"Genius" - a Graphic Novel Review

Ranting: Enjoyed it.

I recently had the opportunity to read the graphic novel, "Genius" by Steven T. Seagle. It initially got my attention because it was about a quantum physicist who discovers his father in law knew Albert Einstein and holds on tightly to a secret Einstein told him. I was surprised, because, who writes a comic about a physicist? or Einstein? So I felt I had to read it. And at 128 pages, it didn't take me too long to read.

I enjoyed the layout and artistry - I feel it helped convey the struggles of the lead character and the feeling of the entire story. The comic is mostly subdued colors, hues of brown, eggshell and sepia tones - which I felt worked. I had trouble with the font of the text, seemed almost cursive and almost print, with some letters hard to decipher - but that could just be my inner elderly man coming out. I found the story interesting, although if you don't like physicists, life changes and career dystopia - you probably shouldn't read this. It's a good internal struggle for the main character. Although there was an unnecessary (at least I felt so) discussion of masturbation which I felt intruded upon the story and kicked me out of the flow - otherwise it flowed well.

Disclosure: I received a free ebook of this title for preview and review. I am not paid for this review.

Give a Mouse a … Oooo Look Over There!

My attention span is very limited. I get bored writing. I'll start writing a story and then get tired of writing it and just let it die. It's something I'm working on. It's sort of like what happened to me a few days ago when I opened the door to the laundry room (which isn't really a 'room', it's more like a large closet that barely fits the washer and dryer) and sitting on top of the dryer, was a mouse. A tiny little brown mouse who didn't seen to concerned with me. I quietly closed the door and walked over to my girlfriend, "There's a mouse on the dryer."

"Really?" she said and open the door to look.

She was interested in capturing the little creature, not killing it, but capturing it and setting it free in the wild. But first, she needed to name it. After some deliberation, she decided to call the mouse Mr. Jingles - which sounded more like Mr. Jangles to me - from the Green Mile by Stephen King.

I don't know if you have every tried to capture a mouse - but it's exactly like the movie Mouse Hunt. So first we …

See? I'm bored with this story already. It's not that interesting. We caught the mouse with a live trap, and let her free (yes, we determined it was a she) out in the woods next to the house. But I didn't want to write the rest of the story. This is where my podcasting comes into play. I'd rather talk about then write about it.

All I know is if you give me a cookie, I'll probably need some milk - same goes for the mouse.

Recent Books I've Read

Early in my life I liked to read. Not loved to read. Just liked. I enjoyed it, but I found it difficult to do. It required focus, attention and … um … something else. And I've always had trouble reading because I felt the words seem to get in the way - in a "can't see the forest through the trees" kinda way. That's why I normally stick to comics. More pictures, less words - much like good porn (but that's another story). Recently I completed three books. That's right, three books. Two of them I had been reading on and off for the past 6 months (or more) and one of them I read in one night. And now I feel compelled to talk about them - in the order in which I completed them.

#1, The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow. This is a non-fiction book about randomness, with the bulk of the book discussing the history of the scientific and philosophical breakthroughs in the field of randomness - and the remainder how randomness actually affects our lives. It's narrative is limited, considering it's non-fiction and I felt the last part of the book was rushed - but all in all - I really liked the book. This book took the longest to read as I was constantly making notes and highlights. It gave me pause to think and I like that.

#2, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. This was the first of the 3 books that I started reading. Between the time I started it and completed it, a movie version, written by the author was released. The movie was pretty cool, but had very little resemblance to the book. There was also another drama about Lincoln released during this time - it has little resemblance to this book - but in a different way. I highly anticipated reading this. I LOVED it. It's written as a historical biography, using Abe's own diary as the driver for the story. It has vampires, civil war, politics and historical events. If you like Lincoln, but want it to be a bit juicier - this is for you.

#3, Mile 81 by Stephen King. This is a "Kindle Single" which really means short story. This is the one I read in one short sitting. I really enjoyed this fictional account of an abandoned rest area (at exit 81). It had a typical King-ness about it. People die, unexplained things happen and, well, shit happens. Very cool, doesn't take long to read. I'm a slow, slow, slow reader and I finished in the same evening I started it!

That's all I had to say. Tune in next time when … never mind.

Neglecting my Duties

Heh heh -- I said Duties. Anyway, that's not why I've called you all here. Today I realized, well actually yesterday I realized.  And the reason I realized was a friend of mine had a realization that was vaguely similar to the realization I had after his realization.  Well, maybe not as vaguely similar as eerily similar...  What was a talking about?  Oh yes, my realization. I've been neglecting writing.  Ever since I started podcasting, I've spent more time doing that than writing; and for me, that's just wrong. I have lots of useless, pithy, boring, exciting, witty, funny, offense, and bad stuff to express and my laziness is preventing me from reaching my full potential. So that's it.  I'm going to blog about whatever I want to much more often than in the past and I'm going to drag your sorry ass with me.

You're welcome.

Press Release - New eBook!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jackson Stull releases new ebook entitled, "Anti-Valentine's Day Essays and Depressing Poems"

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (February 9, 2013) - Jackson Stull, known for his podcasting and blogging, has published his second book - “Anti-Valentine's Day Essays and Depressing Poems".

In this collection, Jackson shares his thoughts and opinions on the Valentine’s Day holiday, from a historical perspective to his anger over being manipulated by the media to by gifts.  The majority of the collection is what Jackson likes to call, “depressing poems to make you sad.”  These were written during a particular dark time in his life and he felt now was the time to release them.

His book is available at Amazon and Apple's iBook Store.

Jackson's previous book "Regis Jack's Perception is Reality" has been out of print for several years and is considered a collectors item by many.

To find out more, visit the book's promo page at http://thedistractedphilosopher.com

Contact: Jackson Stull
http://thedistractedphilosopher.com/contact-us/

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And Now I've Seen A Sith Wedding

Yes, you read it right. This Sunday I took part in a Sith Wedding ceremony at the Carolina Renaissance festival. It took be by surprise. I friend of mine from the Ren Faire contacted me late Saturday night over FB and said that he knew a Sith Wedding was going to occur and they were going to sacrifice a Jedi! So I gathered my Ren Faire Trooper gear and headed out that morning.

After meeting the happy couple, who were excited to have a Stormtrooper for their ceremony, they regretted not contacting the 501st before hand to get more people - they thought of that too late.

The couple are the owners (I believe) in Leather Mystics - dressed in black leather and armed with sabers. The ceremony was conducted by Ren Faire Great - Shamus the Insulter, whose deep voice really added to the mood.  And he had done his Sith research, he referred to the couple only by their Sith names, everyone had to repeat the Code of the Sith and pledge their devotion to the Sith and the couple exchanged light sabers. It was great! And the King and Queen showed up to make it complete!

So, that's something I can check off my bucket list!

Also, for those who don't know, here is the Code of the Sith (from Wookieepedia)

The Sith Code, as written by Sorzus Syn^[1] and taught by Darth Bane:^[2]

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.

Clever, Cute and Meaningful

Please think of this blog post as something clever, cute and meaningful.  This will save me a lot of time actually trying to create something clever, cute and meaningful.

Thanks for your attention.