Idlermag.com

March 14-19, 2011

Texting after 2 a.m. = bad idea, and Teal Amthor-Shaffer tells you why in “Textual harassment” (In fact, maybe you should just rethink all your texting habits. Srsly.)

Kevin Mattison watches two films about men in the world’s second-oldest profession, Jean Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï (1967) and Anton Corbijn’s The American (2010). Both revolve around men who live lives of disciplined self-erasure, who ultimately fail to be faceless. Read “Those who serve”

Kate Sloan was going to do a little light reading, but she read Alissa Torres and Sungyoon Choi’s American Widow, which is elegant, devastating, and a reminder that while we all lived through 9/11, a few people lived through a lot more than the rest of us. Read “Death, birth, rebirth”

The Gamers’ Club is playing Final Fantasy VII. Read “So close” by Gavin Craig, “Wasting time” by Daniel J. Hogan, and “Game over” by Andrew Simone

Gavin Craig loves Batman (didn’t you notice?), but the under-read, absolutely brilliant gem of the Batman universe is Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka’s 2003-2006 series Gotham Central. Batman is barely in it. It’s amazing. Read “The badges behind the bat”

It’s Angela Vasquez-Giroux’s birthday, people. Check out her training & gear wish list in “31 candles”

Jill Kolongowski decides that it’s time to give both sweet potatoes and soup another go, and it all ends with slightly reddened cheeks. Read “Sweet potato soup: a love letter”