Now I’m back in New England, but not the mountains of Vermont yet, folks, for now I’m in the swamps of Connecticut. I’m in Mom and Dad’s living room, and he’s workin the P90X while I write. This morning Caitlin did the woman in the gray suit commuting thang on Metro-North down to The City. She and I watched Schmavatar on Christmas, and I’ll admit it was interesting, especially that crazy bio-luminescent flora and fauna, and the only times I felt overly aware of the fact I was looking at CG were the times when real people were in fake helicopters. There was some really dumb dialogue, beat-you-over-the-head parallels to the Iraq war, colonialism and the environmental movement. But still, it’s nice that somebody is addressing (and entertaining) a mass audience with these liberal polemics. And there were some really exciting action sequences, and a cool alien concept that I won’t divulge lest I be called a spoiler. I forgot to mention this galling fact: the Na’vi subtitles were written in…PAPYRUS!When I get back to my home/office computer up north, I think I’ll post the full Captain Walton, since its plot so closely parallels the Av’s, right down to hot, blue alien babes and mining for rare crystals.

Oh, here’s another diary doodad I forgot to show ya! A bit cutesy, yes, but that’s what sells, kid.

Last week I saw Zombieland. I didn’t really like it much. Plus, as you’ll see below, I was pretty distracted. There are movies I want to see! Like A Serious Man, and now there’s Where the Wild Things Are tomorrow! But I go out pretty much whenever something’s happening on Thursdays. It’s about hangin’ with friends.

Annnnnd, while we’re all here together, here are the actual, live, on-the-spot drawings of and on Mt. Ascutney.

The next one you can enlarge if you’d like.

Ooohh, yipes, my friends. Things are moving and shaking in the world of your old friend Pat. I gave notice at my copy shop job so I can do a short-term video game graphics job during the summer. I’m really glad to be getting out of this. In the meantime I’m working like a madman to get my anthology together for MoCCA Fest, which is mere weeks away. I haven’t been keeping up with my workout regimen, and the Wii Fit balance board is admonishing me hard. Still, I’m finding time to go to Star Trek, which was basically the funnest summer action blockbuster since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and to draw naked ladies.

I know it was cool in Pitchforkland to not be absolutely bonkers crazy for Paper Planes, and to instead dissect its samples and influences. I also know that by now, cool people must be sooo over this song, especially because it has gone national, being so thoroughly attached to the Pineapple Express campaign. But you know what, every time I hear it, I get so damn excited, cause it is a really! fucking! awesome song!

Also, I really like the flying hand gesture MIA makes when she let’s us know she’s fly like paper; gets high like planes. I even don’t hate her nineties-revival style. Retro pastiche of the previous decade has never been done with such aplomb.