Archive for December, 2006
December 30th, 2006
Wow. I haven’t checked the blog for a couple days, and was a bit shocked to see some rather illiberal comments on the last post. I was very impressed by how many of you pitched in to try and moderate things–first by reasoned argument, then by kindness, then by gracefully changing the subject.
It never occurred to me that I’d need to actually moderate the blog, and I’d really rather not spend my time that way. I haven’t deleted any of the problematic comments, because some subsequent posts referred to them, and I didn’t want to revise the record. And also, you’re all (I think) grown-ups and don’t need protection. It’s pretty cool how how you all managed this situation. I hope this can continue to be a self-moderated forum. But I’d love to hear any thoughts people might have on the topic.
December 27th, 2006
It’s hard to imagine I used to be intimidated by the guys in the free weight area Read the rest of this entry »
December 22nd, 2006
Okay, I’m sorry if this is getting tiresome. But here’s yet another amazing Fun Home thing. I knew it was going to be on Entertainment Weekly’s “best of 2006” list, but I didn’t know it was going to be their number one nonfiction book. Thanks to the folks who just emailed me about it. I haven’t actually seen it, and would have been skeptical except for this photo a kind person just sent me.
This number one business can go to a person’s head. I’m getting an urge to invade Poland.
On that note, for a little reality check…has anyone seen this op ed piece in today’s New York Times? The White House forced the editors to delete all kinds of information from an article about US-Iranian relations, stuff that’s already in the public domain. Chilling news on an otherwise unseasonably warm day. Thanks to my pal Val for passing this along.
If that harshes your buzz, consider taking part in the Global Orgasm for Peace before midnight. Thanks to Maggie Jochild for alerting me to this earthshattering event.
December 22nd, 2006
Longtime denizens of this site will recall my erstwhile assistant Cathy Resmer, who left me a year ago when she and her partner were about to have a baby. Last summer Cathy did one of those StoryCorps things with their sperm donor, Jules. It aired on Vermont Public Radio, and now NPR is going to run it again on Morning Edition. It was a very charming, well-done piece–their story is such a compelling mix of conventional values and hard core dominant-paradigm-subverting. But don’t take my word for it. Check out Cathy’s own link-filled blog post here and listen to their story. But make sure you have some kleenex handy because it’s a real weepie.
Oh, the other reason why I like Cathy and Jules’s story so much is because it reminds me of my comic strip. And in fact, I’m pretty sure I saw Jules riding his bike around town the other day, hauling a trailer with his three-year-old in it. I had to do a double-take, because he looked just like Stuart. Except with more hair.
December 22nd, 2006
I’m experimenting with different kinds of paper and pens, but haven’t come up with a combo I really like yet. For this drawing, I used one of those fancy brush pens. I like how freely it moves, but I can’t get enough detail with it. And for some reason I keep doing the sketch diary drawings on tracing paper. I think that gives me the illusion that it’s only a draft, even though it’s not. Next time I’ll try to commit to bristol board from the get go. Read the rest of this entry »
December 22nd, 2006
I had tea this afternoon with my friend Lenna from London, and she said I should have titled the Time book of the year post “bloody hell” instead of “fuck me.” I liked the sound of it, so here it is.
I’m sorry I haven’t been responding to all your kind comments on the Time thing. Yes, it’s a great moment for all of us. But beyond that I guess I just don’t feel up to being very articulate about it right now. I’m very pleased and grateful. Now I’m trying to get some work done.
I just skimmed your latest comments on the Time Mag post, though, and I don’t feel quite so bad now that I see nearly half of them concern Silvio Soprani’s orange cake. Man, that’s gotta be the most blogged-about dessert in the history of the internet.
Oh. And for the record? I’d “date” Sydney any day of the week.
December 18th, 2006
I already used that title several months ago, but I should have saved it for a better occasion. Like this one. Fun Home is Time Magazine’s #1 Best Book of the Year.
December 17th, 2006
Damn beavers. Read the rest of this entry »
December 17th, 2006
Instead of using my reprieve from my strip deadline to do all the other work I have to do, I seem to have plunged into a blogging frenzy. But I have a few more things I want to post about, mainly a whole bunch of Fun Home stuff.
- The Times (London) said Fun Home was one of the 10 best books of 2006—books! Not “graphic books,” not “memoirs” (not that there’s anything wrong with that), just Books. Crikey! Sarah Waters’ Night Watch is number 3. Fun Home is number 10.
- Salon has posted an excerpt and an interview with me.
- Time and Entertainment Weekly have both included Fun Home in their ‘best of the year’ round-ups. I think they’re on the newsstands now.
- Medusa…I mean Amazon.com has picked FH as one of the Top 50 Books of 2006 (it’s #44 on the list), and one of the 10 best memoirs.
On another note, I finally got around to reading some of the coments on episode 501, and have a few remarks.
- I see that Pjeannechild had my sabbatical under discussion on the blog before she emailed me about it. Sorry I missed that.
- The library in #501 is indeed an old Carnegie library. It’s based on the Franklin library in Minneapolis. I found it on google image search, and liked the look of it. I.e., it seemed easy to draw.
- Raffi didn’t say FTW, he said WTF. Which as far as I know means What The Fuck. (But doesn’t FTW mean “fuck the world?”) And ‘tool’ in my book is a synonym for ‘dick.’
- I love syd’s insight about Mo’s new boss at the library perhaps being a Gay Librarian Bear.
I need to get on the threading project so your instructions for zesting oranges don’t get all buried in the theological discussions about original sin, or the nostalgic reveries about ancient computers (and ancient languages). Though I kind of like everything all mixed up together. I love the comments on this blog. If I do say so myself.
And hey, did anybody notice what happens when you push the ‘play’ button on the “Buy Alison’s Art from PSAW” button? Gahlord the webmeister made this cool little pan & zoom quasi-animation.
