Hot, Sweaty, and Tired

Hello folks,
Welcome to living on the sun. Seriously it's hot folks. You could fry an egg on my forehead. To me at the moment the best time of day is the golden hour. I've loved taking a walk around my somewhat eclectic neighborhood to cool down before sunset. Love it! Well admittedly this week's reading has been pretty thin. I've had other writing to work on this weekend (Yes, I do writing other than this, my constant readers), so I've decided to include a little autobiography as well.
So Onward to Breach!

Reviews
Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1
I've decided to dive into more Bendis work after enjoying his work on Secret Invasion/New Avengers. Here we essentially have the Spiderman Origin story, which is very well known by now. I enjoyed the fact that they did write/draw Peter as a 15 year old kid. Watching him go through classic teen angst this book reminded me of a John Hughes movie. I think this is written for teenage boys and fanboys/girls. As someone who hasn't followed the comics for 20 years this was a good introduction.

Middleman Vol. 1
This book is humorous comic fun. The story follows Wendy, an struggling artist, who stumbles into joining a "Men In Black"-style organization and teaming up with a guy who is the classic version of a "dirk square jaw". He just calls himself "The Middleman" and wears a leather jacket while carrying an insanely large gun. All this plot is not the best thing about this book. Javier Grillo-Marxuach's is clearly hilarious because I loved all the jokes and satire throughout this trade. Little touches like Wendy's interactions with her stoner neighbor were just so random and cracked me up. Enjoyed it immensely. Plus there's gangster killer apes!

Life Changing Reads
Kick back as we walk down memory lane.
1. To Kill A Mockingbird
I had seen an old paperback copy of this on the top of our book case for a long time. It was the summer before 7th grade and I had a lot of time on my hands. Even at that age I had heard of the book and the movie, but hadn't picked up either. The cover was simple and the pages were yellowed. I decided that now was the time to pick it up. I read it in about 5 days and loved it immediately. Of course I was struck by the friendship between Jem, Scout and Dell and there adventures. Ultimately though it was the character of Atticus Finch that had the most effect on me. He was the father that everyone wished they had. I still get choked up as I think about the balcony scene.

2. Catcher and the Rye
Picked this up relatively later then a lot of people. I was 18 and I had gotten a gift card for christmas for a multi-media store that no longer exists. It's name escapes me at the moment. Anyway I had picked up some CDs and Videos, but I had about 10 bucks left on the gift card. With the prospect of losing out on $10, which was too little for any good CD or Video, I turned to the puny token book section. What to get? My eyes settled on a $6 buck paperback copy. It had the classic white cover with the rainbow stripe. I finished reading it in 2 days. As I read the final scene between Holden and his little sister on the merry-go-round I found myself tearing up. To me this book is not all about teen rebellion. There is a deeper subtext that strikes me every time I pick it up. Holden Caulfield is looking for unconditional love. Aren't we all?

3. Less Than Zero
First of all let me explain. Before I even had any sense what Brett Easton Ellis was all about he already had a bad reputation in our household. My mom, a librarian, was forced to read American Psycho because of a patron complaint. She hated it in every core of her body. In high school one of my friends Linda read and loved Less Than Zero I avoided it like the plague. Fast forward a few years: I was in a wonderful exchange book store in Sugarhouse and there it was-a paperback copy of Zero. Not any copy though. This one had Robert Downey Jr, Andrew McCarthey, and Jami Gertz staring back at me. It was the movie cover. I had to have it. However I held onto it for awhile without reading it. When I finally picked it up I couldn't believe what I read. I was captured by this story in that "read it till 3 am even though I need to sleep" way.

What's In My Bag
Books
Assassination Vacation
Essential Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1

Comics
Dynamo 5 #13

Magazine
Entertainment Weekly

Check Out Count: Diversifying.

Well kids it's a holiday weekend. 2 days off! It's gonna be awesome and far too quick. Have some fun! Celebrate our country. Throw some prayers to those fighting/dying overseas. Their sacrifice is beyond politics. I think I'll find some way this holiday to take a look over that old "Declaration" of ours. Have a great weekend! Book Slave.