Greg Matusic

Leaf flake. Leafflake would make more sense, like snowflake, but the neighboring f's look stupid. I thought about adding an acorn in the middle, and maybe I will at some point. I like autumn/fall much more than winter. Not a ski guy or a snowboard guy. I'm well-padded, but underneath I fear I may be frail. I like ice skating, and I'm getting better at it after not having skated for almost 30 years. Crazy, right? But I have my own skates now (Bauer hockey) that need to be sharpened soon so I'll be ready to go when the weather and water turns frozen. But yeah, fall is the best. Cool air. Great colors. Pumpkins. Pumpkin flavors. Playoff baseball. Football, which isn't nearly as appealing as it used to be. Sweaters and sweatshirts. Hiking boots. The natural migration from iced coffee to hot coffee. Sitting outside in 50º weather sipping a hot coffee? The best. So enjoy the season. Because the next one is approaching, and it's never as beautiful. Or friendly.

Hold the spice. Add some facial features.

A collage of what I've read since my 1/19/2016 2016 Reading List post. Edited to the best of my blogging attention span abilities. Notes: Long Tail Kitty was very cute and extremely clever. I really like Lark Pien's art. A great choice if you need a smile and an excuse to say a few positive-sounding, "Awwww's..." Jeff Mack did a nice job with Clueless McGee. Great humor sounded by fun drawings. I really enjoy these text-heavy yet simple graphic novel-style books. Simple... As if. Mack put a lot of work into this, as do Jeff Kinney and Dav Pilkey. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If they do, they're not your friend. :P Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan was a beautiful book. I admit that I was getting anxious as to when the (or any) action would start. But this wouldn't have been nearly as great without Applegate's amazing character development. Curse my literary impatience. Ivan contains possibly the finest ending to any b...

Here's a collage of what I've read so far in the year of our calendar, 2016. I'll update as often as possible. Notes: Solid batch. Mac Barnett kills me. Wonder was fantastic. Circus Mirandus was pure magic. Everyone should read that book. The ending of Wonder got me all choked up.

Remember when I used to be one of the TV bloggers for the Times Union (Albany, NY)? You do? Thanks. You don't? Read these when you get some time. To celebrate the inevitable arrival of Christmas as well as my return to this blogging platform from another trendier yet crappier platform, here's a professional copy and paste of my Holiday Specials blog from November 29, 2007 which is actually a copy and paste from my personal blog back in 2006. In other words, I couldn't come up with something new to blog about. But tomorrow! Just wait until tomorrow... A big part of the holiday season has always involved me, a TV, and some holiday specials. This year wasn’t any different, as I tried to catch at least a few moments of the classics. Here’s a list of what I was able to see: 1.  A Charlie Brown Christmas  – Probably my favorite of them all. I remember watching it with my Pop when I was a wee lad. When it ended I started to cry, because it was over and I wouldn’t...

I moved this over to Tumblr, but you know what? Tumblr kind of blows. I'll tidy this joint up a bit tonight and start blogging again tomorrow. Until then, here's some coffee art: