Virgin post

I am blogging at you from my brand-spankin'-new 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB HD MacBook. The University Bookstore was having a blowout on last month's model, so I picked this up for a relative song (Begin the Beguine by Cole Porter) and its charge is to replace the functionality of both my old workhorse desklamp G4 iMac and my suddenly-demised, too-complicated-to-revive G3 iBook. She is a swingin' machine, and has been named Diana in honor of her namesake, Agent Diana Prince:


But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, Thursday, I sent a lot of time doing school stuff even though I was on break. First, I had to head down to Antioch to TCB there, and then I had a lunch meeting with my tenure cohort from Cascadia to deal with some administrivial issues that needed our response. Sheesh!

I got home in the afternoon to find Otis in full frenzy mode, preparing for the Art Show, so I rolled up my sleeves and joined in. It all turned out great in the end: the show was a smashing success, professionally and socially, but I'll let Otis talk about that on her blog.

So, Friday, I had to go into Cascadia for a (pre-planned) prep day, working with Stella on developing our syllabi and checking in with our respective librarians to get things set up for next quarter. I came back in time to check in with Otis before she headed off to a writing group get-together; I was saved from a night of solitude by a phone call from Yojimbo. We hooked up in the U-district, where he watched me buy this laptop and presented me with my Diana Prince statuette / action figure / doll (and with another Martian Manhunter for the upstairs bathroom).

I could explain to you why this statue is significant, but in order to really understand, you would have to know about Wonder Woman, recognize her early history and how it has affected her status as one of the big three of DC comics (along with Superman and Batman), have been around for a period in the late sixties and early seventies when the character was depowered and turned into a Mrs. Peel clone cum women's liberation figurehead, know that she often wore a white jumpsuit in that era (as well as other "mod" clothes) and that the white jumpsuit has become iconic of that period, know that that period is usually ignored in the current continuity of comics, be aware of the custom of "ret-conning" comics (retroactively re-writing the fictional history of a character), understand how Wonder Woman has been ret-conned several times and have seen her most recent re-boot in which she appeared in this outfit in her civilian identity, and appreciate that that portrayal was a subtle wink to all those who remember that aforementioned forgotten era fondly. Only than could you understand why Yojimbo's giving me this particular plastic toy might have some specific meaning. In other words, to get the joke, I have to explain sixty years of comic book history.

I think we just broke the geek-o-meter.

Anyway, I got to see Yojimbo and make him spaghetti and talk about movies and stuff. And then Otis came home all giddy.

And now I have a new laptop!