January

 Got one of those bits of news that punches you in the balls yesterday.

A friend and his wife (whom I also consider a friend) are divorcing.  They've been together as a couple for about 15 years, I think, and married for about 11 or so of those.

I'd kinda wondered if something was amiss.  I hadn't seen her in a few months.  I'd chalked it up to her returning to school and not having a lot of spare time outside of work and that.  But things went awry here in the past several months, and they'd kept it close to the vest for a bit.

I'm sad for them.  They were a good couple.  Probably our best friends as a couple....at least the ones we'd see the most.  We were all a pub trivia team for a good long time.  Going back to 2010 or earlier, though we hadn't played as regularly the last few years.

I guess it's just one of those things that comes with aging.  

Doesn't make it feel any better.

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January isn't my favorite month.  It's the coldest part of winter.  You get done with the craziness and bustle of the Christmas season and New Year's, and instead of festivity, you're met with the grays and browns of Tennessee in Winter.  If we get ice and snow, the last few years especially, it comes in January   And I seem to have a propensity for bullshit hitting in January.

Cars breaking down.  Trucks getting stolen.  Sickness.  Dad's surgeries somehow seemed to fall in January, especially his bypass.  I got fired in January.

Other bad things happen in other months, but January seems to draw more than its share of stress and misfortune.  I'm never sad to see it go.

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One minor thought.  The group who runs the Trivia game we go play will often put up notices if a show is cancelled, and a reason.  The last week or so, there have been a couple cancelled for host illness, or a car broken down.  But there have been a handful cancelled because there isn't adequate staff for the restaurants to stay open for the night.

I wonder how often that will happen over the next four years.

Far Sector

Go check yourself out Far Sector, by NK Jemisin & Jamal Campbell.

For the past dozen years or so on the Facebook,  I've kept a tally of what i read,  but this year. I wanted to keep better track of what comics I've been reading, if I'm reading collected editions. 

This one was a new one, for me. I really dig DC's Compact Editions. I first found them last year... I got Thomas a copy of Watchmen for Christmas. Every now and then one of the publishers will put out a smaller format collected edition, and they never give it enough time, or find enough outside the box marketing to make it work. This is DC's effort, and i hope they stick it out, because I really dig them. (My take is that they really should pour some resources and give it time for the format....DC, Marvel and a half dozen other publishers have a significant enough catalog to think outside the box when it comes to putting stories out there into new hands.....

I don't want to digress from the book itself, but I will, for a minute: I hate the way the comics industry has run itself for the past 30 years. It's become one that caters to collectors and investors almost exclusively, leaving those of us who just want to read a good story less and less willing to gamble on something new because the price tag just gets too high. I'm an Old Fart, now, who's only gotten back into the comic store as a regular visit in the last couple of years (shout out to Comics Unlimited in Cleveland, btw). Mostly, I buy trades. This became especially true when Marvel (just as an example... all publishers are more or less guilty) was charging 4 bucks for a single issue.... it just made more sense to find the trade six months later for 15 or 20 bucks, since I was past the days of waking up excited for New Comic Day. I still buy 3-5 single issues a month, but nothing like the dozen or more I'd throw money at 25 years ago....

But to belabor a point, even with trades it gets pricey, when you get into deluxe editions, and beyond that epic collections and even more the Omnibus.... it can be tough if you're still a fan of tactile reading but you don't feel like spending $100 every week at the store. 

I really like these Compact Collections DC is trying. They aren't using the glossy paper, and you can find the whole run of a story for 10 bucks. 

And you can gamble on something you might not have normally. 

I really dig Jemisen as a writer, but had only heard bits and pieces about this one. 

I liked it a lot. 

Nerfs the Green Lantern ring a bit, but it makes a better story if you don't have another green powered Superman around. 

Good SF story... new Lantern Sojourner Mullein is stationed at the City Enduring, a Dyson- style city of 20 billion, made up of 3 species who live with their emotions dampened in the name of peace.... and then the murders begin. Good cyberpunk mystery ensues. 

Like I said, I liked this one....

And I might not have wandered across it had i not liked the Compact packaging (and price).