In 2012, I took a vacation. A brief one, just two days. I went to New York City to see the Lewis Chessmen. (Due to some poor planning on my part, I did not see them then; I had to go back over the weekend. Story of my life.) That was, sadly, my last vacation … Continue reading Exploring Cemeteries in Edgecombe County
Author: Allyn Gibson
A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.
The 2019 baseball season has begun. The hapless Orioles have a winning record for the first time in a year, the Nationals and Cubs stumbled out of the starting gate, and the defending National League East champion Atlanta Braves are winless. Baseball is a long grind, a team is never as good as they look … Continue reading Take Me Out to the Ballgame
A few weeks ago, Dark Horse Comics published an adaptation by P. Craig Russell of Neil Gaiman’s Narnia short story, “The Problem of Susan.” While I’ve read Gaiman’s short story a half dozen times over the years, between work and life and the flu I didn’t have the opportunity to give the graphic novel a … Continue reading The Problem of Susan
Barsoom! The word — Edgar Rice Burroughs’ name for Mars in his John Carter novels — carries this magical, mystical feel. It conjures visions of floating cities and fantastical science, of barren deserts and the alien tribes that dwell there, of ancient civilizations and epic battles of might and magic, and through it all, the … Continue reading Barsoom Attacked!
A few months ago, I wrote about The Dark Lady, the first book in Alesandro Gatti’s young adult mystery series, Sherlock, Lupin, and I, about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arsène Lupin, and Irene Adler when they were children. I enjoyed it — it was more fun and inspired than I expected — and I … Continue reading The Scarlet Rose
This week, the United Methodist Church held a special conference to address the issue of what to do about same-sex marriage and gay clergy. And, after not dealing with these issues, exactly as they’ve done at the past several (quadrennial?) General Conferences, the UMC has decided, once again, to do nothing. Same-sex couples cannot be … Continue reading The Looming Schism in Methodism
When I was in college, I worked for Payless ShoeSource. Payless wasn’t my first job — that was a comic book shop — and as jobs went, it was fine. I had just moved to Lynchburg, Virginia. I was at the mall one day, saw Payless was having a job fair because they were opening … Continue reading Adventures in the Shoe Trade
The Farpoint convention is this weekend in Hunt Valley, Maryland. The headlining guests are Wallace Shawn (My Dinner with Andre, The Princess Bride), Maurice Lamarche (Pinky & the Brain, International Talk Like William Shatner Day), and Rob Paulsen (Pinky & the Brain). I will also be there, as I’ve been ever year since 2006, and … Continue reading My Farpoint 2019 Schedule
I found something interesting yesterday, a reference to my great-grandfather in one of Baltimore’s German language newspapers, Der Deutsche Correspondent, on December 1, 1899. Der Deutsche Correspondent was Baltimore’s daily German newspaper, and it was published for nearly eighty years, from the early 1840s to 1918. It reads (translated thanks to Google): Marriage LicensesMarriage licenses … Continue reading A Potential Genealogical Discovery
Yesterday, Shamrock Fest announced their 2019 line-up. For me, it didn’t really matter; I’d already decided against attending this year. I was already leaning against attending — Carbon Leaf announced last month part of their 2019 touring schedule, and they had already booked a show on March 23rd that was not at RFK Stadium — … Continue reading Bailing on Shamrock Fest
Throughout 2019, I plan on making use of Life Captured‘s journaling prompts to supplement my blogging. I’d learned of them through a Lifehacker article over the summer, I found them interesting, and I kept the idea in the back of my mind. I may not keep up with them every day, or I may have … Continue reading Three Holiday Moments
Over the last several months, Standard Ebooks has released nicely made, free ebooks of the Holmes canon, except only The Casebook because it’s not in the public domain yet in the United States. They’ve also released several books of Maurice Leblanc’s Arsène Lupin, gentleman burglar, and since I was unfamiliar with the character (save for … Continue reading Arsene Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes