Today’s comic is an almost word-for-word exchange we had with a cashier when we were checking out at Walgreen’s last Saturday. They had a bunch of New Moon DVDs sitting out on the counter to tempt you with a last minute purchase. For reasons I can’t explain, I grabbed one and decided to taunt Cami with it. The cashier mistook my playfulness for genuine interest in the franchise and what followed was a weird, slightly sexist one act play.
It’s a little bit difficult for me to convey exactly how incredulous the cashier was when Cami admitted she had not seen either of the Twilight movies. But she acted like Cami had spit on her grandmother. Prefaced by her comment about “never seeing a man appreciate Twilight,” we definitely got the sense that this conversation was being drawn on lines of gender.
It’s true that Cami has read all of the Twilight books. I remember she told me that they are a very easy read, profoundly stupid series of books – but impossible to put down. Trash, pop culture “literature” at it’s finest. Lucy Knisley had a great comic about this very phenomenon. If you take offense at the way I’ve described Twilight, well, sorry. You can tell me Iron Man is stupid and we’ll call it square.
I don’t exactly know why I’m wasting time with these “real life” comics when I should probably be talking about How To Train Your Dragon or Hot Tub Time Machine. It’s very possible that these series of events are funny only to me.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t talk about How To Train Your Dragon or Hot Tub Time Machine at some point. You can likely expect a recap on Monday. I hope to see both films this weekend. After the week I’ve had, I deserve it.
I try not to talk about my employment situation too much because 1.) I don’t want employers who read this to get the wrong idea about anything and 2.) Talking about unemployment is a drag.
BUT, today is my last day on the 90-day contract job I’ve been working and I don’t have anything lined up. So I’m kind of in limbo.
Today is also the day that Cami is going back to work after having been on maternity leave. To say we are transitioning at the moment would be a gross understatement.
Our immediate plan is to keep Henry in daycare to maintain the semblance of a routine while keeping him socialized. But we’re going to knock him down to 3 days a week to save money. Two days a week, he’ll be with me.
That’s not a big deal. We did something similar last summer when I was first let go from my last full-time gig. I’m used to that.
The BIG change is that I will be watching Pearl FIVE days a week. As you know, babies can be somewhat demanding.
I don’t have a problem being a stay-at-home Dad and I’ve been fortunate to land contract jobs here and there since being let go last June. But I’m getting very tired of not knowing what’s going to happen next. I’ve sent out a bunch of resumes. I’ve gone on lots of interviews. I’ve come very close to landing a few different jobs. But the job market is such that there are just A LOT of very talented web and graphic designers in my area. So it’s hard to secure a full-time thing.
We’ll see what happens. In the immediate future, I plan on being a house husband while I get ready for C2E2 in Chicago in a couple of weeks. After that, I’m going to pound the pavement hard and see if I don’t get lucky. Not to drag politics into it, but I’m really hoping that the new health care reform act will help employers to free up some money and hire more people. It can’t come soon enough!
I guess there’s not much else for me to say today except thanks for reading and I’ll see you here on Monday! If anyone has plans to see How To Train Your Dragon or Hot Tub Time Machine, leave your comments below and we can talk about it!
Later!
Hey, Cami. Look! NEW MOOOOON!
I've never met a man who appreciates Twilight.
You could say I appreciate it ironically.
What about you Ma'am. Have you seen it?
I've read the books, but I haven't seen the movies/
YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIES?!
What was THAT about? She acted so incredulous. Like I wasn't a real woman because I haven't seen the Twilight movies!
I thought she was going to confiscate your ovaries right then and there!
I love when you guys (Joe & Gordon) riff on Twilight. I have 2 teen nieces who just fawn all over this tripe. My wife has read the books, and forces herself to watch the movies because she’s a middle school teacher and “has to be in the know.” I find the stuff mind-numbingly idiotic.
You and Cami are better people than me and my wife. We totally would have started badmouthing Twilight on the spot (good-naturedly, of course). 😉
I read comics, my wife likes twilight, we don’t tease each other about it much, so we both get to indulge ourselves in something juvenile. I think it’s a good deal.
On an unrelated topic I’ve been reading Steve Martin’s “Born Standing Up” and there is something about the style your blog posts that seem similar to his writing style…
Anyway good luck finding work
@Staatz,
Yeah, I can’t really take too many shots against Twilight considering the bevy of juvenile activities I participate in. I think I once blogged to that effect. Twilight is just another thing people can nerd out over – like comic books, like sports, like computers – only this time – the audience is primarily girls. No harm in it.
Also, I am taking that Steve Martin compliment and RUNNING with it.
I haven’t read “Born Standing Up” yet, but I”d like to. I’ve read his novels, though. I’m shocked no one has made “The Pleasure of My Company” into a movie yet.
Forget New Moon jokes, Edgar Wright’s new move has a trailer! http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/scottpilgrimvstheworld/
Once I read the line, “The only way I could manage to tear my eyes away from his magnificent chest was to gaze at his angelic face.” I was done. My heave-meter was maxed out. I decided that I’d set aside reading the book and opt out for the far less painful movie viewing experience. But, I still haven’t watched yet. I’m afraid. I’m so very afraid.
See my only problem with twilight was it was a tradeoff between me and my girlfriend. She doesn’t complain about comic book movies and I don’t complain about shiny vampires. But she ends up liking the comic book movies and I still know about shiny vampires!
For some reason, I can’t shake the voice of the character Tara from “True Blood” when I read the dialogue of the cashier. ((And now: it’s not a race thing))
Love Tom’s comment in last panel because I have been in similar ‘You’re a woman why aren’t you getting it’ situations.
Cami’s description of the books is spot on. Read the books, seen the movies, & both are mindless fun. I think most actor’s involved are doing it for noteriety & paychecks because anyone could walk through the roles. Hopefully, they will use the fat cash to be in better movies. What I don’t understand is why Summit Studios is pushing the whole Team Jacob versus Team Edward romantic entanglement because the books are pretty darn clear. Maybe I’m just assuming most people that are seeing the movies have read the books & that’s just not the American way!
See you at C2E2!
Edward Cullen is not a vampire. 😛
I agree with Cami about the books too. I read them a few summers ago because I was bored and a few of my friends were reading them, and therefore talking about them. It was hard for me to describe, but she hit it spot on. As I was reading them, I knew that they were mindnumbingly idiotic, but yet I couldn’t put them down. My friends have forced me to see both of the movies, and one of them even got mad at me because we were in the middle of a crowded theater of fangirls and I was making fun of sparkly Edward. He was convinced that I was going to get us killed if I kept it up.
On another note, I managed to see Hot Tub Time Machine a couple of weeks ago at an advanced screening. Personally, I wasn’t all that impressed with it. I felt that it had its funny moments, but on the whole, just not my cup of tea. Hopefully you’ll be able to enjoy it a bit more than I did!
I met a guy who was a huge Twilight fan- he’s married with two kids. I was severely disappointed and then astounded by him calling me “an anomaly” because I don’t like Twilight and I’m female.
I have never so badly wanted to punch a person in my life.
Love the comic though- that really is the general reaction.
Definitely shell out the extra bucks for How to Train Your Dragon in 3D. The flying scenes are amazing. It’s kind of a bummer Clash is taking a lot of it’s screens next week, but it is all about the money in Hollywood.
I just got back from seeing How To Train Your Dragon and thought it was excellent. Not even the presence of crying infants and talkative little ones could really detract from the experience. Definitely worth seeing.
I’m currently reading Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Voragine’s The Golden Legend because I wanted easy reads, so needless to say, I consider Meyer’s “attempt” at literature not only a pathetic piece of drival, but a literal affront to the art form. By the by, the two books I mentioned were both at one time “best sellers” (the latter being perhaps the first best seller) and were read by the common man, so my attitude is not a disdain towards popular literature, just a hatred towards bad literature.
Ladies, Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, go ahead, read Twilight. I don’t mind, and I’m not offended. All I ask is that when you’re done with those books, read more books. If your friends or family can’t or don’t recommend anything that interests you, go to a book store- a chain or a small stand-alone, or go to a library, and ask someone who works there. I can guarantee you that the person you speak to will be more than pleased to help you find your next book.
I worked in a bookstore when young Harry of the lightning scar was very popular, and nothing made my day like when someone- young, old, or in-between, coming in and wanting to read more books.
And, just for the record, there’s nothing at all wrong with an adult reading Young Adult / Teen Fiction; there’s nothing wrong with enjoying trashy romance novels, dime-store western serials, or anything in between. If you like it, read it.
Then read more.
Looks like your wife has to turn in her “woman card”.
HOT TUB TIME MACHINE is a MUST SEE~!!! So F’ing Hi-Larious that you’ll trample over other people’s mother’s to go see it again. Ok, maybe trample over some of those creepy they-think-they-know-it-all fanboys-who-smell-like-cheetos-and-social-failure that are always hanging around theaters. You know what I mean.
Definately go see Hot Tub Time Machine. I barely stopped laughing through the entire movie. I hope to be able to see it again, so I can start to quote it with people who didn’t see it at a preview screening.
Oh, and eloquently said Jorn.