"They Might Be Giants Got Lost Driving Around"

So I went up to Maryland last night with Michelle and Chad to visit Dav, whom I haven't seen in like three years. I left Michelle in charge of navigating, which turned out to be a problem when the first half of Dav's directions were something to the effect of "go to Maryland, cross the bridge." What should have been about a 45 minute trip took about twice that, what with the getting lost, going the wrong direction several times, etc.

The trip back was even worse. We had Dav draw us a map to get us back home, but the map only got us as far as DC. Well, Michelle always takes the Metro into DC, as does Chad I guess, and I've only been to DC about twice and don't really know my way around. It took us two hours to get home, an hour and a half of which was spent trying to navigate through DC because I couldn't figure out how to get around on the Beltway and assumed that cutting through town would be easier on me. God, was I wrong. I finally rolled into the apartment complex at 5.15 am, much later than I'd anticipated.

The time between these two driving adventures, though, was quite fun. We somehow ended up spending most of the evening discussing comic books, which didn't seem to bother anyone. Some alcohol was imbibed, some pizza was eaten, and a splendid time was had by all. Next time, though, I think I'm just gonna get my directions from MapQuest.

As a result of last night's rather lengthy car trip, I slept in really late today. I finally dragged myself out of bed around 2.00 pm, sat around watching Batman: The Animated Series for a few hours (the last couple of discs of the fourth volume, which were much better than I thought they'd be, given that Volume 4 was all the revamped series. But I guess when you've got the same writers and folks behind the show, it means the show can remain good, even if the art is streamlined a little more). I'm kinda sad that I don't have anymore left to watch now, though not so sad that I want to seek out the atrocious new The Batman that they've got running on TV right now. I mean, you gotta have standards, and by all reports, the new show is a steaming pile of feces designed to make a buck rather than tell a compelling story.

On the positive side, Michelle dropped by and loaned me the Aeon Flux series DVD collection, so I can relive some more of my childhood watching that (I had a childhood filled with cartoons, what can I say? Liquid Television, the show that Aeon Flux was on, totally blew my mind when I saw it all those years ago. At the time, I didn't know you could do stuff like that with animation. My more experienced older self knows you can do a hell of a lot with animation now, but I feel Aeon Flux will remind me that knowing something like that and being able to believe what you're seeing anyway can be two very different things). My one fear is that watching the show will make me want to go see that wretched movie, but I doubt that'll happen. I mean, from what Michelle told me, they've altered the characters and plot and world that it all happened in so much that it should have a completely different name, 'cause it's certainly not Aeon Flux. It's amazing how Hollywood can take a masterfully-done series about political intrigue, sexuality, identity, good and evil, and the fine line between morality and dogma, and create something that bears no resemblence to the source material. Remarkable, really. They took something original and made it a shitty generic b-level sci-fi flick.

Tomorrow, Wen wants us to visit some church here in town that we might start attending. From what she's said, it's a nice enough little place. Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Foo Fighters, "Cold Day in the Sun"