April 5, 2005
[refuge] 12:48 AM
Somedays when I'm working I begin to feel like something sinking in a tar pit. There's a deadline, there's always another page to draw or tweak, and I need something get me/keep me going.
Sadly, I have an aversion to cocaine, so I do the next logical thing, which is walk to my local comic book store. It's only 3 blocks away, the weather (aside from those damn sniffle inducing Santa Ana winds) has been gorgeous, so it's a great walk, and allows me a chance to get out and clear my head (if not my sinuses).
After a delightful time browsing, I made my way to the counter (holding my new Powers Vol. 7 TPB) and found myself in a very peculiar moment: sitting near the register on display were two TPB's of Tim Fish's Cavalcade of Boys and Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life. I know these people. Tim better than Bryan, but nonetheless. We've had dinner, drinks, and played at Rock Bottom during SPX (the same SPX where Mike Mignola said that he liked my work and Scott Morse caught me groping Scott while hammered on mai tais). Cavalcade of Boys Vol 2. features a sketch by myself in the back — it's what Tim uses for his bio.
When I was little, everything happened like a film opening: a countdown, a big event, a celebration. You kind of expect life to be like that, at least in creative endevors, but they don't, they just happen. A natural progression (albeit with some very weird turns).
When I first talked to Tim, he was someone who I admired online. When I first met Bryan he was already tipsy off a sip of a mixed drink. Now I'm in LA, Tim's been put in for an Eisner award, Boys trade paperbacks are out sitting next to Pilgrim, which is now being developed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) and Universal.
Life is silly.
From Scott's blog:
You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd. Easy enough since I've essentially already lived it.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Like, just one? I have a lot of love to give. I had big love for Trent from Daria...
The last book you bought is:
Kiss Me Like a Stranger by Gene Wilder.
The last book you read:
Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk (more like "finally finished")
What are you currently reading?
Kiss Me Like a Stranger by Gene Wilder
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Running with Scissors by Augustyn Burroughs
Five books you would take to a deserted island.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
The Roald Dahl Omnipida
Some short story collection by Kurt Vonnegut
Confessions of a Window Dresser by Simon Doonan
Carnet de Voyage by Craig Thompson
Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
Kev, Paul, and John. They like to read.
per your request.
You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
What a strange question. Is it asking which book I would burn? Or which book I really like? I'm not sure. I'll go with the former and say the Bible. All of them.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
The one that springs immediately to mind is Borric from Prince of the Blood. I was hitting puberty, leave me alone.
The last book you bought is:
How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers when I met him at Metro. He was nice and I was acting like an idiot. The book is gorgeous. If only one thing can be said about McSweeney's, it's that they have brought style and class back to book design.
The last book you read:
I can't remember which one I finished last- maybe The Verificationist or Bird by Bird. I'm currently more than halfway through Gore Vidal's essay collection Sexually Speaking. He's repeating himself a little.
What are you currently reading?
See above. Next I'm planning on finally tackling Gravity's Rainbow, heh.
Five books you would take to a deserted island.
Jimmy Corrigan.
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer.
The Bell Jar.
Slouching Towards Bethlehem.
The Naked Civil Servant.
Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
Nobody, because I don't like asking favors.
okay. I'll give it a go.
1. I would prefer to be one of the books that isn't incinerated. A Choose Your Own Adventure, if possible.
2. Not only have I had a crush on a fictional character, but I was actually married to one as a child bride. That's how I got that scar.
3. The last book I bought was Interpreter of Maladies. It was a gift. The last book I purchased for myself was probably Blink.
4. Last book I read - as in finished? Heh. The Not-So-Jolly-Roger. Sounds porny, but it's a Time Warp Trio book for kids.
5. Currently reading a book on Scrabble professionals. And, uh, Blink.
6. Five books... deserted island... This is TOO TOO HARD. Let's say some C.S. Lewis, some Ellen Raskin, some Lloyd Alexander, a bit of Susan Cooper and a blank book.
Is that good?
Posted by: paul at April 5, 2005 2:45 PM
