[NON BLOG] Waiting for a Streetcar Last Night

After rising out of the Stygian depths of Osgoode onto the northeastern corner of Queen and University, I paced for a bit. It wasn't to keep myself warm since there was only a bit of chill in the air and that was more energizing than anything else. Boredom was the key motivating factor; yes, I'm one of those people.

Rounding the corner, I saw something odd lying on the top of NOW Magazine dirty lime-green metal box. There was a cardboard tray, filled with small shrink-wrapped objects that looked vaguely like sparkplugs, with wide bases tapering off to a tip. As I got closer, their owner approached me.

"These are mine," she said politely. She about about my age, perhaps a bit older, with short-cut brown hair and a long grey spring coat.

I jumped and turned. "Oh, certainly." I asked her what they were, and she said something about bottles.

"Bottles--I'm sorry?" My brow creased.

"My dispensing bottles, I'm a homeopath." She normally didn't travel with so many bottles, she went on to explain, but she had just come from Montréal where, apaparently, homeopaths' bottles are available in bulk quantities and cheaply, too.

"Cool, thanks." I smiled and nodded as I walked back. I didn't have the heart to mention Avogadro's number to her.

[BRIEF NOTE] Easter's Ruin, Or, Why Something Positive Is My Favourite Web Comic

I'm still grateful that teridian introduced me to Something Positive back in 2002. Written and inked by kobold, Something Positive follows Davan, a cynical Texan expatriate in Boston, his local friends, and his relatives back in his homeland. Always entertaining, frequently provocative, and often possessing a savage wit--or, as demonstrated in the first comic, just plain savage--is a must-read.

kobold has just finished a recent series of strips entitled "In Jesus' Name," following Davan's parents back in Texas as they tried to prevent a cheerless woman from cancelling their church's annual Eastern children's festival, on the grounds that guilt rather than joy should be the emotion dominating Easter celebrations (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). kobold treats the issue sensitively; or, at least, about as sensitively as you would have a right to expect, given the precedents of his other Something Positive comics. The final panel of the final strip in the series is quietly moving.

Go, read.