Those Who Dare, Have Sore Asses

So last week was insane as I busted my hump to get Robo 2.2 finished on time, (and failed), I got ready for Granite Con, and tried to earn the digital camouflage for my MP5 in CoD4.

But this morning all seems right with the world. Aside from an annoying case of insomnia I seem to have developed (more CoD4 time!), everything is going smoothly. I got the Widget up and off to school without a fight, forced myself to walk a mile, then headed over to my favorite sandwich shop, Santos Dumont, for a delicious hot cup of french roast and a tasty bagel. Now its well known that Santos was a pioneer of early aviation, but what it less well know is that he (apparently) brewed a mean cup of joe. Then again, he was Brazilian, and they are the masters of two things –good coffee and grilled meats. And also trans-gender pornography, but I think that might be more of a niche specialty.

Anyway, a few years ago a Dunkin Donuts opened up right next door to Da’ Mont, and it nearly broke my heart. Luckily, the quirky little shop has managed to keep its doors open. This is no mean feat. For those of you who do not live in the Northeast, you may not be familiar with Dunkin –just picture a sort of Krispy Cream, or a blue collar Starbucks. Dunkin is a monster chair here in New England. While I do like their coffee it can be said that most of their clientele do not. If they did, I would not constantly be hearing orders for coffees with “extra, extra”; meaning please give me a cup full of cream with three heaping tablespoons of sugar, and just enough coffee to make it look, and taste, like a Yoo-Hoo.

So it was with a slight sneer that I gazed at the mile-long line for the DD drive thru as I pulled into Dumont’s empty parking lot.

It’s interesting what the drive-thru does to change life. At Santos Dumont you get out of your car, walk for a few feet, make your own coffee, and engage in a little chit chat with the friendly staff. At Dunkin, you sit on your ass, get irritated because the line won’t move at 50mph, and then yell into a box, hoping that what you ordered comes out the other end. There’s almost no face-to-face interaction.

If that’s not a reason to go to Santos, then the fact that the coffee is amazing (thus not requiring the “extra-extra” to cut the bitter brew). Their beans are actually roasted just down the road and the difference is startling. Also, their bagels are a billion times better. As an expat New Yorker, I know a good bagel when I meet one, and those glazed dinner rolls that Dunkin sells are not good bagels. I’m not even sure that they ARE bagels.

Lets talk about lettering for a moment. Brian and I are always saying that Atomic Robo would sort of suck without Ronda and Jeff on the team. You’ve all seen Ronda’s excellent color work. But sometimes its hard to appreciate good lettering -especially since the better it is, the more invisible it is. Here are some paged that I got from Jeff recently. Enjoy.

And now we come to the part where I tell you how much my ass hurts.

On Saturday a couple of friends, the Widget, and I, hiked Mt. Pack Monadnock. In theory, it’s an easy 1.4 mile climb up to the summit, and we thought it would be a gentle way of easing into hiking season without much risk of bruising any egos. Well, we made it to the top. I’ll say that much.

But the weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed a nice come-as-you-are lunch once we reached the top. You could see Boston and Manchester clearly, and by luck the fire tower, which the website says is no longer in use, was open. And in use. The friendly, pipe smoking, old timer keeping an eye peeled for fires, gave us a little tour and was very nice.

Very unexpectedly, I got nostalgic for flying. From the fire tower I was looking Southeast into the practice area used by the college I used to instruct at. All the landmarks were familiar as old friends. I often used to take the schools crappy old motor-gliders up along the ridgeline that Pack Monadnock is part of, looking for updrafts, and a couple of times I was able to turn the engine off and not drop like a rock. In retrospect, the term “glider” was rather generous for those ancient Grobs. They could better be described as airplanes with very good crashing characteristics.

After realizing that the aviation industry that I wanted to work in had died in the 1930’s, it was the spectacular views that kept me interested for another 8 years or so. Things like watching a distant storm from an altitude higher than the base of it’s clouds, the final approach into small rural airports surrounded by mountains (or hills, to you West Coast people), and dodging little puffers was amazing. My favorite was always passing through snow –it’s like flying through stars.

Until you notice that along with the snow, ice is also building on your wings, and then its no so magical. But I digress.

We hiked. I failed to sleep that night despite the hike. And all day Sunday, and now into Monday, my ass really, really hurts.

Granite Con was a lot of fun. My art rep was there and he helped get me organized for SDCC. I did enough sketching to feel busy, but not so much that my hand was going to fall off. Dorinda came up for a few hours to pull Booth Babe duty, and was awesome for getting me lunch when I thought I might pass out with hunger. The Star Wars nerds (nerd=awesome, btw) were out in full force, with a life-size, WORKING Jabba the Hutt. And I saw what has to be one of the best Mr. Freeze costumes ever. I would post pics, but I can’t seem to find my camera. I think it’s in the car –which means it is at work with Dorinda.

Speaking of work, Robo was supposed to be done yesterday and I’ve got 3 more pages to go. So I’m outta here.

Before I go though I just want to remind everyone that they should be keeping an eye on Atomic-Robo.Com. Go there. Read. Be enlightened.

CBR’s Comics Should Be Good’s Question of The Month.

The Splendor. It is Random.