What Do Iron Man, Captain America, and Green Arrow Have in Common?

     Today's blog is about theories.  Now hang in there, don't click away.  I got thinking yesterday, as I watched Supernatural Saturday, that maybe there can be a lot to tell about a man when he admits his favourite comic book hero.  That's the one thing all my love interests, exes and crushes alike, have had in common; A love of comic books.  It might not be all of them, it might just be DC Comics or Marvel but there is a clear winner in their minds.  I'd really like to figure this out.

     So, my first boyfriend (from the summer going into my high school freshman year) was a big fan of Iron Man.  In fact, the second time we dated he had gone out to Phoenix and claimed to have started up a project with some buddies where they were trying to recreate the Iron Man suit(from the first movie).  Nerds, nerds with computer science.  What are Iron Man's qualities?  Well, the Avengers movie dubbed them quite well: billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.  He's quite invested in technology which has made him quite a lot of money.  He has been known to have many women, until he starts to settle down for Pepper Potts.  Did my ex share these qualities with Iron Man?  Yes and no.  He was no billionaire, but he dreamed of working for Google...and running his own computer firm..and this job and that job.  So rather than develop and enhance humanity, he would rather get ahead in life for himself.  Like Tony Stark, he shared a large ego and practiced his "charm" with many women.  This desire, combined with many other things, led to us dating and breaking up three times.  Besides, I am no Pepper Potts.  And they don't even end up together in the comics.

     Let's flash forward to college, when I started to have a sense of what I wanted in a boyfriend.  My first college boyfriend loved Captain America.  Oddly enough, the man I dated after him(and consequentally my last college boyfriend) also had Captain America as his favourite.  Captain America in the film that came out, from what I can tell,  is the same in the comics.  The origin of Captain America is that he has a love of his country but is not viewed as the right kind of soldier for the Army.  Not giving up on his drive, he descovers the Super Soldier initiative and thus becomes the Cap we know today.  So what does that have to do with my college exes?  Well the first ex was studying to be a history teacher and decided that he was going to do whatever it took to get there: even if it meant moving out of state and not starting a family anytime soon.  We broke up after a few months, as his graduation date was coming up and mine was not for another two and a half years.  Looking back as a five year older version of myself, I can respect that drive as I myself am going to graduate school to pursue my passion for the library.
     The last guy I dated in college, I think, wantedd to aspire to be Captain America.  He was the first in his family, for some time, to go to college. But what did he want to do?  He began college before I got there, left before we met.  When we started dating, a few months in he came back and tried again.  Alas, what he wanted to do for a career was a taboo topic and I had to simply watch as he was forced to leave college a second time.  He stayed in our college town and watched many of our friends graduate, which tested our relationship more than once.  As I was about to graduate, looking to move in with a man I could see a future with, he proposed a new solution: a break-up.  He was moving out of state and our two and a half years were finished.  While he looked to Captain America as an idol, it was not because he saw himself behind Cap's shield, but because he wanted to see himself there but couldn't figure out the how.
     These sorts of observations have led me to believe that there is much comic books can tell us about ourselves.  They are suppose to resonate with us on some level, intended for alluring many kinds of people, and that's why there are so many different ones.  While I don't know what my love of Spiderman says about me, I can't help but wonder what Green Arrow says about my new crush.  At this point I know barely anything about the Green Arrow but I can promise you one thing: I am going to be doing my research.  This includes Smallville, the CW show Arrow, and multiple pages of reading.

     And this is what happens when you have English as your undergraduate.

Thrift Shopping!

Nah, just kidding!  I haven't been to a thrift shop in months!  Not for lack of trying but for a lack of location! The nearest thrift shop is Savers in West Warwick and I don't exactly visit there everyday.  I use to have to go there for shared branching, but now I have direct deposit.  I do miss the lovely Canadian teller there, she was really nice and we swapped stories while she put my money in the bank.  Anyways, now I just rap in my car to Macklemore's jams. 

In other news, I just have to say that being the Social Media Coordinator for the Student ALA at URI is awesome.  I was doing a live Facebook feed from our first conference(we are a newer chapter and haven't hosted a conference in a long time. And by long time that probably really means before I started school this year, but the way our president has explained it to me it might really be ages.)  I quoted speakers during their slideshows(yes I was still paying attention).  I quoted fabulous people, such as Barbara Kenney and Peter Bromberg.  My next part of this project is to collect some narrations of the days events- you know, thoughts and opinions- and then post them to our blog.  We're all busy so that part might take awhile.

If you haven't checked it out, I have a new YouTube video.  It's a little dated(there are now 5 weeks left to the semester) but still pretty much the same is going on, minus the conference. 

I don't have anything to review at the moment.  Well, okay that's not exactly true.  I watched Timeline last night, not the best trailer but it came out ten years ago.  Woah, that's a thought.  Gerard Butler has the great abs today that he did then...mmm.  Oh well anyways, it's this lovely little science fiction film that I feel no one has seen.  A few months ago, I caught part of it on tv.  Just this epic fight scene with French speaking and subtitles.  I watched most of the rest of it, but had to continue on-slash-I missed the beginning and that really bugs me about movies.  So, finally, Netflix got it and then I had been in line for at least a year at that point- but I got it this week.  I recently read an article, which I cite in my YouTube video.  It was about the influence of technology in science fiction films and it's ratio to technology designers.  It's a neat article, it references Star Trek: The Next Generation a lot.  So, since it doesn't seem to have been viewed a lot, it's not wonder we haven't created worm-hole finding, particle accelorating time machines.  I wouldn't mind Castlegard, France, I would just have to remember that I cannot utter a word of French...dommage.

Also, I have been dying waiting for Game of Thrones Season 3.  While The Walking Dead is at the peak for this season(it ends next week!)I am ready for the mother of dragons.  (Team Danaerys!)  Also, Doctor Who begins soon.

I am looking into watching Arrow.  I downloaded a comic book app onto my iPad(oh yes, I am a librarian and I bought a iPad.  "Why?" you ask.  Simple.  Three reasons and they all lead to England.  1) Textbooks are way cheaper, as well as weightless, on an e-reader.  2) Skype is free, and as well as instant, when talking to my parents and friends back home. 3) Google Docs has made it easy for me to type an assignment and open it in another location.  Why not use my ASUS that I spent money on (and still own) from June?  Because it is not safe for travel.  At all.  One tiny bump and the drivers can derail and slowly my 17.1" laptop will fade.  Anyways, I really thought about it and only used part of my school loan return.)  But paying for some comic books costs.  So, I'd like to watch Arrow(if I can ever find it online) and get to learn this super hero, whom is a favourite of a new friend of mine. 

And that is where I leave you.  Almost 11pm and curious.  But there's so much time and so little to do....wait a minute, strike that..reverse it.  Oh yes, the last few weeks of my first year of graduate school are here.  It's time to get serious.  So, goodnight!