The Bay Area was out in full force at this year’s Stumptown Comics Festival in Portland, Oregon. We had an action-packed table, with all sorts of new comics, including my new full-color Israel travelogue Notes on Conflict, which is now up for sale in the store. Look how excited we are! (That may or may not be because we just ate some rad fried pies from a food cart, though.)
I was also on a panel about local printing and publishing that I wish I’d recorded, as it was a really lively and interesting discussion between a diverse group of people. Plus it reinforced to me how awesome printing on newsprint is, especially given how web presses are hurting with shrinking newspapers right now. I think even more comics and zine newspaper projects will be popping up soon as a result.
I’d never been on a convention panel before and this was a really great experience. People were even taking notes!!
While my sales weren’t exactly amazing at Stumptown, I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun at a show, so I call it a success. You’ll have to wait for specifics, though: my piece for the Daily Crosshatch ain’t going live ’til Monday.
Stumptown was super great and I am super fried. I’ll be writing up a piece on the festival this week for the Daily Crosshatch, as well as, I’m sure, some extra blogging here. But for now, I leave you with this little gem. Not too awkward, right? Sorry, Comic-Con.
This is my comic that will debut at Stumptown next weekend in Portland, Oregon. Full-color, 24-pages, con special price of $5. You pay that much for xeroxed shit! ‘Cause you’re a sucker! I mean, no, because you’re a patron of the arts!!
I’ll be tabling with local favorites Melanie Lewis, Damien Jay, Joey Sayers, and Elenore Toczynski, who I am not linking here because yes, that is how lazy I am, and they are already linked over there in the sidebar okay? Jeez.
Richard Florida says he wrote Who’s My City basically as a self-help tome. There are tons of books on the market that address choosing career and love (oft considered the other two big life decisions on which your happiness relies [no pressure]) — but none, he said, to address where one should choose to live.
I haven’t read the book, just listened to Florida’s longish Talk of the Nation segment, which was pretty enjoyable, though it only added fuel to my Portland fire. (Every other NPR commenter is singing its praises — maybe the city government hires viral marketing shills for this kind of assignment?)
I did, however, check out the Web site, which has some low-rent WMC features, like a pared-down “best cities” grid — which suggests that as a 20-29 year old single person, I should try Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, New York, San Francisco or TRENTON, NJ. Damn you, Florida.
I’ll probably still skim the book some time at the library, though, if only to find out more about Florida’s “five personality types” that dictate city choice better than most other factors, especially after hearing his banter with the aging “progressive” on TotN.
