Been away for a while…

on July 14, 2004

Lessee, what have I been up to?

The first week of July, Eleanor and I headed up to my folks’ house in Virginia, where I subjected to her to my various nostalgia trips. I made her see a play at the outdoor theater that I worked at for a summer. I forced her to eat lunch at the restaurant where I waited tables for a year and a half. Plus the obligatory amount of sightseeing, hiking in the woods, and visiting of sites of childhood importance. But I think mostly we lounged about the house. I actually brought bristol board, pencils, ink and brushes, thinking that I might actually get some work done. I don’t know why I bother. I’ve never once been able to do any work while visiting home.

I got back a couple days after my friend Erik had arrived in town for a visit. So I spent the next week or so puttering about town with him and Antar and Eleanor, doing nothing much of anything – besides completely ruining our sleep schedules. We went bowling one evening, where Erik thoroughly cleaned up. Of course, the score isn’t the point. The point is the style of your approach. Erik went with his classic, the devastating “Fastpitch Softball” technique, until the manager came over and made him stop. Antar’s “Stalking Housecat” proved powerful but unreliable. Eleanor used her tried-and-true “Spaghetti Noodle” release. I drew admiration with my classy “Marriage Proposal” approach, until a bruised-up left knee forced me into a “Modified Spider-man.” Other highlights of Erik’s visit included about half a dozen trips to various all-night diners. Much coffee was consumed, and at least one sunrise observed.

Since Erik left, I’ve taken my car in to the shop, gone grocery shopping, and scrupulously avoided drawing any comics.

Also, Eleanor harried me into finally getting one of those “Night Guard” things that people use when they grind their teeth in their sleep. Apparently I don’t actually grind my teeth – it’s more of a “gnashing.” I don’t know how I picked up this habit, but Eleanor and my local dentist concur. So now I have to wear this rubbery thing in my mouth every night while I sleep. For the REST OF MY LIFE, I guess.

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I must admit…

on June 28, 2004

I’m a sucker for “Top 100” lists. Seriously. I know they’re basically a crock of shit, but I can’t help it. Give me an easily-digested, numbered guide to a medium, and I’m all over it. Books. Movies. And most, recently, I’ve been making my way through Pitchfork’s Top 100 Records of the (decade here) lists. They’ve just posted up their Top 100 of the Seventies list, and I’m working my way through it. I’ve already sifted through most of the Eighties and Nineties. Yeh, they’re the snootiest pack of snobs that ever stuck a nose in the air. But still.

Call it a self-improvement project.

I know it’s stupid, but I figure any record, book, etc., that makes its way onto a “Top 100 List ” must be at least worth looking at, right? Right?

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Al Gore is awesome.

on June 25, 2004

Why didn’t we elect this guy when we had the chance?

It’s been interesting to watch the GOP spin machine paint Gore as “rage-filled” and “crazy.” I guess the old tactic of “too intellectual” and “dry and boring” just started to seem downright favorable in hindsight.

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McSweeney’s

on June 23, 2004

So I just finished the new McSweeney’s “comic issue.” It was definitely above par. In fact, at one point while reading it, I had to stop and lament to Eleanor that there weren’t more anthologies this good. Before it came out, a large contingent of comics fans were harping on the percentage of reprint and excerpt material in the book. Luckily, when it comes to recent comics, I’m pretty poorly-read (due to lack of funds) – thus, most of the book was new to me!

One thing that did strike a sour note was the preponderance of the “self-loathing” theme… though I suppose I should have expected it with a Chris Ware-edited anthology. And I know it’s become a cliche to rant against “sad, sensitive artist” comics! But people just keep pumping them out (not like I’m not guilty of the same offense.)

Ware’s book-slip comic was particularly culpable… and you’d think he’d have mined out this particular vein in his work already. On the flip side, his piece from the actual anthology was some of his strongest work to date. Most of the text pieces in the book, like those by Ware, “This American Life’s” Ira Glass, Michael Chabon, Glen David Gold, and Chip Kidd, also revolved around the “sad bastard” theme. Several recounted childhood experiences with comics of the life-scarring, painfully geeky sort. Ira Glass’s piece even closed with something like “sad, barely-read losers need art (i.e., comics) too.” Whew!

The stronger pieces: Kim Dietch’s piece on a death row inmate sparked my interest, though he usually leaves me lukewarm. David Heatley’s piece was weirdly compelling. Ben Katchor and his pseudo-historical anecdotes are always welcome. The Charles Burns, Joe Sacco, and Chester Brown excerpts cemented my decision to pick up their latest books as soon as financially possible.

On the maybe side: Jeffrey Brown’s work is always charming, but he’s in a serious rut. We don’t need three books about his girl troubles! R. Crumb is a demigod, but even he’s fallen prey to the “Sad Bastard” theme in this piece.

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A bit of a facelift

on June 23, 2004

So I decided to carry through on my earlier threat, and devote this front page entirely to blog posts and the like. It was just too much of a pain to navigate through the posts with that big Little Trees image at the top of every page. So now Little Trees is off in its own section, and I’ll let you know whenever a new page goes up. Plus, now I can redesign this webpage whenever the urge strikes me.

Robert Newsome wrote me and let me know about two comics that I contributed to and forgot to put on my list, “The Journal of Modok Studies” and “Robert Newsome, Internet Phenomenon.” Maybe I was trying to forget!

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