Halloween/All souls day

Another year, another Halloween.  I'm coming to hate the festivals as they mark the passage of time.

This year I miss my uncle, my gran and my work friend.
But most of all I miss my son.

Well whaddya know, bras do wear in

I was all ready to write a furious and blistering post about how bras are really hard to fit and how it's infuriating when you think something fits in the shop and then you wear it for a day and it turns out it doesn't.

I bought 2 bras last week. A zebra print one and a leopard print one (my first in each print!!)  I got fitted in store, we'd decided on the sizes that fit me (one of them is a 30J...) and I took them home.
Wore the 30J (!!! I was expecting to come out with a 30HH at most!) the next day and within 2 hours the bit between my breasts was digging in.  It continued doing so the next few days I wore it.  This has happened before and I came to the conclusion that it's due to the difference in size between my breasts.

Having different sized boobs isn't unusual.  I'd say there's a 2 cup difference between mine.  Usually bra fitters fit to the larger size because if you don't you get that double boob/spillage effect on the larger one.  You do get some gaping on the cup on the smaller side, but this is at least hidden under clothes and you can't hide the spillage.

After having the wires dig into my sternum for a few days I decided that when the bra is fitted to my larger side the wires are much too big on my smaller side, hence the uncomfortable feeling and occasional pain.  I was pretty narked about this because having worn it for a few hours you can't take it back.  I planned to take the other, unworn one back, because I figured I'd have the same problem.

Lo and behold, I put the worn one on again yesterday to find I had no pain!  It appears to have worn in.  this had never happened before.  I'm amazed.  I'd heard some women talk about how they wear in bras but I'd scoffed at them and thought they were just wearing the wrong sizes.  Oops.  Sorry ladies.

Now I'm debating whether or not to take the leopard print one back or whether to keep it and hope that it also wears in...

Anyone else experienced this??

Wonder Woman Wednesday

Canary, Shiera and Peej (look in his shades) try to hold Di back, while Zee looks on aghast.
You can see the credit in the image.
This is reminiscent of this Barda and Plas sequence from JLA 33, written by Mark Waid:

I don't like this depiction of Plas.  It's creepy.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

A playful Wondy by Adam Hughes.

Comics do pregnancy and baby stuff

A while ago I asked if anyone knew of Superman titles which dealt with Ma and Pa Kent's infertility. A few people reminded me of Grant Morrison's Action Comics, issue 5, with a backup about their attempts at making a baby.

It's a good story. It feels real. You feel their love and their desperation. It's a serious issue not often talked about and this comics treats it with dignity and understanding. Because it's a Superman comic it has to tie in with the Kent's finding Superman and this is the one part which falls down, for me.
I think good fiction generally, and superhero comics in particular, should tell us something about our lives. They should reflect the important stuff and give us ways to deal with it,or gives us insights into other people's stories, other people's lives.

Superhero comics, with their good vs evil narratives and their subjects being people with amazing powers, have a really big mandate to talk to us about the important stuff. Not every single comic has to do this, comics about two people going shopping can also be fun, and there are issues which are just beat em ups. But unless these events acknowledge the wider picture - the cause they are fighting for,or the shoppers' characters, they become quite dull.

Back to Action Comics. Near the end of the backup a priest tells the Kent's that he thinks God has a plan for them.  Fast forward a few scenes and as they are driving home we see Clark's ship coming into land.

The IVF and infertility stuff was handled really well, but seeing Clark's ship come in kinda ruined it for me. I realise I'm more sensitive to this than most but for most of us, babies don't fall out of the sky. For those of us childless not through choice, saying that God has a plan for us is simply twisting the knife in further.   If God took our children from us on purpose he can go to hell. If the purpose is for us to have another child, well, that won't make up for the one we've lost.  Saying things like 'god has a plan' or 'people are only given what they can handle' is trite bullshit said by people who have no concept of real pain.

And that's where Action Comics 5 falls down for me. If they hadn't linked the priest's words with Clark's arrival I'd think it was fine. But to do so takes away from the real world themes of the previous story.  It makes me really really angry,

Book review : The Mortal Instruments book 1 & 2

So the lovely Kariss sent me these 2 books as part of the equally lovely Char's blogger book swap.  I'd said I'd liked adult supernatural stuff so she got my tastes pretty right when she sent me these.

Spoilers ahead.

The front cover has an endorsement by Stephanie Meyer which sets the the tone for this series. If you like Twilight you'll prolly like these. It's about a teenager called Clary who finds herself part of an underground world of magic, werewolves, vampires, demons and demon hunters. Clary thinks she's plain looking, but clearly is very pretty. She's also clumsy and has two other teenage boys lusting after her. The magic boy is snooty, dangerous, unbelievably beautiful and a bit of a rude prick, if I'm honest.  The other boy is a regular mortal and has been her friend since they were toddlers.  Sound familiar? It should do!

This book is riding hard on the coattails of Twilight. Having said that, it is pretty enjoyable, in a trashy way. I like trash, I loved twilight. Both series are good escapist rubbish.

These books are better written than Twilight, the prose is better, but they aren't as engrossing, somehow Twilight plot was more gripping. Clary is also more three dimensional than Bella, as are the rest of the characters.  There are plot twists in here that I genuinely didn't see coming, and there are plot twists I did see coming, a mile off.

The love triangle is a bit odd. The set up doesn't make you particularly support either boy, and then it's revealed that Clary and magic boy are siblings, yet they still clearly want to do each other.  This is odd because the book presents it as forbidden love but in the same way that other books say a fella from the wrong side of town is forbidden. It's weird. The book doesn't seem to acknowledge how creepy an incestuous romantic relationship is.  It's touched on, but it's not really felt throughout the pages.  Part of me suspects that this is because magic boy is clearly not really a blood relation of Clary, but is actually an elf. NB: by the end of book 2 this hasn't been confirmed, but it's fairly obvious it will be a book 3 reveal.

Now, love triangles and love anguish in YA fiction are usually there so readers can empathise with the heroine and the situation.  But why would a teenager want to fantasise about a forbidden love forbidden because the hot boy is your blood brother?? It's weird!  I'd be really interested to know what teen girls thought of this.  Maybe the writer wanted to rival Twilight's creepy love story (the baby and the werewolf imprinting on each other - less creepy than it sounds, but still an odd choice for the plot).

The other odd thing about the book is the introduction of magic boy and his two friends.  Considering we are meant to be rooting for these guys, their first scene paints them as bullying murderers.  We later find out they aren't really murderers as they are killing demons, but the whole bully thing is not really addressed.  I thought of Buffy when I was reading this.  Buffy explicitly tackled the joy-in-killing-demons thing and decided it was Not Good. This series, so far doesn't.

Now, I don't want my texts of choice to be morally 'correct', and I am quite happy being challenged, but I'd like them to tackle  the dodgy stuff, to be aware of it, and not just ignore them (unless that's a major theme of the book).  In this case it just reads like shallow writing.  All surface and no feeling.  Maybe not quite as bad as that.

So, it's a fun couple of books, set in a daft supernatural world, with ridiculous plots and odd choices in relationships.  Nonetheless it's a nice easy way to pass the time.  I shall be passing these on to a friend of mine who I am sure will get some trashy enjoyment out of them.

FWIW, my thoughts on Twilight (and The Hunger Games) are here.

From pregnancy to post-natal: Energy levels and bodies

I have always considered myself a tired person. I have always complained that I'm tired, that I don't want to stand up any longer, that I need more sleep. It got worse in my first trimester so I started taking iron tablets at around 12 weeks, and I perked right up.  As my baby grew I got progressively more tired, until I was absolutely shattered for the last few weeks. Pregnant readers - go on maternity leave at 34 weeks, don't wait till 37, it's hard work!
I went back to work a month ago and you'd think I would again be knackered. But I'm not. I have energy. I don't want to go bed at 9.30 or 10 every night. I can do things. And I can focus!  I can work and make decisions! I guess baby brain is a real thing after all.  It's odd how things sneak up on you. I didn't notice my sluggishness when pregnant,and now with this extra energy that doesn't waver my life feels even more surreal.

 I'm also slightly anemic, so I figure if I start taking iron tablets I'll be bouncing off the walls.

I sit here, at the doctor's surgery, with my arms resting on my flesh and my belt, and for the life of me I still feel pregnant. I feel this bulk of flesh that I associate with pregnancy.  I remember it took me a while to feel like I had a proper bump, a full on expanding outwards big pregnant belly, and I was, of course, much bigger than I am now, and differently shaped.
Yet now, I sit here and I rest my arms on my sides and I feel pregnant. I wonder if other post natal women feel the same or if it's a feeling experienced only by those who have lost their babies.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

I recognise this artists but can't remember the name.  Anyone got any ideas?

DC's My First Book of Girl Power

I am absolutely thrilled! DC are starting to publish more books for little kids. They aren't quite comics, but that doesn't bother me.  I saw this on the Women Write About Comics website and promptly told various twitter friends about it.

Here's some picture samples:

Isn't is great? Here we have something for little girls, that isn't pink (ignore the cover, it;s not fully pink!), that doesn't patronise them, that celebrates them and teaches them they are worthy. The art is gorgeous stock art from the 70s so there's no issues with the characters being sexy.  Here we have an educational book saying that girls are heroes. This is amazing!

I've pre-ordered 3 copies - one for nw, one fir my 2 and a half year old niece and one for my friends' daughters - aged 2 and 5.  Both UK and US Amazon stores have it available.

Earlier this week I'd seen DC's Busy Bodies, which I have also ordered. I'm not sure what age is it aimed at but samples from inside show that it's DC characters talking g about what they use parts of the bodies for, e.g. Aquaman uses his arms to swim. So I'm guessing it's for a young kid, maybe toddlers.  When I get it I will review it.  Here are some samples:

 

I am so pleased that DC is now doing this sort of thing. I can't help but wonder if this means they might reprint their super dictionary. You can read the whole thing on a tumbl here, but I really want a physical copy.  Having said that, I did just find this - is it the same thing?  How exciting!

Clothes and stuff

A little while ago I was blathering about how to make a casual Wonder Woman costume.  I am now really nearly rely ready to learn how to use my sewing machine - I have a friend coming over next weekend to teach me and everything.

I want to know how to use my sewing machine for two reasons.
- To be able to make costumes. These would be for cons and for everyday casual costumes. I'd like to be able to amend my Aquaman costume so I could wear it while not pregnant. I'd like to customise a red vest so it becomes a Cassandra Sandsmark vest.

- To have clothes that fit me and that I can get fairly easily. Before getting pregnant I was an hourglass shape.  This makes it really hard to find clothes that fit, because I have large breasts, wide hips and a small waist and apparently clothes designers can't cope with this. Bugger off clothes designers.

Post pregnancy I am more pear shaped, because like every other mother my middle has puddled into pudding. I suspect that given time, exercise and a less cake filled diet my pudding will reduce but I won't ever be a pure hourglass shape again. This is fine, I'm not complaining and I don't for one second regret getting pregnant.

On my way down to reduced pudding status I am somewhat limited in my clothes that fit me.  Clearly I don't want to wear maternity clothes. Equally I don't want to buy lots more new clothes.
This is my wardrobe and contains everything that fits me and some that doesn't:

(Note: needs more leopard print)

I have lots of colour. Most of my tops and skirts are colourful and patterned so nothing matches and my jeans are too small for me. So today I went and bought a black Lycra miniskirt. I bet some people would think it isn't appropriate for a 34 year old mother, but to them I say bugger off. I like tight clothes. I like short skirts.

Where am I going with this post? I don't know. I think that I will take photos of stuff I do make and blog them.  I would like to paint batwoman symbols on my leather gloves but I don't know how to do this.

I want to blog about stuff that interests me and over the last few months I've lost interest in comic reviews. I want to concentrate my reviewing on new readers stuff, not the regular weeklies. Although I might occasionally have thoughts on them. This post was inspired by me wanting to do a public picture of my wardrobe, and I have no idea why I wanted to do that.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

By Ben Caldwell. Lovely.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

I don't know who this is by, I don't recognise the signature.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

This is by Nicola Scott.  I should re-read the WW Blackest Night mini.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

Art by Alex Ross.  You can always depend on him for a good Wondy.

Hedgehog rescue activate!

On Monday I got a lift home from work, which turned out to be rather fortuitous as when I got close to my front door I heard a scrabbling in the front garden.  The garden is small but completely overgrown with clover.  I feared it was a rat (we've had them before).  It definitely wasn't a blackbird (their scrabbling sounds different and you don't get them in green plants).  I looked closer and realised it was  a hedgehog. Hedgehog!  I haven't seen a hedgehog for years.

My excitement grew and I thought I must tell my boyfriend about this, so I started filming the hog.  Then I remembered that hogs are nocturnal and if out in daylight are often ill. So I frantically called a friend who is a wildlife expert.  Meanwhile, the hog tried to leave my front garden towards the road, so I blocked his entrance with my bag.  No one wants a run over hog.

The boyfriend came home and we rescued the hog and put him at the back of the garden to find his way out to the woodland behind our house.  It's only little - the size of a hand.  It all balled up and is adorable.  It didn't look sickly, or ill, it was fairly sprightly.

Then I checked my facebook and voicemail and had the aforementioned wildife experts telling me to rescue the hog and call a rescue centre. I then started feeling really sick and worried so went to investigate and found the hog out back.  I picked it up, put it in a plastic box, gave it some catfood (NEVER give hedgehogs milk and bread - it kills them) and felt a bit better.  The boyfriend came home and we also gave it a makeshift hot water bottle wrapped in a towel.

Then I waited for the rescue lady to turn up.  When she arrived at about 10.30pm she looked at him, pronounced him definitely a boy and said that he was probably out in the day because he couldn't find enough food at night.  She said he was about 12 weeks old but really underweight.  If he goes into hibernation now he'll die, because they need to be at least 600grams to survive the winter period.  She also said something about the quality of his spines (not great) and that his pelvis was out of whack, I can't remember exactly.  She said he didn't have these killer maggot/fly things that eat the hogs alive (!) but that he probably did have a worm problem - hence why he was so active.  She will worm him and feed him up and release him.

Here's one video I took of him in the front garden:

That's only about 16 seconds long.

Here's a longer one, about 7 and a half minutes.  If you skip ahead to 5 minutes 30 you'll see him more clearly.

This might show up the wrong way up - tilt your head to the right to see it properly.  I'm amending it in youtube but I don't know when it will change on here.

If you find a hedgehog out in daylight do the following:
Pick it up using gloves or a towel, place it in a cardboard box lined with newspaper or an old towel.
Add a hot water bottle or plastic bottle filled with warm water (warm - not boiling).  Make sure the hog can get away from the bottle if it needs to.  The heat helps stop them going into shock.
Give it cat or dog food and water (a small amount) only once it's active.  Or you can mix up weetabix, whiskas supermeat (not a fish one) and water in a bowl.  If you don't have those, do a hardboiled egg mixed with water.
Don't put the food and water in a deep bowl they can't get into or out of.
Keep the hog in the dark.
Then call your local rescue place.  If their advice contradicts the above follow their advice.

Thanks to Hallswood Animal Sanctuary for collecting the hedgehog, their advice and their information.  They are good.  Please give them money.

This whole experience made a shitty day a bit better.  I'm really glad I could keep the little bugger alive and do something for him.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

This is by Terry Didson.  I like her muscles and her strength, but she does a look bit like she's dancing with Cheetah.

Ma and Pa Kent

You know what I'd like to read? An account of Martha and Jonathan Kent's time before they found Clark.  An account of why they were childless - are they infertile or did they have miscarriages or did they lose a child (children?) towards the end of a pregnancy?  I doubt they lost a child in late pregnancy because I don't characterise them as a couple who would deny that Clark had a sibling.  If a writer were to retcon that in, I'd have problems.  However, I can see that they never fell pregnant or that they had repeated early miscarriages.

In short, I'd like to read about who they were before they became Ma and Pa Kent, and how trying for a child affected them and how they dealt with it.

Has there been a story like this and if so where would I find it?

The Super family books have a lot to say about grief and familial connections and at some point I'll probably write something about Clark, Kara, Ma and Pa Kent, the Els and Linda Danvers.  But not today.

Super Sexy Saturday

 

By Marco Checcetto. Hot.

DC's December Darwyn Cooke variants

Oh hell you'll all have seen them by now but they are so damn purdy I want to blog them anyway.

Wonder Woman:

 Teen Titans:

 SUPERGIRL!!!

 He-Man:

 JLU:

 I love the way this is set up.  Adore it.

Catwoman:

The composition is fabulous.

Superman/Wonder Woman:

Aquaman:

Flash:

And hey look, I'm excited about something.  That's progress.

Just in case..

.. you were wondering whether to buy, freeze and eat a cadburys neopolitan mini roll:

Don't. They are fucking rank.

The frozen sponge is dry and heavy. The strawberry and gods-know-what other flavour is nasty.  It was not a good taste experience.

I might buy and freeze the regular chocolatey mini rolls though.  My guess is that the sponge will still be rank but the chocolate might be better.

Blech to neopolitan mini rolls.