48: Slow News Day

This is one of those extremes on my entertainment road. A nice quiet tale--city girl moves to the country, is underwhelmed but in a shocking twist eventually begins to cherish it. And a guy.

This is one of my favorite authors (and illustrator for it is indeed the example of a graphic novel), but I just can't read him any old time. Most of the time I gotta escape...something, I don't know what and stopping to think or even to end this sentence is just the sort of thing that would allow it catch up to me. Sometimes though, I enjoy the quiet and solid tale attempting to furnish me with real emotional responses. Sometimes. (ahh, that's a hack ending but I got no other)

47: Assignment Angelina

Oh this is one of those exposes, right? All about some wayward wild child without any good upbringing doing that which she shouldn't. Plus, in addition to the lack of parenting, she's got that genetic deformity. Crazy eyes! She looks like Lizzy Caplan (one of the stars of Party Down--please, only hipsters in the know comprehend that) sent back in time to ruin the good intentions of whatever the factual counterparts to the Mad Men cast were.
Some sort of hussy Terminator...which could star Lizzy Caplan! Ooh, now it's all a great big circle and my logic is complete! Sleep? What sleep? I remember Thursday, sure. All my thoughts now equal the direction of thought intended to be most direct in action, you understand? Fine, I'll take a nap.

46: I've got to Talk to Somebody, God

Not entirely sure that Marjorie here didn't intend for her name to be part of the title. Just from this cover, doesn't Marjorie seem like the sort of person crying about their loneliness to a multitude of friends.

Marjorie: I've got to have somebody to talk to...God. You know things have just been really hard for me lately, what with my hip which you probably don't even know about since we haven't talked much lately. Not blaming you dear; you're very busy I'm sure. Still...

God: Now I'm really glad you wanted to catch up, but I've got this thing in like five minutes in Peru where...

Marjorie:...it all started during that recent bout of ice we had the other day. Steven, that's the Williams' boy from down the street, is supposed to clear my lanes for me during every bad bit of weather, but he just didn't get around to it that day. Hurrumph, he won't be seeing nickel one for that chore til my hip stops aching, I'll tell you that. Though you have to admire him accomplishing even that little that he has, what with all the drama under that roof...

God: Look! It's my only begotten son, Jesus. He'll want to hear all about that, bye Marjorie.

Jesus: Why hello...

Marjorie: Now why didn't I see you the other day at church. Weren't moping about the beach again were you?

Jesus: No, no, I was carrying this guy during a crisis of...

Marjorie: Anyway, I'd expect you'll be wanting to hear all about the Williams indelicate goings on as well, but first Miss Simpkins would just keel right on over if I didn't...

This really could go on forever, butI...I shall be the salvation this time and end it. Oh yeah.

45: The Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China (Documents)

Nothing about the book, but more so about people today. Within the bounds of one of my classes today, quite engrossed in not paying attention I was pulled away from inactivity by an emphatic "I don't like rednecks." Scenario: this is said in a rural town a couple hundred miles or so from a metropolitan complex. Again, this is farm country; the town in question is aggressively surrounded by corn. The speaker, a younger female, is thick (probably the corn) in ragged clothing in a way which, combined with the college class, suggests choice if not motivation. The teacher herself is by her own casual conversational testimony a farmer. The atmosphere apart form comment is country friendly, alright.

Next, another student not two minutes later describes that his (walking) path to Walmart at one time included crossing a pig farm. A pig farm. In town. On his way to Walmart. No comment escapes anyone else.

Fine...we're not a talkative bunch at the moment. Yet, not five minutes more multiple people in the class admit--without any admitted connection to the prior comments--that they've participated in the redneck fishing event "round these parts."

Suddenly I'm all proud of my relatively urban background. I've heard of irony and they haven't. I like feeling superior.

An update...

Well, it's been week since I experimented with abandoning three books in various locations about town all with a note directing comments via email to me. No luck. They were all picked up quickly, but not a word. Oh well. In two of the cases I suspected older people in on a grab, but one of them was at a college. That one, at least, I anticipated a greater probability for. Not giving up...just going to think about it some more. I want a response so I'll probably try dropping them in the tech friendliest places I can find...in a farming/rural town...so college again.

44: The Bunnies

This one's a treasure. There's the gorgeously pulpy pilot drawing washed with single tone. There's the full color shot of a lady, bra only in defense of nudity, through a salacious keyhole. She's even black as a surprise; book is from 65; you just don't find black women as objects of white lust without the book turning on a racial premise. This one is just a straightforward adventure where the lady per book just happens to be black. Neat. The hero calls her his chocolate bunny, thus the title.

Then, oh my god there's a wet fountain of homoerotic going on all over the back blurb. My man Peter Trees has got those itchy fingers, you know. Not only is he a pilot, he's also a shiny missile whose eruptions affect women and nations alike. Oh shiny missile man...you're going to melt your chocolate bunny you know.

43: Another old magazine #3

Just the last of these before getting back to books. This from a 1981 car magazine--corvettes are cool! I feel like no more than dust in the wind. Ugh, I should be able to do better than that, but cars just ain't my forte.

This was also won for the sum total of a penny delivered from a different seller from the last.