Month in Review: October

Several big events happened this month. The most significant was the birth of our second daughter, Emily; 11 am, October 14th. Everything around Emily's birth went much smoother than Lily's, from the birth itself to the recovery time in the hospital. She fed and slept easier and cried much less than her big sister. The hospital staff was also much more helpful and less stress inducing. Of course none of this has anything to do with us being much calmer this time around.

Regarding my creative pursuits, I've finished 3 out of 6 pages of my mini comic, Simon on the Shores of Ruin. I'm quite happy with the project and am learning a lot out of the process, which invariably involves a good deal of experimentation. I hope to do a few more short projects after this before finally bringing to completion my larger project. 

I'm happy that I was able to get around to attending MICE (Mass Independent Comic Expo) this year, even if it was with one week old Emily in tow. The convention was very inspiring and I made a few connections that I hope to follow up on, including a comic drawing group that meets in Porter Square.   

I didn't read much this month, nothing on my list from last month and nothing in terms of literature save Defoe's Roxana, which I was already nearly finished with. I did pick away at Dostoyevsky's The Gambler, but haven't made much progress. I read a few graphic novels though. I finally got around to finishing David B.'s  Black Paths, which was very good. Perhaps my favorite book of his so far. I also finished Dylan Horrock's Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen, which was also quite good, although perhaps not as good as his first novel, Hicksville. 

Hopes for November? Hard to say. I definitely want to finish the short comic. I want to finish The Gambler. There are two essays I want to write. As followers of this blog will know, I've been reading a lot of books on history and economics this year, many related to an online course from Brandeis I was following: "Imagining Money." I hope to write a reflection on this course, perhaps in the context of my other reading. I'm interested in a subject I call "thinking in images" and may frame the essay in terms related to that topic. 

The second essay I hope to write is for the journal Jesus the Imagination. The topic for this year's issue is "gardens." I'm considering writing an essay on utopias as garden. The essay would take into account my interest in Angus Fletcher's ideas about "the environment poem" and how it relates to democracy. His book on topology would also be worked in. 

Anything else? Well, for leisure I'll probably read more graphic novels. More David B. Maybe finish up Lewis Trondheim's Donjon. Or tryout a few other random books I've picked up. There are several novels I hope to read in the near future, but not sure if I'll have the time or energy until next year.