The Sleeper's Den

I first heard about Inspector Morse at University. We didn't have a television at home until then and I had missed the series entirely; however, Morse kept coming up in our English grammar classes as the prime example of a speaker of fine Queen's English, who would correct Lewis when he used casual speech :). When the series was aired again, I watched it avidly - I think I must have seen every episode five times by now :P (yes, our second national tv channel has very few means and airs a lot of repeats *g*).

I love British detective series, and Morse is my favourite of all. It has strong plots, wonderful music, great characters and actors, and you the detective is called Endeavour :D. I like everything about this series, from the tune and Morse's car to its fascination with human behaviour. Morse himself is very loveable too, sensitive and chivalrous in an old-fashioned way, and often blinded by his own fixed notions and prejudices. He is far from infallible - in fact, he's usually on the wrong track for a long time, guided by a sort of romantic sense of melodrama that he has, and won't listen to poor Lewis's sensible contributions.

I was really touched when Morse died - as a really well-drawn character with strengths and weaknesses, he seemed so real. He also made me listen to Wagner, and I'm grateful for that :).

Ha! That interest is a natural result of my fascination with Oscar Wilde, and with the relationship between men and women in general :-). I read a lot about male and female homosexuality, and I also explored notions like masculinity, femininity, effeminacy and how and when they were constructed and to which traits/manners/looks/etc. they are applied. I have become rather convinced that notions like these are fairly artificial; I am pretty allergic to all that "women are from Venus, men are from Mars" nonsense. So - I love to read about and explore ways in which assumptions about gender can be subversed, in art as well as in life. The original comic on which I worked for years (with little result, alas) was all about gender-blurred characters :). I find the subject extremely fascinating.

I just love that epoch and style - dress, furniture, architecture, art... The playfulness, the (moral) freedom and the opulent ornamentation greatly appeal to me. Rococo is, as far as I know, one of the few styles that celebrates asymmetry. It's challenging and daring! I don't always find it really beautiful, but it is invariably elegant and charming. Even when it is horribly pompous as in Schloss Schönbrunn, there is something about it that wins me over :).

I set my original comic in the Rococo period, just so I could immerse myself in it. I have found that it is far from easy to achieve the elegance and lightness of touch that seems so effortless in art from that age. I'm still unsuccessful at it, but I'm not giving up yet :).

Hee hee. Rat creatures are a kind of monsters that appear in the comic Bone (http://www.boneville.com/bone/) (one of my all-time favourites, incidentally). The great thing about them is that they sometimes struggle with their monster nature, such as when they feel the urge to eat quiche (too dainty; they would lose their street cred) or are reproached for trying to eat the other characters ("We can't help it! We're monsters!"). You just have to love them :D.

"Stupid, stupid rat creatures!" (http://pics.livejournal.com/nhw/pic/00004kcs)