As Scottie mentioned below, we closed on a new condo today. Yippee! That was pretty durn exciting! Check out the new digs on the left. We’re on the top floor, which is to my liking. There’s a porch on the front and the back, and we’ve already brought some stuff over there. It’s kind of surreal. I’ve obviously moved before, but moving into the first place we’ve owned is pretty wild.
As was the whole closing process. I have to say we were quite fortunate, compared to some of the difficulties friends and family have had, the whole process went quite smoothly. I was fascinated to see my signature degenerate as the seemingly endless signing went on. We were halfway through when I realized that I hadn’t been consistent, and several of my signatures were made without the middle initial. I was actually told to go back and insert the middle initial to those I did not use it.
Our next milestone will be next Monday when we movie. Titan Movers and their Secret Weapon… here we come!
I was stunned and saddened to hear about the passing of Octavia Butler, my favorite science fiction writer, the other day. The author of 12 novels and 1 published collection of short stories, Butler was a pioneer in the science fiction realm, being a lone African-American woman, and a lesbian, in a field dominated by white males. The author died outside of her home in Seattle, after falling and striking her heard on a walkway. 
A couple of things I want to mention further. This is only the second time in my history of reading comics that I have stopped buying The Avengers. The first was when Rob Leifield was writing it (it picked it up a few issues later when Walt Simonson took over). What Brian Michael Bendis has done with a former favorite title of mine is inexcusable. It in no way resembles a comic called The Avengers, and despite the use of one of my favorite characters from the 1970’s (Spider-Woman) it just plain sucks. DC knocks one out of the park with its massive Infinite Crisis event, including four terrific lead-in mini-series, and other regular titles picking up some compelling threads (the Wonder Woman/Superman clash specifically.) I am the first to admit how much I enjoy Young Avengers, a title I was sure to hate. Allan Heinberg has made a convert out of me. It’s great to read Dan Slott’s work, bringing old-style superheroics back to comics with a nice dose of humor on titles such as She-Hulk, The Thing and the Great Lakes Avengers mini-series. Who would have thought I would have enjoyed miniseries starring such obscure characters as Drax the Destroyer and Beta Ray Bill so much? And the attention paid to Zatanna this year has been very much welcomed. Kitty Pryde, on the other hand, a much-loved character, disappointed in her mini-series, which I just felt fell flat. The X-Men titles themselves were a mixed bag. I bucked the majority and really enjoyed Peter Milligan’s work on X-Men, while being greatly disappointed in Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men despite a strong start in 2004. And Chris Claremont? Just give it up. Greg Pak did an astounding job adding another chapter to the Jean Grey/Phoenix saga. And to think, I’ve had dinner with him! And as for my 
boyfriend, talented artist/writer Phil Jimenez? He had a mixed year; his astounding pencils make Infinite Crisis so beautiful, and add some wonder to Otherworld, but his muddled writing in that series and the non-event, The Return of Donna Troy were disappointing. Finally there’s House of M. The less said about that mockery the better.