old, in internet years, but good

The best comic shops in Paris, a list by Mark Burrier. I've been to two of them--Album and Boulinier--and spent much more money than was wise. My one Burrier print is away at the framer. When it is done, it will go to B's windowless office to act as antidepressant decor.


#####
Here is a callback, I encountered Pinocchio by Winshluss at Album, right after it won the Angoulême International Comics Festival award. If I had known that it was about beetles in your brain, well then perhaps I would have picked it up. Depression (and other inaccessible brain things) is difficult to write about, and this review covers three comics that try. I want to give Bookslut review-writer Martyn Pedler a hug right now: "Why am I putting this in print? I don’t know. Maybe because the only way we’ll ever know what each others’ cockroaches look like is to try to explain our own, and pay close attention when others do the same."


#####
Some terrible things that bosses have said. My entry: "Well, [your brother] wouldn't have died if the car had had airbags." This was about two months after it happened. I left for the day right after that.


##### "Still, it is hard to look at people the same way when they are so clearly putting a blanket of hatred over me, even if they didn't know I was standing there."  I like a blog post that talks about Burger King, disappearing, a small room under the stairs and why Facebook is a pipeline to hate.

Most tryharderlanders know that Lynda Barry is my favorite cartoonist. I love to read interviews with her because, unlike a lot of conversation with artists, her answers reinforce the positive, brave impression I get from her work.

Finally, you can read The Comic Journal's interview with Lynda Barry from #296 without the hefty cost of subscription. Not that a subscription to TCJ would be turned down, or anything...

ooooo

Are you disgusted/envious/agog at the plethora of awful blog books? So are these folks, so they are throwing as much shit as possible until some sticks, which is sometimes the only plan that works.

ooooo

I haven't been able to give my local branch the attention it deserves recently, which has resulted not only in fewer awkward interactions with a librarian there whom I interviewed last semester, but also in many of the books I've ordered to languish on the hold shelf, only to be sent back to their respective branches.

Any good fiction I should put on the list for the next round of holds?

Today was the first day of classes and I am already reeling from the amount of information I am intended to absorb in the next few months. So far the classes seem interesting and tougher than last semester. The amount of administrative eff ups was strangely comforting, like I am really in school and know the drill now. Sad, huh?

^^^

Oppression. Depression. Repression. The blacktress knows them all. Can you handle her? She should move to Philly where people speak the truth!

^^^

Guess who's back? Not The Ruler, but 50 Books herself! I missed her with in a way that no amount of boy baby pictures could fill.

^^^
"... they were hilarious, powerful, tough, loud, et cetera et cetera all good comic making material! But then sometimes, man, the main thing about them is that they just got screwed, big time."
Kate Beaton uses a little color to comic about the perils of learning more about the women of history.

Exclusive: blogger dies from lack of comments!

Bug girl, always a fount of information, has alerted me to the fact that many issues of the World Weekly News are now online through Google Books. Paging through the issues sends me to a few places in my past: collaging, zines, and the simple delight my brother found in buying those things at the supermarket. I am not sure exactly what he loved about them, but for me the benign absurdity was always a welcome distraction from more menacing ridiculousness.

***

Friend of Try Harder, the amazing SEC is signing the new Mome at Bergen Street Comics on Sunday. See you there.

***

Hooray! Robin talks with Corrine Mucha over at inkstuds. I love her work, and will review My Alaskan Summer soon soon soon.

when the day is long

Two from Strange Horizons:
I have never been a father or been in contact with inscrutable aliens, but I imagine it would be a lot like this. "All the Anne Franks" by Eric Hoel

The always thought-provoking Matthew Cheney on returning to meat-eating. This guy writes like I wish I could.

### ^^^ ###

How to draw a baby when she is stuck to you from Lauren Weinstein. I am loving her new-mother sketches.

### ^^^ ###

These Christmas cartoons from Kate Beaton made me laugh even though this time of year makes me want to gouge out my eyes and yours.


(image via Morbid Anatomy)

Who cares about books? Let's look at deformed heads!

So, how did you find my blog? Did you Google an author and find one of my reviews? Perhaps you followed a link from another site touting my awesomeness. Maybe you even looked for me after we met somewhere.

Or, maybe, like the people below, you just poured your heart out to the internet and got stuck with me (search terms in bold):

makeminebig.com- Do not send money! It will not work!
in exile, self-imposed- Yes, there are many lessons about creating this condition on tryharder. How to relieve it, not so much.
short excitement stories- The short ones are my favorite.
deformed head- Hmm…
deformed heads- Urr…
deformed heads pic- Just heads, or would you be fine with something else?
deformed head picture- Oh, ok. Deformed heads it is.
pictures of deformed heads- No need to get all fancy and use a phrase; you still won’t find such pictures here. Try Morbid Anatomy.
deformed brain picture- Well, that’s a whole nother thing…
adults with deformed heads pictures- I think pictures of children with deformed heads would be much cuter. No? Ok.
i think my head is deformed- You think? Be decisive.
i have a deformed head- That’s better.
i was born with deformed head, can i find love?- You are obviously not the only one. That’s something at least!
take deformed pictures- Here’s a thought: how about you take a normal picture of a deformed head? Lots of folks are looking for those.
how to surprise a gal- Maybe with a pic of a deformed head? They are very popular right now.
child bottoms voyeur- This is why Germans have a bad reputation.
shaved from head to toe- This is why New Zealanders should.
school quotes to make you work harder or try harder- How about “We don't pay anything, but you'll get a byline!”
how do i get my child to try harder- See above.
pray on my ass- hott.
what are in a nerds vocabulary?- Start with subject/verb agreement and go from there.
stories of strip tease contest- Those types of stories are full of drama.
frankenhooker where is my- … Garter belt? Chainsaw? Face?
how to try harder to make love better- I’m not sure that Googling is the best first step for this.

"I'll be the mommy superhero and you'll be the daddy superhero"

I'm glad that that 3 year-old picked up on my daddy superhero vibe. Next time we'll not only save B and the baby, but the world!

&&&&&&&&

Check out this great blog, The Deal With Disability, by Eva, a woman with cerebral palsy. She can't talk, is in a wheelchair and rocks a short haircut that seems to be very confusing to the people she meets. Her very presence seems to be so confusing, in fact, that people act like assholes to her all the time. So, to set them (and us) straight, she has strapped a video camera to her chair and presented videos of her daily interactions, with commentary.

While it may hurt to see yourself reflected in some of the targets of her camera, Eva's writing is really funny and her blog provides many teachable moments.

&&&&&&&&



Quigley's Cabinet would have earned a place on the sidebar with just this entry on photographs, discovered in an estate sale, of vegetables taken by a proud English gardener of the fruits and vegetables he raised. But, she also blogs about giant insects, Cronenberg-movie inspirations, and dolphin-abusing eccentrics.

how high's the water mamma?

Maud Newton has two great entries up right now. One is an impassioned letter from a local librarian. Read it now. Then, when her message has sunk in, take "The powerful women trivia quiz." It leans a little old-timey, but if that is your thing, it's time to feel superior!

&&&

A great story about the satisfaction of fan letter-writing by Craig Fischer (with one of my favorite ladies of the 80s, Mary Fleener).

&&&

Science fiction and Ben Franklin's writing: two great tastes together, over at Strange Horizons.

&&&

HAAAAA! Basically the perfect synopsis of not only Douglas Coupland's output, but of every lazy media product aimed at the 20-45 crowd.

funny.

Smart, musical, right on. Eliza Skinner.

I saw Mitch Magee on Friday. He was stuck behind me and my flat of impatiens and graciously kept from pushing me out of the way.

It all comes together...

Lucky me in nyc.

the party I wish I were having

I love those ScienceBlogs and especially the Bleiman brothers.

linkular

Hooray! Kate Beaton speaks! To inkstuds! For the Canadian artists series!

Her voice is deep and sultry, like mine, but she is much too modest.

***

This is both hilarious and terrifying. Americans are really special. Thanks blogger dashboard.

Yar!

Everything that Amy Ambulette said about those pirates was true. You will have crushes throughout the evening.

***

She also has a contest going. So get it together and win! win! win!

best comic feud ever

Ha ha ha!
(via journalista)

Do I have to mention again how much I love Kate Beaton? She asks the tough questions.

How I feel when I try to write sometimes.

Loom. The word of the month for March, so poetically defined by Noah Webster (the link leads to a great site for browsing on a gloomy day). I have been running all around on days off, scheduled and otherwise, hopping trains and spending money. Actually, when I put it that way, it sounds kind of fun!

Here are some things that are worth your time:

A tale of "old man" friendship gone bad. As they almost always do. The thing about hanging out with people 10 years+ your senior when you are an awesome teen gal is that you will grow up and the man-boys won't, and they will hate you for it. Also, see the comment from the "teacher," who proves him or herself to be the last person I would ever want to talk to my child about anything.

Mimi Smartypants makes me laugh so so much.

Mary Millwhistle has a new project called NoPOTUS. From the release:"The frenzied scrutiny of the 2008 presidential contenders proves that past mistakes can, and will, come back to haunt those who run for office. NoPOTUS.com exposes the transgressions, missteps, and ill-advised associations of America's children... proving that they, too, will never grow up to be president." What she needs from you is pictures of kids under 10 to be used in hilarious, but anonymous, ways. Email her at millwhistle AT gmail.com.

A new blog that makes me feel happy to be alive:

A Good Poop
Safe for my work, at least.

So right about the wrongness

Gwen has a great post on how zealots get all mad when you don't want to talk to them about their belief of choice, and how their failure to get through is usually because they are terrible conversationalists.

My work sweater smells like bacon

Extreme procrastination has led me to read the entire internet over the last few days and now I realize it is time to write some letters, finish the kinda blah Patricia Highsmith book I am reading or just plain do some work. This kind of miserable drizzle always makes me want to work, or rather, to have worked and take time to bask in the product.

Last night I made some BEC sandwiches (think about it... and there!) and the apartment hasn't recovered. Neither has my stomach and I dreamt all night of San Francisco, Baltimore, gentrification, drunken mistakes of the losing-precious-possessions kind and thrift stores. And pirate kings. This could have been a result of thehttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif confluence of the aforementioned sandwiches and the pound of grapes I decided to consume with them before falling asleep in front of Dead Man.

But look away from my shame and onto:

Interviews are back at millwhistle!
Gwyneth Jones doesn't say much under the guise of rapping about the SF in our real lives and reminds me of not liking her book which I really wanted to like!
Amy Ambulette has sex in one hour sometimes! (Do you like the way I sell it Amy? Do ya?)
The prog lady still hasn't posted anything new!

Also, for all you writerly, interviewerly people out there:
Please take a long look at Topic wearing its web suit. If this seems like something you would like to be a part of, email me at carrie.jones AT topicmag.com and we will talk. (The site requires a free sign up). If you know some younguns that want to exercise their chops, I am looking for a few good interns as well.

Tonight I am going to this. I cannot imagine an entertainment that connects more of my interests: libraries, musicals (surprise!), obsessions, Philadelphia characters, books, comics (Ben Katchor did the libretto and projected illustrations), um, funny stuff...

THE ROSENBACH COMPANY: A Musical Story of Bibliomania is sold out according to the nypl site, but "tickets may be available at the door." So coy!

ETA: this was totally kick ass. the only downside was that the lyrics were occasionally hard to hear. see it somewhere if you can.

The Carnival of Green is going on at sludgie. See, I knew that people who love the earth were sexier...