Q&A: Is Rudolph a superreindeer?

Hey, folks! Sorry to be away so much lately! It's not like I didn't have anything to write about; I just didn't have the time to write! Anyway, let's go ahead and hit upon a recent question, and that is this:

Q: Is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer the reindeer version of a superhuman?

A: You know, I had never thought about that, but he just might be, because regular reindeer do not have shiny noses! Unless they're intoxicated of course! ;-) LOL

Thing is, not only does Rudy have a shiny nose, he can also fly, and as you all know, regular reindeer can't fly. Hmm. You might even make the argument that all of Santa's reindeer are superreindeers, because they can also fly. But then, perhaps it can be argued that these reindeer fly because of "Christmas magic".

"Christmas magic", however, does not explain Rudolph's nose, because if it glowed because of Christmas magic, then Santa would have made all of the noses of his reindeer glow, or at least one other reindeer in case Rudolph got ill or met up with Sarah Palin.

So my answer is: At least Rudolph is the reindeer version of superhuman, and quite possibly all of Santa's reindeer.

Next week I will answer a question that has been on everyone's mind who has ever watched that TV special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: What was "misfit" about the doll in the Land of Misfit Toys?

Q&A Week: Catching up

My intent had been to post every day this week for Q&A Week, but those plans got shot by some unanticipated business that came up. So to make up for that somewhat, I am taking the remainder of the questions that I would have answered during the course of the week and am answering them all today. On to it!

First question: What's the toughest part about being superhuman?
Wow, where do I start? Is it the fact that with my super strength, I have to be cautious in how I handle everything from soft drink cups to handshakes? Or is it the fact that I can hear conversations from so far away, including those whose topics are about me and their opinions of everything from my political views to my attire? Maybe it's the fact that there are so few of us, and thus few of us who can truly understand and sympathize with what it's like being superhuman in a human world. I have to think about this one some more.

Next question: How did you end up a conservative if you were born to and raised by Marxists? Well, part of the answer is to ask the question of how so many baby boomer liberals arose from so "establishment" an upbringing as they had. When you think about it, you can't get much more "establishment" than growing up in the 1950's, so really the only way for the baby boomers to stand out was by standing against their parents. Fast forward to the 1980's when I was born, and you pretty much can't get much more "liberal establishment" than the people who were in charge at the time; in other words, the baby boomers.

Anyway, the current generation tends to rebel against previous generation. My parents rebelled against their Republican parents, while I rebelled against my liberal parents. My kids, when I have kids, will probably be more liberal than I am. I hope not. I hope I can teach and reach my kids so that they don't adopt a political viewpoint that requires you to leave your brain behind, but it's likely to happen anyway.

The last question comes from another GF who saw the cover below of the latest issue of Cosmopolitan. Note the title of one of the articles which says "Your Breasts Called... and they're feeling neglected. How to pamper and pleasure them." Her question for me is "If your breasts called, what would they say? What would you say to them in reply?" First, let me say that I have a strong dislike towards such "women's magazines", because they make women look like such shallow and hedonistic airheads. Still, given this blog's title, I can see why she sent this to me to try to answer, so I'll humor her. :-)

I know the ladies would complain of the constant jarring they get from my usual superhero activities. Despite a very sturdy bra, they still move around a lot. Well, they shouldn't have gotten so big! Also, even though I keep my cellphone in my bra, I would tell them to not use it to call me when I am right here. Oh, and stop texting Power Girl's boobs! That pisses her off, and then she calls me to bitch about it, and I'd rather not deal with a pissed-off Power Girl.

Terrible pun time: Do you know what my boobs and Power Girl's boobs call each other? Bosom buddies. :-P

Okay my little nerdlings, I will not be posting at all next week due to all that I have to do getting ready for Thanksgiving. Even though I have the week off, I still have a lot to do. However, I won't be completely out of touch, for I will be checking on my Facebook page sporadically, so if I have anything to say next week, then it will be there. If you haven't already friended me on Facebook, I am under the name "Andromeda Perseus". But fear not, I shall be back to blogging the following week! Until then, I hope you all have a fabulous Turkey Day! See you in a week!

Q&A Week: My take on the airport security rules

This question comes from the boss: What is my take on the controversial airport security rules?

Plain and simply, while I understand the need to screen for potential terror attacks at peak flight times such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, I think that this is overkill. I also have to question just how much of a deterrence this peep and grope show will have on deterring terrorist acts. Granted, no security measure will be 100% effective, but I'm not asking for perfection here.

My question is: Just how much of a deterrence are these new security measures? Do they cut down on the possibility of a terrorist attack by 50%? 25%? 10%? 1%? If the drop in the possibility of a terrorist attack is 50%, then there MIGHT be a justification in these invasive security procedures, but how do you quantify something like the effectiveness of airport searching procedures in regards to reducing the possibility of a terrorist attack?

But not only are these procedures invasive and intrusive (not to mention what those scanning rays might be doing to your body. Despite assurances from the government - or perhaps because of them! LOL - I have nagging doubts of the low health risk of repeated exposure to those scanning rays), to me it's also a sign that we are allowing ourselves to live in fear, and when we allow ourselves to give into our fears, then in this instance, to quote an often-used phrase, "the terrorists win".

No, there has to be a better way than this. I don't know what that is, but this peek-and-grope system is not it.

Q&A Week!: Immigration question

In case you missed it on my Facebook page (or if you're not on Facebook), then I will be taking a real life vacation all next week, so I'll also take a break from blogging all next week. Despite being on vacation, I have a lot to do next week because of Thanksgiving; so it's just as well that I take a break from blogging, because I wouldn't be able to dedicate the kind of time that I would like to write my posts. I'll still probably check my Facebook page, though, so I won't be entirely gone.

But I do want to take care of some stuff before I go, so starting today and all week is going to be Q&A week! Today's question comes from a GF: Giving that the Obama administration is deporting more illegal immigrants than has been done in recent years, what say you now about your stand on immigration? Still say that our country is lax on illegal immigrants?

I say yes!

Read that article again and see if you missed something.

Did you read it again? All of it? Are you sure?

Well, if you're one of my liberal readers, then I wouldn't be surprised if you missed that "deportable noncriminal immigrants" are in fact themselves also criminals, because they are here -- ILLEGALLY! Why else would they be "deportable"?

But why does the article make the distinction between deportable "criminal" and "noncriminal" immigrants? Ah, my friends, it's so easy to answer that you'll kick yourself for not having thought of it! Well, it's easy for me because I was born and raised among liberals, so I know their thinking inside and out.

Here goes: "Deportable noncriminal immigrants" is code for "illegal immigrants that can help the Democratic Party by making them (that is, the Dems) look good by their helping 'the poor, lost immigrant who's only trying to find a better place for his or her family by making an honest living, and by working on jobs that regular Americans wouldn't want anyway.' " And of course, they "help" them by putting aside any of those "inconveniences" that keeps them from being citizens outright - namely, those mean, ol' nasty and racist immigration laws that forbid anyone from crossing the border and claiming the right to vote for Democrats.

However, the "deportable criminal immigrant" is code for "worthless scum that would only give the GOP ammo to make us look bad if we try to let them through like we're trying to let through the good, wholesome and noble (so long as they vote for Dems!) deportable noncriminal immigrants." In other words, since the criminal "deportable immigrants" can't do anything good for the Dems, they're then good to send back guilt-free.

But friends, it's a distinction of convenience to favor those who benefit from having immigrants here illegally, and not at all to the benefit to the illegal immigrants themselves. Look, let me go ahead a clarify something here in regards to both immigrants and immigrations. I am wholly and totally for immigration and for immigrants to come here - so long as they do it the right way. I've discussed this topic before, so there's no need for me to go over that again.

So don't be fooled by this article! The Dems haven't changed their views of illegal immigrants - they still see them as a pool of potential voters for 2012! It's all part of their plan to help stem the bleeding that they suffered at the ballot box earlier this month.

Aren't you glad to have me here to point these things out for ya? :-D

Q&A: What is my favorite book?

Q&A time!

Q: What is your favorite book?

A: This might be a surprise, but my favorite book is George Orwell's Animal Farm. Why would I call such a dreary and depressing book as my favorite? It's because it has such an important warning for our time, and for all times, about how important it is to be vigilant against corrupt leadership. The pigs took power through intimidation, manipulation, and propaganda, but critical figures in the story could have stopped the pigs' rise to power if they wanted to.

One was Boxer the horse, who was too ready to believe in the pigs' stories of their being out for the common good of the animals on the farm. The other was Benjamin the donkey, who was probably the most intelligent animal on the farm and who knew better than to believe the pigs' stories, but was too busy being bitter. So this story is not just about the success of the pigs' efforts to take over, but also the failure of the others to stop them.

For example, what if Benjamin had convinced Boxer to resist the propaganda of the pigs? How would things have changed? Both of them were strong enough to fight off the dogs that served as "muscle" for the pigs, and then what could have the pigs done? Basically the moral is Edmund Burke's quote: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." It's a lesson that we still need to learn today.

My belated 4th of July commentary: The Immigration "debate"

This article inspired me to finally answer a common question regarding the immigration "debate". Why do I put debate in quotation marks? Because I hope you will see by the end of this blog entry that if you truly care about those that come to this country illegally, then there really is no debate.

Q: What is your take on the immigration debate?

A: The first thing to clarify is that in my mind, there is **no** debate in regards to LEGAL immigration. If a given person wants to be a citizen of the US and goes through the formal process of becoming a citizen, then I am totally, 100% in favor of that – even gung-ho about it! It is how out nation was built, after all!

However, it’s a whole ‘nother matter when such a person comes here illegally, and for the record, that is anyone from another country, and not just Mexico. I like the analogy made to a burglar who breaks into your house and then wants to become a member of your family.

And for the record, I totally and fully understand why Mexican nationals would try to come to this country: Because their own country lacks in good paying jobs and is now currently dealing with drug cartels. They go through a lot of hardship just to get here, and all to support their families, which in itself is noble. But why come here through illegal means? That’s what I don’t get.

I’ve heard the horror stories of when these folks will try to get here through “coyotes”, which are basically people who are hired to smuggle them into the U.S. I’ve heard how these coyotes will charge a lot and then abandon them once they’ve got their money, and again it makes me ask, why go through that?

So when I’m asked if I am opposed to immigration even if they don’t always come through legal means, I respond by asking, “Why would I be in favor of people going through the risks of hiring out the services of a ‘coyote’ when coyotes not only rob them of the large sums of money they paid, but whom also would abandon them at the first sign of trouble?”

I then add, “And why would I be in favor of illegal immigrants being hired by an American company that not only knows that they are in the country illegally, but also takes advantage of it? American companies can underpay them and not provide basic benefits that we take for granted, such as overtime and health insurance. If the workers complain, then they are only a phone call away to the Immigration Dept. from being deported.”

So with that, why would I favor these people putting themselves through unnecessary risks, when they can greatly benefit from going through the correct process of becoming an American citizen? It’s like being in favor of people jumping over lava pits when they can just take the bridge over the lava pit. In this analogy, who would favor others leaping over lava pits when they don’t have to?

And by going through this the right way, they stand to benefit from all that our great country offers. So I ask you, why would favor the path that is fraught with danger to life and limb, and the virtual guarantee of being exploited by an American company even if they did make it across? To me this is a no-brainer issue.

By going through the proper channels, then the immigration debate ceases to be a debate. The only ones who would favor keeping these immigrants in peril and being exploited are those who benefit from their being put in danger and being exploited. I won’t name the party who would favor the current ways of doing things, but I bet that you can figure it out.

That party simply wants their votes, and you can bet that if the illegal immigrants that are at the center of this "debate" voted for the opposite party, then the first party would be the ones building fences and advocating deportations. So with that, ask yourself if that party deserves your vote this coming November.

And a Happy Belated 4th of July to you all!

Healing powers continued

I was going to post this last time, but I thought that maybe the other post was getting a little long, so I separated it into a second day. Now we continue with the healing powers of the superhumans in my "universe".

As I said before, the healing powers of super strength folks concentrates on healing fast, and the stronger the person, the faster the healing power. This is necessary so as to allow them to lift the great weights that they do. I also said that in conjunction with speed healing is that the faster the healing, the more energy consumptive it is. Thus, the heavy hitting powerhouses have to deal with doing what they plan to do before they suffer an "energy crash".

As for other, non-strength superpowered folks, their healing powers are generally related to the power they have. For instance, telepaths' and telekinetics' healing powers are concentrated in their brain. Nosebleeds are common among them, but their healing power heals them pretty quickly once they've stopped using their mental powers. There is a point in which if they've used their mental abilities for too long a time, then they could suffer a cerebral hemorrhage to the point that their healing powers won't be able to save them. However, if they learn to pace themselves (rather than put out in one continuous burst), they can allow their healing powers to heal their brain in the short pauses that they work in.

For speedsters, most of their healing powers are related to healing bones, muscles, cartilages, nerves, and whatever else is related to their speed skills. For them, it's a matter of trying not to suffer too much catastrophic damage in a short span of time to the point that their healing power will burn itself out before it's completely healed them. They do get injured a lot from tripping and running into things, but their healing is such that most injuries heal pretty quickly, and they're back on their merry way in very little time.

For flyers, an aspect of their healing powers is the projection of a low level telekinetic shield about 2 to 3 feet in front of them. While this shield is not impermeable, it does block a lot of the wind resistance that the flyer would otherwise feel. The strength of the shield also seems to increase proportionally the faster the flyer goes. This shield also protects them on landings to a certain degree - mainly to slow them down so that they don't hit the ground with a splat! So basically, the healing powers in flyers is for protection from most of the rigors of flight, and not so much the healing of wounds and other injuries. While flyers still heal at a rate that is twice the regular human healing rate, it is still the lowest rate among the healing powers of superhumans.

Water breathers' healing powers allow them to breathe underwater as well as on land, and they also help them deal with the water pressures of depths that would be beyond the normal human ability. If a water breather's healing power gets damaged or burned out, then he or she is much more likely to drown or be crushed by the great water pressures, so when battling water breathers, it's necessary to break their very dense and rubbery skin so that they will have to surface, where they are at a disadvantage.

These are just some of the examples of how the healing powers of superhumans adapt to their particular ability, and I find it fascinating to research this and marvel at the adaptability of the body to the stresses that they put their bodies under. In the future when I'm in the mood, I might give other examples of the healing powers of different superhuman abilities.

Have a great weekend, all!

Q&A: Healing powers

Hello, my little nerdlings!

To make up for the fact that I talked chick stuff all last week, today I will answer some recent questions regarding healing powers in my "universe".

Q: How do healing powers work?

A: The scientists who specialize in superhuman physiology have studied superhumans with healing powers, and their theory is basically this: Healing powers in superhumans is basically the same as it is in regular humans, just a lot faster and more efficient. Some superhumans heal at a rate only a little above the normal human rate, while others will heal even broken bones in a matter of hours. So for the physiological explanations of how healing works, I refer you to your old biology textbooks. :-)

Healing powers seem to be a necessary part of having powers. Not everyone with healing powers have it in the same degree, of course, but the demands that having a power has on the body seems to require an enhanced healing ability in order to repair the stress and strain that the body undergoes when the superhuman utilizes their power. Also, the healing power seems to be tailored to the superhuman's specific power.

For example, those with super strength (including myself) all have a much greater and faster healing power than those who don't. When you think about it, it would be necessary due to all the stresses and strains that we put our bones, joints, muscles, etc, under when we lift great weights. Otherwise, we would break bones or sprain or herniate muscles every time we lifted something heavy; especially something way beyond normal human strength. The very fast healing ability is also what makes super strength types very hard to take down. Even if you pummel them constantly, their healing ability helps them shake it off.

The drawback to having super strength and a very fast healing ability is that they are very energy consumptive. That is, the bigger and stronger they are, the more fuel it takes to power all that strength and healing powers. So those with the highest levels of strength will need to do their damage in a short amount of time before their bodies crash from the energy drain. Unfortunately, they can DO a lot of damage in a short amount of time! The strategy for me when taking them down is to force them to use up their energy before they can do a lot of damage.

As for someone like me, while I have a great deal of super strength, it is nowhere near the powerhouse level that I've seen in others. In fact, with the exception of perhaps one, there are no real powerhouse level women in my "universe". Superhuman women seem to have the same limits of biology that regular human women have in that we don't get large and bulky muscles like the men do, so we don't get freakishly and enormously strong like the strongest superhuman men do. Still, it's a good idea to not annoy women with super strength, because we can still hurt you in so many ways! LOL

However, the benefit that super strength women seem to have over the super strength men is that our healing powers - while not faster than the men's - is much more energy efficient. That is, we don't "power down" quickly like the men do. While we may not do as much damage in short bursts like the men do, we can continue doing damage a lot longer, way past when the men would have tired out. This is kind of how it is in real life, isn't it? ;-)

Ultimately, the "edge" in strength that super strength men have will prove to not be an edge if they can't do right away whatever damage that they set out to do. In a battle between a super man and a super woman, the woman has to stay out of striking range long enough for the man to power down, and she can hurry the process along by forcing him to use his strength. Since a lot of these powerhouse dudes have an enormous ego, it's pretty easy to find the buttons that will rile them into doing something stupid, like lifting the heaviest thing they can find so that they can hurl it at the woman.

Once the dude has the weight completely over his head and before he can throw it, the woman can do something distracting - like throwing a good sized chunk of concrete at his balls to seriously distract him from throwing the weight. Some of the more focused dudes can at least drop the weight to one side before they grab their crotch, but most times what happens is that they grab their crotch instinctively, and the weight falls on them, thus forcing them to use their strength (and thus use up energy) to get the weight off of them.

Then if the dude is still conscious, the woman can do something like grab him by the ankles and repeatedly slam him into the ground until his healing powers are so taxed that it shuts down and they pass out. In case you're wondering - yes, I've done this before. :-) You ask how fair is it to take a shot at a dude's balls while he is vulnerable? I respond by asking, "How fair is it for the super strength dude to take on a woman when he knows she is way outmatched in the strength department?"

Understand guys, that as strong as super strength women are, we can be **killed** by a super strength man if he manages to get his hands on us. That's how much stronger they are than us. The key for the ladies is to "fight smarter, not stronger." So healing powers in the super strength men seems to be geared towards helping them lift those great weights, while healing powers in super strength women seems to be geared for endurance.

Q&A: Why don't I go see movies when they are still in the theater?

One of my GFs felt that I should address the question of why I generally don't go see movies in the theater. She said that I should bring it up as a Q&A topic. I told her that someone needs to ask me that first before I can address it as a Q&A topic! Knowing how I am about such things, she asked,

Q: "Why don't you go see movies when they are still in the theater?"

Okay, now that the more formal part of "Q&A" is taken care of, here we go!

Well GF, it's easy. I absolutely HATE spending all that money to get a ticket and buying a drink, popcorn, and snacks only to discover that the movie was crappy and a waste of the money that I just spent. You all know how movies are over-promoted, and the more hyped they are, the more suspicious I get. Think "Avatar". Yes, most of you don't like wasting your money on a bad movie, but I genuinely hate it! I hate thinking that I wasted not just the money, but that much of my life on a movie that was a piece of crap.

It's a different matter when you can spend a lot less renting a DVD of the movie later, because you already have the drinks and snacks at hand, and if it's a good movie, then I'll buy the DVD of it (so that I won't have to keep renting it, naturally! LOL). Don't get me wrong - I love the movies, but I hate the fact that my money was spent on a waste-of-time just because some Hollywood exec cut corners to make it into a formulaic piece of crap that he had to overpromote in order for others to go see it.

How mad are we talking here? I mean I go to bed mad!

It's because of my hatred of wasting my money on a bad movie that my GFs or my dates will offer to buy my ticket just in case. That's nice, but I hate the fact that they wasted their money, so it doesn't make me feel a whole lot better. I feel Hollywood owes us good movies for the money we spend going to the theaters, and if we keep paying to see crappy movies just because that's all that Hollywood will put out, then making crappy movies is all that they will make, especially if they're cheaper to make. If we want Hollywood to make better movies, then we have to hit them where it hurts: their pocketbook. If it's a crappy movie, then we shouldn't patronize it and spread the word so that our friends and family won't go see it. Then the movie will bomb and Hollywood will take the financial hit, and hopefully get the message.

One of the few movies that I *intended* to go see in the theaters was Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ. I will admit that part of the reason was in protest of my Marxist parents' protest of it, and also because a lot of the left wing nut jobs were going nuts over it, so I figured that there must be something worthwhile to go see. To say that I "enjoyed" it is to suggest that it was entertainment. Let's just say that seeing the movie and getting a taste of what Christ did for us helped to finalize for me that I was a God-believing Christian. And yes, it was money worth spending - by far.

And then that stupid goofball Gibson goes loopy and fools around with a woman who is not his wife. His stock in my eyes dropped considerably after that. Despite this, I still feel that going to see the movie was money well spent.

So anyway, now you folks know why I generally don't go see movies while they are in the theater. :-D

Q&A: My opinion of beauty pageants

This article got me thinking that I should go ahead and voice my opinion of beauty pageants, especially since I've been asked before on this topic. Okay, let's go ahead and make this official:

Q: What do you think of beauty pageants? - from several questioners

A: To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about beauty pageants. Granted, the winners end up getting college scholarships for the most part, but for doing what, exactly? Given the term "beauty" pageant, one must assume that the winner is more beautiful than the rest, but c'mon! The idea and concept of "beauty" is very subjective - "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and all that.

And also consider that all of these beauty queens - all of them! - are made up to look that way. Maked-up to no end, enough hair spray for one pageant than most of us would probably use in a lifetime, not to mention the plastic surgery and boob jobs and so forth that sometimes is done, and tape to create cleavage and to hold articles of clothing in place (no 'wardrobe malfunctions' for these ladies!) makes for some very artificial women. Heck, if we really wanted to judge their beauty, let's see how good they look without all that makeup, hair spray, surgery, tape, etc. If they still look attractive, they win!

My main concern is the message that beauty pageants seem to send to young girls. Sincerely without trying to sound snide, the message seems to be "You are a piece of meat, and how well you decorate yourself and perform for the judges will determine the winner." I wouldn't go so far as to say that they are whoring themselves, but still, with all that women have accomplished in recent decades, the idea and concept of "beauty" pageants seems not only outdated but archaic. We are now doctors, lawyers, college professors, engineers, military leaders, CEOs, and so forth, so in contrast with these women of accomplishment, beauty pageant contestants seem almost an insult.

Even though it sounds like I'm totally opposed to beauty pageants, I'm not there. Not yet anyway, but I'm close. They are being given college scholarships after all, and not being whored off as prizes to men of privilege and wealth. So in short, I guess you might say that when it comes to beauty pageants, I'm agnostic; that is, not fully there as far as being a non-believer, but that my doubts outnumber the benefits that I believe that beauty pageant contestants gain from being in those pageants. I hope that makes sense.

So how much of a comics fangirl am I?

I didn't intend to do another Q&A so soon, but I thought I'd go ahead and answer this question that came by e-mail: How much of a comics fangirl am I?

I am enough of a comics fangirl that I visit the comic shop on Wednesdays, and I almost always buy SOMEthing. Rare is it that a given Wednesday will go by that no comic interests me - perhaps three weeks out of the regular 52 week year, if that. And most of the time, I buy at least two, usually three, and more often than not I buy 4 or more.

Currently most of the comics I buy are DC. If I had to put a percentage of which comics company I buy in a given year, a rough estimate would be about 60% DC, 39% Marvel, and 1% other/independent. Only in recent years have I kept the comics that I intend to keep in one of those long cardboard comics boxes, and I have five such boxes right now.

So how about the rest of you? What are your comic buying habits?

Q&A: What is the hardest part of being a superhero?

Q&A time!

Q: What is the hardest part of being a superhero?

A: That part is easy: it's the fact that, even with super powers, I still can't do it all.

I have been gifted with amazing powers. As someone who believes in God, I believe that I've been given these powers for a reason. That reason seems to be to use my powers to help stop those who use their powers for evil. Each person I battle is different, so each time I face a new villain, I have to learn as quickly as possible what their power is and what I need to do to stop them.

Many times I figure out what I need to do very quickly. It helps a lot to study those superhumans that the U.S. Dept. of Superhuman Studies has in custody. It's through them that I learn what super powers can actually do and what powers can't do. But sometimes it takes longer for me to figure out their power before they cause harm to others or even death - especially if it's someone with powers that I've never encountered before.

I'll share a secret with you: when my failure ends in the death of others, I take it hard. Most of the time I'll just bury the pain, but sometimes I break down and cry. That kind of failure hurts that bad. The superhuman psychiatrists that the DSS has will tell me that I can't do it all. They theorize that people like me have a harder time accepting that basic fact because we can do so much more than the average human. Despite that, we have limits.

Because of our super abilities, we also often suffer delusions of grandeur more than regular humans do. That delusion can also take the form of heroes expecting to do it all, and how a given hero reacts to failure will state how they will develop psychologically as their role as a superhero expands.

Their reaction to failure can either result in a crushing guilt that they can't escape, or it can lead to them learning to be a better hero by learning from their mistakes. I'm trying very hard to live up to that second option. Time will tell on how well I do

Q&A: T&A

Today's question comes by e-mail: Is your comic going to be pretty much a T & A show? If so, why do we even need something like that?

Okay, there's no getting around the fact that I have big boobs. I'm also very tall, 6 foot 1, so I'm a pretty big woman all around. And my hips are broader than what most women would be comfortable with. Plain and simple, I got size, baby. I got curves. And yes, I got a butt, too.

But a T & A show? Nuh-uh. Before I continue, let me address something first, and it's the matter of the absence of a comic, which will be related to my response below.

I really wish I had a comic out to show you folks right now, as it's a bit hard to keep talking about an "upcoming comic" if it hasn't come yet. I can't say when it will be coming because right now it's just me and the boss, and we've had difficulties finding a reliable artist. We've had some very good ones, but none so far that will produce at least a few pages of art before they drop out of sight on us.

Part of the reason is because of the boss's inability to pay what he feels is a fair wage for their art - and so far, while "for the glory and experience" of doing comic art has been enough to get their interest, it hasn't been enough to keep them at least for a few pages of art. He feels bad that he can't afford to pay them more, but it can't be helped right now. And on top of that is a recent medical issue that the boss had to deal with in recent months. Don't worry, he's fine, but he won't turn down any well-wishes and prayers for his health.

In the meantime, I've taken it upon myself to keep up the blog and to maintain the Facebook page, because I really like the storyline ideas he's come up with. Had it been a T & A show, I wouldn't still be writing this blog. Plus, he's trying to put out there a perspective that is not usually seen in comics, and that's a character who is not afraid to be a right-winger. And a pro-lifer. It is the fact that he wants to make Andromeda someone who is not afraid to express her right-wing views that has kept me at this.

We're still working on how we can introduce other political and social issues that won't devolve into the usual "liberal" and "conservative" sniping that is par for the course nowadays. The recent example of (the now formerly) Miss California and her views on gay marriage is one such example of how an issue can devolve into absurdity, and all because Miss California chose to express her opinion truthfully when asked. This shows the difficulty that can sometimes come with trying to express a view that is not considered "politically correct". The boss takes care to look at both sides, and that has come across in the stories I've read so far. I don't always agree with some of the views he presents, but I know that he's going to give my side a fair shake.

Plus, he gives me free reign on what I write here. I've even surprised him with some of the stuff I've said; that's how much control I have with my blog and my Facebook page (but I will still check with him on some topics, just to make sure that what I say won't be inconsistent with what he plans for my character). Sometimes I've inspired future storylines with my comments, and I can't think of a better compliment for my work than for him to tell me that.

Another thing that has inspired me is Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. Here is a woman who is not afraid to publicly express her right wing views. And her giving birth to her Down's Syndrome baby despite criticisms to the contrary is the best example of just how dedicated she is to the pro-life cause. In other words, she not only said she's pro-life, she's proved it. May God bless her for her courageous act. I feel that Palin is the future of the conservative movement largely because of the reactions she gets from the left.

David Letterman's recent stupidity is only one recent example of the fact that the left is scared of her. He didn't have to say or do anything about Palin, and certainly nothing about her daughters. In fact, it has been largely left-wingers that have kept her in the spotlight, because subconciously they are "keeping their eye" on her. Had they not been afraid of her, they would have dropped coverage of her the very next day after Barack Obama won, and we would be saying "Sarah who?" right now. I continue to write this blog because I believe in the boss, and because of right-wing women like Palin.

Yes, I have big tits and I have a big ass, but damn it, I have a brain too. If there are those who choose to see me only as "tits and ass" despite what I've written here and on Facebook, then it says more about them than it does about me. You may see my big boobs, but my goal is for you to also see that I can write, too.

But a T&A show? I hope by now you see that we plan for my comic to be anything but.

Q & A: Gender differences in super powers

An excellent follow-up question came after the nutshot one, so I thought I'd go ahead and answer that one here and now.

Q: You mentioned that it is men who are the strongest of those with super strength in your stories. Are there any powers that women have in greater numbers than the men?

A: Yes, there is, and in fact, it might be interesting to you all if I go ahead and tell you how the more common powers divide up along gender lines.

Men dominate in those with super, super strength. Women, however, dominate when it comes to super speed. The fastest speedsters are all women. In fact, it isn't until #19 that a man breaks the top 20, and he is like a snail compared to the fastest woman. Superhuman scientists theorize that this is because women's muscles don't bulk up like men's muscles do, so their super strength can be dedicated to speed.

Women also dominate in telepathic powers related to reading minds. However, men dominate in telepathic powers dedicated to "pushing". It didn't take long to notice the pattern of men having "aggressive" telepathic powers while women had "communication" telepathic powers. So far, there are no telepaths that can both read minds and "push" people to do things that they want them to do. Neither gender seems to dominate in telekinetic powers, as there are too few purely TK wielders to make any accurate assessment of how this power divides among the genders.

Women dominate in super senses related to smell and hearing, while men dominate in super sight. The other two senses are harder to evaluate, so there are no official test results yet on super taste and touch.

Men overwhelmingly dominate in powers related to energy discharge. Superhuman scientists theorize that this is related to the fact that the presence of testosterone has something to do with the quick and massive energy production that is necessary for such energy discharges - and of course, men have testosterone in greater quantities than women. Women who are able to discharge energy are only able to emit a glow of light rather than energy with any strong concussive force.

Female teleporters generally create portals to step through, while men generally teleport by popping out of sight to re-emerge somewhere else. Female teleporters are able to teleport others so long as they are able to keep their portal open, while men can only teleport themselves.

Male flyers are the fastest flyers while female flyers are able to maneuver far better than the men. Most superhuman scientists make the analogy that male flyers are jets while female flyers are helicopters. Most men can't hover in one spot, but nearly all the women can.

When it comes to "sonic screams", women far outnumber the men. The best "sonic screamers" have a pitch so high that it can't be heard, but it can cause your eardrums to rupture and could cause cerebral hemorrhages. Men who can do the very low bass pitch "sonic screams" sound very much like a foghorn and have an eerie effect of rattling you down to your bones.

Men far outnumber women when it comes to "thunder clapping" - that is, slamming their hands together with such force as to create a shock wave. This is easy to explain: Men's hands are bigger and the men are generally stronger. Women can only make "baby booms" when compared to the men's shock waves.

After these basic powers, it breaks down to gender ratios that are not complete yet. That is, there's not enough of each gender of a given power to make the determination of whether it is a male or female dominated ability. For some powers, only one person seems to possess it.

For instance, the super known as Alloy is the only known super who has the ability to merge otherwise unlike substances into one combined substance, such as combining steel and a bolt of cotton into an substance that has the softness of cotton but the durability of steel (and which my costume is made of).

And I am the only known super with multiple powers. I have flight, strength, super senses, speed healing, and super speed. Note that I have these abilities in a lesser degree to those who have the same powers (that is, there are stronger women than me, there are faster women than me, etc.), but none of them have the combination of abilities that I do. There are, so far, no men who have multiple abilities like I do. so it's unknown whether it is men or women who will be more likely to have multiple powers.

As more research is made available, I'll let you all know what they are.

Q & A Time: The Nutshot question

Time for a little Q & A! :-D

Q: In the course of your battles with supers, have you ever resorted to kicking the guys in the nuts?

A: This question actually made me laugh out loud! And the answer is yes! The reason is that it works! However, it's never the first thing I do. That actually does very little to take them down for the count. Yes, it hurts them, but some of the strongest ones can actually shake it off pretty fast, no matter how hard I may kick them there. There's two reasons for that:

One, most of them have speed healing like I do - speed healing being something of a necessity for those with super strength due to the strains that such folks put their bodies under lifting the weights that they do. If they didn't heal quickly, then most of them would have serious sprains, strains, hernias, and hyper-extensions each and every time they lifted anything heavy.

Two, and this response is - uh - well, it deals with a fact about the male anatomy of those with super strength. Okay, how to put this discreetly? Let's just say that just because these guys can rival the Hulk in size and bulkiness, it doesn't mean that their male organs are - well, correspondingly bigger. They can have male body parts that would be impressive in a man of a regular size and build, but on someone of the large hulking size - okay, quit your snickering out there! I'm trying to answer this seriously!

Anyway, their extra bulk is mainly in their bones and muscle, and their male body parts has neither bones or muscle, so their parts look smaller by comparison to the surrounding bulky body mass. And because of that, striking them there is actually harder to do than on your regular sized dude. Super ladies who are trained to fight these guys are taught on the first day to not rely on nutshots to bail them out of trouble because it's hard to hit them down there, and even if you do manage to hit them there, they shake it off pretty fast. We are taught to use nutshots mainly for a quick distraction and to hit as hard as we can when we do resort to it.

Even if they shake it off fast, it still hurts, judging by how even the strongest guys will double over. You have to consider that they ARE being kicked by super strength legs! Okay, this blog entry was kinda fun to write. I hope your responses will be just as amusing. :-)

Q&A: Funny question! Do I sleep?

A question posed to me made me laugh! Do I sleep? Do I *need* to sleep?

The answer: Yes! I'm not a perpetual motion machine who can go on and on and on like the Energizer Bunny! Granted, it takes me longer to tire out than the average human person, but I can tire out. This happens mainly when I'm taking on many supers at once - especially super strength ones, as they can take a beating and keep on going. And since the average super strength dude is stronger than the average super strength woman, it takes more on my part to finally bring them down (as well as some trickery and strategy)

After such a battle, I need rest. I also need to eat. A lot. A body like mine needs a lot of fuel to keep it powered up. My healing power is especially energy intensive. After a good nap, I'm good to go back into battle if necessary. And if the battle was especially vicious, then I need to sleep a few hours, which is sometimes not easy to do if I'm aching all over.

One last thing about my healing power: it's not like Marvel Comics' Wolverine's healing power, in which he heals instantaneously after even serious injuries. My power is a little slower than that, so if I have something like deep wounds or stress fractures in my bones, I feel it! That's why sometimes I have a difficult time going to sleep until my healing power has healed me enough where I can finally drift off to sleep. And believe me, I welcome the trip to Slumberland in such times!

In short, I am not invulnerable, and I do need to sleep just like anyone else.

Q & A: Do you help the cause of womanhood dressing the way you do?

Q&A time, folks - and I'm going to answer a question that has been asked more than once: Do I help the cause of womanhood dressing the way I do?

Look, I admit that what I wear is revealing, but it's no more revealing than what your average cheerleader wears. Granted, most cheerleaders don't sport a pair of DD's like I do, but still, there is a functional purpose to my attire than just showing off my bod. The main purpose of my costume is for distraction; that is, distraction of the men that I usually fight. Most times I am at a disadvantage with the men I fight, as the average superstrength man is stronger than the average superstrength woman, so I need to utilize whatever I can to distract them off of their own plan of stopping me from stopping them. And for the most part, I do stop them.

I would say that yeah, I do help the cause of womanhood, because it is a woman who is making these strategies of how to defeat opponents that are much stronger than her (and one of those strategies is the costume I wear), and it is a woman who for the greater part of the time is able to carry out these strategies. This demonstrates a thinking woman who is utilizing what's at hand to accomplish a certain goal; namely, I'm taking advantage of the fact that men will be men around a busty woman wearing a revealing costume. And my friends, it works nearly all the time. So rather than criticizing my attire, perhaps it would be better to see things the way I do. What I do works - the results can't be argued with. And such results, I think, shows a woman in a good light. Feel free, of course, to disagree, but at least I had my say.

(Note: I had actually completed this Wednesday and thought that I had posted it, but saw only today (Friday) that I had not, and I apologize. I'm still working on Friday's post, and should post it real soon.)

Q&A: My favorite superhero

Q & A time, and I guess it is also Comics Talk as well. The question is, who is my favorite female superhero?

The questioner figured on it being either Wonder Woman or She-Hulk. Nope on both counts.

Wonder Woman, I think, is too untouchable - too perfect. In a sense, it kind of makes her a boring character. She-Hulk, on the other hand - especially they way she's been written lately - is too much the opposite. TOO real. Right now she's being written as slutting herself to just about any super male that piques her interest. NOT a good example to set, I think.

No, the one character that I consider my favorite is Power Girl. She's super, attractive, fun, dedicated, and yet vulnerable. She's gone through quite a bit of loss in her life - her home planet Krypton (of Earth 2), her universe, then her cousin, Superman of Earth 2. Now she just found out that somehow Earth 2 has been remade, but she's been replaced by another Power Girl. Such vulnerability, to me, helps humanize a character that is otherwise beyond the experiences of us mere mortals. In other words, even though she can juggle tanks, she's as human as the rest of us.

I might include Storm, Starfire, and Rogue as other favorites, but Power Girl is my fave of the bunch.

Question regarding the potential health problems of those with super abilities

One question came in asking basically whether people (in my "universe", of course) with super abilities can get such things as cancer or diseases. The answer is yes, absolutely. While most of those with super abilities have some degree of speed healing (including myself), we can still succumb to various diseases, most often related to our super conditions. In order to better explain our vulnerability to certain medical conditions, we must first discuss the origins of super abilities.

Theorists and scientists on superhuman physiology have two competing theories related to the origins of super abilities. Some say that they are the next step in the evolutionary ladder, while others say that it's a genetic mutation. There has been no set acceptance of either theory, because successful pairings of a human and a superhuman very rarely result in an offspring that has a super ability. Usually only pairings of two superhumans result in a superhuman child. The very low success rate for a human/superhuman pairing suggests a genetic incapatability, but if that incapatability is due to the superhuman's genetically enhanced DNA, or if it's due to a genetic mutation, no one has yet agreed. So basically, more studies are necessary.

That there are very few superhumans suggest that it is very difficult for them reproduce. Also, many of them die young - there are very few elderly superhumans, because so many of us live dangerous lives that end in our untimely demise, or because of health complications related to their super condition. For instance, those with super speed have to be cautious of wounds in which bleeding results. Depending on the speedster, they could literally bleed to death in less than a second - much faster than the fastest EMT could treat them. Those with super strength often take stupid risks with great weights that they discover to actually be beyond their ability to handle, and thus they are often crushed by the very weight that they sought to lift, because there was not another super strength person nearby, or heavy lifting mechanical equipment was not available when needed.

Cancer in superhumans is almost always fatal, as there is practically no research on superhuman cancers, because there are very few super humans. Such cancers are almost always immune to treatments that would help normal human cancers. In order to understand superhuman cancers, the origins of superhuman abilities must be discovered, and as stated previously, that is still being debated. Thus, if a superhuman's super immune system is unable to combat the cancer, then virtually nothing else can.

And last, for those with invulnerable skin, internal bleeding is always fatal if they don't have speed healing. EMTs are unable to cut through their skin to stop any internal bleeding. There are, of course, many other examples of health hazards related to super abilities and super conditions, but I think I at least provided a good start of how superhumans can be as vulnerable as humans to cancer and disease.

Q & A: Response to a comment about my abilities

Let’s go ahead and take care of a little business by answering one of the comments that was sent to me. I thought that it’d be better to answer here in case others of you had the same questions/observations about what I’ve said about myself so far. Here’s the original comment in its entirety:

“So far from what I've read you are extremely powerful. You have super strength, heightened senses; you can fly fast. You have super healing. Your costume is tear resistant, so that so horny guys won’t drool after battling you. In your previous posts, you stated because of your athletic build you are probably flexible as well. And finally you perfect hand-eye coordination and reflexes allows to you evade any attack in all directions. In light on a better word you are perfect. But when developing your stories (which you are working on now) its important to add the human element as well. Sure its fun beating the crap out of bad guys and gals (yes I said GALS, 'cause it would be boring if your battles were one sided), but on the other hand you have a real life to deal with. Getting good grades in school, dealing with bullies without revealing your secret identity, and trying to show your true feeling to the one you really care about. Now I'm not saying to make the comic series super serious (please don't hurt me because I used a pun), but remember to keep it real and believable. Take care.”

First, thanks for a long, thoughtful response. You bring up some very good questions worth a good response, and I hope to give it here. Let’s go ahead and take them in order.

I do have super strength, heightened senses, and super healing. But I do not have Superman level powers, or even Wonder Woman. Not even She Hulk. Probably the closest I get to is Donna Troy level powers. The super healing is necessary for someone of super strength because of all the stresses that we put our bodies under by lifting the great weights that we do. In fact, in my “universe”, the stronger the superhuman, the greater his or her speed healing is. Thus, it’s no accident that, in my universe, the strongest folks also have the fastest healing powers, and that’s what makes them so difficult to take down.

My heightened senses are largely due to having a physique that is several steps up from the normal human physique of a woman my height and build. That also explains the faster eye/hand coordination and my flexibility. Those of us with such physiques also have these heightened senses/coordination/flexibility. The odd thing in my universe is that it is the super women who have this faster eye/hand coordination much more so than the men. My guess is that it’s because women’s muscles don’t get bulky like men’s muscles do. There are other super women who can move as fast as I can, and some are even faster.

For the super men, because they have all that bulky mass, it’s much harder for them to move fast like super women do. Of course, the advantage the men have is that they are much stronger. The strongest super woman in my universe (and it’s not me) is nowhere near as strong as the strongest super man. So even though I can dodge the slow, plodding punches thrown by super men, they can take the numerous punches that I throw at them because they are that much stronger (not to mention that they also heal faster). It’s a challenge that I’m still working on.

As for my costume, finding a tear resistant costume became necessary because of what I discovered from my very first super battle. And for us super ladies, we need these tear resistant costumes, because in this day and age of camera phones and YouTube, we are a short step away from being splashed all over the Internet showing off what we didn’t want to show off. And even though they are tear resistant, it’s not impossible to tear. Whether that happens in the stories – you will just have to wait and see. ;-) Anyway, the experience I went through in my first battle told me right away what us super ladies are going to need if we are going to do the hero thing, and I hope to make it a line of fashion later. In summary, we super ladies are going to need a durable costume if we are going to do the hero thing without becoming exhibitionists every time we do battle.

And last, I am not perfect. Far from it. I only need to get slapped around by one of my most annoying opponents to bring me back to earth (and you’ll meet her later). Even though I have super powers, I am still very human. I have feelings, and I have hopes and dreams, and I deal with adversity like any human does. Granted, the temptations of a super person are different and greater than normal folks, but it’s still temptation nonetheless, and we are just as prone to mistakes in judgment in the face of those temptations just like anyone else. It’s this part of my life that I hope makes my stories “real and believable”.

Thanks for your commentary. You really made me think about how I should respond. I hope I answered your observations to your satisfaction.