Enchiridion

Personal, Social Deconstruction

The Agendas Hidden in the American Marriage

Itโ€™s Valentineโ€™s Day this week. Weโ€™ll be spending it watching Korean horror movies. Because our first date by sheer happenstance was in February, my husband and I have also been together, officially, fifteen years (married eleven). We dated about a year before moving in together that next January, had ongoing conversations the whole time about… Continue reading The Agendas Hidden in the American Marriage

Books and Literature, Reviews, Uncategorized

January Reads and Reviews

Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke Science Fiction, 1953 From Storygraph: In the near future, enormous silver spaceships appear without warning over mankindโ€™s largest cities. They belong to the Overlords, an alien race far superior to humanity in technological development. Their purpose is to dominate Earth. Their demands, however, are surprisingly benevolent: end war, poverty, and… Continue reading January Reads and Reviews

comics, fandom, Media Literacy and Analysis

The Failed Villain to Hero Pipeline as a Pop Culture Thermometer

The Punisher, Frank Castle, began as a Spider-Man antagonist. I donโ€™t think this is secret knowledge. If anything, itโ€™s one of the key issues of Amazing Spider-Man. The kind that people slab and grade. The kind of issue whose cover gets homages in other comic runs twenty years down the line. This is not unknown… Continue reading The Failed Villain to Hero Pipeline as a Pop Culture Thermometer

Books and Literature, On Reading

High Volume Reading as a Moral Imperative

Thereโ€™s this extraordinarily silly thing that happens on TikTok every year like clockwork. One batch of users talks about the one- tw0- three- hundred books they read that year. Another batch is utterly baffled at these numbers to the point of conniption. โ€œHow is it possible?โ€ is the cry they lift to the heavens. โ€œDonโ€™t… Continue reading High Volume Reading as a Moral Imperative

Books and Literature, Reviews, Wrapups and Reviews

December 2024 Reads and Reviews

Check the end for promos, free books, and special sales. Landscape with Invisible HandM. T. AndersonScience Fiction2017 From Storygraph: When the vuvv first landed, it came as a surprise to aspiring artist Adam and the rest of planet Earth -- but not necessarily an unwelcome one. Can it really be called an invasion when the… Continue reading December 2024 Reads and Reviews

fandom, Media Literacy and Analysis

A Year in Forums: Fake Fans and the Proliferation of Non-Analysis

I spent some time in a lot of new pop media forums this year. This is what I observed. In comic book circles, it's a very difficult time to be someone who actually liked the movie Madame Web. Who didn't think Morbius was "that bad, damn, y'all need to calm down." Some of the Spider-Man… Continue reading A Year in Forums: Fake Fans and the Proliferation of Non-Analysis

Fan Theory and Transformative Works, fandom, Personal

A Year in Forums: I Don’t Know How Collecting Works Now

I spent some time in a lot of new pop media forums this year. This is what I observed. So Iโ€™ve always been the collectory sort. Snow globes and statuettes from around the country. Weโ€™ve got magnets from each installation of our favorite art exhibit. I like picking up cool, pulp covers of my favorite… Continue reading A Year in Forums: I Don’t Know How Collecting Works Now

Books and Literature, Reviews, Wrapups and Reviews

November Reads and Reviews

The Mimicking of Known SuccessesMalka OlderCozy Science Fiction-2023 From Storygraph: "On a remote, gas-wreathed outpost of a human colony on Jupiter, a man goes missing. The enigmatic Investigator Mossa follows his trail to Valdegeld, home to the colonyโ€™s erudite universityโ€”and Mossaโ€™s former girlfriend, a scholar of Earthโ€™s pre-collapse ecosystems.  Pleiti has dedicated her research and… Continue reading November Reads and Reviews

Books and Literature, Education and Literacy, fandom

A Year in Forums: People Don’t Know Anything About Stuff They Like

I spent some time in a lot of new pop media forums this year. This is what I observed I have this pet peeve that shows up the most in my more text-based book forums, and science fiction book readers are the worst offenders. Someone will come into a science fiction reading forum and make… Continue reading A Year in Forums: People Don’t Know Anything About Stuff They Like

Reviews

A Review and Light Analysis of Venom:’21 Ewing and Venom War

It's been a long time since I've gotten to be part of a comic run from the start then all the way through the ending. I have to note, from the start, that I read large chunks of this run as it was coming out. So not every single issue comes back to me with… Continue reading A Review and Light Analysis of Venom:’21 Ewing and Venom War