Another Softer World update: they share a message board with Dinosaur Comics, if you’re part of that cult. Apparently Justin Pierce, who makes the excellent Killroy and Tina, is a regular. The secret connection? Together, the four creators of those three comics are at least half of Canadia!
Month: June 2004
Somebody stop me!
I’m a link machine!
I have indirectly rediscovered A Softer World, which I originally found and enjoyed in the pages of the one comped issue of NFG that I got from Zack’s roommate when I was in California. It was raining at the time. Fortunately, I had a hat.
But! The comic! Is really good. I’m probably going to read the entire archive today, although I don’t know how much quantity exists, since the magazine comics I read (presumably written and drawn in January) did not list a website, and the new ones do. Hopefully they’re all up there. ASW seems designed to appeal directly to me–it’s a three-panel comic built with tightly-zoomed candid photography, lower-case text in odd arrangements, and the kind of dark gray whimsy that I’d love to consistently capture in Anacrusis. I am very glad to be aware of its interweb existence.
Update 1252 hrs: They are all on the site, except the ones they sold to NFG–those were selected from a span of March to July 2003. These strips are painfully good; worse, they started out that way. If I wasn’t enjoying them so much I’d be gnawing my thumb with jealousy.
Spider-Man 2 is out today! David Koepp didn’t write it, and Michael Chabon did! Life is considerably better than it was five minutes ago, before I learned that.
I loathe David Koepp, in case I haven’t made that sufficiently clear before. He’s written screenplays that adapted three of the icons of my childhood–The Shadow, Mission: Impossible, and the aforementioned Spider-Man–and all of them were pretentious, humorless, cliché-ridden claptrap. I haven’t read Michael Chabon yet, but he won a Pulitzer for writing about comic-book creators; I strongly believe this is a better qualification than, say, Snake Eyes.
As of this week I’m doing major, whole-process Quality Assurance at work. I’m doing fine so far, although there’s a lot of work to do; I’m also getting paid, oh, probably a third of what the other people in QA make. I’ve never received a raise since I started here as a flunky last summer, even though back then my job was “generate simple reports in Access” and now it’s “fix real bugs and test entire processes.” When I get all this testing done–hopefully by next Monday–I’m going to ask for one.
Ever since the (pretty good) PC speakers which came with my computer started misbehaving to death about two and a half years ago, I’ve been dealing with a nonincreasingly satisfying series of compromises on audio: first, spotty PC speakers; then my dad’s old ancient RCA stereo receiver and its equally-ancient-but-durable monolith speakers; then some bookshelf speakers (kindly lent me by Maria) with the same receiver, which has now begun its own gentle decline into inevitable doom.
Today that same Maria finally compelled me to do what I’ve wanted to do forever, which is buy a freaking decent pair of PC speakers that will sound good and last. I picked them up at Circuit City and installed them just now; only 2.1, but they’re Altec Lansing and THX and I can probably add them into any surround system I eventually build.
Really, really nice speakers. Really, really nice to be able to hear both sides of music again.
On Sitting So That I Face Out Of My Cube
Pro
Nobody can sneak up and backstab me.
Con
I can no longer slump slightly and take subtle naps.
Last night I made fried tofu for the Tuesday Night Ballers–the first time I’ve had it in many years, and the first time I’ve made it myself. They liked it, or pretended to, and I was glad it turned out the way I remembered it. The smell of making it was a pretty powerful memory trigger.
I ate bacon only rarely until I was in my teens; instead, we always had fried tofu as our bacon substitute, whether on salads, in sandwiches or solo for breakfast. It works very well in each of those roles, but I have no idea what made my parents decide that it was a bacon substitute, because it tastes nothing like bacon (in fact, it tastes like nothing else of which I know). They’re both flat and fried, though, I guess.
Here’s the recipe. I’m calling it this because my mom’s maiden name is Dixon, and that side of the family comprises the only other people I know who make it.
Dixon Family Fried Tofu
- Some Tamari Sauce (similar to soy sauce, but different; look in Asian groceries or health food stores)
- Some Brewer’s Yeast (not regular yeast; check the same health food stores)
- A Hunk of Firm Tofu
- Maybe Some Vegetable Oil
Get out three plates. Cover one with a puddle of tamari and another with a layer of brewer’s yeast. Drain the tofu and place the hunk on the third plate.
Cut slices of the tofu widthwise, as if it were a loaf of bread. Be gentle but firm, so the tofu doesn’t disintegrate, and try to get each slice a little less than a quarter of an inch thick. You probably have enough tamari and yeast to fry the whole block if you want, so cut off as many slices as you plan on eating; two or three is a good for a sandwich or a breakfast side, and one or two is enough to crumble over an individual salad.
Heat up a skillet or a frying pan. You can heat a little of that vegetable oil in there too, if you want–no more than a teaspoon. You can fry without the oil, but it does distribute the heat better than the tamari, so you’re less likely to wind up with little black spots.
Lay each slice flat in the tamari; turn it over several times so it’s covered well, but you don’t have to marinade it. You just want it wet.
Lay those slices in the brewer’s yeast, like you’re breading them (because you are). Do this quickly but well, because the yeast will absorb the sauce and fall off the tofu in clumps if you wait around.
Lay carefully in the skillet and fry until browned. Flip several times to avoid scorching, especially if you’re not using oil, but be careful to avoid the aforementioned clumping problem.
You’ll probably have to add more brewer’s yeast, because it tends to soak up drops of tamari and solidify so it won’t stick to the tofu. Be liberal with both sauce and yeast–they’re providing the flavor. One hunk of tofu serves three to four.
The Lady in the Next Cube is gone, either fired or transferred. Her place has been cleared out except for an empty datebook and an old McDonald’s toy (one of hundreds she used to have). It’s a sad day. I knew her name, but I’m not sure she ever knew mine.