Paul Hoppe & Man-Belly Touching (no relation)

Little Lulu and I just got back from seeing Rabid Rabbit compadre Paul Hoppe read his new children's book ('The Woods') at Book Court in our old neighborhood. The reading fell right during Lulu's usual nap time, so I was impressed that she neither nodded off nor wailed during the event. She did scream 'MORE!!' a few times because I'd bought her a bagel with tofu-veggie spread that she enjoys smearing across her face in what I'm guessing is an anti-Al Jolsen performance piece. Anyhow, the book is great, so pick one up at a bookstore or buy it online or send your money to Paul by carrier pigeon.

In absolutely unrelated news, my longtime fellow employee/friend at Utrecht, Jen, threw a surprise party for her manfriend/my not-as-longtime fellow employee/friend Billy. She asked a bunch of us to paint something for him on a 5x5 wooden panel. I only had a couple of hours to paint mine, but I think it came out pretty well regardless. I'll leave it to you to deduce the meaning. I was impressed by the other panels. Who would've guessed that a bunch of artists would be working at an art supply store?!

I also got to break in my new cupcake carrier. I bought it in anticipation of bringing vegan cupcakes to Lulu's friend's birthday parties and such (let's just hope she has friends). It's basically a muffin pan with another tier that is covered with a snap on plastic cover with a handle. I got a few shout outs on the bus up to Harlem.

The Bitch is Back!

While living in the real world I occasionally neglect this sad little virtual world. Interrupting my pleasant dreams of sharing vegan milkshakes with Calvin Broadus, Jr. (you probably know him as "Snoop Dogg", but we've been dream-bros for almost a decade now, so he insists I call him by his given name), a nagging snuffling series of zeroes and ones overtakes my subconscious and hounds me relentlessly until I passively aggressively type a new entry into this here blog.

So, what's been keeping me so busy that I can't even be bothered to write or call? I'm glad you asked!

Here, I'll present it as a series of bullet points for maximum efficiency:

• We moved! Yes, after only two years in Brooklyn, we've returned to Manhattan. We could no longer resist the siren call of my in-laws' offer of the bottom floor of their brownstone on the Upper West Side. My wife and I now both share a studio that is NOT part of our living room/kitchen, which is a first. The UWS is quite a different scene than our previous apartments in the Lower East Side or Brooklyn. You can't find a (vegan) meal for under $10 and the mean age is 65, but there are lots of parks and museums for our little one. The apartment wasn't finished being renovated for the first six weeks after we moved in, but now we're almost done unpacking and getting back to a semblance of normal life. 
• I finished a new ten page comic for Nicole Georges (Invincible Summer). It's for an anthology she's putting out about bad roommates. I've been blessed with mostly amazing roommates, but there have been a few stinkers. This comic explores four of the worst offenders. 
• Chainsaw Comics accepted my five page comic for an anthology with the theme of "fear". I originally drew this one for the Dapper Chap anthology (with a "horror" theme), but the founder volunteered at a primate sanctuary in South America (can't fault him that!) and I don't think it will ever come out.
• My publishing company, Birdcage Bottom Books, was working on a project with a couple of fairly high-profile comic artists, but it seems to have fallen through. Now that my tears have dried, I'm thinking of putting together a split anthology. Half would be comics by vegan artists and half would be by carnivores or whatever the more accurate term for non-vegetarians might be (since true carnivores eat meat almost exclusively)...omnivores? I'm not sure if I want to impose a stricter theme beyond that of diet. I'm still in the brainstorming stage. Anyone out there interested in submitting or have any bright ideas?
• I'm writing the final chapter of my Losers Weepers comic. I took a break after issue #3 to work on some shorter comics and in anticipation of moving to our new apartment.

Here's the first page of the bad roommate comic to pique your interest...

Moving is a Bitch

Long time, no post. Will return with a vengeance once we've fully moved into our new place!