in with the new

Go Me, It's My Birthday!

I'm 32 today! I like to have my birthday celebration last for as loooong as possible. This one will be no exception to that "rule". It started last night, with a great dinner at our friends' club. There was cake at the end, and people sang the birthday song to me. My favorite song. And then there was drinking. Today is the official birthday day. It will be quiet and relaxing. Maybe there will be a bike ride on the boardwalk. Maybe another festive meal. Tomorrow they might have cake for me at work. If not tomorrow, then Tuesday. Wednesday, BFF Shannon is taking me out for birthday dinner. Then Friday there are ten of us going to see Kid Rock at Jones Beach. While this isn't officially an "Erika's Birthday" event, it leads into Saturday, which will be another celebration of me with all the concert goers who are staying in our house. A week of my birthday. Awesome.

I've been thinking that it's time to change the comic icon on my front page. Not to a picture of me, but another comic character. The Catwoman I love is Selena Kyle from the comic book. That's going to get lost in translation once that awful looking Halle Berry movie comes out. I don't want to associate with the movie or the crazy actress. I heard a rumor that she said that playing Catwoman empowered her to divorce her lying, cheating husband. Couldn't she have rented a DVD of X-Men or Die Another Day to empower herself?

I'm going to change my icon to a drawing by Phil Noto. He is my favorite comic artist. I buy tons of comics just because he has drawn the cover. (Thank goodness he picks good comics to draw covers for, or I'd own a bunch of crap!) He draws people so pretty. His drawings are unique and instantly identifiable. I love the hair on his characters. It's going to be Beautiful Killer, though I'd like it to be a rotating picture of all of the Danger Girls.

In case you were wondering, "who is Erika's SECOND favorite comic book artist?" Because I know you were! It's Ted Naifeh. His comic How Loathsome drew me in. (Beware, it's for mature readers!) He also has a really unique drawing style. And Will emailed him about comic writing advice, and Mr. Naifeh was SO nice to him!

So if I could have rotating pictures over there in the upper left corner, they'd be of Beautiful Killer, the Danger Girls and the How Loathsome characters. But I'm lazy, so I choose Beautiful Killer.

The Escapist

The Escapist is a new/"old" comic book that was "brought out of the archives" this week. The Escapist is my dog. It is based on a comic book that was created in the book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. She got out of her crate and greeted us at the door last night! Michael Chabon, the book and comic writer, even "remembers" the first time he picked up an Escapist comic in the late 60s. I hope we put the crate back together more solidly. It's a really cool concept. I don't want her to get hurt! Pick it up today!