There are so many things going on that I want to address, but getting home after 7:30 p.m. at night after being gone since 6:30 a.m. is making it dang near impossible. I find that at this time at night I am more apt to make spelling and grammatical errors. After a ten hour workday and a long workout, I am spent mentally and physically. Somehow I am going to have to figure out how to reprioritize so I can get home by 7 p.m. That is my goal - making that work so I can spend more time blogging and talk about issues that are affecting me.
I also want to start doing more reviews. It has bothered me for quite some time that I don't review comics very much anymore. It used to not be that way. When I started doing reviews for 4 Color Review back in the day, that is all I did. I very seldom did op-ed pieces and I certainly didn't focus on news. Reviews were my deal. Then I started my blog and felt like I had free reign to talk about whatever comic book or pop culture issue caught my fancy. This has led to me straying from my original focus. How I am going to get back to this is uncertain, but I am going to find time.
The best thing to come out of having such a busy schedule is that I watch a maximum of two hours of television a day. I used to average four to six, which is way too much. Now I focus on watching shows I really like and it makes me appreciate it that much more. Before I think I relied too much on TV. I am happy to focus on it less now. God knows that after a long day of staring at the computer it can't be great for my eyes to watch the boob tube. That makes me wonder if all the reading I do at night is not helping either. No wonder I wear glasses.
One thing that has been on my mind is the writer's strike. I am glad to see the writers asking for a piece of the pie. My biggest problem is that I am not very familiar with unions as a tool for change, as I have never been close to anyone that was in one until the last ten years. My exposure to unions previous to this was the UPS strike that almost killed our business over a decade ago.
That being said, the response of writers saying that they would like to write comic books or put an emphasis on it as an income leaves me a bit cold. It makes me concerned for the men and women who already make their primary living doing this. How will that affect their income? If a well known TV writer wants to get some money and get involved in writing, will they drop the industry like a hot potato when the strike is resolved? The cynical part of me is really concerned about this.
There is also a huge amount of division over the issue of feminism in comics coming to the forefront. I see so many folks talking about it from so many angles that it boggles my mind. I don't see an easy or quick resolution to this issue anytime soon. The one thing I do want to note is that it has been a bit more difficult to find "gratuitous" cover candidates. Whether this has anything to do with the issue at hand is anyone's guess. It may be that I don't dig deep to find a cover. My hubby has helped me in the past and I have stumbled upon a few. Lately because I have factored out certain series like Red Sonja and Witchblade, it has made it more interesting and sparser.
On that note, I am off to eat dinner. I am starving after a two hour workout!! Have a wonderful nigh!
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
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10 comments:
Good luck on your reprioritizing. Look forward to the reviews too. I don't watch all that much of the current slate of TV, but I always catch the Daily Show and Colbert Report, and sometimes Letterman, so I've noticed the writers strike right away with all the reruns. Other than that, the only new show this year I'm watching is K-Ville, so I'm not too reliant on TV. Besides, I prefer watching TV on DVD - at least you know then that the season you're watching won't be cancelled half way through.
I'd be a little skeptical too of writers suddenly jumping to the comics medium to make money. The timing of it makes one wonder if it isn't just being viewed as a stopgap. On the other hand, maybe they can hype up some more attention to the industry, which wouldn't be a bad thing.
I'd be hard pressed to find something I care about less than the Hollywood writers going on strike. What's never talked about are all of the people who WILL lose their jobs as a result of the strike (an entire universe of behind the scenes and technical workers).
I think in their quest to "make a little more" (do we ever really make what we all think we "deserve"?), they're going to ruin things for more people than simply the caricatured "Fat Cats" everyone always conjures up during a strike situation.
So, I'm actually cheering against the writers. I hope economic reality bites them all in the rear. Not that I'm missing out on their product or anything. See, that's just the thing: a strike presumes you have a service the public values or depends upon in order to put pressure on the Evil Employer. I don't sense there are many people who can't live without new episodes of the Tonight Show or "Cavemen".
There are never enough hours in the day or at least never enough free hours in it. That is about the only constant I have learned getting old.
10hr workday? Two jobs?
As far as writers from the strike deciding to write for comics to gain some income, I wouldn't worry.
Most can't make a decent transition over to comics. A crappy tv writer is still a crappy writer, and unlike TV if their writing sucks in a comic they'll get canned REAL quick.
Upside to all this, maybe it'll get some crappy comic writers to start busting their arse and improve their skills, in fear of their income being threaten. Goodness knows we only got maybe five or six consistently good comic writers and that number needs to increase.
We've already seen TV writers get into comic book writing. (Whedon & Heinberg for example) I doubt they'll all flood the market.
As for covers - you must not have seen Catwoman #75. I believe she has nipples sewn into her suit.
Eaglewing, you make good points here. The worst thing that can happen is that re-runs come on and a person can go watch a DVD or do something else. God forbid- LOL!
I am very skeptical about the writer's strike in many ways, so I am interested to see how it all pans out.
Mark, I am sitting here in awe of your post. What you say is true. The strike affects so many. As someone who has never been associated with unions other then feeling the effects of the UPS strike, I can't even begin to imagine how this will all play out. I pray it doesn't hurt so many people, but you make a good point. It probably will.
Nick, nope just one job that I work a pretty standard ten hour day at. I can't help it either. It drives my hubby crazy. Growing up on a farm, I never had a sense of time, and it runs over here. Nuts, huh?
You make a good point that transitioning isn't as easy as it looks, and that some may not make the "journey". If nothing else, maybe the ones who are behind on their current comic book work can finally finish it. Hmmm..
As for how it will affect current writers, I can't guess. Hopefully it will only be positive.
Lisa, I hadn't seen that cover yet. Thank you for the heads up! At first glance, that is very scary. Yikes!!
God knows how long the strike will last or who will defect for the duration, but hopefully it isn't hurtful.
Heidi, you are the wonder woman!
you always manage to squeeze time for everyone and everything when most people are struggling with just normal things for their self.
Don't be hard on yourself. Some day you have got to take some serious time for just you and Jim.
I cherish our recent conversations with all my heart and look forward to the next time I can see both you and Jim. Take Care... Huggs to both of you!
Pamela, you are so sweet. I consider myself very fortunate to have you as a friend. I wish I lived closer so we could figure out new ways to cook chicken breasts and turkey! We would have a blast!!
I am so proud of you and think of you in the highest regards possible. Take care!
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