May 13th, 2012
I did it. A twelve city book tour in twelve days. Finishing up in Portlandia, a Powells sponsored event at the Bagdad Theater.
The Portland reading was kind of tame compared to last night’s event in Seattle. In Seattle I signed a dildo harness for the first time. Tomorrow I head back to Chicago, and teaching.
The awesome Nicole Georges was in the audience today. Afterward she gave me a copy of the galleys for her upcoming graphic memoir, Calling Dr. Laura.
And last night in Seattle I saw Ellen Forney and her mom. Ellen’s graphic memoir Marbles will be out this November.
I had two interesting encounters with Portland faucets today. Perhaps this is just hallucinatory fatigue, but they seem to have such beseeching expressions.
My Osprey suitcase saga has continued…more failure today, and much precious downtime spent on a futile repair effort.
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So tomorrow, back to Chicago. I have a signing on Wednesday the 16th at Women and Children First. And next weekend, I will be participating in this amazing conference at the U of Chicago that my co-teacher Hillary Chute is producing. Check it out, it’s kind of mind-blowing. Comics: Philosophy and Practice. Unfortunately the registration is full. But it seems like it’s going to be pretty wild.
May 11th, 2012
On my 12-day cross country schlep, my new Osprey suitcase failed. The handle would come completely free from its shaft, then wouldn’t retract at crucial moments. Like when I was trying to shove it into the overhead compartment while blocking 75 annoyed people from getting to their seats. It was really stressful on top of everything else I’m managing on this trip.
I didn’t have any time to deal with it. I sort of got it to work occasionally, but it kept losing its shit at the most inopportune junctures. Finally today in LA I had time to call the company. It’s a new suitcase, I bought it in October. The customer service people did not say Dude, that so sucks, I’m sorry! But they did direct me unapologetically to a video on their website that would show you how to fix the problem with a phillips head screwdriver and some duct tape.
I called the front desk at the hotel and they immediately provided me with these items.
In a few short steps, I repaired the suitcase. One of the rails inside the shafts had come disconnected. A little tape did the trick.
This gave me a tremendous sense of satisfaction. But I am still kind of annoyed by the whole thing. After returning the tape and screwdriver to the front desk, I noticed this cryptic message as I got off the elevator.
I had a great time at the LA public library ALOUD series tonight. Lots of friends, including Eloise Klein Healy, Jack Halberstam, and my high school boyfriend were there.
May 10th, 2012
Very refreshing indeed.
I am on day 10 of my book tour, heading today to LA.
Our blog pal June Thomas just put up a conversation with me about Are You My Mother? on her nonfiction books podcast over at Slate, The Afterword.
May 8th, 2012
Man, now Maurice Sendak is dead. The very first book I read by myself was Hector Protector and As I Went Over the Water.
What were your favorites, not counting Where the Wild Things Are?
When a friend of mine was growing up in NYC she got to see him tell and draw stories in person for an audience.
What a brilliant guy, who took children very seriously.
May 8th, 2012
On day 8 of book tour. I’ve been reading lev grossman’s wonderful meta-Narnian fantasy book “The Magicians,” and am very struck with the way his Neitherlands, his version of Lewis’s Wood Between the Worlds, resembles an airport. I am trying hard to see the magic in the daily security lines, crowded planes, luggage mishaps, and ever-shifting array of boarding procedures. A young woman soldier across the aisle just told her father she loves him. I guess that’s a kind of magic.
May 4th, 2012
There was a great crowd at my reading in Philadelphia last night, including a bunch of Bryn Mawr students who burst out at the end with the Bryn Mawr cheer (in Greek of course) Anassa kata, kale kale. Ia ia ia Nike! Later in the signing line a nice woman gave me a gift but not her name or any way to contact her, so on the off chance that she’s reading the blog, thank you for the amazing watchwork cufflinks!
I was also very happy to see Dr. E and Aunt Soozie again! Soozie passed on notes from some of you–thank you Meg W, and Ian for saying hello. Here’s a pic of the three of us: (I didn’t ask Soozie or Dr. E for their permission, so let me know if you want me to take this down)
(here we are in 2007 at the Philadelphia Library last time I was in town.)
Okay. Onward to DC!
