Squirrels? Chipmunks? Werewolves?

I think raccoons or rats are trying to get into the JC trash bin.

Probably not bears. NJ is full of bears, but I struggle with the idea of a bear trundling along the Pulaski Skyway. Plus, a bear would have succeeded.

2023 National Bundt Day at the Comics Factory

Today's National Bundt Day was a good one.

We had 7 Bundt cakes, my half Tunnel of Fudge, and a box of mini-Bundts. Everyone who works in the area with DC publishing, or ancillary to DC publishing (including facilities) was invited, but because everyone is hybrid and not all in the office on the same days, just enough people showed up to fill the room.

Here are some before, during, and after photos.

Happy National Bundt Day to you and yours!

Cake Oops

Year two of Tunnel of Fudge disaster.

Keith Tribute

Remembering Keith Giffen.

Who aside from giving us one of the best departing lines of all time, had told his daughter "You should put my ashes in a pepper shaker or mix it into food," and that gave me the opportunity to tell that story last month at my NYCC keynote and say "Did anyone try the tacos?"

Art by Kevin Maguire.

Editor Art

"Will you do a sketch in my book?"

"Oh, I'm an editor, I can't sketch."

"That's okay, some people did stick figures."

"Hmmmm. Okay."

Touring Stockholm Pre-Con

I've been to Stockholm before. In 1982. Surely that makes me an expert.

I have a distinct memory of walking along the main shopping street, and the day was late and we were in a hurry. (I was with the Finnish-Swede host family I was living with for the summer.)

Were we rushing to get to a ferry? To lodging? To the relatives who lived in...I can't remember. Probably Uppsala. 1982 was a long time ago.

I got in around midnight last night, amazed by the efficiency of the airport, the airport train, and how easily I found the hotel I'd booked into. (I worked at that last one, wanting a spot where I could roll off the train and into bed, then easily get to the commuter rail to the convention center the next day.)

Stockholm Morning

I used to go to lengths to avoid hotel breakfast bars. Now I just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and accept them. I even make do with shitty coffee, the latter derived from laziness. The shitty coffee in front of me was preferable to the proper latte by the train station, in the Swedish drizzle.

Life is full of the tiniest compromises. Compulsive buffet grazing with the herd is just a thing we gotta do, the price of being away from home. You’d think I’d be better at it.

But I can happily report that attacking buffets is a human condition, not specifically an American condition.

From Tourist to Comic Con

LAX—>LHR—>Algiers—>Constantine—>Marseille—>Munich—>Stockholm really is the long way around to get to a con, but finally, after a charming day in Marseille and arrival in Sweden in the dark, I was on the Arlanda Express airport train to Stockholm Central Station.

I changed my coat and dug out my scarf and mittens. On arrival at the train station, I followed my phone map out of the station to the closest hotel. Made it. 

Day Three in Algeria

“From the abyss to the Ibis” was one of my Constantine guide’s favorite phrases. Ibis, the central hotel I was staying at, is said as “ee-bis” in this part of the world, and Constantine is built on a massive canyon, with parts of the city at lower altitudes and others up on the cliff. There’s a public elevator between the two, but it costs 5 dinars to ride it, so some people take the steps. Not me, I’d had plenty of walking since getting to Algeria four days ago.

Badr the guide and Nibaj the driver put me into the abyss more than a few times as we traversed seven bridges, the canyon itself, two museums, and various sights I would never have looked at on my own. But “on my own” wasn’t really on the table in Algeria. I could have used hotels to get my visa support letters, and used a taxi on arrival, but this was one of those situations where to get the visa, the budget hotels, and the guide when I needed one, it was just easier to go with Fancyellow, the most appealing of the options I found online.

Day Two in Algeria

Day Two, Sunday. Constantine, Algeria.

I flew from Algiers to Constantine last night, arriving at 7:35pm, and I was in my hotel by 8:30.

“Is there a hotel restaurant?” I asked the Ibis receptionist.

“No, but the Novotel next door has one.”

I dropped off my bag and headed to the Novotel, where there was a buffet for $30. I’m one medium-sized human and I definitely didn’t need a $30 buffet, though I was pretty hungry.

After a complex series of negotiations involved my limited French and Arabic, and a cashier’s limited English, we established that he’d let me take one plate from the hot food area for ten dollars. Simple—a small bit of chicken, veggies, rice, and potatoes. What more could I ask for?

The Ibis itself has seen better days, namely whenever it was built. Ibis is like the IKEA of hotels—imagine cheap laminated shelves looking great for a while but wearing out in time, and then add grungy walls needing a paint job and stained hallway carpets. Still, IKEA really hits the spot in some ways, and the Ibis is in the Constantine center, the shower was hot, the toilet worked, breakfast was included, and the wifi wasn’t godawful. I call that a win, especially since Algeria isn’t known for its fabulous lodging.

I walked more than 22,000 steps yesterday, so I slept well in my little Ibis room. Breakfast was a plentiful (excessive, really) variety of bread products, scrambled eggs with optional processed Vienna sausage type meat (I did not opt), a sadly struggling automated coffee dispenser, some delicious yogurt, and a slice of local pomegranate. I regretted the pomegranate when I realized I had no elegant way of extracting the seeds with my little breakfast plate and a fork. The guide, Badro, fetched me at 9, and we drove out of Constantine to a smooth, new highway that took us to Setif over two hours.