under the haystack

just another congregation of impossibilities

boy blue — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:42:01 +0000

eliyanna kaiser, a writer of fictions, described to me the illustration she envisioned spanning the head of her new website. it was to be a portrait of the author at work, surrounded by, perhaps receiving counsel from, the archetypes of the genres in which she works: a fantastic fairy, a scientifically fictitious robot, a horrible vampire.

flights of further fancy, below the fold.

the district sleeps with its phone

boy blue — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:23:39 +0000

i don't have an iphone or whatever. a "smart phone?" a "data plan?" my phone just does phone stuff. and i wonder how many years i have before this paragraph is utterly incomprehensible (rather than just largely incoherent).

[ babble on, below the fold. ]

screaming from the gallery

boy blue — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:40:14 +0000

[ the following essay first appeared in fantastic monsters, an anthology 'zine edited by caitlin m., which debuted at the 2010 mocca art fest. you know, in case you were wondering what all the capital letters were for. ]

The courtroom is colder than it was outside, but at least it’s also drier. Soles squeak against the linoleum, resoundingly but a-rhythmically, no matter how one tries to count it out. (Still, who can help but try; it’s an alluring but un-winnable game, a puzzle that can’t be decrypted.) Watches are checked aggressively, proactively: forty-three minutes. Longer, it is noted, than the Feldman jury took, but that, of course, was a once-in-a-career victory. The time elapsed is still less than most consensuses require.

[ the time it is elapsin', below the fold. ]

what’s good about good morning?

boy blue — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:06:09 +0000

my buddy caitlin had a problem. her series of self-published comics, poems, and field guides had begun to attract attention. her mocca table was quickly picked clean, and she was asked to contribute to the forthcoming zinester's guide to nyc. but at every turn, she encountered the same question: "do you have a 'blog? where can i find more of your work?"

[ where indeed, below the fold ]

imagine me and you and you and mecaf

boy blue — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:14:24 +0000

[ penobscot bay, maine. click for details. ]

i love maine. grego' and rachael are both mainers, and i spent as much of my early twenties as possible stomping around their homeland, climbing on katahdin and lusting after odd old instruments in bar harbor and drinking pumpkinhead ale in portland and trying to keep my lunch down, or at least inside my own zipper car, at the blue hill fair.

[ more of maine's myriad merits, including sunday's comics arts festival, below the fold.

some days end up here

boy blue — Fri, 14 May 2010 22:49:28 +0000

drought is the newest autobiographical romantic misadventure to wind its un-fortuitous way into the oubliette.

[ read all about it (and buy it, if you like) below the fold. ]

i miss you most when i’m photoshopping.

boy blue — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:14:01 +0000

[ neil and girlcate prepare for the morning rush. ]

look, i'm not complaining. mocca was, in my opinion, more or less back to its old, awesome self this year.

and the armory is growing on me. sure, it's impersonal and climatically oppressive on even the balmiest of april days, but it also allowed for smooth flow of foot-traffic and reasonably egalitarian table assignations, neither of which were merits boasted by the festival's old digs. and, while one should always exercise caution disagreeing with ms. tryharder, i will admit to loving the cluster of out-of-the-way reading tables. and okay, exhibitor space is still impractically expensive, but a critical mass of us remain willing to lose money when doing so is this much fun.

my only serious lingering complaint is how freaking terrible my pictures look. they leave me longing for the flooding daylight and luminescent walls of the puck building, which, despite its crowded corridors and unreliable climate controls, gave us such picturesque memories.

but whatever. the point is, comics:

[ get to the point, below the fold. ]

for claire, whoever that is

boy blue — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 03:29:50 +0000

this is claire, whom i've never met.

her father, doug, with whom i'm only slightly better acquainted, made an absurdly generous contribution to my cat's mastectomy fund. i can't really say why; the attached note, written on the reverse of a lovely vermeer print, offered only the following elaboration:

"i have two cats, so i know."

i can only hope to someday become the kind of person who approaches dim acquaintances with such compassion and generosity.

[ doug is a donor to midnight's surgery fund. if you made a contribution and are still waiting for your drawing, i appreciate your patience, and assure you, contritely, convincingly, that i will get to it soon. a variation on this drawing can be found below the fold. ]

napoleon of the stumptown

boy blue — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:47:18 +0000

the oubliette: drought, a new romantic misadventure, debuts at this weekend's 7th annual stumptown comics fest in lovely portland, oregon. my comics, prints, goodies, and i will be at table 99*, alongside the unstoppable josh shalek, whose new falling rock national park collection see america first is not to be missed.

stumptown comics fest 2010 saturday & sunday, april 24th & 25th, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. lloyd center doubletree exhibit hall, 1000 ne multnomah, portland, oregon $6/day

[ * please refer to the below map of my northwestern conquest. ]

where i’m bound

boy blue — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:51:44 +0000

[ x marks the kenan. click to enlarge. ]

i'll be exhibiting this weekend at the mocca festival, the annual benefit for new york's museum of comic and cartoon art. you can find me, my comics, the fantastic monsters anthology*, and some very handsome new prints of my new york drawings** at table E14, alongside mr. neil brideau and countless paper manifestations of his brilliance and general likability.

mocca, for those who haven't witnessed it, is an indie orgy of self-publishers and small-press comics from around the world. it is, i assure you, two days of overwhelming, disorienting bliss.

mocca art festival 2010
saturday & sunday, april 10th & 11th, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
69th regiment armory: 68 lexington avenue (between 25th & 26th), new york, ny
$12/day or $20/weekend (cheaper in advance)

i'll see you there.

[ * a new 58-page anthology zine, curated by caitlin m., featuring the work of 16 artists and authors (one of whom is me). ]

[ ** like this one (click for full-screen): ]