this is what concerns me:

nine gallons of comics

Susie — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:25:55 +0000

I’ve finished the first chapter of a new book of short vignettes recounting my experience with Food Not Bombs — the good, the bad, the characters, the salt… I’m working on the next two chapters for a Xeric Grant application in September, but for the next few months this space will primarily be devoted to weekly installments of This is What Concerns Me. (Don’t worry, though, I’ll spare you from the ongoing And Now They Are Dead series until MJ is well-buried and the bad cartoon curse has been lifted.)

So stay tuned! And check out more Nine Gallons on my Flickr page. And please, give me some tips for how to sound less stiff when promoting myself.

mean drama girls

Susie — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:20:48 +0000

This Old Gray Lady piece on bias against female playwrights presents some interesting facts — not least of which is this one that touches on a theme I’ve been batting around since high school. Namely, that girls are huge bitches to other girls.

Ms. Sands sent identical scripts to artistic directors and literary managers around the country. The only difference was that half named a man as the writer (for example, Michael Walker), while half named a woman (i.e., Mary Walker). It turned out that Mary’s scripts received significantly worse ratings in terms of quality, economic prospects and audience response than Michael’s. The biggest surprise? “These results are driven exclusively by the responses of female artistic directors and literary managers,” Ms. Sands said.

Amid the gasps from the audience, an incredulous voice called out, “Say that again?”

Ms. Sands put it another way: “Men rate men and women playwrights exactly the same.”

You know, blah blah patriarchy creates social structures in which women turn on other women, breaking apart the power of the sisterhood in order to divide and conquer blah blah. Anyway, I’d love to see the results of an economic study like this done on comics by women… I imagine they might be a bit different.

a few changes

Susie — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:36:10 +0000

I’ve really been dropping the ball lately on responding to sales requests for minicomics, so I decided to set up a PayPal store situation available to you over there in the sidebar. It’s pretty bare bones right now, but expect more cool purchaseable stuff in the near future. Please note, though, that for now, I am way behind on reprinting these comics, and will probably run out soon.

In related news, I won’t be at MoCCA this year after all since I’ve been a bad cartoonist and haven’t yet finished this new comic I’m working on. But it will be printed and ready for purchase by the end of the month.

comic art therapy

Susie — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:40:33 +0000

There are also some preview shots of my (gulp) “book” on Flickr. I’ve been drawing a lot of baggy pants, unkempt hair and unhappy faces instead of blogging lately. It’s easier on the hands.

I guess this is evidence that some artists are making money

Susie — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:25:26 +0000

Because otherwise Dick Blick wouldn’t be selling these lifesize wooden manikins now would they?

Of course not.

Only $555 for the kid, $779 for the lady and $799 for the dude!

Hell, what’s another $800 when you’ve got $100K in art school loans, right kids? It’ll look so good in the condo! And now you’ll never have to draw from any of those gross naked people!!

yes but what are your shoes really saying about you?

Susie — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:42:17 +0000

When you’re writing a profile of Naomi Klein for the New Yorker, you need to put things in terms your base readership can understand, or at least drop some cultural cues as to why Klein is polished enough for that full-page photo despite her dirty, dirty, plebey politics.

“She was wearing dark jeans tucked into tall brown boots, a crisp white shirt, and a long black blazer. She was dressed for a fox hunt. She looked terrific.”

“[Klein's home] is furnished simply, as though on one quick trip to Crate & Barrel.”

I guess a more cynical reading would be that the author is trying to undermine Klein’s thesis here. But then they really seem to genuinely love the outfits and the furniture over at the New Yorker.

a modest proposal which hinges on these bargain basement gas prices

Susie — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:19:32 +0000

Anyone want to help me shoot a depressing documentary on foreclosure, the housing crisis and the collapse of the nouveau riche debt-ridden American dream this coming spring/summer? Some camera/sound help would be nice. C’mon, kids, road trip!!

that’s not what the vikings want

Susie — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:52:10 +0000

I don’t know why everyone is so into the Mighty Boosh when they could be watching Time Trumpet.

harper’s highlights for kids

Susie — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:22:16 +0000

No, not actually for kids. Well, maybe. I don’t know. It’s Tuesday, give me a fucking break.

Researchers learned that ants that perform specific tasks are no more efficient than regular ants. “It turns out,” said scientist Anna Dornhaus, “that the ones that are specialized on a particular job are not particularly good at doing that job.” … Ann Coulter had her mouth wired shut. … Planned Parenthood of Indiana announced plans to offer holiday gift certificates that can be applied toward the cost of checkups, contraception, or abortions. “They deserve coal in their stockings,” said Sister Diane Carollo of the Indianapolis Archdiocese.

And on that whole Wal-Mart stampede thing:

“It was crazy,” said a worker in the electronics department. “The deals weren’t even that good.”

next bitch in line

Susie — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 02:47:01 +0000

There was a This American Life marathon on television today, I guess to get everyone in the sappy patriotic mood. Now I don’t believe everything Ira touches is gold, but this is… well, just watch it.