Author: Elayne Riggs

Filthy Lucre, by Elayne Riggs

Filthy Lucre, by Elayne Riggs

Being once again financially secure, with a job that will take less out of my paycheck for things like health insurance, and having a husband who’s also financially secure with his upcoming Big Project, I’ve been thinking a lot about money lately. Okay, I thought about it even more when I didn’t know where it would be coming from after my unemployment insurance ran out. Bu t now, my thoughts are turning to the strange notion of, as we used to call it in the ’90s back before Bush & co. ran the economy (and just about everything else) into the toilet, a budget surplus.

I was raised by two practical, fairly frugal people. We had our family holidays in upstate New York, we even took a trip once to Israel and Romania to see relatives, but for the most part we went to the shore or camp or just hung around the neighborhood when school let out. My parents were year-round wage earners, and encouraged the same sensibilities in me and my brothers. My mom was a school nurse for nine months out of the year and the de facto day camp nurse at Ashbrook Swim Club in the summers, where my brothers and I became counselors.

My first real paycheck at age 14 or so was from Ashbrook; I dimly remember getting a Social Security number so I could be paid. (Nowadays you’re assumed them at birth, aren’t you?) Because both Mom and Dad worked in an era when many families could afford to live on only one salary, I was never exposed to "mommy track" thinking, where I’d go to college to get my "M.R.S. degree." It was always assumed that, like my brothers, I’d go to university to acquire skills so I’d be able to support myself upon graduation. My brothers became accountants, like Dad. I was, um, er… well, I was an English major.

But after temping for about a year and a half I discovered, contrary to previous fears, that I was in no danger of losing my unique personality to become a cog in a faceless machine and that, in fact, I rather liked being a secretary. So that became my chosen profession. Yes yes, stereotypical female career, pink collar ghetto and all that — but hey, I enjoyed typing. I’d made pin money senior year of high school by running a buck-a-page typing service, back in the days before personal computers (and when dollar bills meant a bit more, as it was also in the days before plentiful ATMs). I figured I did about 40wpm in those days on a newfangled electric typewriter; later in my career that would jump to 80wpm on a Selectric and early PCs, and nowadays I regularly break 100. Hey, it’s my way of playing keyboard, since I never did have the reach to tackle the piano the way my grandmother and Dad’s cousins could. But I digress.

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ComicMix Columns & Features for the Week Ending July 13, 2008

ComicMix Columns & Features for the Week Ending July 13, 2008

New York is busy gearing up to host this year’s All-Star baseball game, as the ubiquitous banners in Manhattan announce.  They’re even having a parade on Tuesday.  There goes my commute!  But never mind that, we have some heavy hitters of our own, and here’s what we’ve knocked out of the park for you this past week:

RIP Bobby Murcer, you were one of the good ‘uns…

The Devil Made Me Do It, by Elayne Riggs

The Devil Made Me Do It, by Elayne Riggs

I haven’t had a lot of free time lately, but what little I’ve had on the weekends has been devoted to my Zen-relaxation hobbies of sleeping, watching baseball, reading blogs and playing computer games. I’m not big on the kill-em-all-let-fictional-dieties-sort-em-out ones, I much prefer the puzzle games like Atlantis Quest or Bejeweled or Chuzzle (I got my mom addicted to Chuzzle!) or Bookworm. But I do confess to a soft spot for a little phenom from Blizzard Entertainment known as Diablo.

Being cursed with a pretty bad memory for entertainment ephemera, I can’t remember if I ever played the first version of Diablo. I suppose I must have, way back, but it never really caught my interest except as a spectator sport. I loved to watch Robin play it, and he was was quite the fan, so when Diablo II came out I decided to learn its ins and outs and play alongside him. It wasn’t easy, neither of the two computers we had at the time had really fast processing speed, so when we played a round together either or both or our monitors would be pretty messed up, would freeze then go into fast-motion, all the stuff that tells you This Game Is Beyond Your Machine’s Puny Capabilities. Nonetheless, we persisted, more apart than together, and there was a stretch of some months when Diablo II took up most of our computer time, particularly with the debut of the expansion set, entitled “Lord of Destruction” (or as Robin and I, and apparently the creator of the above illustration, preferred to think of it, “Lord of the Dance”).

And I mean, it’s weird to like Diablo so much, not only as a woman who does tend to fall into the stereotypical story preference trends (i.e., preferring characterization to explosions, the evolution of relationships and personal growth to battles and gore, participation of interesting female characters in their own life stories rather than objectification and “love interest” secondary leads), but as someone who just isn’t into entertainment violence, period. I can look at sex far more easily than I can look at violence. Sexual parity is nowhere near accomplished, so most of the stuff in that realm still caters to the male gaze, as I’ve previously observed, but violence as entertainment (at least to me) really seems to cater to the male gaze. I just don’t find it fun. Even when it’s at the level of embarrassment comedy, I still feel for the victim. Maybe it’s because I’m something of a klutz, and the atmosphere around the Riggs Residence often resembles a slapstick sitcom. When I go to give my husband a mock smack on the head and wind up hurting my hand (and wrist, and elbow) instead, it may be amusing at the time in a karmic-justice kinda way, but I know my arm’s going to be killing me the next couple days and I’ll have all these “where did I get those?” bruises and, oh kiddies, it’s just not worth the pain.

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ComicMix Columns & Features for the Week Ending July 6, 2008

ComicMix Columns & Features for the Week Ending July 6, 2008

When exactly did July 4 suddenly become “[[[Independence Day]]] Weekend?” Are we as a nation so addicted to three-day holiday weekends that we lose the original meaning of what we’re celebrating? Won’t someone think of the children? And the flags? And the sales? And what about all the ComicMix goodness we’ve brought you this past week, huh?

At least my neighbors seem to have used up all their fireworks on Friday, it’s been a blessedly quiet weekend…

The Weakly Haul, by Elayne Riggs

The Weakly Haul, by Elayne Riggs

Apologies to Van Jensen (now with correct surname spelling!) for sort-of swiping his title, but as I’m pretty weak after hauling my body back and forth this past few workdays, I thought it appropriate.

First off, it must be said, I love my new job. My primary boss is amusing, intelligent and nice, my coworkers are terrific and friendly, the salary is good and the benefits outstanding. In a few months my health insurance premiums will drop by hundreds of dollars as I transition from my old job’s bennies to the new one’s, and the PTO (Paid Time Off) allotment is more than generous. Between my job and Rob’s current and future assignments, we might even be able to afford to visit England again next year, and perhaps some more out-of-town conventions. I miss going to Heroes Con! (Heck, Mid-Ohio is even a possibility this year; I dare to dream!) So all is more than copacetic in the Riggs Residence now. Right?

Maybe it’s because I was raised Jewish, I don’t seem to be able to function without kvetching about something. And that something is, as I suspected it would be, my commute.

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ComicMix Columns & Features for the Week Ending June 29, 2008

ComicMix Columns & Features for the Week Ending June 29, 2008

Hope you’ve been enjoying our Wizard World Chicago reports!  Alas, no conventioning for some of us, but New York’s pretty nice (and hot!) this weekend as well.  Interleague crosstown rivalries are going on in both baseball-loving towns, after all!   Here’s what we’ve stepped up to the plate and hit for you this past week:

Am I the only person in NY who roots for both the Yankees and the Mets?

Hold the Phone, by Elayne Riggs

Hold the Phone, by Elayne Riggs

I’ve admitted it before, I have no idea how to text message. Oh, I think I understand the basic principle behind texting; it’s like IM’ing using a handheld device, right? Only, I’ve never done it. I’ve sat through television shows that use instant polling via cell phone text devices for viewers to cast pointless votes for their favorite this-and-thats, but it all seemed like so much mysterious, impenetrable jargon. "Text 12345 to 67890"? In what world is this plain English?

In the world of the "late aughts," apparently. By the way, I’ve never used a PDA either, although I’ve "hot-sync’ed" my ex-boss’ Palm Pilot with a PC. Again, I get the principle, but the idea somewhat alarms me. During my recent 6-month job search I saw so many ads for executive assistants that required knowledge of a Blackberry that I was seriously considering taking some sort of tutorial just to familiarize myself with exactly how it worked. As it is, we don’t even have a text messaging plan for our cell phones. Every time I get a text message, which 90% of the time is a spam offer from T-Mobile, we get billed 5 cents. That’s right, they get to spam me and charge me for the privilege. Shouldn’t that be illegal or something to do to customers who have opted out of texting?

I’m still getting used to the idea of the ubiquity of cell phones on the New York City streets. The last time Robin and I visited England, that’s the main thing he noticed about Londoners that hadn’t been present when he lived in the UK, all the folks who had a cell phone practically attached to their ears. I was in the East Village last week, and just from a quick glance around at pedestrian traffic I approximated one of every three people was using a cell phone as they traversed the intersections. (This is something comic book artists, particularly at Marvel as so many of that company’s titles are based in New York City, should note if they’re going to draw a lot of city scenes.)

I have a theory that there are probably fewer cigarette smokers in urban areas now than there were even a few years ago because, if you need one hand free to swing as you walk or to hold a shoulder bag or briefcase, and therefore you leave your other hand the choice between lighting up and dialing up, more people will currently choose their electronic toys to satisfy their oral fixations than the drag on the cancer stick. Plus, if you’re smoking you’re going to be too short of breath to be able to carry on a phone conversation while you walk!

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ComicMix Columns/Features for the Week Ending June 22, 2008

ComicMix Columns/Features for the Week Ending June 22, 2008

You know the recent dire rumors floating about in the comics industry are heating up when they’ve made it to Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily blog, alongside a huge photo of Dan DiDio.  DHD was an indispensable resource during the recent writers’ strike; let’s see how Finke helps raise the profile of the funnybook business, for better or worse.  Meanwhile, our columnists and feature writers will keep bringing you what we do best!  Here’s what we have for you from this past week:

Stay tuned for more news and views!

Gainfully Employed, by Elayne Riggs

Gainfully Employed, by Elayne Riggs

Kids, it’s been a rough six months for me. Well no, I take that back, it hasn’t. I should start off by saying that I’ve had a lot of advantages to take me through my most recent period of unemployment. I was eligible to collect over $300 a week in unemployment insurance (thank you, FDR!). My former job kept me on COBRA so I also had health insurance, of which I took full advantage during my involuntary extended vacation to get all my medical and dental check-ups out of the way. The premiums rose considerably a couple months ago, but the unemployment payments (which ran out two weeks ago) helped a lot, as long as Robin took care of the rent and bills. Which he did, as fortunately he’s been employed during the entire time (thank you, DC Comics!). Plus, my mom has been there to help out when I’ve needed it.

Even with all that, even with the other built-in advantages (living in a big city, having a college degree, cultivating a pretty solid set of skills), it’s been scary. My heart goes out to people who don’t have that second income, that familial support system, that safety net for when stuff goes wrong. I can’t imagine how they get through it. My stress level was through the roof.

The illusion of job security has always been very important to me. I’m married to a freelancer, but I couldn’t see adopting that lifestyle myself. I’m a creature of habit, I like having set routines; in fact, I like having other people set them. Being a freelancer takes too much self-discipline. I tried catching up on my writing during this last six months, but couldn’t manage more than my usual ComicMix column, weekly roundup, and daily blog post. I was just too consumed with anxiety over my workless state.

Fortunately, I was able to summon up enough wherewithall to undertake an extremely detailed and organized job search, an avocation in and of itself, but the thing about looking for work is, it’s never in the same office from one day to the next, is it? And it’s exhausting, rather like I’d imagine it would be when you’re finishing up an assignment and your brain is busy worrying about where the next assignment is coming from. Nope, one freelancer in the family is quite enough!

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ComicMix Columns/Features for the Week Ending June 15, 2008

ComicMix Columns/Features for the Week Ending June 15, 2008

This week we’ve brought you a man-sized portion of columns and features by our intrepid band:

Strong enough for a man, but made for — well, everybody!