tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-129740122024-03-06T23:06:49.951-05:00try harderbooks, sadness, and minor maladiesCarriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.comBlogger881125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-73169326214694573112022-08-17T16:07:00.006-04:002022-08-22T11:17:12.158-04:00masks for me and you<p>😷😷😷Here's a list of businesses that require staff and customers to wear masks. Please add more in the comments and I'll vet and add them. </p><p>Also looking for places in DC, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Boston, Cape Cod and LA. 😷😷😷<br /></p><p>So far it's mostly bookstores, but is that really a surprise? <br />Vulnerable people should have friendly, rational places to go!<br /><b> </b></p><p><b>NY:</b><br />Manhattan:<br /><a href="#">Anthology Film Archives</a>--the best movie theater? 2nd st & 2nd Ave.<br /><a href="https://bluestockings.com/" target="_blank">Bluestockings Cooperative</a>-- new books, zines, beverages and more, 16 Suffolk Street, 10002</p><p><br />Brooklyn: </p><a href="#">Bicycle Habitat</a>- Bicycle repair store, 560 Vanderbit Ave. location <br /><a href="#">Brooklyn General Store</a>--knitting supplies, fabric, sewing supplies, local goods, 128 Union St. <br /><a href="https://ww.communitybookstore.net/">Community Bookstore</a>--new books with a large children's section, 147 7th Ave, 11215<br /><a href="https://www.greenlightbookstore.com/">Greenlight Bookstore</a>--new book stores, 686 Fulton Street 11217 & 632 Flatbush Ave 11225<br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">Park Slope Food Coop</a>--members-only cooperative food store, 782 Union Street, 11215 <br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">Unnameable Books</a>-- my favorite used bookstore with some new titles, 615 Vanderbilt. Ave <p>Cold Spring: <br /><a href="#">Split Rock Books</a>--bookstore, 97 Main Street 10516<br /></p><p><b>PA:</b><br /> Philadelphia: <br /><a href="#">The Spiral Bookcase</a>--mostly new book store with gifts, currently a six (6) person limit in the shop, 4257 Main St. 19127 </p><p><a href="#">The Wooden Shoe</a>-- Anarchist bookstore on 704 South Street, 19147. Call for hours ((215) 413-0999)</p>Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-7924992231995798462021-11-03T13:36:00.000-04:002021-11-03T13:36:38.283-04:00Reading Jayne County<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6aGItnKQxpksam6iccaqFjUl_IRonLwrrZZlG58BWRhkWGBmk8AFqjkTXWfDTp5tkAHUakqQIMjevyGb9AKlnQp9_W-bgH9uWWilM5ltkQXIpICWD5_DhNfU9IvYWmVH_-tB/s475/jayne.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="475" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6aGItnKQxpksam6iccaqFjUl_IRonLwrrZZlG58BWRhkWGBmk8AFqjkTXWfDTp5tkAHUakqQIMjevyGb9AKlnQp9_W-bgH9uWWilM5ltkQXIpICWD5_DhNfU9IvYWmVH_-tB/w317-h379/jayne.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">I was trying to find a 70s German movie set in the US desert. Juggling search terms, I ran across a film starring Jane County (the chaotic beauty <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkRj0eXwteE&list=WL&index=13" target="_blank">City of Lost Souls</a> (1983)). This took me back. I read <i>Man Enough to be a Woman</i> when I was 19 or 20 after finding it in the back of the Friends of the Free Library bookstore where I worked. It had come in as a donation, as most of the books did, and was priced under two dollars. With this cover, I had to have it.<br /></span></span><p></p><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"></span> </span><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><i>Man Enough to be a Woman </i>came to me b</span></span>efore my first great lesson in mortality but after suffering from depression for many years. I was generally joyless and too young to know how to change that. Though my memory is fuzzy on the text, I now realize that this memoir was part of my lifelong search for examples of happy lives from people who do not follow the rules.<br /></span><p><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">The book's title comes from an album title from County's band Jayne County and the Electric Chairs. She is a US born, Berlin based musician actress and artist. She was a huge part of the 70s Berlin music scene and seems to have met or worked with everyone, while also simply surviving in a cruel & boring world.</span> This book made me want a time machine. Failing that, it further bolstered my belief that one can create spaces to be<span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"> and
just sort of living the idea that life is very short.</span></p><p><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">Reading queer and trans history helps remove the confines of the banal
evil of heteronormativity and white supremacy and makes suspect the myth of queerness
being a uniformly miserable time until recently.</span></p><p><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><i>Man Enough</i>... got rereleased in the UK in 2021 by <a href="https://serpentstail.com/work/man-enough-to-be-a-woman/" target="_blank">Serpent's Tail</a></span><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">. I was too busy attending to my living death this year to hear about it, but now I’m keen to find this book again. I especially want to read the new afterword by County herself.</span></p><p><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">Here's <a href="https://www.screenslate.com/articles/city-lost-souls" target="_blank">a review of</a> City of Lost Souls (1983) by Caroline Golum. Link to youtube rip above.<br /></span></p>Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-34787810572312954192018-02-12T12:59:00.001-05:002018-02-12T12:59:52.990-05:00Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_XeZuLY8MCXHfAuhU28Lgd_IOBOAuNxG3zlUH-RKOWrtWMqAQl9KJ25Xb-3HMme7uaJBsCxmCNFuvy_BRCquCP0mf1LDr4uttjmQhyphenhyphengGaJlcftKyU6QutmukLCCPODtynf2i/s1600/anotherbrooklyn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1160" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_XeZuLY8MCXHfAuhU28Lgd_IOBOAuNxG3zlUH-RKOWrtWMqAQl9KJ25Xb-3HMme7uaJBsCxmCNFuvy_BRCquCP0mf1LDr4uttjmQhyphenhyphengGaJlcftKyU6QutmukLCCPODtynf2i/s640/anotherbrooklyn.jpg" width="462" /></a></div>
This winter has been testing my resolve to not recede entirely into the spaces between the radiator coils. I'm always craving the lightness of summer, the feverishness of a summer night's impermeability.<br />
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There are places that can capture a little piece of that feeling and I am lucky enough to live close to one of them: Unnameable Books. So, on a recent cabin-fever evening, I put on my big coat and went out in hopes of a little heat.<br />
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<i>Another Brooklyn</i> definitely gave me what I was looking for. It weaves a delicate story about childhood friendships and becoming an adult. The novel exists in the sticky land of memory, of hindsight, of lost moments. The book opens with August, the protagonist, giving the reader a deceptively simple take on her past: "For a long time. my mother wasn't dead yet. Mine could have been a more tragic story... But this didn't happen. I know now that what is tragic isn't the moment. It is the memory." And, oof, isn't it?<br />
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<a href="http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/" target="_blank">Woodson</a> deftly addresses how trauma, grief, and mental illness affect generations. A middle chapter of the book opens with "We came by way of our mothers' memories." It sounds neutral, perhaps. It is, in fact, a curse. The stories we are told about our family (and where we fit) have a powerful shaping effect on our lives, and often dictate at least the structure of the stories we tell about ourselves. <i>Another Brooklyn</i> allows in so many of the big things--war, addiction, faith, the body, betrayal--but never pretends that these are either exceptional or simply mundane. The book also gives sibling relationships a gorgeous weight. <br />
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And when Woodson describes the city summer, the neighborhood summer, you can smell the sweat and anticipation. Also present is the adolescent fear that lingers in those long nights, fear of going too far in the heat and not being able to find your way back to yourself.<br />
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Just read this book, and if you get a chance, see Woodson read in person. I've been lucky enough to see her twice and her presence and voice are truly compelling.Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-16972675701370819712017-06-22T16:29:00.001-04:002017-09-02T20:17:12.163-04:00"I was fourteen and didn't want to be involved in any of this, but I was part of it as always, and as always, everyone kept asking me, What's wrong? Are you okay? Is something bothering you? At night I flung my pillow against my mattress and prayed to my fake jade statue of the Guanyin goddess to give me a different face so that people would stop looking at my current one and asking me what was the matter."<br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“You Fell Into The River and I Saved You!,” <i>Sour Heart</i> by Jenny Zhang</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I read <i>Sour Heart</i> for a (forthcoming) </span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> review</span>, and because of word count and sanity, I didn't get to cover all the things that the book brought up for me. </span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On top of the often fucked-up
circumstances of their lives, many of Zhang's characters are sad, feel
like nothing, and are constantly battling big, bad emotions. </span>In the background of several of the stories is childhood depression and the way the world treats sad and/or angry girls. I appreciated that Zhang </span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">explicitly </span>included the pressure to be happy, which often degrades to the pressure to look happy, in her stories about identity and family. Also included is the reaction to wish to be simply left alone, make the slide through life as easy as possible, already knowing that no one, even those that love you, are likely to help. That deceptively mild feeling of wanting to change because the world isn't going to and you are tired, even though you are a kid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>Sour Heart</i> comes out on August 1.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> --------------------------</span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ETA: Here's the <a href="http://therumpus.net/2017/08/sour-heart-by-jenny-zhang/" target="_blank">review</a>!</span></i>
Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-33828959853870048892017-03-08T11:56:00.000-05:002017-03-08T13:07:58.807-05:00Driftglass by Samuel R. Delany<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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I had a comically hard time finishing the ten stories that comprise <i>Driftglass</i>. Each is basically a dude using a lot of words to tell a story where very little happens. I took it as a challenge to read every story in the collection, enjoyed much vigorous eye-rolling, and got to think about some interesting things along the way.<br />
<br />
I read <i>Driftglass</i> in bed and had trouble staying awake through more than a few pages a night. Most of the narrators have a world-weary voice that doesn't quite feel earned, possibly because Delany was in his twenties when these stories were published. Each has a huffing and puffing about them that maybe once read as
energetic, but makes the characters incredibly hard to connect to. When they are not explicitly prisoners or thieves, the main characters are mostly workers of some kind, like a disabled utility worker, a grieving mechanic, or a cable-laying widower. These jobs give access to the underbelly of the future, full of fucked-up kids and hustlers. The plots often hinge on these characters--definitely a reflection on the fear and fascination with youth that happened around that time as well as a reaction to the idea that damaged, poor, or weird people are to be used and disposed of.<br />
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The stories of <i>Driftglass</i> are from the mid-to-late 60s which came through in many ways: newspapers being a thing, schizophrenia as metaphor, everybody is still basically straight but the family is mutating, bikers, drug-induced powers, name-checking the Moog, and even some silver jumpsuits. What's wild is that even in such superficially dated tales, Delany's made some accurate predictions of future developments like the internet, fake news, surveillance and "pics or it didn't happen" culture: "While Tri-D and radio and news-tapes disperse information all over the worlds, they also spread an alienation from first-hand experience. (How many people go to sports events or a political rally with their little receivers plugged to their ears to let them know what they are seeing is really happening?)." ["Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones"] Each story ends with a date and a city, which feels like a slightly precious celebration of the stereotypical roving writer's life that added an additional patina of a past era.<br />
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I rarely continue with books that aren't doing it for me but I'm glad that I finished this one. The scenarios were fun to think about after I cut through all the purple. I am sorely under read in Delany's catalog and this was not a bad place to start.Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-1300781713127323252017-03-04T18:24:00.001-05:002017-03-08T10:12:13.242-05:00Canopy by Karine Bernadou<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-pT_-XtpLREozTBZYu_4lkyfuu3fITzKjYjdUjomdZgeufwRi_PJ34AbhfjvqljIlozHX0fKWZkjGKHJidT4D-wx9W07wxXFzFfrxob6Hj2XZwl3oJqzmq2LuQ9kZSupmJxm/s640/blogger-image--1495287301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-pT_-XtpLREozTBZYu_4lkyfuu3fITzKjYjdUjomdZgeufwRi_PJ34AbhfjvqljIlozHX0fKWZkjGKHJidT4D-wx9W07wxXFzFfrxob6Hj2XZwl3oJqzmq2LuQ9kZSupmJxm/s640/blogger-image--1495287301.jpg" /></a>On a recent long night I decided that big eyes of the main character of <a href="http://retrofit.storenvy.com/collections/29642-all-products/products/18307841-canopy-by-karine-bernadou" target="_blank"><i>Canopy</i></a> had been staring out from my to-read pile for too long. A wordless comic is a tough sell to me, especially in these times of constant background anxiety, but Karine Bernadou's tale of the loneliness and violence within intimate relationships is a stellar example of the genre. The fact that this is a "translated" work only underlines the how powerfully Bernadou's images communicate--no words needed.<br />
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Have you ever searched family photos for clues about how it all went wrong? <i>Canopy</i> opens with a family portrait, a mother, a father and a darling stout red baby, putting us instantly on alert, pinging something that knows that portraits' posed unity rarely lasts. The next spread covers the red girl's childhood and adolescence, economically showing the ways a parent can fuck us up. From there we head out into a hostile world, where the possibility of change occasionally appears in the form of a sex partner and, well, we all know how that goes. There's a bit with sirens and a being looking to get lured away that I really liked; self-destructive partners are often their own siren song for the hurting. Each time the red woman seems to find a bit of peace, her desire to find/replace her absent father pulls her into another nasty situation. By the end of the book she's figured out a few things but the conclusion isn't sweet or even saccharine. If anything there's a melancholy to the character going on to her next adventure with wariness and more baggage than she started with.<br />
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Using only red for color, <i>Canopy </i>still manages to evoke a lush, if hostile, world, a forest place filled with biting animals and sentient plants. Bernadou's cute characterizations add a disquieting edge to the surreal and bloody situations she finds herself in, as do the prevalence of human features where one wouldn't expect to find them<i>. </i>I liked how the book played with time, especially through dream sequences. Each is like a mini battle for the main character and she usually doesn't win. Bernadou's pacing creating the sense of a long story being told in a short book and definitely rewards rereading.Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-46408816146801795482017-02-13T16:27:00.001-05:002017-02-13T16:33:11.640-05:00CHOICES: A Pro-Choice Benefit Comic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkAUaNtjoBqMuYnihrYdOGSDZkn1DQD5tlEr9DjfDaRZSaZTSsBcXsykVlHTg2i80rdYaw7NLyQQhyphenhyphendAA0typXNw4Eng5WgL_DxuXmfZPoW-kX1a_uNpuwbkA4vQpZ12GbOx-J/s1600/IMG_4995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkAUaNtjoBqMuYnihrYdOGSDZkn1DQD5tlEr9DjfDaRZSaZTSsBcXsykVlHTg2i80rdYaw7NLyQQhyphenhyphendAA0typXNw4Eng5WgL_DxuXmfZPoW-kX1a_uNpuwbkA4vQpZ12GbOx-J/s640/IMG_4995.JPG" width="472" /></a></div>
A recent visit to Philly to wade through dead people's stuff unearthed a book that I've written about before as a memory:<i> <a href="http://tryharderyall.blogspot.com/2012/04/one-piece-of-story.html" target="_blank">CHOICES: A Pro-Choice Benefit Comic</a></i>. From the sticker on the front, this book was processed in 1996 and I picked it up soon after. I was in high school, doing my recently-mandated 50 hours of community service at Philly Thrift for AIDS, working on my favorite job. At the time, the store was in a huge space on South Street with a large dark basement where they kept the donated books and magazines on unruly shelves. I was down there doing my thing and something about this book grabbed my attention.<br />
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The first things that struck me were the number of male artists in the book and seeing names I had read in the Sunday funnies (Garry Trudeau and Cathy Guiswite). I remember especially Michael Jay Goldberg's tender and matter-of-fact "One Cold Night in December," an autobio piece about his friend's abortion. Howard Cruse also has a piece in the book, "Some Words From the Guys in Charge," that places the reader prone, looking up into white, male faces that represent those of absurd and punitive lawmaker. From Alison Bechdel and Leslie Ewing come lesbian perspectives on supporting abortion rights despite some perceived conflicts which feel politically outdated in some ways, but extremely relevant in others--especially balancing personal needs (i.e. "self care") with the larger fight for rights. In retrospect the book is glaringly white on both the creator and character sides; how racism plays into the abortion "debate"is only addressed as a sideline in a couple of pieces.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGJffx0gDduEnfLgcHC1ds0gmKx9O05ywgwu1nE184YgQSdq7FC_HgjS9UL__K35TSID9x0zC54MjWMcwvmFD4pLy35lbJzTJlMYqVxICH11uGNOq739hezq8qnw5jN7NX37A/s1600/toc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGJffx0gDduEnfLgcHC1ds0gmKx9O05ywgwu1nE184YgQSdq7FC_HgjS9UL__K35TSID9x0zC54MjWMcwvmFD4pLy35lbJzTJlMYqVxICH11uGNOq739hezq8qnw5jN7NX37A/s400/toc.jpg" width="303" /></a></div>
Diane Noomin's story of her abortion and subsequent infertility also stuck with me. "Looking back, I'm grateful to that 22 year-old for her strength. I owe my life to her choice." I couldn't imagine that future life at the time, but reading this book again in my mid-30s, with several reproductive choices in my history, I understand that reckoning with the past in a way I couldn't at 15. Noomin's comic points out how just because a choice is painful or difficult, doesn't mean a person needs to be saved from it, especially not by the government or any other big Daddy.<br />
<br />
White supremacism, economic injustice, incest, suicide, and religious persecution all make appearances in <i>CHOICES</i>. Re-reading this book has been an unpleasantly surreal experience. 27 years have gone by since its publication and women are still fighting to be seen as human beings. It's frightening to see how fragile the gains made are. As a personal touchstone, the book reminds me of the special power of comics to convey complicated stories in an accessible way. As an artifact, CHOICES is a stark reminder to take nothing for granted.Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-78764048030422197762017-02-01T14:07:00.003-05:002017-02-04T17:39:53.626-05:00LA reading or not reading<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYYNNUURYTxOjCcPBEd072jzzMHqm5uFfvQSQx2kA2g5_AL1g_N1g-04p17TgTK06g1VVbvue0Y3Sh63s9VkcD_VAKoA3BWR3XH-tsaiZBMclqwryPerqUfJUxpBsW48sDV1Jj/s640/blogger-image-2010396673.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYYNNUURYTxOjCcPBEd072jzzMHqm5uFfvQSQx2kA2g5_AL1g_N1g-04p17TgTK06g1VVbvue0Y3Sh63s9VkcD_VAKoA3BWR3XH-tsaiZBMclqwryPerqUfJUxpBsW48sDV1Jj/s640/blogger-image-2010396673.jpg" /></a>Los Angeles has the best bookstores. They are big and rolling and usually have cafes. On my December trip, I only went to <a href="http://storiesla.com/" target="_blank">Stories</a> and, feeling very used up, picked up a copy of <i>I Am Not Ashamed</i>, the ghostwritten Barbara Payton autobiography. I haven't cracked it yet, as the abuses heaped on Payton for being a woman are too close to the bone right now and pulp verve is not the energy I'm looking for these days. <br />
<br />
I read <i>Slade House</i> on the airplane, using its quiet British horror to push away the sights and smells of the trip, but also to stall the inevitable end of <i>After Atlas</i>.<br />
<br />
Los Angeles was warm-ish but cloudy and darker than expected--good for sleeping and reading, not great for pretending that you are in another life. I finished <i>After Atlas </i>in the vacated house of B's colleague, other peoples' things all around and citrus blossoms on the breeze. The ending felt rushed, and the book felt like it needs a sequel, unlike Newman's previous book in this world, <i>Planetfall</i>. But the heart of the novel, a locked room mystery, definitely held a whiff of the Britishness of <i>Slade House</i>, which was an unexpected connection I enjoyed.<br />
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We hit the road and went to Joshua Tree. The National Park (where these pictures were taken) was much more conducive to enjoyment than recording, though I did some drawing of the rocks in the evening, in a quiet cabin recommended by friends. Now the current government is <a href="http://spectrevision.net/2017/02/02/national-parks-declared-worthless/" target="_blank">attempting</a> to take away these public spaces, to pretend that selling them, drilling them, sucking them dry is both sane and patriotic and December is very, very far away.<br />
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<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ncwme3G24rCeIaMj-9ITVlIA2anDG2eW1PgVkUiNcB2pU5WR9rKIw2JQI0BBuWup3yX-wq0pPCQ95Javh-CsyCGnYZFI4jfE3BBH-rnPb6BRJW06NmE5Hkq6oWXB7Vz7OsoA/s1600/blogger-image--1393020761.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ncwme3G24rCeIaMj-9ITVlIA2anDG2eW1PgVkUiNcB2pU5WR9rKIw2JQI0BBuWup3yX-wq0pPCQ95Javh-CsyCGnYZFI4jfE3BBH-rnPb6BRJW06NmE5Hkq6oWXB7Vz7OsoA/s400/blogger-image--1393020761.jpg" width="300" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_f_bBpmAcnLiOyHMvrtBiCYvclSED8iPNyihuf8k0cNOl5J061CIiNUZDWrX5-_1Lsy_Z0EGfF3a_qQmkkqc2gp7jhaEdx6P4q-6Y467RyeX12_C-pL1G8RfQYsqRpa7IO8j/s1600/IMG_4734.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_f_bBpmAcnLiOyHMvrtBiCYvclSED8iPNyihuf8k0cNOl5J061CIiNUZDWrX5-_1Lsy_Z0EGfF3a_qQmkkqc2gp7jhaEdx6P4q-6Y467RyeX12_C-pL1G8RfQYsqRpa7IO8j/s400/IMG_4734.jpg" width="300" /></a></td>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3D4gkgsfa3X-YT4SRAVlWeo4keo8ufUD_XYN3Ziek2TAGN1mPX9WoVj-dAjDuKMYzTygRLUX8cJ4-lyUiN3-j0loW8anf2KiDR9IU_LqpSkstiJWST9KqGb0LvPbUPbOk9h1g/s1600/IMG_5016.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3D4gkgsfa3X-YT4SRAVlWeo4keo8ufUD_XYN3Ziek2TAGN1mPX9WoVj-dAjDuKMYzTygRLUX8cJ4-lyUiN3-j0loW8anf2KiDR9IU_LqpSkstiJWST9KqGb0LvPbUPbOk9h1g/s400/IMG_5016.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
<br />
The ride home had me reading <i>Mickey</i> by Chelsea
Martin. Though the book had many incisive lines, it didn't build
to anything memorable, like the titular boyfriend so hated and desired
by <i>Mickey</i>'s protagonist. The protagonist--a young, artistic, white
lady with (boring) bad behavior--interests me not at all. I get enough
of that in my life and definitely don't need it in my increasingly rare
reading time. In some ways it was perhaps a perfect book to read on the way back, a reminder that there are other things to do.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3D4gkgsfa3X-YT4SRAVlWeo4keo8ufUD_XYN3Ziek2TAGN1mPX9WoVj-dAjDuKMYzTygRLUX8cJ4-lyUiN3-j0loW8anf2KiDR9IU_LqpSkstiJWST9KqGb0LvPbUPbOk9h1g/s1600/IMG_5016.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-3403772675800682922016-12-31T15:20:00.000-05:002017-01-29T15:21:08.886-05:002016 reads<ul>
<li>Slade House by David Mitchell</li>
<li>Mickey by Chelsea Martin</li>
<li>After Atlas by Emma Newman</li>
<li>Cyanide Milkshake 8 by Liz Suburbia </li>
<li>Laid Waste by Julia Gfrörer </li>
<li>My Pretty Vampire 1 and 2 by Katie Skelly</li>
<li>Libby's Dad by Eleanor Davis</li>
<li>We All Wish For Deadly Force by Leela Corman</li>
<li>Summerland by Paloma Dawkins</li>
<li>Travelogue by Aatmaja Pandya </li>
<li>Nicolas by Pascal Girard, Helge Dascher (Translator) </li>
<li>nevers by Megan Martin</li>
<li>In the Time of the Blue Ball By Manuela Draeger</li>
<li>Ghost by Whit Taylor</li>
<li>In Situ no. 3 & 4 by Sophie Yanow</li>
<li>Bluets by Maggie Nelson</li>
<li>All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders</li>
<li>Dumb 1+2 by Georgia Webber</li>
<li>Future Shock 0 edited by Josh Burggraf</li>
<li>Guillotine #10: Kat Howard/Sofia Samatar</li>
<li>Planetfall by Emme Newman</li>
</ul>
Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-15462995832105866302016-11-22T11:42:00.000-05:002016-11-22T11:42:00.225-05:00Behold my CAB haul:<br />
<a href="http://katieskelly.bigcartel.com/category/comic-bookz" target="_blank">My Pretty Vampire 1 and 2</a> by Katie Skelly<br />
<a href="http://www.fantagraphics.com/laidwaste/" target="_blank">Laid Waste</a> by Julia Gfrörer<br />
Enter, Holy Pilgrim by Laila Milevski (part of my <a href="http://leylines.storenvy.com/" target="_blank">Ley Lines sub</a>)<br />
<a href="http://czapbooks.bigcartel.com/category/liz-suburbia" target="_blank">Cyanide Milkshake 8</a> by Liz Suburbia <br />
Impatience by <a href="http://gatosaurio.com/" target="_blank">Inés Estrada</a><br />
<a href="http://tilliewalden.com/work/the-end-of-summer" target="_blank">The End of Summer</a> by Tillie Walden<br />
<a href="https://gumroad.com/heyanniemok" target="_blank">No Exit </a>by Annie Mok<br />
Maleficium #5 by <a href="https://gumroad.com/sabincauldron" target="_blank">Sabin Calvert</a><br />
<a href="http://tincanforest.com/shop/what-is-a-witch/" target="_blank">What is a Witch </a>by Pam Grossman and Tin Can Forest <br />
I Thought You Hated Me by Marinaomi (part of my <a href="http://retrofit.storenvy.com/" target="_blank">Retrofit/Big Planet sub</a>)<br />
Lovers in the Garden by Anya Davidson (part of my<a href="http://retrofit.storenvy.com/" target="_blank"> Retrofit/Big Planet sub</a>)<br />
Lizzie's Tale by <a href="http://littlegardencomics.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Darryl Ayo</a> (purple page version)<br />
<a href="http://store.chloeperkis.com/#_=_" target="_blank">Ugly</a> by Chloe Perkis<br />
<a href="http://natalie-andrewson.com/Big-Sister-Comic" target="_blank">Big Sister</a> by Natalie Andrewson<br />
<a href="http://theannotatedannotated.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Annotated 19</a> by Aaron Cockle<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sometimes being left in a backpack leads to having a special, separate photo shoot</td></tr>
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This year's CAB was difficult and lovely. Difficult because I've been so depressed that leaving the house to go be around people seemed impossible and lovely because I did it and then was able to talk with a bunch of people I like. I noticed a lot of apparel this year and wished I brought more money to get all the t shirts and sweatshirts I desire.<br />
<br />
Creators: like another link to your work better? let me know! </div>
Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-52998314710570821682016-11-19T12:18:00.000-05:002016-12-19T15:49:24.662-05:00I was browsing <a href="http://www.greenlightbookstore.com/" target="_blank">Greenlight</a> bookstore when I had the thought "there are so many books I still want to read." This was a surprisingly positive thought, one I hope that will sustain me in the coming months. <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
^^^^</div>
When one of your favorite <a href="http://www.therejectionist.com/p/guillotine.html" target="_blank">publishers</a> is also a writer and writes a story that feels like it was written just for you but it is about vampires: <a href="http://www.tor.com/2016/10/12/blue-is-a-darkness-weakened-by-light/" target="_blank">Blue is a Darkness Weakened by Light by Sarah McCarry</a><br />
In other news, a new Guillotine is scheduled to print in January, which is a new year treat I can actually look forward to.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
^^^^</div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAfxkHboVEE9ZOhyphenhyphen4sphdpGZP8GkMFrAkjh-P4xqcgGFQlCsM1aajmR60CIrOn4aLVk6YR6mdzBG0HUjDOzE8loltyfGp-7f0l-c1aPEJRmPkVmnvp9dYEO6sCUQ75f00zyhy/s640/blogger-image-1748217951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAfxkHboVEE9ZOhyphenhyphen4sphdpGZP8GkMFrAkjh-P4xqcgGFQlCsM1aajmR60CIrOn4aLVk6YR6mdzBG0HUjDOzE8loltyfGp-7f0l-c1aPEJRmPkVmnvp9dYEO6sCUQ75f00zyhy/s640/blogger-image-1748217951.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
The second Atlas book came out and I grabbed it. Reading <i>Planetfall</i> was such a serious, immersive experience that I'm looking forward to a similar experience. I'm never sure about first-person books, but I was pulled in hard to <i>Planetfall</i> and hope the same thing can happen with <i>After Atlas</i>.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
^^^^</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDorgVAUINCdca8C2uVwWnDZN4NrnWh_Q2qTdIioZVnUHQZklROT9BHeSVLmaHDO24B4GM56SOytwBDpIEl5FgbFE1LgRH4FUPxgG_ZcO9tZjQ3XBND0m7omUSFDMBMP-ImHB/s640/blogger-image-185894443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDorgVAUINCdca8C2uVwWnDZN4NrnWh_Q2qTdIioZVnUHQZklROT9BHeSVLmaHDO24B4GM56SOytwBDpIEl5FgbFE1LgRH4FUPxgG_ZcO9tZjQ3XBND0m7omUSFDMBMP-ImHB/s1600/blogger-image-185894443.jpg" /></a>The colors are still good out on the streets. I'm trying to go outside
while I can convince myself that being in nature will be pleasant. I
haven't cobbled together a winter survival plan yet. Have you?</div>
Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-37152254109359447212016-11-07T16:21:00.000-05:002016-11-07T16:21:01.400-05:00Oh lovelies,<br />
<br />
Reading has been tough. My mind is currently focused on bringing up all the pain of the past 20+ years and parading it around, making focus difficult and spare time unpleasurable. Today is the third (is that possible?) anniversary of my father's death. He had terrible dyslexia; he was so proud that I enjoyed reading, even though it made us further apart. This year reading has not been the refuge I crave. What interests grief hasn't flattened, depression has steamrolled.<br />
<br />
I'm still in <i>The Crystal Eaters</i>, still hoping the end supports everything I love about story developed so far. Shane Jones definitely has a razor insight into the thoughts and compulsions of children, especially traumatized children. It's so difficult to get that right. Place that precision in a book also dealing with complex family sadnesses, and dang, you've just created a book I am deeply into and can barely bear to read! He also captures what pain drugs can take away while also showing what pain they can give subtly and without moralizing.<br />
<br />
I've been reading everything from my comics subscriptions (Ley Lines from Grindstone
Comics/Czap Books, Kus, Retrofit/Big Planet and Frontier from Youth In
Decline), but at a leisurely pace and without the calming effect of falling into a novel. CAB was fun and I'll dive in to my haul, mostly longer works, as soon as seems wise.<br />
<br />
What have you been reading?<br />
<br />
Your friend,<br />
CarrieCarriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-69389222648812342912016-10-28T14:21:00.003-04:002016-11-01T11:55:34.429-04:00Libby's Dad by Eleanor Davis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3SzEXhQXSFPJTsooqgUUS-WmayoWyYJWz3n2Gm-1BrK6YyYN1ykxzvBCAaXGSd4m9Ow-Kt2Kq_P-wLkGp3y4Mc95R1QprPqA0kmu-Zu945VbeFbUtylqpf4dB2h0JiH4oavEZ/s1600/libbys+dad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3SzEXhQXSFPJTsooqgUUS-WmayoWyYJWz3n2Gm-1BrK6YyYN1ykxzvBCAaXGSd4m9Ow-Kt2Kq_P-wLkGp3y4Mc95R1QprPqA0kmu-Zu945VbeFbUtylqpf4dB2h0JiH4oavEZ/s640/libbys+dad.jpg" width="488" /></a></div>
Recently I've had a lot of chances to experience shitty cable. Between traveling and "getting away" and tagging along, I've been watching a lot of Forensic Files. Overall this hasn't been so great for my peace of mind, but it has been a deep dive into the terrible things people do to one another, especially the terrible things men do to women. I've been marinating in not only death, but in should-have-knowns and we-never-thoughts, and it was in this state of mind I picked up <i>Libby's Dad</i>.<br />
<br />
<i>Libby's Dad </i>is set at a slumber party at the titular characters home. Snatches of the young party-goers conversation drive the story, as well as the thoughts of Alex, a big-eyed, pig-tailed girl, the youngest invited to the birthday. This framing is what makes <i>Libby's Dad</i> so powerful and chilling.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPNDPOfuHxpgnhj2xiQfD6dy_AwWziDbweyk1dlkk8thjYu3rVicM6S1oJY3GZ6DvSucl96toM2MRM5sUnAbidW4O_DyH5BYZRqtr8hb7aiLv9lul7d95ptdXP24h90Va82xq/s1600/IMG_4393.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPNDPOfuHxpgnhj2xiQfD6dy_AwWziDbweyk1dlkk8thjYu3rVicM6S1oJY3GZ6DvSucl96toM2MRM5sUnAbidW4O_DyH5BYZRqtr8hb7aiLv9lul7d95ptdXP24h90Va82xq/s320/IMG_4393.jpg" width="240" /></a>The girls discuss Libby's parents' divorce, trying to come to grips with what they've overheard about violence in the relationship in the face of the fun slumber party stuff they are experiencing in the moment. Weaving in anecdotes of seeing Libby's mom around town being sad about the end of a relationship and other life stuff, half-heard parental judgement, and an unquestioned belief in the justice system, the girls reassure one another that they are safe and that Libby's dad is no monster. The girls think what is easiest to think, that Libby's mom is crazy, rather than that her dad is dangerous. The child's POV shows plainly and with force that the simple story is usually the reasoning of a child. We know what nasties go on in adult relationships. We know that a person can be "like, super nice" to children and terrible to their partners. We know victims are often doubly victimized by having their behavior and life picked over in public. We know that adulthood offers may opportunities to cry in public, whether you're "crazy" or not.<br />
<br />
We know.<br />
<br />
We know, so we should know better. We know, and there is heartbreak in knowing that likely each of those girls will know too, more sooner than later.<br />
<br />
And, of course, it's beautiful. I've always loved Davis's botanicals and they, as well as her boisterous color sense, are out in full force in Libby's Dad. Her use of colored pencil is perfect here, and makes the whole story a little more sinister for me. Pick it up now.Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-60150485337816974292016-07-11T16:45:00.002-04:002016-07-11T16:45:44.848-04:00Nicolas by Pascal Girard, translated by Helge Dascher<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Missing my brother today & thinking of all the pasts I've had. <br />From Pascal Girard's Nicolas: <a href="https://t.co/Of9c4sr1nF">pic.twitter.com/Of9c4sr1nF</a></div>
— Carrie (@carrietryharder) <a href="https://twitter.com/carrietryharder/status/752552328142655488">July 11, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IIfmggs94KMPYB3kgrIo7WAsAECtNvUK0MTgkLm123aJm670fYXLWc-aF5ZNU6ExiSDJU3HnoCulWa2h78tFtOOj9sHJ-IfeAwvK8igu0b_OUOkB_sHiWtnLoSDJrSzr1Wgr/s1600/nicolas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IIfmggs94KMPYB3kgrIo7WAsAECtNvUK0MTgkLm123aJm670fYXLWc-aF5ZNU6ExiSDJU3HnoCulWa2h78tFtOOj9sHJ-IfeAwvK8igu0b_OUOkB_sHiWtnLoSDJrSzr1Wgr/s400/nicolas.jpg" width="300" /></a>After years of cramming books in wherever they fit, I finally decided to redo my bookshelves. This has led to some intense re-reading, and in some cases, reading that had been left undone. <i>Nicolas</i> is one of those books I couldn't not buy, but also couldn't read the past several years.<br />
<br />
<i>Nicolas</i> is an autobiographical comic about the author's brother dying when they were both children. Told in flashes, almost like scrolling through the lowlights reel of grief, this short book cut right to what the legacy of a loss does to a person and their relationships. Girard's style is like a looser, sketchier Jeffrey Brown with some John Porcellino thrown in, which works well to express extreme feelings with humor.<br />
<br />
Despite feeling incredible familiarity with the trials of Pascal, Girard's work is refreshing. It shows so simply how the absurdity of such a loss makes you weird (and in what ways). I love how Girard gets into how the fear it instills is not easily navigated, and how it changes as you get older, with emphasis on being a jerk in bars and hurting the people who love you romantically because you know that "it" doesn't only happen to other people. The tension between trying to remember your lost sibling and living your own life is also explored here, most especially on the page where a young Pascal asks his mother if he can sled at a friend's and his mother responds, in what I can only imagine is a distant voice: "Did you realize that Nicolas would have been eight years old today?" That sense of being snapped out of the present over and over is so particular and peculiar--glad that Girard included it.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwd5WMmK7V2VyT3rNhTXCWimNxw5tEKw-A9YTV3fIxLa_N5ihoNX3BzUWT0weD3yKRIaYjwsrCiIl6nz-MNXJDfTpGPCbSUIO1doqTlF8zsljvER7ULQoPGKXqbwIuV4-Jilvr/s1600/nicholskids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwd5WMmK7V2VyT3rNhTXCWimNxw5tEKw-A9YTV3fIxLa_N5ihoNX3BzUWT0weD3yKRIaYjwsrCiIl6nz-MNXJDfTpGPCbSUIO1doqTlF8zsljvER7ULQoPGKXqbwIuV4-Jilvr/s320/nicholskids.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my breath caught </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After reading <i>Nicolas</i>, I felt less alone, which is perhaps the highest compliment possible. If you have someone in your life that's lost a sibling, get this book. I hope it helps you understand them better.<br />
<br />
Link to the new expanded hardcover<a href="https://www.drawnandquarterly.com/nicolas" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-18557579571131822602016-05-02T12:43:00.001-04:002016-05-02T12:44:59.748-04:00MoCCA 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
MoCCA in a Hell's Kitchen that looks different than it used to: A New Yorker's lament. </div>
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Well, not really. While I miss my neighborhood as it was, I liked the new venue for MoCCA. Not only does the neighborhood still offer abundant cheap food, but the venue itself, which I used to walk by during late night strolls to the river, is bright, spacious without the high-ceiling anxiety of the armory and has almost enough elevators.The security was overzealous, something I got to experience twice as a perpetual late-o, but not as bad as at last year's Chelsea location.</div>
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I spent nowhere enough time on the floor and saw no panels, despite being somewhat interested in two of them. I'm never interested enough though. I did manage to say hi to a few of my far-away faves like Summer Pierre, <a href="http://www.tugboatpress.com/" target="_blank">Greg Means</a> and <a href="http://wormulus.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">L. Nichols</a>. I missed more people than I saw, sadly, but that is the way it goes most years.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Iips6Oc273bb-ObAzpmTvQHeEJzHWlCCqnMPpA9Hl8sCFwSJaS78lIHVaUZFoO7wK0QVxIq_yBJW4k1sIqaA_EpFZ_FHENrBw3McI8RKJd8_j8auEYNSLBo56eegufFoG_rq/s640/blogger-image-1033918311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdEZve29U0UBsdvV0E_7DRpVsNa_i3sURmLffW7GBUuZf7LUhVJ9NW9vNa3s0WCuD7XQtk8zzrL67mkZ1wbjcmpeQiknWm3VOMcAbBGgqJj89q0WnfiNxA3AuCQsxQCSRdJlc/s640/blogger-image--54301589.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjXXMkOxFPExumeAJ6kiwmv73AWtbd15l7-tNC2Qzq_CHmEJy-idib-wNnDGvalYBWd_ocNQDt_qEpJtZwM_40pJW-tPe2J4qSO2AxmDZ7ogRPU8gUhHxuRh-RbOPXnahxOvJ/s640/blogger-image-1649076288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjXXMkOxFPExumeAJ6kiwmv73AWtbd15l7-tNC2Qzq_CHmEJy-idib-wNnDGvalYBWd_ocNQDt_qEpJtZwM_40pJW-tPe2J4qSO2AxmDZ7ogRPU8gUhHxuRh-RbOPXnahxOvJ/s640/blogger-image-1649076288.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">upstairs snack area</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihz0fx1-CEww5ALMogJ-Do-1A2QxC1Y1qmBkX26s21qCztcDqZv_RmDe49VKDO55aJkRXbGh2QMFGVX5AKiBgePl-c09XJZzV9i_gX7IDpowMAfNCS-zo760mIFgWV_RIhLh9/s640/blogger-image-650074409.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.jenniferhayden.com/" target="_blank">Jennifer Hayden</a>, <a href="https://summerpierre.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Summer Pierre</a> and
<a href="http://glynnisfawkes.tumblr.com/">Glynnis Fawkes</a>
, buddies and excellent storytellers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtZ8mPaxDn03FR0p43NnXtTVD5Nf8kz1jVS92WzvwsrNt1A-KRgqqtxZL3Myf2D8Ie3E6CP_nJCzBLLPCtkLKrPR6vpDxlJwGoo9tGUoypsdAwF0msnD3GVEG0MWWJ7kHCIlmO/s640/blogger-image-1874721334.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://saracorbett.com/" target="_blank">Sara Edward-Corbett</a>, with her beautiful rat creations</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ovNdcBPjjwxruoNHAR2thhYsIXU0eW0YJ4mNmczni6X5_M2SiMFwxv-SPW5caH1klj4jejIHGIH4sYD80o0mM9UPgSr9kSCxy4vL4BcPrCbSoNj9bS8BGdMdT5kzlDjAfvnT/s640/blogger-image--1467931775.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fabulous <a href="http://www.whittaylorcomics.com/comics.html" target="_blank">Whit Taylor</a> making a sale, <a href="http://cartoonfricassee.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Katie Fricas</a>, who I met at Paper Jam, and <a href="http://kriotawelt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Kriota Willberg</a>, who cares about your health</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzfJAfSk4I4Limki4XEXD9aYdh3k6az1HYQbY4VarLi0uYkac4__pY4Gax_OYAXMXldgkq0sJz0GJiebRdflajp9BK1ZIAuiup40ZpxlCAEOX4-naQ_j08hL2EgHwfx5fBwlFG/s640/blogger-image--1702514507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzfJAfSk4I4Limki4XEXD9aYdh3k6az1HYQbY4VarLi0uYkac4__pY4Gax_OYAXMXldgkq0sJz0GJiebRdflajp9BK1ZIAuiup40ZpxlCAEOX4-naQ_j08hL2EgHwfx5fBwlFG/s640/blogger-image--1702514507.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loved the bit of Travelogue by<a href="http://aatmajapandya.com/" target="_blank"> Aatmaja Pandya</a> I read online, had to get the book!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Iips6Oc273bb-ObAzpmTvQHeEJzHWlCCqnMPpA9Hl8sCFwSJaS78lIHVaUZFoO7wK0QVxIq_yBJW4k1sIqaA_EpFZ_FHENrBw3McI8RKJd8_j8auEYNSLBo56eegufFoG_rq/s640/blogger-image-1033918311.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loved <a href="http://www.ginawynbrandt.com/work/" target="_blank">Gina Wynbrandt</a>'s mini, Big Pussy, had to get the book!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8rq8-xJjyrsuGvrz_00LEi96rsK_HHkQ3RWhhOWcsBgA1I0NB3oT9a4j160M5vd2AxYosMQvHX8lbD_8ssHK7f6jd9XM8u1cTIl-0KUo85FKSDhwgvzyNfM_5jrqF06FY517d/s640/blogger-image--1487272906.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rumihara.com/" target="_blank">Rumi Hara</a>'s minis grab me with their covers, and I always enjoy the fantasies she creates.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I was excited for a few books not mentioned above and was happy to grab <a href="http://www.youthindecline.com/product/dream-tube-by-rebekka-dunlap" target="_blank"><i>Dream Tube</i></a> by <a href="http://www.rebekkadunlap.com/" target="_blank">Rebekka Dunlap</a> from <a href="http://blog.youthindecline.com/" target="_blank">Youth in Decline</a>, <i>Bad Boyfriends</i>, edited by
<a href="http://lauralannes.tumblr.com/">Laura Lannes</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.storenvy.com/products/14193672-whats-your-sign-girl" target="_blank"><i>What's Your Sign</i>, <i>Girl?</i></a>, edited by <a href="http://robkirbycomics.com/Rob_Kirby_Comics/Blog/Blog.html" target="_blank">Rob Kirby</a>. The two anthologies are stuffed with work from artists I need more of--you hear that big publishing?<br />
<br />
I'm still working through my pile of MoCCA comics and will report back on what's grabbing me.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNYFaloIuol01QSAFPZAGrLOrevtWmA3yttEwTM8R_1n3pYW5y3Z9Hw1tyyBLhy7L096xHFtaJiSf2PCAQxOfy54UfKLck6mO737ZVWvpc1mruT-CkBF85O6T46riAd94c0JAO/s640/blogger-image-644001952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNYFaloIuol01QSAFPZAGrLOrevtWmA3yttEwTM8R_1n3pYW5y3Z9Hw1tyyBLhy7L096xHFtaJiSf2PCAQxOfy54UfKLck6mO737ZVWvpc1mruT-CkBF85O6T46riAd94c0JAO/s640/blogger-image-644001952.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Haul</td></tr>
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Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-27399910852351352562016-04-05T15:17:00.000-04:002016-04-05T15:17:29.070-04:00bedtime stack<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJfnOrG9R-Y_5FuX-I5MtbmvoBQm4gQKBAz6jq0eUs0iOD7WMrt2CYvgpQhdJ6TuA2EB7h_D4ZSmK2uFSTTMdWdcLtk09iIC4pT6ChLesT5uapkIdfhHdvlTQfKd_W0LbI-qZ/s640/blogger-image--2119067951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJfnOrG9R-Y_5FuX-I5MtbmvoBQm4gQKBAz6jq0eUs0iOD7WMrt2CYvgpQhdJ6TuA2EB7h_D4ZSmK2uFSTTMdWdcLtk09iIC4pT6ChLesT5uapkIdfhHdvlTQfKd_W0LbI-qZ/s320/blogger-image--2119067951.jpg" width="320" /></a>What's getting me to sleep these days:</div>
Bad Habits by <a href="http://croadcore.org/" target="_blank">Cristy C. Road</a><br />
This Is Not It by <a href="http://redlemona.de/author/lynne-tillman" target="_blank">Lynne Tillman</a><br />
In The Time of the Blue Ball by <a href="http://dorothyproject.com/?post_type=book&p=88" target="_blank">Manuela Draeger</a>Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-57234901292918015672016-02-29T14:05:00.000-05:002016-02-29T14:05:13.127-05:00Paper Jam 2016<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHenaKVnkzjk12UP8TTPbMA8yJtQNQSIiLqV4FzFKheFypUgJ1k_QC-_8BSGlsArKZ6tTSec_DpVQp1dpwU3cTRPzmD8_K5x5EjuLqrwR_39KAq6J5vO6PoymMHPaEATqnoZR/s640/blogger-image--154694582.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crowd shot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After the master hyping of <a href="http://paperjamfest.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Paper Jam</a> by <a href="https://twitter.com/darrylayo" target="_blank">Darryl Ayo</a> on twitter, I decided
to drag my dusty carcass to <a href="http://silentbarn.org/" target="_blank">Silent Barn</a> in Bushwick for the small comics/zine fest. I am a big fan of the space with its cheap drinks and big outdoor space and really wanted to see what a comics show there would look like.<br />
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The show itself took place in the performance space in the front of the building. I got there around 3:45, a little more than halfway through the day and the place was crammed with 20-something creators and fans and a smattering of us older types.<br />
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Though I mostly picked up comics by folks I'd never met before, the fest turned out to be an exercise in saying hi to the faces of internet faves including <a href="http://www.symptomcomics.com/" target="_blank">Sabin Calvert</a>, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_137177644" target="_blank">Jude Killory</a>, and "comics mom" <a href="http://kevinczap.com/" target="_blank">Kevin Czapiewski</a>. <a href="http://leylines.storenvy.com/products/15855405-medieval-war-scene-by-aaron-cockle-ley-lines-no-6" target="_blank">Ley Lines</a> #6 author and buddy <a href="http://www.theannotatedannotated.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Aaron Cockle</a> gave me a little zine featuring some risograph experimentation and we spoke briefly of chili and work.<br />
<br />
After several trips around the crowded room, the consumption of a delicious ginger beer, and more hellos, I decided that I had spent enough money and felt low on energy so decided to head out. I was a bit disappointed in my own stamina that day, but sometimes you must bow to your body's boring needs. I missed the bus, managed to walk about a quarter of the way to where I was going before my hip started to kill and the rest doesn't matter.<br />
<br />
The verdict? Would return to Paper Jam with walking shoes on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzuCwAJYUzmJzz9nbsv7G64q3YQtQj8WOYpUbpnGrwqSYY30vkA0eUxBs1136ib5tYlKw259p61xo4g2z6KB01eWMEv1pqIZjanMj2kObNl-5PROVMGF0OK8UnN4_8yPfxZep/s640/blogger-image--1738323950.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Book and pamphlet haul</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWI1GFtPdu5SrpJqpzYEznK5lwpaIVwpxTN9W7mqNE0LPDHnCxHMGCMo5GIRNBRR_pU7g5p8miYgW2OuqKMjm9o53-zr6iDCHkiJZKfxTp6Uyqf0Her_JOD7gH_1qDataLMyd/s640/blogger-image-876495822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWI1GFtPdu5SrpJqpzYEznK5lwpaIVwpxTN9W7mqNE0LPDHnCxHMGCMo5GIRNBRR_pU7g5p8miYgW2OuqKMjm9o53-zr6iDCHkiJZKfxTp6Uyqf0Her_JOD7gH_1qDataLMyd/s640/blogger-image-876495822.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prints and calendar from <a href="http://www.courtney-menard.com/" target="_blank">Courtney Menard</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl1YhOyOgRefan7u1Rn0ErOozAzy2xWOW26a93ktyDbcARpuUYGRD5WshWy3sdP-wjtcVgK6xrvHkGnDPxj0jxgpb4TQaw4hkdXGpJUy2fum9PO9RAKSm85qdZ1rH54j1cANAm/s640/blogger-image-18258505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl1YhOyOgRefan7u1Rn0ErOozAzy2xWOW26a93ktyDbcARpuUYGRD5WshWy3sdP-wjtcVgK6xrvHkGnDPxj0jxgpb4TQaw4hkdXGpJUy2fum9PO9RAKSm85qdZ1rH54j1cANAm/s640/blogger-image-18258505.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walk away moon</td></tr>
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</div>
Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-88733570383856756072016-02-12T14:55:00.001-05:002016-02-12T14:55:57.483-05:00lettermo 2, 2016As usual, I've not managed a piece of mail a day. I tend to work better in bursts. I like to focus, perhaps too intensively, on the person that I am writing to and frankly I just haven't the energy for that sustained attention the past few days.<br />
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Today I felt the urge to make some fantasy worlds and there is no better way to get into the zone than with collage. So I brewed up some tea, busted out the new glue sticks and got to flipping through all the sloppy magazines I've hoarded for just this purpose. From the colors it is clear that I am yearning for some sunshine.<br />
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Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-9608971812826560912016-02-04T13:25:00.001-05:002016-02-04T13:25:54.894-05:00just friendsThe other day my heart felt heavy but open. I was ready to spend the night contemplating the good things in life. I'd heard many good things about Paul Lisicky's new book, <a href="https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/narrow-door" target="_blank"><i>The Narrow Door</i></a>, and thought I'd go feel big feelings at his reading at <a href="http://www.communitybookstore.net/" target="_blank">Community Bookstore</a>.<br />
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The week after my friend Sally died, I started a zine about her. Collages mostly. I put them all together and stared and stared and then the dog knocked them over and then it didn't seem right and then and then and then my dad died and I still dream of her house almost every night.</div>
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After shuffling my way down 7th Avenue, I took my place in the small but crowded back room of the bookstore. The space was filling up with Lisicky admirers, many of who greeted the poet with hugs. While a clot of pretty poet boys decimated the wine, the rest of us settled in amid the fishy smell of store cat Tiny's food and the rustling of heavy coats. Writer <a href="http://www.andevers.com/" target="_blank">A.N. Devers</a> opened the evening with a short intro and then Lisicky began reading from <i>The Narrow Door</i>.<br />
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"It's weird," I thought as I cried into my companion's coat, "How sometimes a book comes right at the right time." How to reckon with relationships that are incredibly intimate and life-changing but not generally recognized as an important kind of love? Even during this reading, a celebration of friendship, more audience questions were asked about Lisicky's ex, a famous poet, than about the subject of his book. I remember my frustration with trying to describe my relationship with Sally, everyone trying to name it with descriptors like "second mom" as if being friends was not enough for the grief I feel.<br />
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Devers pointed out that there are few books by men about their female friends, which is both true and too much to think about right now. <br />
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Lisicky talked a bit about the loss of his "sidekicks"--the people who know you the best and always want the best for you--to divorce and death. What does one loss mean in the midst of many? I lost my friend suddenly while my father was dying absolutely for sure. My friend lived boldly, but within many constraints. She was both incredibly inspiring and a cautionary tale. I wanted to spend years discussing life with her. Despite knowing her since I was eleven, I felt like our friendship was just beginning to take on a new form.<br />
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Because of her faith in me, a little piece of my writing is always for Sally. That's going to have to be enough.Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-4709119189084910282016-02-02T14:01:00.000-05:002016-02-02T14:30:06.526-05:00lettermo 1, 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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I am starting #lettermo this year with two collaged cards for two great people. <div><br></div><div>I think I probably owe you a letter. Feel free to remind me in the comments.</div>Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-29565195853998983532016-01-18T17:29:00.000-05:002016-01-18T17:30:31.671-05:002015 finally dies!Despite this being a horrible life year, it was a very wonderful reading year. Not included in my tally are the many books I started or collections I picked through over 2015, many of which were also good but not for me, not right now.<br />
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This has been the first full year I've lived without my father after two years of his frightening and terrible decline. I was deeply involved with my father's end of life and death, the details of which I am still reckoning with and will be for quite some time. Being faced with admin tasks that are not only relentless and boring, but suffused with such powerful hurt has been exhausting and lonely. Luckily for me, cartoonist Roz Chast went through some similar things and decided to write a funny, informative and just SO TRUE book about it called <i>Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?</i> This book was loaned to me by a great friend. When I read it I cried, but with relief.<br />
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Too fucking real: <a href="http://t.co/Fa70oYefnU">pic.twitter.com/Fa70oYefnU</a></div>
— Carrie (@carrietryharder) <a href="https://twitter.com/carrietryharder/status/579409223869661184">March 21, 2015</a></blockquote>
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There are books that take you away and books that make you stay and the three novels in The Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer accomplish both. The first, <i>Annihilation</i>, is a missive from an inhospitable land, filled with beautiful natural details and almost unbearably tantalizing mystery. The second, <i>Authority</i>, is about juggling identities and becoming oneself, and while the main character wasn't all that interesting to me there were enough other things going on in the story to carry me though. The final volume, <i>Acceptance</i>, follows a character present in the previous two and brings many of the mysteries of the Southern Reach to a satisfying close, without solving a single thing. Vandermeer created a world with endless frightening possibilities and endless frightening beauty that I still think about; this trilogy is an excellent reminder that life is complex and not simply a trial, no matter how much horror gets served up.<br />
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I finished THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE on the plane ride back and, though I've read it a few times before, wow. Just wow.</div>
— Carrie (@carrietryharder) <a href="https://twitter.com/carrietryharder/status/646760609489506309">September 23, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Speaking of horror, I returned to an old favorite this year <i>The Haunting of Hill House</i>, after recommending it to a friend. Turns out that Jackson's sure voice and teasing plotting were exactly what I craved at the moment, and it is always worth taking another look at what the desire for acceptance will do to a person. Plus, Theo, always Theo.<br />
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To balance the many terrible surprises of the year, the mail at least was peppered with some lovely ones care of my subscriptions to four comics presses: Ley Lines from Grindstone Comics/Czap Books, Kus, Retrofit/Big Planet and Frontier from Youth In Decline. I <a href="http://tryharderyall.blogspot.com/2015/10/frontier-9-becca-tobin.html" target="_blank">wrote </a><a href="http://tryharderyall.blogspot.com/2015/06/ley-lines-thank-god-i-am-in-love-by.html" target="_blank">about </a>some here on try harder, some I just sucked in. Two stand outs I didn't write about, both from Retrofit/Big Planet were <i>Ikebana</i> by Yumi Sakugawa and <i>Sea Urchin</i> by Laura Knetzger. I loved Sakugawa's quiet story about stopping giving any fucks and creating oneself. Sakugawa's work always speaks to me, but this one came at exactly the right time. I've been following Knetzger for awhile, and just got her all ages tome <i>Bug Boys</i> from Czap Books. <i>Sea Urchin</i> is decidedly adult autobio about depression and what we think about when no one is watching.<br />
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I listened to many fewer SFFH podcasts the second half of the year than I usually do, mostly because I fell victim to Fallout 4's immersive charms. However the casts from<a href="http://districtofwonders.com/" target="_blank"> The District of Wonders</a>, <a href="http://escapeartists.net/" target="_blank">Escape Artists</a>, <a href="http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/category/podcast/" target="_blank">Clarkesworld,</a> <a href="http://strangehorizons.com/" target="_blank">Strange Horizons</a>, <a href="http://uncannymagazine.com/" target="_blank">Uncanny</a> and <a href="http://www.apex-magazine.com/" target="_blank">Apex</a>, continue to expose me to exciting short story writers and take me places I never could have imagined.<br />
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And no 2015 survey would be complete without talking about twitter. Besides the usual dog jokes, book news, essay recommendations and author process notes that twitter always provides, this year the service was one of the only and best ways I could connect with my own grief. That meant posting photos and thoughts, as well as meeting (or further developing relationships) with others that have been through similar stuff or are just empathetic souls. Invaluable stuff.<br />
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I know I'll be thinking about the stuff I read in 2015 for many years to come. What about you? Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-65166038263826409622016-01-08T13:44:00.000-05:002016-01-08T13:44:21.110-05:00<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
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The best kiddo sent me some mail today. Being a weird aunt is cool. <a href="https://t.co/DpNkLyRTtQ">pic.twitter.com/DpNkLyRTtQ</a></div>
— Carrie (@carrietryharder) <a href="https://twitter.com/carrietryharder/status/685525309622497280">January 8, 2016</a></blockquote>
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As longtime readers know, I love mail. It is such a simple thing, available to most people, and yet so few of us take advantage of a reliable postal system that sending a letter can feel like magic.<br />
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One of the things I've tried to do with friends' kids is show them how cool it can be to send and receive stuff in the mail. I'm no longer the letter writer I once was, but as 2016 is here now, I'm adding getting back to letter writing to my short list of resolutions.<br />
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Won't you join me?<br />
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-3315032183216470162015-12-31T15:56:00.000-05:002016-12-19T15:56:35.342-05:002015 Reads<span class="value-preview show">Ikebana by Yumi Sakugawa</span>
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Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-28054535136481275582015-10-30T12:26:00.001-04:002015-10-30T12:28:40.580-04:00Frontier #9: Becca Tobin<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6f5L5uPigc5so6bEXPw76DcUDTcvBH9tQTt7pRCeCAvlOK-Dtdv5iiLdNAaoSTyQ7P9RQUbrNwKBM7Q0QD0AFAGG_QR9ExrFOmbmgxZWpyqZOHeVdO00kUkKZ-ps1-gGFkNy/s640/blogger-image--1261031673.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="frontier 9: becca tobin" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6f5L5uPigc5so6bEXPw76DcUDTcvBH9tQTt7pRCeCAvlOK-Dtdv5iiLdNAaoSTyQ7P9RQUbrNwKBM7Q0QD0AFAGG_QR9ExrFOmbmgxZWpyqZOHeVdO00kUkKZ-ps1-gGFkNy/s400/blogger-image--1261031673.jpg" title="" width="300" /></a>The story of a musician is a story that I'm inclined to dislike. However, the excellent thing about reading about creative frustration is that you don't have to hear the products of the struggle. Though, in the case of Frontier 9's spaced out music scene, where synthesizers are created by shaping globs of goo into instruments, I might not object to a listen.<br />
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<a href="http://beccaandthebox.com/" target="_blank">Becca Tobin</a>'s gloppy fantasy follows Butter, the synth lead of the wildly popular band Eurobe as she struggles to create an instrument that will bring her one-album wonder band to the next level. What follows is both a meditation on the perils of fame, the fraught consequences of wish fulfillment and a creepy vampire golem story. It is funny, too. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEM2I1tasmLEAl54CtSt0nPnpUNP86xxUZofEMmYYuSANaQ3H6Jy_DW8KjZw-Q-UhJEZA5ahCZTSszun7OfcUC0mJIiKgGsJ6rBihvA9wQU0OO3Y2ws0IqDV9MSiWhVclNre8u/s640/blogger-image-748443246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="ugh musicians" border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEM2I1tasmLEAl54CtSt0nPnpUNP86xxUZofEMmYYuSANaQ3H6Jy_DW8KjZw-Q-UhJEZA5ahCZTSszun7OfcUC0mJIiKgGsJ6rBihvA9wQU0OO3Y2ws0IqDV9MSiWhVclNre8u/s200/blogger-image-748443246.jpg" title="" width="200" /></a>This short story seemed luxuriously long, in part because Tobin conveys the band's back story and current circumstances with super sharp description and, later, dialog, that distills both the characters and quickly builds the world they live in.<br />
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I loved Tobin's use of color. Generally I'm overwhelmed by too broad of a color pallet, but the full-crayon-box colors and watercolor-y tones of her art drew me in instead of making me want to take to my bed. The pages seem to pulse with the energy of her lines. The details, like the cat shirt Butter wakes up in the morning after the creation of her synth, make re-reading rewarding--a rare treat.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_9T2iUCBeWCV0NEV2eH80jT6jL84hkTv6pbmMWC2RCe8ccqy-rr9MyOhzvr-u0UP2DuwXUSFHNwBeTgv9YXBxowcZZEgK676uIq3RyoVRyErSq2XF9MO_nUX6AOdKK8xbQg6/s640/blogger-image-1384601955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="your clothes will be blown off " border="0" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_9T2iUCBeWCV0NEV2eH80jT6jL84hkTv6pbmMWC2RCe8ccqy-rr9MyOhzvr-u0UP2DuwXUSFHNwBeTgv9YXBxowcZZEgK676uIq3RyoVRyErSq2XF9MO_nUX6AOdKK8xbQg6/s640/blogger-image-1384601955.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a>Simply, I can't wait to read more by Becca Tobin.Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12974012.post-10423477037958817612015-09-03T09:00:00.000-04:002015-09-03T09:00:03.815-04:00The Oven by Sophie Goldstein<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSlnGIL9orHaNEA0MHxOKIpFKz2dZ2Kb05jjf-H7bXHbao0qvSZNJhVMSgYzHyhnSA00nSo7VHDxbOUagDSAO8u2dg2EFZFNZzTIN6AGoU-kDenRePBJ0vKYBXMe_Jxygc9g3/s640/blogger-image--1431660401.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSlnGIL9orHaNEA0MHxOKIpFKz2dZ2Kb05jjf-H7bXHbao0qvSZNJhVMSgYzHyhnSA00nSo7VHDxbOUagDSAO8u2dg2EFZFNZzTIN6AGoU-kDenRePBJ0vKYBXMe_Jxygc9g3/s400/blogger-image--1431660401.jpg" width="300" /></a>I must admit that I am a sucker for a scrappy utopia. I love hope expressed through investing in the land, having children and forming community around shared humanity. In Sophie Goldstein's <i>The Oven</i>, "the city" has become entirely removed from the land and in order to have children one must be deemed perfect and issued a permit.<br />
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Young 20-something main characters Syd and Eric run away from the city to have a child and, perhaps, to become adults. The Oven seems to offer a few options for that future. They begin with the exhilaration of the young and despite Syd's initial fear that they made a mistake, they are taken under the wing of a farmer couple with several children and settle into a physically strenuous life of growing their own food, sewing their own clothes and living without the UV-ray protection of a dome.<br />
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But the saying, uttered often around the camp, "It's a free country," has a dark side of course. Goldstein is sparing in showing us the full extent of life in The Oven, but the glimpses of the less savory side of being outside the law are interesting. Especially effective are the panels showing the effects of a local drug made from bugs.<br />
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While I enjoyed <i>The Oven</i>, I felt as though the decline of Syd and Eric's relationship happened too quickly. I would have appreciated more scenes of them growing apart, their shared dream unraveling, so that when Eric leaves we feel more profoundly what Syd has lost and gain more insight into her final decision to stay in the colony. I also think this would have provided more opportunities to explore the world that Goldstein built.<br />
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Update: <i>The Oven</i> is a 2015 Ignatz nominee for Outstanding Graphic Novel.Carriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333774834458788336noreply@blogger.com0