This week’s page: best not to read in a compromised environment. (As the preview image might suggest.) Those of you who read the comic at work have just been having a rough time of it lately, haven’t you?
Relevant news: next weekend I’ll be at Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland, OR. I’ll be exhibiting at table C-24. I’ll have copies of Family Man, the last few copies of the second printing of Bite Me! (it will go out of print until summer or fall, so move fast!), tons of prints, stickers, original art (including stuff you won’t see online), t-shirts, and I’ll be taking commissions, too.
I’ll also be appearing on two panels. Come find me on Saturday at 11am in the “Making Comics” panel with my studiomates Erika Moen, Jonathan Case, and David Hahn, where we’ll talk about the tools and processes we use in our work.
Then find me on Sunday at 5pm in the “Ask a Freelancer” panel, where Erika and I will talk along with Steve Lieber about the actual nitty-gritty of being a self-employed artist. It is a lot of work, no fooling, and we would like to spare you aspiring professionals some grief by imparting our often hilariously hard-won wisdom.
It’s been awhile since I posted a Monday poem; the lag is probably related to a general Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul I’ve been stuck in, wherein it becomes easy to believe that everything I specially value is probably an unwanted annoyance to the rest of the world. Logical revisitation of this situation turned up the fact that this is actually my blog, so I get to do what I want with it, and bugger anybody else’s feelings on the matter. Hence: here’s a poem, because it turns out I wanted to post one.
I read this poem at my high school graduation. It is not subtle or intellectual; like a lot of Cummings’ poetry (even the poems about death) it is bright and clean and exuberant. Perfect for a seventeen year-old girl to read aloud on the verge of a whole new stage of life.
Nearly ten years later, I know more thoroughly than ever that too much striving for sophistication can deaden the soul; it can provide an excuse for not living. The refined and sublime – that’s a bus that comes once a year. You can waste a lot of time waiting for it to turn up.
So I still love this poem, and I still need it. It takes me where I need to go – into a palce where errors and failures have their own beauty, and aren’t to be feared.
May my heart always be open to little birds
may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old
may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it’s sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young
and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there’s never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile
– e.e.cummings
photo by Jose Lun Aparicio
Look, they got a mattress! Sort of! You can stop worrying now.
Apologies (?) for the absence of an April Fool’s gag; my normal penchant for silliness has been on the fritz lately. Maybe I’ll catch you all by surprise in August! Besides, I’d feel rude interrupting the characters when they’re actually having a nice time.
Only 15 hours (as of this posting) left to bid on my piece for the Periscope Studio Japan benefit auction! Thank you to those of you who’ve already put in bids. The remaining pieces are all available for viewing at http://tinyurl.com/PS4Japan; go look even if you’re broke, as they’re all quite lovely.
And, if you don’t know what Ariana is referencing, you’ll have to go to the Facebook page to find out. (Or wait until I put up another round of notes…)
I created the above piece this month; it’s my contribution to the Periscope Studio charity auction, with drawings going up for sale on eBay and proceeds going to Peace Winds Japan, a partner of Mercy Corps that’s providing tsunami and quake relief in Kesennuma.
The piece is NOW UP FOR SALE. Please consider bidding. I’m really very fond of the piece, and I’d like it to go to a good home (and do some good along the way).
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My earlier comments on how this piece came about, from my Tumblr:
Trying to come up with a subject to depict, I was struck by Mike Clarke’s widely published AFP/Getty photo of a girl on an evacuation bus:
I also have a love of classical ukiyo-e art (and the early 20th century revival of many of its techniques, shin hanga).
(detail from “Woman in Summer Garment” by Hashiguchi Goyō, 1920)
So I tried to combined the two. It was an interesting experience.
Every so often in this comic I have to employ some tricks that don’t translate very well when read online at a page-a-week. Just pay attention to the moon and you’ll catch on to the actual pace at which this conversation is being held. (And yes. There will be sexy times again. I promise.)
Just two weeks until I’ll be at Portland’s own Stumptown Comics Fest, and just a little over a month until you can find me in Toronto at TCAF (first time ever!). I’m looking forward to both, and there’s a good chance I’ll be speaking on panels. If you have never seen me speak in public: do. I am a giant ham.
Meanwhile, please check the Periscope Studio Tumblr for updates on some gorgeous Japan-themed artwork going up for charity auction on eBay. A piece of mine will be included!