For Better or for Worse

I normally don’t read the comics. Something just seemed to deflate the cartoon balloon when Gary Larson stopped doing The Far Side and when we saw the last of Calvin and Hobbes, well, it wasn’t just the same reading the comics at all, at all. But there is still one daily comic I still enjoy a great deal and that one is For Better or for Worse by Lynn Johnston. Now I don’t know if this gets published in US newspapers as she is a cartoonist here in Canada.

The premise of the comic is a family, the Pattersons– the husband/father John is a dentist, the wife/mother is Elly - well I’m not quite sure what she is. She did own a bookstore and then sold it and I think she has gone back to school. The oldest son Michael is a writer who is married with two young children of his own, the oldest daughter Elizabeth is a teacher and the youngest daughter April is still in high school.

What really sets this comic strip apart and for me makes it hands above so many out there, is it is so true to life. I feel like I really know this family. They age just like we do. When I first started reading this strip way back when – Michael was just finishing up high school and on this way to University. I thought it was kind of cool because the cartoonist sent him to the University of Western Ontario here in London.

Over the years she has tackled many relevant topics. I winced with Elly when she found out ‘Surprise!’ she was pregnant with April much later in life. I have watched sadly as a few beloved pets of the Pattersons have died. One of Michaels best friends is gay and I read along as he slowly began coming out and telling people. Lynn Johnston’s Elly has also tackled the death of her mother and the sudden remarriage of her older father. Some storylines I kind of skim over and some hold my attention.

I don’t get the city paper anymore. I didn’t really see the point as they halved the editorial section, my favourite part and got rid of a couple of very good advice columns. I kind of lost track of the Pattersons until I started working again and they get the paper at work. I’ve become very caught up in the latest story line. Elizabeth, the older sister, taught way up north for a couple of years. She loved teaching there, the close knit community, and the children she had come to love, but became homesick and wanted to come home again. But while she was up there she met this young native police officer and they fell in love. It’s been a long distance relationship as she moved back home and he was still up north, but planning on putting in for a transfer so they could be together.

The latest had Elizabeth visiting Paul up north and when she ran into another friend who’s a pilot and he was flying up there, she hitched a ride with him so she could surprise Paul a day early.

I noticed how much this story line has hooked me in when the first thing I thought about when I woke up this morning was I could hardly wait to get to work and read For Better or For Worse and see what was going to happen between Elizabeth and Paul because I just had a bad feelings about this. You see, just before she left for home, Elizabeth met her replacement who just happened to be a young woman that Paul knew from when he was growing up.

And then I got to thinking what was I going to do on Saturday since I don’t get the paper. I HAD to find out what happened next.

And then I thought – “Kristie – this is a COMIC STRIP here. A comic strip. How many people rush to work so that they can read a COMIC STRIP?

But thank goodness for the power of Google because I found a few web sites where I could read it without having to go out in the cold winter (although not as cold here as in Ames' neck of the woods - now there weather is NASTY!) to find out what happens next.

*edited*

And I was right. Poor Elizabeth is getting her heart broken.

*sigh*

It really is a good comic strip though and almost makes up for the loss of my dear Calvin and his favourite stuffed tiger Hobbes

'til later

Round 5 of Major DIK Going On!

We have round number 5 of our DIK heroes going on right at this moment over at Christine's, The Romantic Life blog.

Things are getting a bit hairy, shall we say, as the bottles of rum are running out and I have resorted to doing other fun things beside drinking myself into oblivion while my fellow wenchy thieves *cough* I mean my fellow ladies pick my men *cough* various leftover heroes and men from books and now comics!

There is even talk of building a zoo for heroines on the island and hut hopping like you wouldn't believe! So come join me and Captain ARRRR (ARRR because one of my heroes who was stolen is being used as a maid!!) for the madness that can not be beat! My next hero is so out of control that he may scorch the island with fire! But at least I can ride him... er... on his back that is :)

Just wait till round 6 because Kristie(J) and I are hosting!

Round 6 - Hero DIK Draft Picks

Yep, Kristie here. It's Katie's **Katie waves** and my turn to host round 6 and we are both here now to host.

Katie will be here shortly to welcome you all to our humble abode but until she does I say:

Let the good times Roll

a.k.a. Desert Island Keeper Hero Draft: Round 6 of 6.

Welcome players and spectators to today's (and maybe tomorrow's since we are starting late) round of DIK Madness.

Below is a list of the women who selected six 'Desert Island Keeper' books to bring to our island's library almost two weeks ago. Since then, we've begun a 'Desert Island Keeper Hero Draft' for which the we are taking turns in rounds to pick seven heroes to join our island adventure.

If you need to email me your pick:

jenner2@rogers.com or katiebabsg@gmail.com

Round 1 picks are in RED.

Round 2 picks are in PURPLE.

Round 3 picks are in BLUE.

Round 4 picks are in GREEN.

Round 5 picks will be in ORANGE.
Round 6 picks will be in AQUA MARINE

CURRENT HOLDINGS:

1. Bridget Locke - Mr. Jules Cassidy (All Through the Night, Suzanne Brockmann), Bones (One Foot in the Grave and Halfway to the Grave by Jeannie Frost), Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen), Judd Laurens (Caressed by Ice, Nalini Singh), Simon Hunt (Secrets of a Summer's Night, Lisa Kleypas), Theodore Westgaard from LaVyrle Spencer's Years.

2. Ana - Bowen MacRieve (Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night, Kresley Cole), Sebastian St. Vincent (Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas), Royce Westmoreland (A Kingdom of Dreams,Judith McNaught), Conrad Wroth (Dark Needs at Night's Edge, Kresley Cole), Logan a.k.a. Wolverine (X-Men), Fox Mulder from the X-files spin-off books

3. Tumperkin - Mick Tremore (The Proposition, Judith Ivory), Michael McNeil (Patricia Gaffney's Wild at Heart), Christian, Duke of Jervaulx (Flowers from the Storm, Laura Kinsale), Graham Wessit (Black Silk, Judith Ivory), Sebastian Verlaine (To Have and To Hold, Pat Gaffney), Charles Audley, An Infamous Army, Georgette Heyer

4. LesleyW - John Matthew aka Tehrror (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward), Jeremy Danvers (Women of the Otherworld series, Kelly Armstrong), Vayl (Jaz and Vayl series, Jennifer Rardin), Curran (Magic Bites and Magic Burns, Ilona Andrews), Richard Tremayne High Lord of the Darkyn (Darkyn books, Lynn Viehl) Duncan Reever from the Stardoc books by S.L. Viehl.

5. Sarah - Clay (Women of the Otherworld series, Kelley Armstrong), Nathaniel (Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Series), Barinthus ( Meredith Gentry), Lucas (Heaven Sent Series, Jet Mykels), Jericho Barrons (Fever Series, Karen Marie Monings), Katou Youji from Haru wo Daiteita/Embracing Love by Nitta Youka.

6. Carolyn Jean - Eric Northman (Sookie series, Charlaine Harris), Joe Morelli (Stephanie Plum, Janet Evanovich), Ranger (Stephanie Plum, Janet Evanovich), Michael (Guardian Series, Meljean Brook), Adrian (The Spymaster's Lady, Joanna Bourne), Han Solo (Star Wars Series?) **SNEAKY THIEF who made Michael into a feather duster!!!!!** KB

7. Christine - Acheron (Dark Hunter series, Sherrilyn Kenyon) Qhuinn (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward) Vishous (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward), Butch O'Neill (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward), Belial (Guardians Series, Meljean Brook), Gaelen vel Serranis (The Tairen Soul series, C.L. Wilson)

8. Ciaralira - Ethan McCabe (Demon Night, Meljean Brook) Hugh Castleford (Demon Angel, Meljean Brook) Westley (The Princess Bride, William Goldman), Lord Robert Andreville (Robin) (Angel Rogue, Mary Jo Putney), Kieran vel Solande (Tairen Soul Series, C.L. Wilson), Garret Langham, the Earl of Mayne, from Eloisa James' Pleasure for Pleasure.

9. JenB - Vane Kattalakis (Night Play, Sherrilyn Kenyon) Angel (Angel, Johanna Lindsey) Rule, (The Demon You Know, Christine Warren), Kade (Riley Jenson Guardian series, Keri Arthur), Challen (Warrior's Woman, Johanna Lindsey), Calvin Morissey from Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

10. Katie(babs) - Alexander (The Bronze Horseman, Paullina Simons) Rehvenge (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward), James Diaz (Cry No More, Linda Howard) Gabriel "Sully" Sullivan (Gabriel's Ghost, Linnea Sinclair), Rain Tairen Soul (Tairen Soul Series, C.L. Wilson),**THE BEST SEXIN HUT ON THE DIK** Jack Prescott from Dangerous Lover by Lisa Marie Rice

11. KristieJ - Derek Craven (Dreaming of You, Lisa Kleypas) Dax Silverbrake (Sky Pirate, Justine Davis) Ciaran Tamberlane (My Forever Love, Marsha Canham), Branden Kel-Paten (Games of Command, Linnea Sinclair), Gray Rouillard (After the Night, Linda Howard),**GRAY'S TONGUE... thump** Wizard from Driven by Eve Kenin

12. Lisabea - Adrien English (Adrien English series, Josh Lanyon) Colin Ames Beaumont (Demon Moon, Meljean Brook), Jake Romero (With Caution, J.L. Langley), Nate (My Fair Captain, J.L. Langley), Savitri Murray (Demon Moon, Meljean Brook),**THIEF!!! ORIGINAL MICHAEL THIEF!** KB Derek Knightly from Sam Kane's (blazing sparking too sizzling to read in the company of others makes me blush) At Love's Command

13. MaryKate - ROARKE (In Death series, JD Robb) Lucas Hunter (Slave to Sensation, Nalini Singh), Maximillian Pesaro,( Gardella Chronicles, Colleen Gleason), Cameron Quinn (Sea Swept, Nora Roberts), Jacob Green (Vampire Queen Servant series, Joey W. Hill),**ROARKE THIEF SHOULD HAVE BEEN MINE!!** KB Captain Jack Seward from Connie Brockway's All Through The Night.

14. Naida - Edward Cullen (Twilight, Stephanie Meyers) John Atlantis (Entangled, Kathleen Dante), Frederick Wentworth (Persuasion, Jane Austen), Aragorn aka Strider (Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien), Tristen (Legends of the Fall, Jim Harrison), Mark Darcy from Helen Fielding's 'Bridget Jones Diary'

15. Samantha Kane - Doyle/The Queen's Darkness (Merry Gentry Series, Laurell K. Hamilton) Cat, a young pirate (The Windflower, Laura London),Chief of Police Jack West( All U Can Eat, Emma Holly), Tom Paoletti (Unsung Hero, Suzanne Brockmann), Angel a.k.a. Angelis (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Angel Chronicles, Nancy Holder and or Angel: After the Fall, Brian Lynch and Franco Urru), Rhys ~ LKH, Merry Gentry series

16. Sarai - Jake Riordan (Adrien English series, Josh Lanyon) Rejar (Rejar, Dara Joy), Vaughn D'Angelo (Visions of Heat, Nalini Singh), Zarek of Moesia (Dance with the Devil, Sherrilyn Kenyon), Jonas (Breed Series, Lora Leigh), Sterling "Harvard" Chase from Kiss of Crimson Lara Adrian

17. Shannon - Sam Donovan (Mr. Perfect, Linda Howard) Sam Starrett (Troubleshooters series, Suzanne Brockmann), Max Baghat (Troubleshooter series, Suzanne Brockmann), Adam Hauptman (Mercedes Thompson series, Patricia Briggs), Captain Malcom Reynolds a.k.a. Capt. Tight Pants (Firefly/Serenity franchise & comics, Joss Whedon), Izzy Teague from Christina Skye's Code Name series

18. Sula - Rhage (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward) Asa McIntyre (Promises Linger by Sarah McCarty), Dain (Lord of Scoundrels, Loretta Chase), Ian Witherspoon (At Love's Command, Samantha Kane), Nathaniel Bonner (Into the Wilderness, Sara Donati), Keir of the Cat from Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan

19. Thea - Jamie Fraser (Outlander, Diana Gabaldon) Joscelin Verreuil (Kushiel's Legacy series, Jacqueline Carey), Jacob Black (Twilight Series, Stephanie Meyer), Batman! , Remy LeBeau a.k.a. Gambit (Uncanny X-Men, Chris Claremont), Roland Deschain from Stephen King's Dark Tower books

20. Tracy - Zsadist (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward), Phineas Tucker (Welcome to Temptation, Jennifer Crusie), Dorian (Psy/Changeling Series, Nalini Singh), Wrath (Dark Lover, BDB series by JR Ward), Caine Allen (Caine's Reckoning, Sarah McCarty) Daemon Sadi from the Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop

Step 1. Find your name. That is the order you choose in.

Step 2. When it's your turn, "Call" ONE hero in the comments.

(Anybody from all of literature, but you can't have somebody who is already picked!)

Who will you pick? Tracy gets to start. Tracy, leave your hero's name in the comments. Then Thea gets to go. And so on. After this round, everybody will have five heroes, and draft round 6 will start at Kristie(J) & Katie(babs)'s. At the end of 7 drafts, everybody will have a group of 7 heroes to bring. Yes, trades are permitted. And if you missed last night's trade between CarolynJean and Lisabea... you've got some gossip to catch up on!

Don't worry about obsessively monitoring this thing. If you don't call your hero in 24 hours, 1 hour we'll skip you. LOL Just kidding. Maybe two hours. Or three. ;)

RULES:

• No picking out of order. Once the woman above you has chosen, it's your turn.

• Trades are permitted, but be clear about announcing the results in the comments or email so your host doesn't have to play sleuth.

• If it's your turn and we don't hear from you for 24 hours a few hours, sorry, you're skipped. But you can email your host ahead of time with your pick. Or comment as soon as you come back and your pick will be entered.

• Latecomers: SORRY, we wish everybody could play, but there has now been a moratorium placed on add-ons, due to the record-keeping nightmare this will soon become.

ROUND 1: (now over) Hosted at CarolynJean's.

ROUND 2: (now over) Hosted at Sarai's

ROUND 3: (now over) Hosted at lisabea's.

ROUND 4: (now over) Hosted at MaryKate's.

ROUND 5: (now over) Hosted at Christine's.

ROUND 6: Hosted at Katie(babs) & Kristie(J)'s.

ROUND 7: Hosted at Sula's!

*Kate stumbles out of her hut barely able to walk from all the sexin the night before*

And remember Kristie and I have the power to delete your picks if you steal our men because you are on our turf!

*Chugs some rum and hands a 6 pack to Kristie*

So ready.... steady... go... Let's get ready to island rumble!!

~**~**~**~**

And as an extra special bonus - Lisabea has been talking with the authors of some our DIK heroes and asked them to weigh in with their choices. And not only that!!! She has books to give away!!!

Adventures at the 2008 NYC Comic Con From Two Jersey Girls

Once upon a time (well, actually this past Saturday) in a galaxy far, far away (Jacob Javits Center on West 34^thStreet in NYC) two princess of the galactic empire (Christine and Katie of New Jersey) invaded the Imperial Fleet (Comic Con 2008) in search of distant planets (Free books and other swag) and other life forms (author signings)…. The question is, were they both successful?

It really all started with a question from Christine. “Do you want to go to Comic Con this Saturday?” I thought, sure why not? I am not a big comic book fan but I am always open to new things and the fact that YA author Melissa Marr was speaking on a panel and the possibility to finally meet Sherrilyn Kenyon was just too good to pass up. And as an extra bonus, there may be some hot guys walking around in tights, capes and codpieces.

We hopped on a bus into Manhattan and followed the people who wore costumes and other various articles of clothing I wouldn’t be caught dead in. And it is very telling when most of the men you see have swords a few feet long and didn’t mind showing everyone with glee. As we made our way to the convention, we were among the 11,000 people who showed up. There were all types of “life forms” there from regular people like Christine and myself who wore t-shirt and jeans to people who went all out like it was Halloween and they were walking in a parade.

Our real goal for going was to hear Melissa speak because Christine had just finished Wicked Lovely and I also was a huge fan of the book. Melissa was coming straight from RT and was a last minute replacement. We made it our mission to find out when and where she would be. We had our passes and maps by 2pm and quickly asked anyone who looked like they worked there what panel and what room Melissa would be in. Guess what? No one had a clue!! All we knew was that Melissa was speaking at 4pm. So we had two hours to kill and hoped to find out the answers we needed by then.

We sat down and made a plan. Christine really wanted to see Sherrilyn Kenyon, which would be Christine’s third time meeting her. I was interested also because I have heard a lot of rumors about Sherrilyn and I loved reading her historical romances under her other pen name, Kinley MacGregor. As we both looked through our brochures, we noticed that almost every major publishing house was in attendance! *INSERT A MAJOR WOOT HERE* With no other urging, we quickly went to the main floor where all the booths and tables were set up. You can only imagine what a madhouse it was! As we both walked around dazed by everything we saw, we found our way to Penguin’s table. They had a nice step up with fantasy and sci-fi books, especially Grimspace by Ann Aguirre. As Christine and I grabbed some postcards to put in our swag bag, there was a “Penguin” volunteer there. Christine noticed one of the postcards was of new author Anton Strout’s book- Dead To Me. And the Penguin guy was actually Anton! We chatted with him for a while and he is such a sweet and humble guy who has a contract for three books with Penguin. I was actually the first person to ever ask him for his autograph and so he signed my postcard and Christine’s. We had met out first author of the day! I even hit him up for a possible interview. *G*

Slowly but surely we made our way around till we ended up at the Harper Collins table. They would surely know about Melissa, right? WRONG. They had no clue if she would be there. But we didn’t give up hope, so instead we found Sherrilyn’s booth. Her helpers were some of the nicest people and even gave away a free copy of her 2005 book- Seize the Night for her to sign. We had to wait for Sherrilyn to come back to lunch, but when she did, we waited on line for her autograph. Sherrilyn took the time to talk to every single person who went up to her. And when the time came to meet her, she was all smiles and so sweet! She chatted with both of us and was simply a doll. And I do know, as well as some of you, the drama last year with the whole swan hat fiasco. Well, let me tell you, Sherrilyn is one author and a person in general I have great respect for and after meeting her I can say she deserves all the praise she can get. She is s very classy woman indeed.

It was almost four o’clock and Christine and I were still on our mission to find Melissa Marr. What if she didn’t show? Maybe RT was so good that she stayed in Pittsburgh? How could she leave all that booze, free books and major mantitty?? Never the less, we made our way to where the next panels were being held. We both attacked one of the volunteers to help us, and he scampered off to find any information he could about Melissa. Christine decided to take a look in some of the rooms; maybe she could locate Melissa herself. I stood there still waiting for our little friend to come back when suddenly I felt a presence on my right. I glanced over and see this guy in a suit. And I did a double take. It was Milo Ventimiglia who plays the role of Peter on the NBC show Heroes. We stood side by side watching the crowds and before I could say a word to him he slowly made his way back into a side room and that was that. Christine, who of course missed the whole exchange, came back. No Melissa. We came to the conclusion that Melissa did not come. I was ready to go to the panel on Zombie Survival 101 when our little helper came back. Melissa was there and told us what room we could find her in. We went off to the panel she was on and after the hour we both made our way up to her. Christine had her copy of Wicked Lovely for Melissa to sign, which she did. We all made some small talk when Melissa so kindly tells us to go back to the Harper Collins table and ask for a copy of Wicked Lovely in paperback and Ink Exchange in HC, which doesn’t come out for another 2 weeks! And back we went to Harper Collins and grabbed our books. We were very happy women.

Again we walked around and took some pictures of various people in their costumes, I told Christine a story I had with a friend a few days ago. I mentioned that I may find my own Superman at the convention and my friend told me to forget about Superman and go for Batman. Christine recommended I get a picture of myself with both. After she took the picture of me trying to decide which superhero to pick, we made a list of pros and cons about each superhero.

But I even went one step further. I glanced at both Superman and Batman’s… packages… their good old crotches to help me decide.

And I don’t know if you can see from the pictures, but Batman has a bigger one.

And we couldn’t leave out poor little Yoda. And you know what they say about the size of an alien’s… what the heck is Yoda… ears??

The funny thing is after those pictures were taken, a guy took a picture of the same thing we did! Umm... hello, dude? These pictures we took are for a reason!

Can you believe it was almost 7pm and we had one more panel to go to? The final panel of the night was just with one person by the name of Gail Simone. Gail Simone became the first female ongoing writer for the Wonder Woman comics after 60 years! And she is a redhead *G*. She talked about the future of Wonder Woman and fielded some questions from her fans, which were mainly men. I even had an interesting conversation with a guy wearing a Wonder Woman t-shirt and metal bracelets that looked like to ones Wonder Woman use to wear.

And as Christine and I left, the former princesses now Queens of Comic Con, I have a new found respect for all those who support and work in the Comic Book/Magna industry. I came to the conclusion that everyone there is just like myself because of my love for the romance genre. And I may possibly know that feeling again if I decide to go to a certain convention come July.

Now if I can just get the Wonder Woman theme song out of my head!

So which superhero should I choose?

Katiebabs (KB)

Maybe I should become a Mrs. Ugly Doll? Isn't he a cutie?