Wait!
May 15th, 2008 | Uncategorized
DTWOF is going into hibernation. Or estivation, at any rate. But this blog, as long as you’ll have it, is wide awake. So don’t go anywhere else to procrastinate, okay?
I know that without the glue of the ongoing comic strip, your patience for my wildlife videos and autobiographical maundering might grow short. But I plan to keep posting these things.
Here are other ideas for what might go on here:
- A fan-fic corner…perhaps a page where people can post their stories and/or cartoons about what they think the characters might be up to during my hiatus.
- Lost DTWOF stories. I might start posting, in small doses, the accumulated “novellas” from my various DTWOF books. These won’t be included in The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For, which is coming out this fall. So the website is a way to preserve them.
- Perhaps updates on my process as I work on my next memoir, Love Life: A Case Study. Or maybe not, I’m not sure yet whether that would help or hinder things.
- More contests and crap!
I hope to put up an official sort of mission statement or something for the blog/site. Actually, I’ve been meaning to do that for years now, to explain what the hell it is, for newcomers. I’ll get around to it.
But let me say one thing now: I’m more than happy to return any donations, or partial donations, made within the last year. I considered these as payment for reading the strip online, so it seems like a ripoff to just stop putting up new strips. Many people have posted to say no, no, don’t be ridiculous, keep the money. I appreciate that, and will put that dough back into the site–there’s a big update coming shortly. But while it would be a time-consuming project to prorate and return money to everyone who’s contributed, it’s eminently do-able to return funds upon request, and I’m happy to do it. So please don’t hesitate to ask. No problem.
47 Responses to “Wait!”
Estivation! Bliss.
Oh, thank you, Jesus!
As the great Al Scaduto would say in his comic, “Ohhh Yeaaaah!’
For both the continuation of the DTWOF blog, and this:
http://www.wptz.com/family/16271104/detail.html?treets=pla&tml=pla_natlbreak&ts=T&tmi=pla_natlbreak_1_12160105152008
Wow, estivation! Free Rice??
I’m glad we can all stay connected while you focus on other things.
ok, I’m not going anywhere else to procrastinate!
About fan-fic, I’d really enjoy it if we could actually create stuff collaboratively, not just as a collection of individual contributions. So, I thought of a project that we could try – illustrating “Goodnight DTWOF” (see comments to previous post, about halfway down).
To do this, I set up a wiki where people can go and add their stuff, about this or any other project that they have in mind:
http://d2wo4fan.pbwiki.com/
Alison, you can pick from that site whatever you see fit to post in your official website. If you like the wiki setup, I can give you “editor” or “administrator” status, so you can easily wipe out anything that does not sit well with you. The wiki is publicly accessible, but not indexed by search engines, so, hopefully, it will not spew off any embarrassing stuff when someone searches for your work.
I also liked Ian’s message board idea. Ian, reading the categories was like a whirlwind tour of AB’s universe! (This was posted under “Winds of Change”, which also featured an amazing story by Librarian Paul that maybe a lot of people missed because it was just around the time AB’s next posting came in….)
Hey, Alison-
Brilliant for recognizing and continuing to foster the online community that’s grown up around this blog.
What’s “estivation”? Is that like “hibernation”, only in the summer? Iknow, I know…I COULD look it up, but I’m pretty sure some DTWOFers will be glad to enlighten me.
I love this site–it’s one of the very few I visit regularly. I think “Fun Home” is really terrific, and I can’t wait for “The Essential…”, “Love Life…”, and anything and everything else Alison puts out.
Best wishes to all.
son of GOD, yer cute!
“More contests and crap!”
Cool! We definitely need more CRAP!
I love the Librarian Finger.
On the one hand, gay marriage has been approved by a conservative Californian Supreme Court. Yay! On the other hand, Bill Elder, MAD artist and one of my early favorites, has just passed. Sniff. On the third hand, this blog is going to continue, so that’s points up. Yay!
Alison announces no more strips for a while, and Califonia approves gay marriage.
Hmm. Alison, quick, announce you’re retiring the strip for three years. Maybe the Dems will impeach Bush and Cheney.
that’s right california!
i’m gonna go donate some money right now. just to make it clear that’s just to show love.
ok, I’m not going anywhere else to procrastinate!
About fan-fic, I’d really enjoy it if we could actually create stuff collaboratively, not just as a collection of individual contributions. So, I thought of a project that we could try – illustrating “Goodnight DTWOF” (see comments to previous post, about halfway down).
To do this, I set up a wiki where people can go and add their stuff, about this or any other project that they have in mind:
http://d2wo4fan.pbwiki.com/
Alison, you can pick from that site whatever you see fit to post in your official website. If you like the wiki setup, I can give you “editor” or “administrator” status, so you can easily wipe out anything that does not sit well with you. The wiki is publicly accessible, but not indexed by search engines, so, hopefully, it will not spew off any embarrassing stuff when someone searches for your work.
I also liked Ian’s message board idea. Ian, reading the categories was like a whirlwind tour of AB’s universe! (This was posted under “Winds of Change”, which also featured an amazing story by Librarian Paul that maybe a lot of people missed because it was just around the time AB’s next posting came in….)
Lion’s Paw, you said a mouthful. Not that AB and Holly don’t deserve the very hottest, incl brains of course, but it’s just too much concentrated dyke perfection sometimes. *sigh*
Happy estivation, all.
Um, to speak precisely about it, which I know you will all want to do, being that words have power and that the writer and readers of this fine blog are big fans of words, and so on: California did not “approve gay marriage”. That would require an act of the Legislature, or an amendment to the Constitution.
What really happened was that the Supreme Court ruled that the statewide ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The majority opinion reads: “…responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation.”
“We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.”
I haven’t read the entire thing yet, but the justices seem to think that the purpose of marriage is to “responsibly care for and raise children.” Just to stir up trouble, I wonder if an argument can be made that all childless couples, and all childful couple who are doing a bad job, must get divorced?
When I was little, my dad made us all giggle when he told us that, after Junior year in college, the guys all bade each other farewell by saying, “Estivate propitiously!”
That said, this blog will hold my interest if there are sufficient pictures of the cat, the local wildlife, and videos of – I dunno – stuff. I plan on taking a childhood friend through New England, so advice on places for two Harriet aged women to hang out in VT and Maine would always be appreciated.
Wasn’t Alison married in California? I just heard that all of those marriages are considered legal.
But this blog, as long as you’ll have it, is wide awake.
Jesus, (son of God), I’m glad this has been clarified. I didn’t leave a “good bye” message because I was under the impression that you were still going to be posting stuff. And crap, of course.
Full Batch, you got it – estivation is kind of like the summer version of hibernation. Merriam-Webster says it’s “passing the summer in a state of torpor.” Sweet.
Oh, joy unbounded ! I love anyone who uses the word “estivation”… This is the perfect community for language-lovers.
Praise Jesus (son of G*d (parentage undocumented)) !
Thanks for keeping the blog rolling, I for one will not dare to procrastinate anywhere else. Well except maybe FB, but that doesn’t count.
Anonymous, you touched on my fave marriage argument! They used it in Hawaii too. I’ve always wondered why infertile straight couples aren’t statutorily divorced after three years. Kids are what it’s all about, right?
That’s too bad about the novellas not appearing in Essential Dykes–it would be nice to have everything under one set of covers.
Thank goodness thanks for keeping this blog open !!!!!! 🙂
>That’s too bad about the novellas not appearing in Essential Dykes–it would be nice to have everything under one set of covers.
Yes, I was thinking that too. What’s the reason? Will the separate books still be in print?
Bon voyage into your new endeavors, Alison, and please take good care of our friends Mo and Lois and Sparrow and all, until they come back to us!
Yay! Crap from he mind of Bechdel. The best kind:)
Oh, yeah, the CA Supreme Court decision. I have been walking around with a shit-eating grin because all three couples whose weddings I have attended now have the right to suffer, um, enjoy the right of marriage that I (a straight person) have endured, um, enjoyed in the past. (I’d love a list of corporations and organizations who are pissing in their pants right now – let’s see, health insurance carriers, the IRS, landlords….)
I will bet the Castro is heavily populated with sweet men in white dresses and handsome women in tuxedos popping overheated champagne and shouting a lot. Yay, CA! If I was not melted into a 1 inch thick layer of protoplasm with a cat on top, I’d be taking the BART into SF to join the festivities.
I’ll definitely stick around, for cat pictures if nothing else. Will the cat be drawing/writing any fan fic? I think the plot would go through a lot of changes… Raffi spending all day batting around a push pin, Stuart getting interested in (local) cream and tuna, Sparrow getting mysteriously eaten…
Debs
Food Is Love
I love Alison’s home videos…I was starting to get the d.t.’s from the idea of the strip and the blog all going at once. Three cheers for crap and stuff! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Procrastinate away!!!!!
Slightly off topic, but related (sort of): I was joking with some co-workers yesterday, how people during Jesus’ day had shorter life-spans, and then someone said, some longer than others (imagining crucifiction being a for-sure life shortener) and I said, yeah, being the son of God really put your life insurance premiums through the roof, etc.
Later that day there was a local Catholic services schedule in my work mailbox. Very nice four color glossy. But me? I am sooo Jewish. Strange coincidence. I asked these same co-workers if they knew anything about it and they denied it. Was it before or after I saw the first son-of-God reference on this site? I can’t remember. Probably after. So weird. I got rid of the brochure. Creeped me out. But funny, in a dark sort of way. What do you all think?
>Wasn’t Alison married in California? I just heard that all of those marriages are considered legal.
Last I heard they will remain off the books. Since Alison and Amy Rubin are would-be divorcees, it’s doubtful that it will ever be renewed.
Maybe Alison and the new girl can go to California during the hiatus, and maybe Mo and Sydney can get a quickie wedding when (and, er, if) the strip resumes.
ha, great picture! how many times did you have to take it before you got the expression & finger position just right? if i know you at all, it was like 5 million. that’s the beauty of photobooth, for sure.
I’m glad the blog will be continuing. I love your quiet, introverted wildlife videos, and I love the general atmosphere of intelligence and gentle respect that pervades this site. (And I say this as a loud, argumentative person! This site is like internet yoga.)
Those of us who do genealogy are aware of the general average that for every six generations, any paternal line is interrupted by the biological reality that the presumed father is not the actual father. (Whether or not this is ever definitely known by the parties involved.)
I’d say, given the murky circumstances of Jesus’s conception, the only accurate description of him should be Jesus (Son of Mary).
WRT the characters in the strip – I see Stuart coming back from vacation to find that his self-sustaining farm has endured severe crop failures because he mis-timed the sprinklers (or the batteries gave out). Much kvetching about that. Then, what of Mo’s surviving cat? Will Stelociraptor be minding the kitty in her absence? Will she follow the 23 pages of instructions that Mo thoughtfully left before going? The piles of newspapers in the driveway. The forgotten sunblock. Will Syndey’s TiVo pick up her favorite stories? Will Raffi go to summer camp and find his counselor is Carlos making yet another positively gay little sailboat?
Sorry, I’m already angsting about my own holiday in July. What will become of my artichoke farm? My cats? My bunny? Oh why can’t I be less like Mo and more like Lois?
yeah! i’m glad you are going to continue to blog. i’m not a part of the community that’s grown up around your blog, but i come and read regularly. your blog is one way for me to maintain contact with a world outside of logan, utah. yes, i’m lds, but my home is eugene, oregon where i was a ring leaders in the peace and human justice community before i came to pursue this phd. so, thank you. thank you. thank you! i’ve also come to the conclusion that if i can’t find a job back home in oregon after i get this degree that vermont would be a lovely place to end up as well 🙂 it’s been nice to know i’ve got options 🙂
novellas would be great.
so would updating the different sections ofthe site (such as the cast of characters … still have some now-ancient pairings!)
then again, if you have to disconnect from the strip, a complete disconnect mgiht be best…
… and the videos are lovely.
here’s to the best introvert-exhibitionist ever (thank God, who may or may not be Mary’s babydaddy, for that — i can rest assured knowing that my fav procrastination / sustenance source will undoubtably be around, given your fabulous tendencies…)
Hee! Yahoo I’m so happy. Do you know I haven’t read the last ep.? I didn’t want to experience the end, so I am saving it so I can savor it! Then I popped in just now and saw “Wait!” Now I’m smiling. Glad we’ll all still be in touch. I particularly like the contact w/all the 40+ women out there who started reading DTWOF (and coming out) in the 80s. Plus all the rest of ya’ll. Really. Happy.
>>and I love the general atmosphere of intelligence and gentle respect that pervades this site
What you said, Erica.
ps Cat Pimp you are in an inch thick of protoplasm with a cat on top? Wow…
As the esteemed Cat Pimp said, this blog will hold my interest if there are sufficient pictures of the cat, the local wildlife, and videos of – I dunno – stuff. Heck yeah. I am glad someone mentioned little Fierce-Bad. You and kitty have the best conversations.
We love you Alison and all your brilliant work.
CS sez: Crap from the mind of Bechdel… New name for the site? and ‘But this blog, as long as you’ll have it, is wide awake.’ yea. post away.
Jesus (son of Mary).
Thanks Maggie Jochild, that works for me. You’re quite right, of course.
I’m gonna let divine providence (or whatever it was) go, and enjoy being able to keep posting comments here on this awesome blog!!!
I’m going to whine like a brat and say I’m very sad at the hibernation. I feel like a dog whose water dish just got moved to a undisclosed location. Or an old soap-opera watching widow who’s addicted to her “stories.” I need my DTWOF strips. I’m a geek and I have all the books and I read them all the time so I already know all of the novellas. Baw, this sucks. But just so I don’t end on a negative note, I want to send hugs and kisses to all the bloggers and say Hi to Alison and tell her thanks for being so nice to my best friend who asked her to autograph FUN HOME for me when it first came out and took a pic with her and included it under the autograph in the book.
Maggie Jochild, that’s how Muslims refer to Jesus, as Issa bin Maryam, and not as Issa bin Yussuf and cetainly not as Issa bin Allah. To my knowledge, and that of my informant, Jesus is the only man in Arabic literature to have a matronymic. All others have patronymics.
I forgot to put my name in my earlier post. I an the Anonymous who quoted the court decision. Hi, April!
Posting the novellas seems like a good idea – I was hoping they’d be in the new book as I really enjoyed the few I’ve been able to get my hands on.
why do i get the feeling that AB has every website page downloaded to another computer and printed out hardcopy in a fire safe.
i love this site.
Wow, Jeffster, that’s incredible information. I mean, it rearranges things inside my head. THANKS for sending it out here — only at this blog…
Hooray! My PhD is saved! 😉
Better get back to that marking…
Dear Ms. Bechdel:
This is apparently not my lucky day. After decades of
conservationist-style use of old-fashioned technologies like
fountain pens, Beta VCRs (admittedly long since worn out), and various quaint, obsolete “home” computers (as they used to be called), I finally got everything going on a “new” Windoze computer. So now using public libraries for the internet is a thing of the past.
The public libraries, cowards all, block access to your website. So while I’ve been online for a long time, the only place I saw your strip was in THE FUNNY TIMES. Today was the first day when I decided to “surf” a few websites — unhindered and uncensored! — so I made a beeline for two of my countercultural icons. And what did I find? Roadkill Bill’s final tire tracks crossed his path four years ago, and this week is your strip’s final appearance.
I’m sorry to hear the news. But life goes on. Even in
cartoons. So here’s hoping that you’ll be refreshed by a change of pace and perhaps come back at some point in the future with new adventures for your characters.
(Reply not necessary)
Sincerely,
David Moeser
Censornati, Ohio (a.k.a. Cincinnati for the geographically challenged)
(erasmus39 at yahoo dot com)