End of the Week Wrap-up 5-6-2006

French toast again, or "If Dad doesn't know, ask Mom!"

I asked my mother about why the cost of French toast is much more than the cost of regular toast when they're both basically slices of bread, and she said that it's because eggs are used in the making of French toast --sometimes two or three eggs that the toast is dipped in. So basically, the cost covers both the toast plus the eggs used to make it. So there ya go.

Being an artist vs. looking like one

On the campus where I work, an art professor I know wears no other shoes besides Birkenstock sandals. Even in wintertime, she wears them --but with socks. I discussed this with some people I know, and they thought that all artists wore them. They had this impression that artists were supposed to be liberal, sometimes surly and arrogant, dressed Bohemian style (basically, like a slob), hate Bush, and of course, wear Birkenstock sandals. That got me to thinking: Isn't that a stereotype, actually? I consider myself an artist --certainly not a Picasso or a Rembrandt --but certainly an artist. And yet, I don't dress or act that way (okay, maybe I can be a tad surly at times, but it's not because I'm an artist).

Granted, the stereotype of non-conformity is usually expected, but --isn't it a tad ironic for an artist to conform to a stereotype of non-conformity? In other words, doesn't it fly in the face of being a non-conformist to conform to an expected standard of non-conformity? I think it does, and I think that I'm being a non-conformist artist by consciously trying to NOT conform to the expected non-conformist stereotype. So there. What's the artist community gonna do about it? Call me a rebel? Wouldn't that make me a non-conformist? Gotta love it. ;-)

Chaos in the superhero universe

My student workers at the university library where I work, plus people that I know online keep me up on the goings-on in the superhero universes of Marvel and DC Comics (which I shall refer to from here on as MCU and DCCU respectively). In the DCCU, they just completed a limited series called Infinite Crisis, and as a result, the superheroes are going to be expected to register as heroes in the countries where they work.

Meanwhile, in the MCU, they're just starting a limited series called Civil War. In the MCU, as a result of a disasterous episode of a superhero reality TV show, the federal government is now going to require superheroes to reveal their secret identities to the government, and to register basically as supercops for the feds. This divides the superhero community, because many of them feel that they need the anonymity that the mask provides. Also, it would only take a corrupt federal employee to sell their secrets to the highest bidder for their identities to be known by the wrong people. Or it could be a super villain who threatens utter devastation unless a superhero's secret to be revealed. I guess you can look at it this way: Would you trust the federal government to keep your secrets? Anyway, this series is about the chaos that ensues from this federal action.

I shall be keeping up with this, because I may write it in for my own superhero on my site. Whe I've gotten more info on the results of these actions in both the DCCU and the MCU, then I shall comment more on how this will affect what I plan to write for my own superhero character, The Shamrock.

Sports

After having almost a week off, the well-rested Dallas Mavericks are now set to play the San Antonio Spurs starting tomorrow. I strongly believe that the Mavs can do this. My prediction: The Mavs in 6 games. The key will be for the Mavs to give the weary, banged-up Spurs no rest. Come at them hard and fast right from the get-go, and don't let up until the clock ticks down on that 4th win. Stay tuned, folks... this could be the Mavs' year to go all the way! :-D