• Work Progress: Except for a quick review of EBEN & STELLA #4 once it’s lettered, my work on that book is done. (I’m both pleased and surprised by the “breakneck pace” comment I’ve seen a few times now. My biggest fear was that the pacing — particularly on the first issue — was too slow. Maybe I overcompensated…? I’m kind of okay with that; better too fast than too slow, methinks. Anyway, I never worried too much as I knew I had Ryall and Niles covering my back, but I’m still surprised.) I’m caught up on all but one Viz book — a new one that I grossly underestimated. It’s AWESOME, but OH MY GOD am I intimidated by the internal mythology. The translation is solid, but… ambiguous in places I don’t think we can afford to be ambiguous. I’m sorting it out, but it’s slow in coming. I owe Justin 8 pages for an anthology submission, but it’s unpaid work, which, sadly, makes it a low priority and I think he’s got his hands full at the moment anyway. Going to Bella Napoli today to spend the day on the Viz book.
• Kitchen Progress: the ceiling is all ready for the recessed lighting — it’s gorgeous; the new drywall is up, mudded, sanded and painted (I was really impressed with how minimal the dust from the sanding was — apparently the vacuum sander makes all the difference. I was prepared to have to leave the house, but no… it wasn’t a big deal, really); and the trim is at the shop being painted. The cabinets were supposed to come in today, but I got a call from the carpenter last night saying it’ll be Monday or Tuesday before they get here. Wah wah. It’s looking great, though. We picked a wall organizer last night and picked up the paint for the kitchen door on Wednesday.
• Baby Progress: 28 weeks along/7 months/third trimester/84 days till due date. The registry is done (as well as I can do, anyway — first time mom; I’m bound to screw some of this up); the layette is coming along; and the nursery has stalled out a little bit, but whatever… we’ve still got time. Two most recent purchases: I found a new Amby bed on ebay and saved about $75. The kid’ll spend the night in the Amby in our room for the first 3-6 months anyway. And last night we picked up a solar system mobile thing from Pottery Barn Kids that is just too cool. It’s a little advanced for the kid at first, but Fraction was so smitten with it we decided to get it and put it away for later. I’d love to link to a picture for you, but it doesn’t appear to be up on their site. (Didn’t get great customer service at PBK, btw. Kind of annoying, considering it’s hardly a bargain basement.) Next week we’ll be tested for gestational diabetes and do the 3D ultrasound, just for fun.
• Knitting Progress: None; I haven’t had time to knit in weeks. (Knitters: Phildar is having a sale, June 27 – August 7th. Pattern books are included in the sale. If you’re not familiar with this French house, do check them out. Their prices are reasonable (especially on sale) and the designs are gorgeous. (Remember to convert euros to US$. The rate today is about 1.3 dollars to 1 euro.) I was also surprised at how quickly I received my last order from them.)
• Claude Progress: Nothing destroyed in the last 24 hours! He pooped in the kitchen overnight, but I don’t think that was a behavior issue — he’s had an upset stomach on and off for weeks now. I think he just got caught short and did his best. I called the trainer back and left a message to schedule our first appointment. (Restoration progress: I ordered a replacement pair of moccasins off the ‘net and plan to pick up a pair of brightly colored flats to replace the eaten red mary janes at Aldo later this week.) Claude needs to get a job and start bringing in an income. (OAA sent this yesterday and made me laugh.)
• Fence Progress: …can’t start until after the tree guy gets back from vacation on the 9th.
• House Painting Progress: Left a message with the contractor to schedule. Once this is done, our Big Three House Projects for this year (the kitchen, the fence and the painting) will be set in motion. Which is huge. And expensive. And scary. But necessary.

The Dollar Bin just posted a podcast interview with Fraction from Heroes. Listen here. (ETA: The Spartanburg Herald Journal interviews Fraction here. Thanks to Dirk Deppey for the pointer.)

Due to its proximity to the kitchen construction, I had to move out of my office and into the living room. The radio had to stay in the office so, rather than blast NPR into the living room and subject the carpenters to news not of their choosing, I thought I’d give MSNBC a shot.

…And I believe as of this moment I am officially done with MSNBC, save for COUNTDOWN (with which, honestly, I do have a few issues, but they’re minimal and I approach it as opinion rather than as news-proper). The fact that Pat Buchanan appears daily — as though he were some sort of legitimate commentator — boggles my mind (I thought this was supposed to be the liberal media stronghold?!), and yesterday’s continuous airing of the Ann Coulter-Elizabeth Edwards embarrassment grated on my nerves, but the nail in the coffin was this morning’s tech feature. They had an expert on to talk about the iPhone — which was great — except that the anchor was so busy trying to be cute SHE BARELY LET HIM SPEAK. Awesome. And yet, I was treated to a full segment on whether or not Paris Hilton has really changed and whether or not she really read the bible in prison. You know what they never seem to cover? Seriously, like NOT AT ALL? The war. MSNBC is not good for my blood pressure. Can television cause preeclampsia? Just in case — back to NPR.

Speaking of things that put protein in my urine, I had a dream about Claude last night. Let’s start from the top: Claude tore up one of our couch cushions. Not one of the throw pillows, mind you, one of the cushions. That you sit on. I was too tired to be angry about it last night and really, what was I going to do about it anyway? Fraction sat there with his head in his hands for a while, then he put the quilt over the cushions.  We discussed  trying to tape up the cushion (classy), flip it and put the slipcover back on, but then decided just to decide in the morning. I went back to bed and poor Fraction went back to work.

Once asleep, I dreamed that the baby was coming and as I was going into labor, I was freaking out because we’d just found a two year old boy and I had my hands full with him and I couldn’t figure out how I was going to handle a newborn and a two year old without hating my life. I kept trying to get the labor to stop until the two year old was a little easier to handle, but, well, apparently you can’t stop labor once it starts. Not even in dreams. I woke up in a panic, then realized I was dreaming about Claude and had to laugh.

…Then I called a dog trainer and spent about half an hour on the phone with him. I think we’re calling in the calvary.

Fraction is hosting a flickr project called DESKSET. Go here to play along. (Jamie S. Rich’s desk shocked me. I expected him to be a neatnik for some reason!)

Oh, and remember how I said kitchen progress had slowed? Well, no sooner had I posted that than things picked up again. The kitchen is painted (I looooove the color) and the cabinets come in tomorrow. Woo hoo! I’ll post photos to the flickr set in a bit.

Hee

Originally uploaded by Kelly Sue.

Hope it’s a happy one, filled with puppy kisses, cupcakes and dining al fresco.

xxx

Kelly Sue & Fraction

5 Things of Which I Am Growing Weary:

1. Reporters complaining about covering Paris Hilton… while continuing to cover Paris Hilton. If we all agree this is not news, STOP COVERING IT. If you are, on the other hand going to continue to cover the story, man up and do your job with a straight face. Find a way to make it mean something. Enough with the snide remarks and disingenuous sighs, no one is mistaking you for a real journalist anyway;
2. Claude’s issues;
3. Hair bands that spontaneously break in my hair;
4. Playing catch up;
5. Having a sore vagina. Seriously: the kid has settled in such a way that anytime I stand I have the sensation of someone poking at a bruise in my va jay jay. Three more months of this? No, no, no, no, no. (Related: I grow weary of growing weary. I slept for an hour and a half this afternoon and I am NOT a napper. Or rather, I have never been a napper before.)
6. EDITED TO ADD: ANN COULTER.  God, I can’t wait until the kitchen is done and I can go back to my NPR.  MSNBC is raising my blood pressure.  I purposely avoided her appearance on Hardball, but was treated to clips of her confrontation with Elizabeth Edwards with my morning “news.”  Did you see the sneering blonde teenager behind her?  I weep for the future.

In unrelated news:

• Comic Overload looks at 30 DAYS OF NIGHT: EBEN & STELLA #1: “Mind you this progression of events in the comic is only the first three pages or so, so yeah….. the speed of this sucker starts off pretty high. You see multiple other stories going on through this first issue : A duo of vampire hunters looking to well end vampires, a gang of vampires helping another vampire replace the now non-existent vampire queen, a vampire born child? Like I said, it’s only the first issue and a CRAPLOAD of things happen.”
• Congratulations to Mike Dietsch for his mention in Imbibe magazine. I’m not, as most of you have gleaned, a drinker, but the orange-flower-water-in-iced-tea tip sounds delightful in this heat. I also turned it up in this recipe for Thai Iced Tea. (I wonder if it would suffer terribly if you substituted Splenda for the sugar and light coconut milk for the cream… Hm.)
• Congratulations to Laurenn McCubbin and Michelle Tea for their Rent Girl deal with Showtime!
• Zack Smith interviews Fraction for Newsarama here.
• Speaking of Warhol, (we weren’t but roll with me here) I’m in love with this font… but I’m not paying $90 for it. Mine is a stingy kind of love.
• Kitchen progress has sloooooowed considerably. Word is that they’re painting tomorrow, but I’m not sure I believe them. Meanwhile, I console myself with daydreams of the cute curtains I will make for the three kitchen windows when this is all done. I’m thinking of a linen and print combination. Also? One day I will cook again. On that day, I will make this. (I’ve also been thinking about soft pretzels. I remember making batches of them with Grandma and Grandpa DeConnick when I was a kid and having a lot of fun. Perhaps the hormones are bringing out the sentimentalist in me, but I’ve been itching to make them again. I think there’s a recipe in Kids America, one of my favorite books from childhood — and the precursor to the Dangerous Book for Boys.)
• Murder is a/the (depending on the source) leading cause of death for pregnant women. That’s fucked up.
• Okay; back to work. I’m behind on a very exciting project for Viz and I owe Justin 8 pages for an anthology project. Oy.

• 30 Days of Night: Eben & Stella #3 Preview is posted here, courtesy of IDW Publishing.
• All my 30 Days scripts are in, but I’m still behind on other books (one anthology script; two manga adaptations). Argh. Should get caught up this week — but that’s what I said last week. The pregnancy is slowing me down, alas. I just can’t stay up and power through the way I usually can (not that I’m usually particularly good at staying up late and being productive, but I’m better at it than I am right now). I think I might hit Bella Napoli to work today – I always get a lot done there.
• Yesterday was Steve Niles‘ birthday! Go wish him happy belated on The Engine or The Inner Sanctum. (Tristan Crane, too! Happy belated, Tristan.)
• Claude? Not helping.
• The kitchen is coming along — dry wall is up and mudded. I think the plan is to sand on Monday then paint. I hear the cabinets look great and the bottom cabinets might be installed as soon as the end of next week.
• Yesterday was kind of TCB/administrative: got our corporate account set up, hit Costco for groceries, met with a landscaping guy, took care of some calls, some bills, answered some mail, some laundry. Fun, fun.
• We’ve got Prairie Home Companion tickets! They’re live at the Starlight tonight. I’m either secretly 50 or a giant dork, because I’m really excited.
• 91 days left until our due date. (23 left until my birthday!) I think tomorrow officially starts the third trimester? It depends on which website/book I check. Some say today, some tomorrow, some… two more weeks.
• Fraction brought me home a bootleg copy of KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM OF THE PARK from Heroes Con. I married well.
• List of the Day (you’re encouraged to participate). Last 5 Ebay Purchases:
1. Zutano 4 piece-boys’ newborn outfit, NWT
2. Zutano Brown Button Cardigan and Bear Hat 0-3 mos
3. Zutano Blue Overalls, Like New, Super soft
4. Zutano 2 Cozy Rompers 0-3 mos
5. Zutano Like New Cozy Gown 0-6 mos

(Thanks, Rachel. Look what you did!)

This is, obviously, a baby-related post, so if breeder business makes your stomach turn, best to move along.  More comics related posts later.

Okay.  So:

The video monitor we had on our registry is the Amazon Deal of the Day — the sale price isn’t mind-blowing or anything, but it’s something and savings are good.  I spoke to my friend Courtney, who had the same model and she’s a lukewarm about it.  She says, “…we’ve killed two monitors – blew out the video, so now it’s sound only.”  Hm.  So that’s not good.  She says the people she knows with the MobiCam haaaate it, though, so at least hers worked well when it worked.

At the end of the e-mail, she threw this out, though: “Beyond those two choices, there’s this, which I know nothing about other than holycowitlookscool and ohdearit’sreallypricey.”

…all of which I post in order to say that I’d like to try and find an independent review of the Intelligent 5600, but I’m not having any luck.  The only review I can find is this one, and it doesn’t appear unbiased.  Anyone know anything about it?  Or, anyone have better Google mojo than my own?  We’d spend the extra money for something dependable, but I’d like someone’s opinion other the site selling them.  (I also wonder if the monitor would get a signal at my desk, which is downstairs while the nursery is upstairs.  Also, it’s not terrifically portable — it has to be plugged in.  Hm.  So, I guess I have to ask myself what I plan to use the monitor for.  I mean, if I’m at my desk, the baby might just be sleeping next to me in the Pack ‘n Play anyway.  So then the monitor would only be for nighttime — which would make the fancy one fine — perfect in fact, if it does what it says.)

Oh my.  I’m officially rambling.   Thoughts?  Links?

• Happy Father’s Day to Fraction, my dad, Dennis, Pop, Frank, Ellis and all the other fathers out there. Much, much love and many thanks.
• Laurenn McCubbin, Nikol Lohr and Drew Bell each at some point helped me put together the BABY DADDY t-shirt that I understand Fraction is wearing on the floor of Heroes Con today. If you see him in it, take a picture for me?
• CBR report on the Heroes Marvel Roundtable (featuring Fraction, Peter David, Christos Gage, Jeff Parker and Daniel Way) here. ETA: Newsarama coverage here.
• Jeff Parker writes from Charlotte on his blog: “This time the bar seemed more inviting than last night, and what do you know but they had Beer in there. Ah, black and tans. This made me susceptible enough to get lured into some damn crazy dice game that Rick Remender and Matt Fraction were running in the corner. After several dollars, it became clear that I just cannot physically roll a 3 to save my ass. But hey, most of my cash will go to help clothe the new Baby Fraction, so I don’t feel too bad about it.”  Sweet. Read the rest of the con report in the link.
• Unrelated to Father’s Day: congratulations to Casey and Jess on making the leap into full-time dream pursuit. I’m so proud of you both. (Make sure you COBRA that health insurance, kids!)

I just got off the phone with Fraction at Heroes and he’s having a great time, as expected. (I’m making an effort not to pout.) He’s been hanging out with Barry Kitson and is nearly sold out of Casanova hardcovers. (Woo hoo!) He read me my bio, which totally made me guffaw. (Thank you, Shelton.)

Next year, we’ll both be there. And we’ll bring the kid! How fun — I can’t wait.

Oh — and Justin has a site now. As you might expect, it’s at Justin Randall dot com.

Well, $!#!@$#@!

I just made the decision that I’m not going to go to Charlotte for Heroes Con after all. (We have the tickets and everything!) Sniff. Heroes is my favorite con (by a long shot) and it’s near Fraction’s family so I’m brutally disappointed, but I think it’s for the best. Despite getting close twice — I still haven’t managed to get caught up from the month of work I missed for a death in the family in March. The kitchen remodel just got started. Claude is still acting a little funny, so I’m not sure I feel comfortable leaving him here for the contractor’s to deal with and, perhaps most-importantly, I’m just pooped. The pregnancy, the garage sale and clearing out the kitchen combined to wipe me out physically. And even though San Diego isn’t nearly as fun as Heroes, it’s our last trip before the baby comes — we’re springing for a nice hotel, all our nerdy friends will be there (including Warren Ellis, who, I suspect, will never be there again) — I really don’t want to miss it. (With any luck, the kitchen will be done by then.) And I fear I will if I don’t err on the side of caution now.

So… Fraction’s going without me. Sniff.

pomegranates

Originally uploaded by MatthewA.

I love list-making as a warm up. The trick is not letting it go on too long… I’m not so good at that part.

– Casey passed along this link from the Wall Street Journal this morning with the caveat that he hadn’t had a chance to read it himself yet. I confess I only skimmed it. Doesn’t look like there’s anything new there, though. No mention of the “controversy” surrounding the Minx line, which is probably responsible journalism, though I do tire of “COMICS AREN’T JUST FOR BOYS!” and “CHECK OUT THIS NEW THING CALLED MANGA!” headlines. Seriously, is this still news? (See also the ubiquitous “THEY MAKE COMICS FOR GROWN UPS NOW!” newspaper article.)

– Amy discovered these sweet and potentially-offensive blouses. Love.

– 25 weeks pregnant. Woo hoo! 62% of the way to the finish line… (Had a check up yesterday and apparently the baby’s measuring a little bit big, which is unsettling… though, it occurs to me that I was having my check up about a week late — I wonder if that was taken into account? Anyway. Nothing to be done about it. Thanks to the ovulation predictor kit and travel schedules, there’s no chance we’ve got the date of conception wrong, so… baby’s just big, I guess. I’m going back to writing my food down and hoping things even themselves out at our next visit. Oh! And we’re doing the 3D sono next time. That should be fun.)

– Rebecca asked me to make a food specific food list. I didn’t repeat anything from the first list, so even though cioppino is one of my favorite things ever, it doesn’t appear below:

1. Aunt Polly’s low calorie crab salad;
2. BLTs;
3. Braised collard greens and pork chops;
4. BUFFALO WINGS! (How did I forget?? Of course, I’m not allowed blue cheese during pregnancy, which puts a bit of a damper on things);
5. Cappuccino muffins from the cart in front of 388 Greenwich in NYC (Scooter’s on the Plaza makes a reasonable facsimile);
6. Cheese toast made under the broiler with Colby and yellow mustard;
7. Chicken livers, or specifically, the pan-fried liver and gizzards plate from Stroud’s;
8. Chocolate-covered strawberries;
9. European butter on dense grainy bread;
10. French toast served with something spicy or salty;
11. Fresh hot everything bagel with cream cheese, tomato slices, Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper;
12. Fresh, homemade whipped cream;
13. Gooey hot panini sandwiches (the only thing close to a craving I’ve had during pregnancy has been a generic desire to eat sandwiches);
14. Grainy mustards;
15. Lemonade cake (family recipe);
16. Onigiri and pretty much anything in a bento box;
17. Pomegranates;
18. Salt and vinegar kettle chips;
19. Savory rosemary cake from some coffee shop on the upper west side. What was the name of that place? I can’t remember;
20. Sharp cheddar cheese;
21. Steak au Poivre with crispy French fries;
22. Sturgeon;
23. Sweet grape tomatoes;
24. Tuna salad from Captain Quackenbush’s on the drag in Austin, served on a small whole-wheat bagel. I don’t know what they put in that tuna salad, but it was awesome. Someone once told me it was celery salt, but I don’t think that’s right. Is that place still open, I wonder;
25. Vietnamese soft spring rolls (Though, strictly speaking I’m not allowed sprouts or cold cuts during my pregnancy).