Monday, August 16, 2010

Ends & Odds

Just some bite-sized tapas today. One reader left a comment on an old post suggesting I write up a tutorial on how I did the "Ben Day" dot patterns for the comic book sections of WHTTWOT. If I can find time, I think I'll do that in the next couple of days. Some people like the crafty stuff--or at least Google it a lot after the fact. Meanwhile...

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The 60th anniversary of the comic strip "Peanuts" is coming up, and I'm helping it celebrate. On September 11 from 1 to 3 p.m., the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, Calif., is hosting a "Sketch-A-Thon" at which a whole bunch of cartoonists will set up in the museum's Great Hall to draw pictures, talk to folks, and maybe sell a few books. In addition to me (blush), people scheduled to participate include Michael Capozzola, Alexis Fajardo, Shaenon Garrity, Mike Gray, Rhoda Grossman, Debbie Huey, Jonathan Lemon, Paul Madonna, Brian Narelle, and Lark Pien. I understand we'll also be asked to draw something Peanuts-themed to mark the occassion and contribute to the museum's collection, which I'd consider quite an honor.
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Come on by and keep me company.
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Last weekend, Karen and I helped our 22-year-old twin daughters move to San Francisco for graduate studies and work. I have a question for parents with adult children older than mine: Do they ever stop being your little babies? Because while the physical part of the move wasn't too tough, I confess that abandoning my kids to the urban jungle took some fortitude. I'm excited for them: two young, smart, single gals could really flourish in one of the world's great cities. I also imagine they sometimes wonder what they hell they've gotten themselves into.

I just want to kiss their boo-boos and make them better. Can't always do that. Shouldn't, either.
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I realized this morning that I've spent most of my life confusing the actors Leo G. Carroll and E.G. Marshall. How I've survived this long is beyond me.
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Carroll and Marshall--or vice versa.

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4 comments:

Jim O'Kane said...

Brian, from the time the doctor passes you the scissors to cut the umbilicus to the time they gently slam the lid on your casket, you are going to be a parent.

My son is 27 years old, lives 3000 miles away from me, and I don't think there has been a moment wherein I didn't worry about him or that he hasn't kept me updated about his various "situations." Many are the times of TMI, but it's all part of the Extended Warranty Service children of parents like us have.

They know we mean well. They also stay in touch with us by choice, so count it a blessing.

Jim O'Kane said...

Oh, and mistaking Mr. Waverly for one of The Bold Ones may be a sign of mental fatigue, or simple decaffeination.

My personal symptoms of this usually confuse Hugh O'Brien with Doug McClure. I think it may be NBC Mystery Movie Disease, or McCloud Syndrome.

Mike said...

I think Leo G. Carroll was who they hired when they couldn't get Adolphe Menjou. In any case, those are the two who get conflated in my mind, though Menjou was clearly the superior actor. Sort of like Edward Arnold and Eugene Pallette, both of whom are instantly recognizable but less instantly distinguishable from each other.

E.G. Marshall was never a problem for me because I used to see him scamper up the steps of the courthouse every week in the opening credits of "The Defenders," one of the rare times when my parents would commandeer the TV. (Yes, in an age when a house only had one TV.)

ronnie said...

"Come on by and keep me company."

Oh, if only I could! (Gnashes teeth at how big this goldarned continent is.)

Have fun!

(Incidentally, my word identification word is "boozzme". Are these guys spying on us, or what?