It’s a Sunday, so let’s take a look at the last two weeks in the life of Allyn Gibson. 😉
In terms of work, last week was “Hell Week,” that time in the publishing cycle where I have lots to do, deadline looming left, right, and center. And despite some truly harrowing moments in the middle of the week, to say nothing of the end, I was the model of a Zen master.
On the last day of March I took a look at the things people wanted out of their allyngibson.net experience. Some surprising search queries. Some not-so-surprising searches. And yes, the unvarnished cover to Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins. Because everyone, at some point in their lives, needs to see it. 😆
In other news that day, the Cubs opened their 2008 campaign at Wrigley Field — and lost.
April 1st I ruminated on being a Chicago Cubs fans — and the oddity that, in spite of my fandom, I’ve never seen the Cubs in person. I thought, at the time, that I’d skip work one day and head down to DC at the end of the month to see them take on the Nationals. I’ve decided to postpone that until the Saturday of that three game stand.
April 2nd, I had to talk about John Yoo. Yoo is the author of a series of Justice Department memos in 2002 and 2003 that argued that torture of detainees and combatants was legal. The depredations of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay flow directly from his legal reasoning. In the past week a National Security Memo signed by the President authorizing torture surfaced. Who will be held accountable? When will the war crimes trials in the Hague begin?
A few weeks ago I picked up DC Comics’ Showcase Presents: Enemy Ace, and I wrote a little about that. Some of the stories are a bit simplistic in their narrative — and harkening back to a different era of comic books, these stories are written with the point-of-view that someone was picking up each of these stories and encountering the Enemy Ace for the first time — but the artwork is stunning and there’s a streak of fatalism that runs through the Enemy Ace saga. It’s really quite a remarkable piece of literature, and I would recommend this to anyone interested in World War I.
On Friday, April 4th, I shared a line from something I’d written: “I am told that Attorney General Mukasey has a lucrative side career as a professional Hellboy impersonator.” Anyone who has ever seen AG Mukasey will know how completely absurd that idea is. 😆
Saturday, the 5th, I did my state taxes.
April 6th was Tartan Day. On St. Patrick’s Day people celebrate their Irish heritage, and Tartan Day is a day where people should celebrate their Scottish heritage.
Monday I wrote about a tracklisting for an imaginary 1970 Beatles album, this one by a BBC Merseyside disc jockey. To be blunt, it’s not a very good imaginary album — there’s no sense of flow. It’s certainly not “The Greatest Album Never Made,” as the article I found called it.
Tuesday I was into Hell Week, and my post reflected that — it’s random, disjointed, and slapdash.
Wedneday, I wrote about Illinois State Representative Monique Davis and her anti-atheist rant during a hearing in Springfield. She has since apologized for her outburst, but not before Keith Olbermann named her the “Worst Person in the World” on Countdown.
Thursday, I noted an article on Slate about the President’s Shakespearean tendencies. While President Bush has apparently never quoted from Shakespeare in his speeches, he displays a Shakespearean tendency to coin new words.
Or, he’s just a tongue-tied maroon.
Friday, with Hell Week winding down, I tackled a meme. Nothing profound. Nothing remarkable. Just answering a bunch of questions using the first letter of my first name.
And I received my copy of Austin Torney’s self-published Star Trek novel, The Death Wave. And had hours of amusement.
Finally, on Saturday I wrote about the latest insanity with my grandmother.
Now that Hell Week is finished, next week should be calmer. 🙂
If only it weren’t dreary and chilly.