Cast of Characters: Barrel of Book Monkeys

Well, feedback from the Parkerites on the first round of Cast descriptions has been mostly positive, or at least it's been mostly positive from the ones who are still speaking to me. I'm trying not to read too much into the deafening silence from others but, hey, Cap'n Paranoia here, can't really help it. And now, to prove that I have not yet learned my lesson and can never leave well enough alone, I give you round two of the Character lists!

Let's dive into the barrel of Book Monkeys.

Group 2: Book Monkeys

Formed from former co-workers in Interlibrary Services. The name is taken from the term some of the student workers coined for themselves. In addition to the roles in the Book Monkey group, each member has been assigned a role to fulfill in Insidious Evil’s bids for world domination (yes, that’s right, St. Flunky has competition).

Sub-group 1: The Core Four: Back in my ILS days, the majority of my social life revolved around activities with these three. If I were to name the group that’s been responsible for me laughing the hardest the most number of times, it’s a toss-up between Clan Stoneheart and this sub-group. Definitely the group that “gets” my sense of humor the most, probably the one around which I second-guess myself the least.

NICK: The Wiz
OCCUPATION: who can keep track?
BOOK MONKEY ROLE: the impulsive one
INSIDIOUS EVIL ROLE: Evil lawyer
HOBBY: sending me emails about cool events in Austin that I can’t possibly go to
BOOK MONKEY STATUS: student worker/staff member
CHARACTER SKETCH: faithful Whedonite. Aspiring filmmaker. Person with the most similar taste in movies and TV to me. Responsible for me meeting actress Amber Benson and the members of the rock group Virgil. Only other Book Monkey to move to TX so far.

NICK: Rose Hips the Enforcer
OCCUPATION: tech support and training
BOOK MONKEY ROLE: the organizer
INSIDIOUS EVIL ROLE: Evil enforcer
HOBBY: keeping the rest of us in line
BOOK MONKEY STATUS: honorary Book Monkey
CHARACTER SKETCH: the storyteller of the bunch. Intense hatred of screeching guitar music. Personality test once said we were 100% compatible.

NICK: The Mag
OCCUPATION: tech support and training
BOOK MONKEY ROLE: the mischievous one
INSIDIOUS EVIL ROLE: Evil spymaster
HOBBY: trying to look innocent
BOOK MONKEY STATUS: staff member / supervisor
CHARACTER SKETCH: Took over the supervisory position after I left. Shares my love of cheesy movies. Shares Rose Hips' hatred of screeching guitar music. Does not share our love of roller coasters.

NICK: T-Guar, the Golden Boy (that would be me)
OCCUPATION: still truckin’ on in the library world
BOOK MONKEY ROLE: singing comic geek
INSIDIOUS EVIL ROLE: Evil minstrel
HOBBY: enabling the others’ pop culture addictions
BOOK MONKEY STATUS: staff member / supervisor
CHARACTER SKETCH: Unleashes full range of weird humor and bursting-into-song tendencies around this group.


Sub-group 2: SxSF: Along with the Core Four, these Book Monkeys got to share in the wonders of a week-end at Six Flags and The Wiz's movie-making attempt. 90% of my Infinite Monkeys Press webpage was inspired by this group.

NICK: Tin Man
OCCUPATION: student
BOOK MONKEY ROLE: the young'un
INSIDIOUS EVIL ROLE: Evil spokesman
HOBBY: making the rest of us feel old
BOOK MONKEY STATUS: student worker
CHARACTER SKETCH: Hired by The Mag after I left ILS. World traveler. Played my son in The Wiz’s film-which-will-never-be-shown-to-anyone-so-don’t-ask. Competitive. Lazer Tag aficionado. Sponge-bob Squarepants fan.

NICK: Bunny
OCCUPATION: administrative something-or-other
BOOK MONKEY ROLE: the naughty one
INSIDIOUS EVIL ROLE: Evil spin-doctor
HOBBY: finding the line of decency and crossing it
BOOK MONKEY STATUS: student worker
CHARACTER SKETCH: long-time friend of Fellow Book Monkey and Blogger Bubblegum Tate, responsible for his getting hired as a Book Monkey. Bought me a stuffed boa constrictor (long story). Possibly responsible for the Tin Man never being able to have children due to a mishap while riding “La Vibora” at Six Flags. Provided the key words responsible for the SXSF story ideas on Infinite Monkeys Press.

Sub-group 3: The Others: These are the poor souls who, due to problems of time, distance, and other commitments seldom get to partake of Book Monkey gatherings.

NICK: Insidious Evil
OCCUPATION: starving artist and aspiring evil overlord
BOOK MONKEY ROLE: the dry wit
INSIDIOUS EVIL ROLE: Evil Overlord
HOBBY: plotting world domination
BOOK MONKEY STATUS: student worker
CHARACTER SKETCH: Highly cynical and sarcastic; in other words, my kind of people. Has a love for drawing/sculpting bunnies: Arsonist Bunny, Rabid Bunny, Cannibal Bunnies, Plays-with-farm-equipment Bunny . . .

NICK: Kookamamma
OCCUPATION: last I heard, stay-at-home mom
BOOK MONKEY ROLE: the hostess
INSIDIOUS EVIL ROLE: Evil animal trainer
HOBBY: cursing the Wiz and me for our inside jokes
BOOK MONKEY STATUS: student worker
CHARACTER SKETCH: fellow English major. Has lots o’ pets. Former host of many a Dawson/Felicity/Survivor/whatever watch party. Big fan of Harry Potter, Lance Armstrong, and Colby from Survivor

NICK: Strengthy Girl
OCCUPATION: last I heard, stay-at-home mom
BOOK MONKEY ROLE: the nice one
INSIDIOUS EVIL ROLE: Innocent bystander
HOBBY: seeing the world through rose-colored glasses
BOOK MONKEY STATUS: student worker
CHARACTER SKETCH: Likes to create her own words, like strengthy. Was convinced The Wiz hated her for the first month or two she worked at ILS. Was lucky enough to be one of the few students who worked the Thursday night shift with me.

NICK: Bubblegum Tate
OCCUPATION: sales
BOOK MONKEY ROLE: the outspoken one
INSIDIOUS EVIL ROLE: Evil propaganda writer.
HOBBY: challenging me for my role as resident comic geek
BOOK MONKEY STATUS: student worker
CHARACTER SKETCH: huge fan of Batman. Former roommate of Wrath the Berzerkr’s freshman roommate from Parker. Responsible for introducing me to the comic books Sin City, Quantum & Woody, Ranma 1/2, among others; I, in turn, transformed him into a Legion of Super-Heroes fan. Maintains a blog along with his wife. Has been the most persistent in asking me to finish this cast list.