What’s it all about, then?

This is a blog about comics (paper cuts) and food (burn marks).

No, these two subjects admittedly do not have a whole hell of a lot in common, apart from the fact that I’m more than capable of going on about them for a very long time. I expect that while everyone, including comics readers, can find something of interest in the food posts, the food readers may be a bit nonplussed by the comics posts. But no matter which direction you’re coming from, please give the other a shot. You never know.

 

About Me

I’m a fairly unapologetic omnivore, although I am as conscientious a one as I can be. I like food that tastes good, obviously; I like it to be honest and well-prepared, respectful of the ingredients, and intelligently done. Favorite food writers include: M.F.K. Fisher (of course), Anthony Bourdain, Molly O’Neill.

My first introduction to comics was X-Men and Excalibur back in the late 1980s, but I soon started on Sandman and Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol in 1990, and that has shaped most of my comics reading ever since. For three years, I wrote monthly comics columns for Bookslut, and recently I’ve been writing reviews for Bookforum magazine. I’ll admit that there’s a fairly large gap where my knowledge of most superhero comics ought to be; my tastes are otherwise pretty eclectic.

I live in Austin, Texas. I write about stuff. I have a wonderful husband who enjoys my cooking and reads the comics that I recommend to him, and a small noisy cat who only cares about the cooking (and only when it’s fish). I’m an alumna of Rice University, grew up as an Air Force brat, and am a lifelong geek.

And here’s a list, in no particular order, of other interests outside of comics and food, any of which may be referred to at any time:

• fashion
• television, in particular Doctor Who (and its assorted spinoffs) the new Battlestar Galactica, Project Runway, and a lot of cheesy-looking British sci-fi from the 1970s and 1980s
• the work of various writers, in particular Dorothy L. Sayers, William Gibson, Iain M. Banks, P.G. Wodehouse, and Michael Moorcock
• all kinds of music: postpunk, jazz, crazy unclassifiable alternative music, indiepop, electronica, the output of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, folk, electropop, Irish folk music, modern classical, Renaissance songs, opera, Broadway musicals and American songbook classic songs, cabaret songs, goth rock, and more
• historical trivia
• Japan, Ireland, England, Germany
• role-playing games
• modernist art and architecture
• religious history
• Shakespeare
• mysticism, magic, Tarot
• knitting and crocheting
• movies
• Apple computers
• media fandom in all its nutty glory, bless it
• internet folk art (i.e. macros, avatars, icons)
• perfume
• karaoke