I picked up a pretty massive stack of trade paperbacks at Chicago Comic Con 2009 – those $5 bins (and cheaper, late Sunday) provide a nice way to fill holes in your collection or try out books you might have passed by at full price. Marvel books are particularly plentiful (because of their overprint policies, I presume). I also snagged some indie books from creators in artist alley. So here it is 6 months later and I’m still wading through my to-read queue. Here’s a couple I’ve read in the …

Though I’m very much a film appreciator, 2009 wasn’t a great movie year for me. I just didn’t make it out to the theater more than a handful of times, and several of those were disappointments on one level or another  – Terminator: Salvation and Nine (the animated one), for instance, and the exceptionally boring Extract. Yet, it’s funny that two of the primary cast members* of Extract are supporting actors in the film I saw, and enjoyed immensely, today.
I started my 2010 movie year right, with a big screen …

After some day-after-National-Hangover-day laziness (the joyful indolence of those who did not have the Hangover to begin with), @WendyBuske and I reluctantly ventured out into the world of commerce. Boy, was that an ill-thought plan.
Fairview Heights is the primary center of commerce for the Illinois-side of the St. Louis metro area. During the holiday season it becomes a national disaster, as Christmas shoppers dog pile on sale racks and litter Highway 64 with fender benders. You’d expect the pandemonium to slow down a bit…

2010: Doesn’t it sound like the future?
Welcome to TEN. What are we going to call 2010? Is there an official version, and who decides? Is this what that Pearl Jam record was about?
We partied in the New Year with an impromptu gathering at casa de Wendronimo, also celebrating my wife’s birthday. Double whammy of awesome. With only a few hours of notice for our low-key shindig, we had a full house of merry makers and a full evening of laughs, hugs and good times. We kept it alive, if laid …

Back in July, Emmis Communications launched a new Environmentally-mined lifestyle website – EcoLifeSTL.com. The mission statement:
EcoLifeSTL.com is a Green-lifestyle portal focused on promoting sustainability and environmental awareness in the St. Louis community. Our aim is to bring the green-lifestyle message to both the average consumer – new to eco commitment and wanting to learn, and to aid and connect those actively pursuing a sustainable lifestyle. As a gathering place for green-minded individuals, companies and organizations, we facilitate connection, education and cooperation in St. Louis’ eco-lifestyle.
EcoLife is Emmis St. Louis’ first …

This article was originally published a few years ago as a guest column in the Edwardsville Intelligencer’s “Edge” weekend insert.
There is a creature unique to the bounds of civilization, growing overpopulated and more prevalent. It inconveniences us, endangers our vehicles and, perhaps worst of all, takes up all the good parking spaces. It affects all but the most dedicated e-commerce consumer, and it’s an epidemic of our own making: shopping cart abandonment.
Every department or grocery store parking lot is an urban wilderness populated by cast-off carts, left to litter …

This article was originally published a few years ago as a guest column in the Edwardsville Intelligencer’s “Edge” weekend insert.
While out shopping with a female friend, we stop to examine a kiosk selling trendy purses and belts made entirely of big, dangly sequins in bold, fluorescent colors. I fear someone has accosted a figure skater and stolen their outfit for raw materials.
“I should get one of those,” my friend says, her face a canvas for disco-ball refractions cast by sparkling handbags. I raise an eyebrow. This young woman, characterized by …