More on the above photo in a moment.

It's been an interesting couple of weeks, due to the fact that I've had to pony up and declare, once and for all, a major. Would I graduate in Translation and Interpretation, or would I take a different road and do Translation Management? There are a million arguments for both sides, which I won't go into. Over the last couple of weeks, I'd probably changed my mind at least 100 times, each time saying something to myself to the effect of, "boy, was I ever an idiot for considering that other dumb major! Sheesh!" only, minutes afterward, to begin the decision process all over again.

Anyway, I had a meeting with my department head about it, and she helped me out by laying it all on the line.
"Well," she said, "you don't appear to be doing very well at all in your English classes."
"Strange, I know, since that's my native language," I said. (I'm getting a B+ in them, which by her standards is barely passing.)
"Well you're perfectly welcome to continue with T&I, but I have to warn you that you must be an exceptional T&I student in order to get a job."
"Thanks, you MEAN LADY!" Just kidding, I didn't say that.
But clarity came to me after that: I don't want to be an interpreter, so why would I bother stressing myself out in the dumb ol' classes if it's something I don't want to do? Why not take the other road, the Management road, which would allow me to avoid taking classes I don't like and instead tailor my education according to my interests? Sounds like the obvious choice, doesn't it? Well, in terms of stress caused, lemme tell ya, it's been a week of exhausting spiritual weight-lifting.
Thank you for allowing me that catharsis.
Oh, and Happy Birthday to Sheri.

Now to the photo. And a warning, this is me coming into the light as a Jedi-level nerd, so all those who still consider me normal, stop reading here.

This is in response to Greg's latest post.
Historically, you must concede that Superman is the ultimate superhero. He really was the first put into mass publication in the pulps during the 1930's, and several comic book companies went to court, and lost big time, for copyright enfringement, as their executives had said to their writers something to the effect of, "I want you to invent me another Superman." So in a way, all superheroes are fragments of that one guy.

Aesthetically, though, I find Superman rather boring. I mean, come on. Nothing can kill the guy. You have to go all the way to Krypton to find something that makes him vulnerable. And, because he really only has one weakness, Superman's archenemies really just exploit it again, and again, and again. How many times has Superman died, now? And then you have the Silver Surfer, who used to be human, but really, who can fight against a guy that has a planet-eating god at his beck and call? You have to believe just for a second that your hero is in real danger, even if you know he'll get out of it in the end. At least you're left wondering how. (I commend the makers of the Fantastic Four movies for making him a bad guy. Even though the movies themselves are dumb. As most adapted superhero films are.)

You gotta dig just a little deeper in order to get at what comics are all about, which is, at least in all interesting comics, the story of how the superhero comes to terms with himself. Which knocks Spiderman out of the running for "best superhero ever" because, as you said, Greg, everything just seems to go his way. He gets the girl, he's totally capable of balancing his home life from his superhero life, he's got a steady job he enjoys; I mean, what the heck is that all about? Who can relate to that dude? Snoozer for sure.

From this standpoint, you have to reconsider Superman again, and I'll tell you why: Superman is the only guy who actually is his secret identity. He really is Superman. That Clark Kent guy is the cover. Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, etc - all of them are just people who adopt some other identity in order to cover their nocturnal habits, or whatever. But Superman, he by definition is the most alienated. He's an alien! A fact that the writers of Superman should definitely have developed into their storylines, but they didn't. So he loses.

I, myself, was always a fan of the X-men, because that comic did something very important, which was to examine real-world issues through the lens of their heroes. Which really is what it's all about, no? If there's no connection to the real world, then it's just a story. For example, with X-men, the question was discrimination. What are the lengths that people will go to to distance themselves from people who are different? What lengths will outcasts go to in order to be accepted? And the fact that the main bad dude was a holocaust survivor? Oh, man, the epitome of apt metaphors.

Which is why Bruce Wayne is a good one, too. As he fights evil and badness, he's got to come to terms with the evil inside himself. The ultimate struggle of the duality of man, right in one nice, tight, well-written, well-rounded character. And way better looking than the Hulk, who in my opinion is just angry, not conflicted. Good choice, Greg.

End of long transmission.