I woke up this morning to the sound of Zach Nie! on the phone. I love Zach Nie! because he is the master of the one minute phone call. He calls, asks you the question he has for you, and then says "I'm going to let you go." Like he's doing you a favor. In. Out. No otherwise designated time used for pointless chit chat. We could all learn from Zach Nie!'s phone etiquette.

The Secret Base: Year One
Today, The Secret Base of the Rebel Black Dot Society celebrates the first anniversary of my very first post. Following Skeeter's example, I decided to post my thoughts and ideas for all the online world to see. Given my general distain for most people, this seems a very odd course of action, but it is a contradiction within myself with which I have grown comfortable that while I loathe people, I do so love the adoration of an anonymous crowd. But none of that matters since this page is now Squirrel King endorsed! Over the course of the next week, essentially throughout the remainder of February, I will be taking a look back over the past year under the heading "Year One," in tribute to the DC miniseries Batman: Year One, Robin: Year One, JLA: Year One, the currently running Batgirl: Year One, and my own column looking back on The Newsletter's first year, "Year One." There have been trials and tribulations (but, sadly, no "Trials and Tribble-ations"), victories and defeats, epiphanies and blunders, and the ever present thought of Lindsay, without whom the world is a grayer place. So, I'll have fun because it will give me an excuse to plow through my archives and you'll have fun because, for no easily explicable reason, you seem to keep reading this brainfart of a page. It's win-win.

Things went well, I thought, with Q-Girl last night. We had dinner at Cottage Inn and then drinks at Ashley's, where I discovered she is very sensitive to cigarette smoke. It turns out she's just as weird as I suspected, with an unfortunate disposition to the Goth end of weirdness. Hmmm, this will have to be closely monitored. She announced to me that she's bi, but in such a way that I'm not certain if she is or if she thinks she is because it is cool and chic amongst a certain sector of the populous. Anyway, these are things to keep an eye on. (It should be noted that I have no problem with homosexuals or bisexuals. My problem is straight people who see homosexuals as some manner of extremely amusing novelty, like it's cool to be gay or bi. People are just people, don't use their orientation for your own amusement, just let them live their lives.) She's overly enamoured with her two cats and likes fan-fiction, which I have always regarded with considerable suspicion. I like spending time with her, but we shall see if I enjoy spending large amounts of time with her. So, we're seeing each other, but until a discussion takes place, it would be inaccurate to describe her as my girlfriend.

The Happiest Place on Earth
Going back to GB tonight for Big 9. For the first time in years, the meet is returning to GBHS. Listen, it's not just that we win Big 9 every year, we also have the best pool. Get over yourselves people (I'm looking at you, Powers), we just have the best place to hold a meet of that size. If we get out early enough, the Ponies at the Local. Sweet.

Starman
One reason why James Robinson's late, great Starman was better than ninety-five percent of the other comics out there: the third trade paperback collection of the series is entitled A Wicked Inclination....