Hints on how A.E. Graves spends her imaginary spare time
Author: aegoncoffee
Human female. Multi-racial, mostly vegan foodie. Science-lover. Photographer, both alt-process wet darkroom AND digital. Fluent in legalese. Use a French press with enthusiasm. Bibliophile. Cephalopodaphile. Taught swimming, trained as an architect, teach users on legal software and legal/compliance topics.
And Duolingo gives me a chance to brag about it EVERY SINGLE DAY! (Well, every day I study, which is the same thing.)
Also, if I haven’t mentioned this since switching from other languages to Japanese: Japanese is difficult for me! My reaction when the program shows me an exercise is:
Oh, no! I have no idea what this says!
Oh, wait, I know that word.
Okay, I also know that phrase.
Well, maybe I do know what it says.
[complete answer]
[receive happy success chime]
[repeat with the same lack of confidence, again and again]
I’m still struggling so much over the little connectors, like [o], [ni], and [te/de]. I still fail to see the pattern of when they are appropriate, but… hopefully I’ll get there.
Westalis and Ostania are on the brink of war. Twilight, a handsome super-spy working for Westalis, must infiltrate elite society where politicians mingle: to do that, he’ll need a family – by the end of the week – to get into position to collect intelligence on a deadline.
He can’t be fussy.
He quickly adopts a child from a sketchy orphanage, and agrees to a faux marriage with a nice young woman who asks him for assistance, successfully assembling the Forger family. He doesn’t know the child, Anya, is hiding the fact that she is a telepath, or that his innocent-looking wife, Yor, is a professional assassin. Thanks to a series of misunderstandings and barely kept secrets, he won’t understand his (fake) wife or (fake) child any time soon!
This is a light-hearted comedy is attractively drawn. The faux-European setting provides a pretty-yet-tense backdrop, as government security services abduct and torture citizens who: show any hints of disloyalty, are turned in by envious acquaintances, or even are just a little different. The Forger family’s ability to fit in feels ‘high stakes,’ and while each of them has their own reasons they need to pass for normal, they all feel safer together.
Petty office rivalries, secret crushes, childhood bonds, misunderstandings, and sharp objects keep things moving along amusingly! EVEN THE DOG HAS A SECRET!
Viz’s Shonen Jumpcurrently provides subscribers Chapters 1- 58; the compilation books are up through Volume 6 (Chapters 1 – 37).
Spy X Family is a nice way to take your mind off [gesturing]… the state of things.
This Viz preview below sets the scene in English; the Japanese preview below it has catchy music, and shows more images of the characters in action.
The soundtrack for my time at home this week is Secret Agent, which is a local web radio station run by somafm.com.
I can describe it as a bit of downtempo electronica (say, Amon Tobin), a bit of hip Jazz (something great from Blue Note), a bit of 70s cool (say, Curtis Mayfield), and random clips from James Bond films as punctuation. (“Do you expect me to talk?” “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”)
Secret Agent from SomaFM
The soundtrack for your stylish, mysterious, dangerous life. For Spies and PIs too!
Kafka Hibino has a dirty job: cleaning up the mess after giant monsters (kaiju) that attack his home city are violently “neutralized” by the nation’s Defense Force.
Kafka didn’t PLAN to be cutting up monster guts: he planned to fight against the kaiju directly at the side of childhood best friend, Mina Ashiro. But his plans went sideways, and decades later, he handles sanitation, while Mina leads the Defense Force’s third division as a national hero(ine), using weapons made from previously killed, powerful kaiju.
But… one day, things go very wrong, and Kafka becomes a part-time kaiju himself. Which is… SO AWKWARD. How will he ever get into the Defense Force and work with Mina if he is the enemy?
This is a charming adventure with dangerous monsters, dangerous humans, loyalty, teamwork, men gossiping in bathhouses, monster intestines, secret identities, partial kaiju transformations, very sharp blades, unexpected alliances, and fun illustrations between chapters.
I subscribe to Viz’s Shonen Jump, so I have access to all available chapters (1 through 54 as of mid-January 2022), and have been delighted by the story so far! Chapters 1-7 are available in book form, and I imagine the rest of the story will be bundled and released in the future.
I’m looking forward to future issues!
VIZ | Read Kaiju No. 8 Manga – Official Shonen Jump From Japan
The world’s most popular manga! Read free or become a member. Start your free trial today! | Kaiju No. 8 – Kafka wants to clean up kaiju, but not literally! Will a sudden metamorphosis stand in the way of his dream?
While my father and I were discussing Spanish language place names (like the City of Manteca (which translates as LARD), or the town of Salida (which means exit, and various synonyms of that)), we started talking about street names in San Francisco that are ordinary Spanish words (Embarcadero (pier), Potrero (pasture), etc.). My father asked who Guerrero street was named after in the Mission.
That brought me to this work of awesomeness by Noah Veltman. It’s a map (and/or a list) of the streets of San Francisco, with brief biological remarks, and links to sites like Wikipedia.
The History of San Francisco Place Names
An interactive map showing the history of street and landmark names in San Francisco. Use the controls to browse, search, and filter by theme.
The interface is great! For someone like Guerrero, the street is highlighted in red, and the biographical box is concise:
Excellent presentation of the data by Veltman (sample/detail)
The article on Guerrero at Wikipedia suggests that he was murdered (YIKES!) by (greedy) Americans trying to invalidate land grants of the Californios (people of California who resided in the area already/previously, while it was controlled by Spain and/or Mexico). (My brain is still saddened by and stuck on the idea of murder by slingshot – I believe it, I just have rarely seen effective slingshots, which somehow makes the idea even worse…)
This site is clearly a labor of love, and I’m happy to have encountered it.
This is a compact, engrossing novel about a woman who has never quite fit into the rigid expectations of her family or society.
While convinced she is quite logical, Keiko sees that her behavior creates distress, especially for her beloved younger sister. Keiko learns to adjust her public self by mimicking those around her – their mannerisms, accents, clothing choices, figures of speech… And everyone seems satisfied and a bit flattered by how well she fits in – up to a point. Her continued work in a Japanese convenience store and single status remain unacceptable, though both suit her.
Ultimately, to appease her sister and others, she announces the end of her single status. The absurdity of misplaced satisfaction of those around her comes into the starkest possible relief.
The reviews I’ve read of this book discuss how “quirky” and “eccentric” the lead character is, but I suspect more. Those of us with friends ‘on the spectrum’ may read more into her viewpoints, and see Keiko as advocating for the liberation of neurodivergent people on their own terms.
It’s a great, short novel, and I love the frequency in which variations of ‘unnerving’ or ‘unsettling’ come up in the reviews!
I am always looking for these shades of green, and always looking for excuses to buy more paints to mix them, since they don’t seem to exist as high-permanence prepared paints…
Field of Clover
Weblog by A. Elizabeth Graves. iPhone photography and links to science-y and foodie topics.
While we (okay, some of us) were frittering away our time during the pandemic, my friend and former colleague, Scott, and his band were working on their new album (coming soon, I’m sure). Space Vacation (spacevacationrocks.com) also made a fun (pandemic, multi-view, multi-time-period) video for this Iron Maiden cover:
(It’s harder to get meaningful internet results using the search phrase “Space Vacation” now – I blame the various billionaires and their hobbies!)
I’ve already posted about my favorite indie bookshops here in San Francisco (haven’t I?), but I now must add Silver Sprocket to my list. They run a great comic book shop (and are a publisher, a pro-bike organization, and a bunch of other things).
FTL, Y’all! Tales from the Age of the $200 Warp Drive edited by C. Spike Trotman and Amanda LaFrenais published by Iron Circus Comics 2018
I love sci-fi, and so this anthology of what people would do if faster-than-light travel was possible, cheap, and open to anyone who could assemble some off-the-shelf parts was irresistible.
I think I actually said, “OH NO” out loud in the shop, because my first thought was, yes, some people would make their parents’ old Camaro into a FTL travel device, and go into space with NO PREPARATION AT ALL. I would like to thank the editors for assuring me that I’m not the only one who would fear this…
This anthology has it all: people who are competent with interstellar travel! People who are not! People who prepare! Cool ships! Quiet disasters! People on the run from the authorities! Other forms of life! The absence of other forms of life! Social media! Pop culture references to famous sci-fi movies! A wide range of illustration styles in a wide range of stories… I really enjoyed this hefty, speculative collection of adventures from a collection of talented artists.
