Comic Book Day

After finding Amazing Spiderman #583 in my drawer last week, I really wasn't expecting to find any of the Frank Frazetta's Moon Maid up for grabs at my comic book shop yesterday. 

Usually the high-demand titles are pretty thin in number by Thursday.

The wooden bin devoted to the new comics did indeed contain two copies, so I grabbed them both.

Score.

The cover art of this one-shot is just fun geeky goodness. The comic was rolled out with three different covers,  and I was lucky to get Cover A, done by Frazetta, as shown above.

The  story opens with the beautiful maiden, Ciena, strolling along on the moon, Kyra. She quickly runs into trouble, and is rescued by a centaur with a spear wearing some ugly costume jewelry. Once they're out of danger, he shares that he is the son of the Moon God, Orel. He takes her to the Temple of Orel, and then by reading the writings on the wall (literally) she discovers that she has been brought there to be sacrificed. Apparently her blood is the element that is needed to give life to Orel. 

Anyway, a  priestess called Lyanna, accompanied by a gang of bad-ass flying monkeys, show up to kick some centaur butt and save Ciena from the blood letting. 

This is exactly why I love flying monkeys.

The final panel of the comic reads, "The Equinox has come....and the rebirth has begun." 

There are only 56 days until the Vernal Equinox- but who's counting?

 

It's a New Day

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

As I take the sacred oath of the highest office in the land, I am humbled by the responsibility placed upon my shoulders, renewed by the courage and decency of the American people, and fortified by my faith in an awesome God.

We are in the midst of a season of trial. Our Nation is being tested, and our people know great uncertainty. Yet the story of America is one of renewal in the face of adversity, reconciliation in a time of discord, and we know that there is a purpose for everything under heaven.

On this Inauguration Day, we are reminded that we are heirs to over two centuries of American democracy, and that this legacy is not simply a birthright -- it is a glorious burden. Now it falls to us to come together as a people to carry it forward once more.

So in the words of President Abraham Lincoln, let us remember that: "The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 20, 2009, a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, and call upon all of our citizens to serve one another and the common purpose of remaking this Nation for our new century.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

2009: So Far, So Good

I was all set to go to a party at a friend's house last night, but because of various reasons (snowy/slippery roads, a long day at work, and my drinking buddy telling me earlier in the day that she wasn't going to the party) I decided to stay home and just chill for New Year's Eve. 

After hearing that I was going to be alone to ring in the New Year, Michael decided to go to work, ask his supervisor for the night off, pick up a bottle of champagne, and drive down to NH to make sure I had a glass of the bubbly as 2008 came to a close.

When I awoke this morning, I decided to go to the market and pick up some breakfast items, so I could make a tasty brunch to thank my friend for his kindness.

The first person I spoke to in 2009 was a women pushing a shopping cart in the produce section. She looked at me, smiled, and said, "Good morning.....and Happy New Year!"

 And this woman said it as if I was a favorite cousin who she hadn't seen in ten years.

I was taken back, but manage to get out a "And a Happy New Year to you as well."

After all the negative energy that I encountered in public during the holiday season- all the deep sighs, frowns, screaming children, yelling parents, and shopping cart bumper-car games at WalMart, I just couldn't believe that a person was being so very kind and wishing me a Happy New Year.

I'm very grateful that was my first encounter with another human being in 2009. So far, so good. 

I'm 1-0 with 364 to go.