Crises of Habit

I'm standing at a crossroads, and am unsure which of the paths that lay before me to take.
Each has its own merits and flaws. Each has the promise of being fulfilling in its own way. I keep turning the options over and over in my mind, but I'm nowhere near closer to finding a solution that fits perfectly. The stress generated from this crises of conscience is beginning to take its toll.

I'm talking, of course, about what to do with my comic book collecting habits.
And...I'm so confused, Uncle!

Okay, perhaps I've been rewatching a bit too much Avatar.

The question that haunts my geekiest nightmares involves whether or not to begin purchasing digital comics.

I love just about everything to do with comics. I love the stories. I love the art. I love the community. I love...reading!

One of the things I don't love, however, is how much room those books tend to take up. Especially when they're stories that I've read once...and know I will have no real reason to read again. Books that aren't, for whatever reason, going to become things I wish to keep as collectibles.

In those instances digital comics make the most sense, and possibly more when one considers how much less damage can be done to a book when it's safely stored inside a Kindle.

On the other hand though, is the guilt-riddled realization that going digital will mean giving less and less of my money to my local comic shop. A shop, I might add, that I've patronized for the better part of the last seventeen years.

SO MUCH GUILT! Like...I have this mental image of them knowing the minute I start buying digital books, and just...watching me mournfully. Maybe even frowning when my back is turned. It makes my geek heart hurt.

Compounded with this is the grudging acceptance of the fact that for years I've been moving away from issue buying, and into more trade/graphic novel buying.

I know that the rational answer for this is to buy a mix of the two. Digital copies of the stuff I'd like to follow, but not necessarily own for all time. I can see most of the Big Two books falling into this category.
Green Lantern, Wolverine and the X-Men, Uncanny X-Force, etc.

While the stuff I dearly love and am still rabid for get the Visit To The Brick And Mortar Store treatment. TMNT, Avatar, Atomic Robo.

But then there are books like Saga, Chew, Buffy, Unwritten, Ghostbusters. Books I enjoy, but that maybe would keep better as trades. So...I maybe purchase these digitally, and then schlep out to the store once the trades come out?

I just don't know.

What I do know, is that I've set up my Comixology account, and even given it a credit card to cover purchases. Thus far the only thing I've paid for are the last three issues of the Hawkeye ongoing. I've been seeing scans of that all over tumblr.

It's just not easy being a geek sometimes.

Weekend by the numbers

9
The hour of the morning at which I was outside, in the chilly fall morning, waiting for the bus so I could travel downtown to be trained for Tuesday's election madness.

90
The duration of that training session in minutes.

2
The number of pages that comprise the 2012 November Boston ballot.

-35
The font size used in the text of the aforementioned ballot.

14-24
The sizes represented by H&M's new Plus Size section.

<200
Amount spent on two fitted sport coats, three button down shirts, and nine pairs of socks from H&M+.

16/18
The sizes required to fit the person that is me.

36F
My bra size, ie: the main reason why I now require 16/18 sized clothing.

5
The number of times I repeated my new mantra of, "It's not the number that matters, it's the fit," in my dressing room mirror before I started to feel okay with the size number on the tags of the clothing I was trying on.

100+
Amount, in dollars, spent during 12 hours of drinking and dining in Kenmore Square.

9411.11
Amount, in dollars, charged to my insurance company for the last three months of medical care.

900
Amount, in dollars, that I am personally responsible for.

12
Hours I have slept in the past 24.