought three trades of the Wonder Woman series from this era. I was curious, having only read sporadic issues I bought here or there, how the series ran. In my opinion, the writing and artwork for the series was better than it had been, but Diana Prince still lingered in the shadow of the super-powered Wonder Woman and it's hard to say that the latter wasn't missed. According to history, even Gloria Steinem called in to DC to complain about Wonder Woman's power loss.


Between crime-fighting battles, Diana Prince worried about her hot pants orders.

Diana Prince wasn't left out of the DC continuity though. She teamed up with Superman and Batman on occasion in their respective books, still being referred to as Wonder Woman. She also appeared in the Justice League of America comic during one of the summer JLA/JSA crossovers.

The power loss lasted for around 23 issues of her book. Eventually, Diana regained her Amazon powers and rejoined the Justice League as Wonder Woman.

Whether the "Diana Prince" path was a good creative decision for DC has been long-debated. Many considered it a brave choice for the time, bringing in a then-modern and original storyline. Others have stated that the most iconic superheroine in comics had been defanged, pointing out that the writers wouldn't have done this sort of thing to Superman.

In reading it myself, I think the stories were good (okay, minus the hotpants panel above), but I think DC could have very easily created a new heroine to be the mod-super spy. One thing I think the change did do was force the comic to be more modern in its approach, maybe even more gritty, which it sorely needed.

Asked by mat_t:

"Have you ever been in love? Or thought that you might be falling, even if it didn't fully develop?"

That's a good question, but not necessarily an easy one to answer. I would like to think I fell for someone (a couple of someones), but the reality that is it was likely infatuation as it never developed into more. Not sure what that says about me.

I keep hoping to find the special someone that makes me feel that way though.

Short, sweet, but truthful...

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March is question month and it's winding down. If you have a question you'd like to ask, post it here.

Asked by the buff mort_83:

"When did you start lifting weights? What kind of equipment do you have (heh!)? What is your program like?"

I started lifting weights back in 1994 when I joined my first gym. However, I usually did the weight machines and didn't change my diet at all, so the results were pretty weak. I joined a fancier gym in 1996 in Kansas City during my time there and I started to see more progress, but I also did the "body pump" classes which helped. I actually remember getting ogled (for lack of a better term) by a female coworker or two at the time.

I felt back into old habits when I moved back to the Cincinnati area in 2000 and my weight and state of fitness fluctuated.

In 2011, my gym "lost" my membership and I decided not to renew as the gym was falling apart. In response, I bought a set of adjustable 50 lb weights, along with two sets of 25 lb and 15 lb free weights. I also bought the P90X system for a program. I shed a lot of fat and gained good muscle in the right areas. I think I was in the best shape of my life with that program.

I still follow the program in a sense. I still do the workouts for arms, shoulders, chest, and back. I admit, I slack off for the legs part, but I tend to run outside for my cardio. Right now I lift two to three days a week with two or three days of cardio on alternating days. I seem to be maintaining muscle in the right places, but I need to get rid of the thickness of my midsection that has crept up over the last couple of years.

Lately, I have thought of rejoining a gym so I could have access to heavier weights and different cardio equipment.

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March is question month. If you'd like to ask me a question, just ask it here.

Asked by "Anonymous":

"What is your favorite food, and what is your least favorite food? What food memory brings you the most happiness?"

Sometimes it's hard to pick out a favorite food, because it really depends on the mood I am in at the time. I crave Indian or Thai food on occasion. If I had to choose a food that I almost never, ever turn down, it would probably be pizza. Pizza doesn't seem like an adequate answer as it has now gone beyond simple tomato sauce, cheese, pepperoni. Now it can come with chicken, pineapple, ham, jalapeno peppers, etc. The mix of different flavors slapped on heated bread with sauce is really an amazing food.

If we're talking desserts though, I never turn down pecan pie. I always think of my grandmother when I have a piece as she's the one who gave me my first slice as a kid and her pecan pies were wonderful.

When it comes to the least favorite food, the list changes considerably. I don't eat seafood. I've never been a huge fan of it to start with and never liked shellfish. However, I spent four years working in a food laboratory in Kansas City, primarily doing mercury analysis on seafood, and the smell of rotten fish is forever burned into my nostrils. I can never eat it again.

As a kid, the one food that just made me literally gag was white hominy, which we always had in the house because my sister loved it.

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March is question month. If you would like to ask me anything, go here.

Asked by fellow comic book fan maxauburn:

"Who are your favorite super heroes- and why?"

My all-time favorite hero is probably Wonder Woman. My first comic book ever was Wonder Woman #250, bought for me by my older cousins Stephanie and Debbie in 1978. It cost a quarter. With Wonder Woman being on live TV and in cartoon form on "Super Friends," I was immediately drawn to her. It was fun to watch and fun to read. The transformation spin would run me dizzy. Her strength, speed, ability to deflect bullets, and have a cool lasso made her easy to mimic.

I always enjoyed the link to Greek mythology. When George Perez revamped her in the 1980s, I fell in love with her all over again. The current version in the DC's New 52 is a travesty of the character, in my opinion.

I have other favorite heroes, usually finding one on every team, like Star Boy in the Legion of Super-Heroes, Angel in the X-Men, The Scarlet Witch in the Avengers, Mirage in the New Mutants, The Flash in the JSA, etc. Each one for different reasons. If I kept on, the entry would be too long to read. :)

So which ones are yours?

March is question month. If you would like to ask me anything, go here.

Sorry to have let this one "March Question" slip by, but work got a bit busy.

The dashing Mr. Moof (aka barak) wanted the following:

"I'd like to know something amusing about the Mark™."

It's not the easiest request to fulfill. I could tell you about my dislike of white hominy, my disdain for the phrase "touch base" outside a softball game, and my complete irritation at people who talk in movie theaters.

Honestly, I don't find myself to be that interesting. It's ironic, I know, considering I have a ten-year LJ where I've written in regularly, but it often becomes a place to show off my comic, discuss things I find intriguing, ask for advice, or just rant. I don't have elaborate hobbies. I don't travel for vacations. I have even just bypassed dating all together of late (though my right hand is getting close to asking for money for services rendered).

So my days have greatly become -- work, workout, shower, eat, play with kitties, watch TV, draw, sleep, repeat.

Just don't tell me in the middle of a good movie that you wanted to "touch base" with me to see if my white hominy aversion has changed. That would completely throw me out of whack.

Asked by the Inquisitive epinoid,

"What are your favorite ways to explore/learn the stuff you are interested?"

Usually when something new catches my attention, I tend to surf the web for background information on it -- history, photos, blogs, etc. If it's something that lends toward a hobby or trying something new, I might buy how-to books on it. When I wanted to improve my cartoon inking skills, I bought a couple of books on inking techniques. Recently, I bought a Dummies book of sewing because I've thought about learning how to use a sewing machine (granted I need to buy one first).

"If you could immerse yourself in another culture (any type) which ones would you pick?"

I've always been a big fan of Irish history and recently Scottish culture. I realize they are not so drastically different than say Japanese or Norweigan culture, but the familiarity makes them appealing.

"What is a skill you want to learn in the next few years?"

Other than the aforementioned sewing machine stuff, I'd love to learn to speak Spanish.

"What does your life look like in ten years? in twenty?"

Heh! At 50, I'd like to have a furry husband of many years with no mortgage and heavily-stamped, well-worn passport. At 60, I'd like to be retired with the same husband, in good health, and still traveling about places we'd like to go. I wish I could be more elaborate, but I rarely think so far ahead.

"What do you find most engaging in other people?"

The ability to make me laugh often catches my attention the most. I like being able to have a good conversation with someone where the topics evolve where each of us learns something.

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I have other questions to answer and I'll get to them soon!

March is Question Month! If you would like to ask me anything (anonymously if you prefer), you can leave your question on this entry.

Having watched many seasons of "RuPaul's Drag Race" now, I have picked up a bit of the lingo they throw about. Mostly through the constant overuse by the queens. I have noticed a few odds and ends that seems to be overused.

• You too can talk like a drag queen strutting the runway, just fill in this blank: I'm serving ___________ realness!" I think I read on FB a comment by ericdabear) where he pointed this out too. It's cute the first few times you hear it, but every single one of them fills in the blank almost every time they romp down the runway.
  
  
• When did it become the norm for drag queens to pull their wigs off during a high energy performance? I've been to only a few drag shows in my life and I've never seen it. At least one queen who is "Lip syncing for their lives" seem to throw the wig every week. This week one of the queens did it (no spoilers for those who haven't seen it) and Santino Rice shook his head "no" after it happened. I guess I don't understand doing that because it shatters the illusion that it's a woman. You ain't serving fishy realness doing that.
  
  
• Has anyone else noticed that often the queen who seems to be getting a lot of screen time during an episode is often the one who goes home? I haven't seen it so much this season, but in past seasons the queen who was involved in the most drama or discussions in a specific episode was the one sent packing.

And now back to non-drag related life :)

Also asked by designerotter,

For you, what are the steps of creating a character, including the individual costume design?

I think the first step when creating a character is what kind of character do I need. If I'm drawing a hero team, the powers of each has to be considered. A team of all heroes with super-strength is boring. Variety is the key. So if there is an existing team, I look to see what kind of powers are missing from the team dynamic, or which ability would be useful. No one hero is all-powerful, or else he or she can't be defeated, which again is kind of dull.

It sounds strange, but the hero's powers often dictates the costume design for me. A speedster would never wear a bulky or baggy outfit because of wind resistance. A person with heat powers might wear a more revealing costume than other heroes because they would never get cold. If I'm drawing a hero for a friend who is a bit of an exhibitionist, he would likely get a more revealing costume than someone who tends to be shy in real life. When it comes to color, the hero's powers might also tell me what to pick. A hero with ice powers would probably wear cooler colors (though it's an interesting thought to give such a hero a green or red color). I sometimes look to see what colors are in the costumes of the existing team heroes and pick a main costume color that's missing and start working from there.

I take all of these sort of things into consideration when designing a costume. If it's a hero that I'll be drawing over and over (like for the comic book), then the designs usually aren't too elaborate. Too many details make it hard to draw over and over.

When I'm drawing a character for a friend, I usually ask for what kind of powers they'd like to have. Some friends just give generic powers like super-strength or speed, where others get really creative.

So once I get the powers, favorite colors, and other details for a friend's hero, I start drawing. When I get an artistic block, I just doodle until I see find that might work, doing a bit of trial and error. When I started drawing the "Bear Runner" hero for Derek (_decibel_), I ended up creating a blank hero toon that I could pencil different designs on with out having to redraw the form. Once the pencil design was done, I inked over it with notes and colors. Then I would draw a separate cartoon in an appropriate position.


The Blank Hero (left), Draft Bear Runner with notes (center),
and Finished Toon (right)

When it comes to coloring, Photoshop has been a godsend, allowing me to try different color variations without wrecking the original cartoon. If I'm drawing a new hero unrelated to a request, I tend to show a bit more fur here and there. I guess I could say that I know my comic's fan base and what they like to see :D

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March is Question Month. If anyone else would like to ask a question, you can post it here. You can ask anonymously if you'd like, IP addresses are not recorded for the month. Comments to this entry are screened and if you would rather I not identify you, please make a note of it in your post there.