Trespassing on the Future

Karen and I often watch the Antiques Roadshow on PBS, and last night someone said something that I liked so much I remembered it and looked it up this morning.

While discussing a rocking chair by mid-century designers Charles and Ray Eames, appraiser John Sollo praised the Eameses by saying: "I like people who trespass on the future."

What a neat way to say that they were ahead of their time. "Trespass on the future." I thought that was great! If it's a common expression, it's a new one to me. 

Two notes: One, Charles and Ray Eames were a married couple--Ray was Charles's wife--who did a lot more than design furniture. If you can picture Mid-century Modern design, art, architecture and even film, odds are they influenced it. Two, the chair was appraised for $800 to $1200.

250 Words on My Favorite Con Story

[I try to start my day writing 250 words on anything. I’ll post one every Tuesday until I run out of good ones.]

A podcast host recently asked about my experiences with fans at comics conventions. It reminded me of my favorite con story of all.

It happened a few years ago at LumaCon, a small, free comics convention put on by librarians in Petaluma, Calif. to encourage love of reading, creativity, and wholesome fandom. It couldn’t be more sincere if it were Linus’s pumpkin patch. 

A boy about 14 came to my table with his father. The boy had autism, and he said very little. But he had a “How to Draw Dragonball Z” book and had gone through it, meticulously mimicking its manga style, and wanted to show me his work. 

I gently critiqued his drawings and asked if he’d created any characters and stories of his own. He turned to the back pages and showed me some original work, which I encouraged him to keep doing. His dad was beaming. The boy and I had a good chat and he left happy. 

Later, the father circled back to thank me and explain that he once worried his son would never talk. Then he discovered comics. His very first words, at the age of 9, were “Superman’s cape is red.”

Comics were the key to unlocking and engaging his mind. For the father, going from fearing his son might never speak to a few years later watching him share his art with a cartoonist at a comics convention was profoundly moving. 

"Superman’s cape is red."

You don’t forget something like that. 

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Trump vs. The Presidio

This enrages me, mostly because it hits near my home and heart. The Presidio of San Francisco is a beautiful national park at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge and Trump just fired its entire board of directors. 

Trump has had it in for the Presidio for some time, partly because it's in Nancy Pelosi's hometown (ditto Alcatraz). It's a particularly poor target because it's actually a conservative's dream: a national park that pays for itself! The Presidio rents space to businesses, including LucasFilm's Industrial Light and Magic, and hasn't taken a penny of federal funds since 2013. If anything, it should be a right-wing model of "doing it right"! Instead, Trump seems determined to grind it into the sand. We'll see what his replacement board look like. 

The Presidio is a regional and national gem that I've explored and treasured. I can only hope, as the linked article says, that the legislation that created the Presidio Trust is robust enough to outlast a petty tyrant who's determined to destroy it out of spite. 

Karen and I, with our late dog Riley, picnicking on the Presidio parade grounds in 2023.

Henry Chamberlain

Saturday afternoon I dropped by the Charles M. Schulz Museum to see visiting cartoonist Henry Chamberlain, who was set up in the Education Room sketching pencil portraits for visitors and signing his new book George's Run, about the mid-century science fiction writer George Clayton Johnson (Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Logan's Run). 

In addition to being a cartoonist, Henry is a writer and podcaster who has interviewed me for his "Comics Grinder" YouTube program. I couldn't pass up the chance to see him in person, and we had a nice conversation. I always appreciate a chance to talk shop! Check out his website: https://comicsgrinder.com/

Copperfield's Report

In the window at Copperfield's Books in Santa Rosa, Calif., my favorite heroic local independent bookseller.

Last night's Mom's Cancer talk and signing at Copperfield's in Santa Rosa was terrific! One of the best I've had in a long time. I didn't get a head count but would guess a few dozen...? As Karen said, you know it's going well when the bookstore has to roll away bookcases and find more chairs to handle the standing-room audience.

What made it great were the people who came: friends, neighbors, former coworkers, fellow cartoonists, an artist I haven't seen since we were in high school art class together, my sister Brenda (who had someone ask her to autograph their book, which I loved!), and even some people I DIDN'T know! They comprised a real "world's collide" cross-section of my life that showed up to support me, and that meant a lot.

Thanks to Leo from Copperfield's for hosting the event, glad we could sell a few books for you. Leo will also be selling books for my next scheduled public event on Saturday, May 16 at 2 p.m. at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. If you couldn't make this one, I hope to see you there!

Leo gave me a warm and flattering introduction. He and I have been through a few books together.

A different angle from the audience as I was getting started.

Monty Monty is a local assemblage sculptor who does beautiful work. We were in high school together but only really connected on Facebook in recent years. This was our first face-to-face in mmfty decades. He's one of two people I knew back then who've gone on to become a professional fine artist, which I respect tremendously. Check out http://www.montymontyart.com/

I was very happy to see my cartooning pal Lex Fajardo, creator of the "Kid Beowulf" comic and editor at the Schulz Studio. We don't exactly have a pact, but I think we try to show up for each other when we can, and I appreciate it! Check out https://kidbeowulf.com/

Interview with Publishers Weekly

Here's an interview with me about Mom's Cancer posted yesterday by Publishers Weekly, THE industry journal of the book business. Writer Dean Simons and I had a good, long conversation that he condensed into this article that hits the high points.

I didn't mention it earlier because it appeared to be behind a paywall, and when you click that link you, too, will hit a paywall that reads "PW Pro Content." But I think I stumbled onto a glitch: if you click on the "Questions?" prompt on that pop-up screen, it opens a new tab while revealing the article on the original tab! So just click back to that first tab and it should/might be there.

If you want to go to the trouble.

Getting a write-up in PW is a big deal because booksellers, librarians, critics, and other people in publishing pay attention to it. I'm grateful! 

Wednesday on the Hornet

Snapped this photo of Pathfinder 1 with the USS Hornet while Laura and I were walking to lunch. Wish I'd had the timing or presence of mind to be closer to the Hornet; without all the road and fencing in the foreground, it would have been a real postcard photo!

I spent a few hours aboard the USS Hornet  Sea, Air and Space Museum today, consulting on updates they're making to their Apollo exhibits, to which I contributed 14 or so years ago. It was a beautiful day on the Bay, highlighted by a rare appearance by the Pathfinder 1 Zeppelin, the first rigid airship of its type to fly since the Graf Zeppelin II in 1939. 

I've seen plenty of blimps but don't think I've ever seen a real rigid airship before. The Pathfinder is a pet project of billionaire Sergey Brin and is about half the length of the Hindenburg, which must have been extra awesome in its day because Pathfinder was plenty impressive enough.

It felt especially meaningful for me to revisit Hornet's Apollo exhibits as Artemis returns from the Moon (Hornet was the ship that recovered Apollos 11 and 12 from the Pacific in 1969). I worked on my little project, took my museum-CEO daughter to lunch, and headed home, all the time thinking about the Moon and the 57 years between then and now.

Among the Hornet's artifacts are an Apollo command module boilerplate--a prototype used for testing (CM-011 if anyone wants to look it up)--and a Sea King helicopter, the same type used to recover Apollo 11 and 12. The actual helicopter used in those missions crashed in the '70s. This one is the same model that was painted to look like the original for use in the movie "Apollo 13."

The Hornet also as the Mobile Quarantine Facility (i.e., Airstream trailer) used for Apollo 14, as well as one of the Biological Isolation Garments the astronauts donned to protect the Earth from potential Moon germs. (Spoiler alert: there weren't any Moon germs, but they weren't sure of that at the time.)

The Hornet is closed to the public on Wednesdays, but it would be a lie to claim I was alone. There were museum staffers on hand plus two school buses worth of students. However, an aircraft carrier, even an old one like the Hornet, is big enough to swallow a hundred people without a belch, and once in a while you can still get half a hangar deck all to yourself.

San Francisco shining across the Bay, featuring three modes of transportation: rigid airship high in the sky, ferry plying the waters toward Alameda, and, in the distance above the city, a red Coast Guard helicopter.

Copperfield's Book Event, April 9

North Bay Friends! A reminder that I will be doing a talk and book signing for the Mom's Cancer Anniversary Edition Thursday night, April 9, 7 p.m. at Copperfield's Books in Santa Rosa, Calif. Copperfield's is a terrific independent bookstore chain, and my event will be at their Montgomery Village shop.

I don't have many personal appearances on the calendar, so take advantage of the rare opportunity! I'll be happy to sign any of my books, or even anyone else's. I'm not too picky or proud.

Copperfield's is asking people to RSVP at this link, although I promise that nobody who shows up without a reservation will be turned away. Hope to see you there, thanks!

Artemis Earthset

Just made this my new monitor background image. I like it more than the better-publicized close-up photo of Artemis's Earthset you're seeing today. I think it provides more scale and perspective, plus from a practical POV it has a lot of neutral gray that makes my desktop icons pop. What a view, what a thrill, what a time to be alive!

By the way, it took me longer than it should have to find a reasonable-quality version of this photo. NASA is sharing all their best stuff at this link.

250 Words on Overwriting

[I try to start my day writing 250 words on anything. I’ll post one every Tuesday until I run out of good ones.]

"I have made this letter longer than usual because I did not have time to make it short.” --Blaise Pascal

I tend to overwrite. I learned that about myself in my first job out of college as a reporter for a small daily newspaper. I also learned to use it to my advantage, and made it part of my writing process. 

For example, when I write a first draft and check my word count, I'm very happy if it comes out 10 to 20 percent long. I know I can tighten it into a nice lean piece that clearly says what it must and nothing else. That's my goal.

On the other hand, if my first draft comes up 10 or 20 percent short, I’m in trouble. Padding is agony.

That’s even more true in comics. I’m a words-first cartoonist, which means I script my story and then draw it. I’ve known pictures-first cartoonists who work out their story as they draw, which to me is voodoo. My scripts look like a theatrical play or screenplay: very lean, mostly dialog with some descriptions, directions and doodles. 

Once I have a script, I go through every line to find opportunities to show instead of tell, deleting any text I can replace with art. My ideal comic is one in which half the meaning is conveyed with words, half with pictures, and neither makes complete sense without the other. 

I don’t always achieve that ideal, but when I do it’s enormously gratifying. 

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Artemis II

I'm utterly absorbed by NASA's live coverage of the Artemis mission today, as the spacecraft takes a long loop around the back side of the Moon. 

I confess I doubted that having the crew take turns looking out the window and describing what they see would have any real scientific value. I couldn't imagine what they'd see that hadn't already been photographed close-up by other missions like Apollo or the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which has photographed every inch of the lunar surface. 

But I'm convinced that their perspective is unique and has unique value. LRO sees trees, the astronauts are looking at the forest. And regardless of whatever scientific value their observations have, the feeling of being there with them is priceless. It's riveting.

250 Words on the Colbert Questionert: Part Two

[I try to start my day writing 250 words on anything. I’ll post one every Tuesday until I run out of good ones.]

Talk show host Stephen Colbert sometimes asks his guests to take the “Colbert Questionert,” which he says is meant to reveal a person’s soul but is mostly for fun. Since Colbert’s “Late Show” ends on May 21, I’m giving it a go here. I answered half the questions last week; here are the rest. 

Favorite smell? Cinnamon rolls rising on Grandma's fireplace hearth.

Least favorite smell? Mercaptans, because if you can detect their sulfurous rotten-egg scent you’re probably near a dangerous gas leak. 

Flat or sparkling? Flat is fine, but I’ll take sparkling if offered.

Most used app on your phone? Texting and Facebook are my boring answers. My less-boring answer is Flightradar24. 

Window or aisle? Window. No matter how often I fly, soaring over the clouds is always a thrilling miracle. 

You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life, what is it? Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, all four movements. That counts as one song, right?

The one thing you own that you should really throw out? Artifacts we dug out of the ashes of our fire that have been sitting in bins we haven’t had the heart to open.

What number am I thinking of? 137.

Describe the rest of your life in five words? About the same but better.

I am a fan of Colbert’s, and I’d be sadder and angrier about his show’s cancellation if I weren’t sure he will soon be doing something even greater. Best wishes to him and his staff. 

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Comics 4 All Podcast

I had a great time Sunday afternoon doing a LIVE podcast for Jameson Rohrer's "Comics 4 All" show. Jameson is a librarian with a passion for comics in general and graphic medicine in particular, so we took some deep dives into those subjects plus pretty much my entire life as a cartoonist. 

Two notes: 

1. The Australian psychiatrist whose name I couldn't remember at 24:40 is Neil Phillips. To be fair to me, I haven't seen him in nine years. To be critical of me, I bought two pieces of artwork from him, so I probably should have been able to conjure his name.

2. I didn't realize until I watched some of the replay that I was blinking weird. I just want to reassure viewers that my twitchiness is not due to an undiagnosed neurological condition, but because I have terrible hay fever irritating my eyes right now and my choice was to either blink weird or claw at my corneas with my fingernails. I think I chose wisely.

Thanks to Jameson for the invitation and his time, I appreciate it!