Also: I saw Neruda at the Wellington film festival! It was very meta, and kind of Wes Anderson-y (but with more interesting stylistic flourishes), and absolutely about how much writers like to feel important and dangerous instead of frustrated and self-indulgent.

All the movie previews the predict A Monster Calls is gonna be Spielbergian feelgood schmaltz make me wonder how many people have actually read A Monster Calls. I don't know if I've ever read a "boy accidentally befriends giant forest beast" story that was less whimsical.

Okay, that explains a lot. Listening to some of these songs again as an adult (and feeling that good old nostalgic mix of embarrassment and pleasure), I can see how it might appeal to the kind of listeners who really want to come off as chill, sensitive, and worldly without having to actually be any of those things.

Okay. I'm going to invite the scorn and derision of the internet, here. This is going to be tough. But I need a straight answer to a question that has haunted me for years. I should preface this by saying I'm not from anywhere in the Americas, so there's probably a lot of cultural context I missed, and I bought (and…

I should add that I do not mean to recommend the DC Stormwatch. That was not a good comic. I say this as someone who has every single issue in a cardboard box under her bed. It is… not good.

Well, I know the DC's Midnighter had to wrap up because of rock-bottom sales, but that's a shame because it really is a wonderful book! I may be a little biased because I've been a fan of Midnighter (and Apollo) for a looooong time, but I really loved how this book handled the character. I especially appreciated how,…

They must be Night Vale fans. Clearly, they understand the hovering lights above the parking lot.

The first result I got for "nostalgia etymology" showed the root words 'nostos' (return home) and 'algos' (pain), so literally 'the pain upon going home'. That seems like a much better description of the feeling than something to do with wounds, yeesh.