The beat of different drummers...

My horoscope today said:

Everyone, in their own special way, is weird -- and that certainly includes you! It's high time for you to admit to it. Trying to fit in with whatever you think is 'normal' will only be a pointless waste of time. What you really need to do is embrace your idiosyncrasies.

And boy, is that off the mark! I have 'embraced my idiosyncrasies' since toddlerhood (just ask my mother) and so far from not admitting to being weird, I would be vaguely insulted if anyone called me 'normal'. I have never aspired to 'normal'.

Probably never will.

Human rights...

The first thing I heard on CBC radio news this morning was the latest about Omar Khadr.

What a depressing start to the day. This upsets me on more levels than I could list, but I won't even talk about it here - I have too many American friends. And I know that none of it is their fault. But.

Depressing.

Eccentric heroes...

January 24, 2008: WThis week’s question is suggested by (blogless) JMutford:

Sometimes I find eccentric characters quirky and fun, other times I find them too unbelievable and annoying. What are some of the more outrageous characters you’ve read, and how do you feel about them?

Love 'em. No, really. I suppose it depends how you define "eccentric", but most of my favourite heroes are eccentric one way or another. I love extraordinary people. Some are simply unconventional, some antiestablishment, and some downright daft.

A random list of favourite eccentric characters:

1. The Scarlet Pimpernel, from the series by Baroness Orczy


2. Francis Crawford of Lymond, from the novels by Dorothy Dunnett


3. Eugenides the Thief, from the trilogy by Megan Whalen Turner


4. The Doctor, from Doctor Who


5. Charlie Crewes, from Life


6. Miles Vorkosigan, from the novels by Lois McMaster Bujold


7. Dorian, Earl of Red Gloria, from the manga From Eroica With Love by Yasuko Aoike


8. Geoffrey Tennant


9. Ogami Ittō, from the manga Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike


10. Captain Jack Sparrow, from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies

Doing this exercise was interesting: I had to differentiate between all the wonderful heroes I love for their individualism and personal style, and those I love for their eccentricity. Sometimes a thin line. I couldn't think of anyone from American comics I would call eccentric, oddly enough, though some come close at various times - John Constantine, Doctor Strange, Wolverine - but never conistently. By the same token, everyone in Preacher is eccentric to the point of being off the rails. Some people (Gambit is an example) are eccentric, but so cool it doesn't come across. Deadpool? He'd be eccentric, if he were neither insane nor a comedian.


Ditto with heroes. Why do I call Lymond 'eccentric' but not Rodyon Romanovich Raskalnikov, or Eugene Wrayburn, or Captain Cairo Azarcon? I'm not sure, but there you have it. Yuri Kirov might be eccentric.

And come to think of it - why don't I call Batman 'eccentric'? The man dresses like a bat and lives in a cave, saving orphaned acrobat boys and fighting gangsters. It is because he's to far gone, or not far gone enough? Too serious? Too cool?

A case could be made for putting Captain John Hart on the list. Captain Jack Harkness isn't eccentric, but his erstwhile partner is.

Eccentric heroes: I love 'em.