NY Comic-Con 2008

I spotted this on Bunche's blog. The non-delinquent pictured here is writer Larry Hama, who I've known even longer than I've known Babc0ck or Kraiger. He was always friendly to me back in my early days of interning at Epic Comics (which was like the indie label of Marvel). Sometimes, Larry would drop by my desk and help me with the New York Times crossword puzzle.

I wish I still had time to do the crossword puzzle. Procrastinating time these days is dedicated to blogging, reading friend's blogs, or daydreaming about a world in which I have more time to procrastinate.

Stalking Dik-Diks with Yasir

Look what popped up in my e-mail!

Yasir (last seen teaching in Cairo) just got back from visiting Kenya with his wife. They had a great trip (though coming home was a bit disappointing, but similar to an experience I had while leaving Cairo.)

You might think something like this:
What? They went to Kenya? Are they crazy? Didn't they just have riots there?

Riots, schmiots. It's not like the country was overrun by maniacs or rabid elephants. The Kenyan media is all over the news, and you can bet we heard about every instance of protest after the elections. We often assume that for everything we hear about, there are dozens of incidents on the ground. Not so...we heard about them all, and not one of them involved rioting lions in Masai Mara.

Worried about the falling dollar? Now is the time to go to Kenya. For tourists, it's as safe as it ever is (meaning you still shouldn't carry a bag in downtown Nairobi), and the dik-diks don't bite.

That said, my interest in contrarian-travel doesn't extend to Zimbabwe right now, during the election recounts.

Unlikely Scenery

It's cherry blossom season here in JC.

Sure, you've heard about going to Washington, DC, or Japan to see cherry blossoms. But here in one of the densest urban areas in the country, I just get to look out of my window.

The last image is me cheating; I took it a year ago when Amanda was visiting.

A Mere Setback on the Road to Kampala

My e-pal Anne-Marie is finally in Uganda, where her blog will chronicle the rewards and challenges of running the Red Chilli Kampala backpacker's lodge.

Anne-Marie was originally going to manage the Red Chilli Rest Camp at Murchison Falls last year. That's when she found me. The rest camp was right up the hill from where I lived—and blogged—in the summer of 2005. A-M didn't make it to Uganda last year, and instead spent the year in London undergoing painful treatments for breast cancer.

She's a remarkable woman, having approached breast cancer with the same positive nature that got her across West Africa in a pink heap-of-crap banger car a few years back.

A lot of medical procedures and a clean bill of health later, Anne-Marie left her day job and moved to Uganda. She's there now, and I love today's post on her blog. She found my friend Celsius and gave him a copy of Stalking the Wild Dik-Dik, which he is mentioned in. I wish I'd seen how baffled he must have been before she managed to explain what was going on. I can't remember now if he knew I was writing a book, but he always called me Mary, so it probably took a lot of explaining on Anne-Marie's part.

L'il Me

My mother put up photos of L'il Marie on her blog yesterday. Aunt Peggy tried to post something about me as a wee kid, kicking and swearing at ducks. Unfortunately, the comments form swallowed it whole.

Which might be for the best.

But What's the Question?

Today I celebrate, or rather attempt to ignore, my second twenty-first birthday.

A half a life ago, at 21, I was a college intern at Marvel Comics. I lived in JC, on Fifth Street back then.

I ran into an ex-boyfriend in front of the New School last week. I hadn't seen him in about 15 years, since before I'd moved to Manhattan, back in the heady days of indie rock when bands slept on the floor of our group house, when the Other Marie, Nancy, and I used to tear around town in faux leopard-print coats (though mine was dalmatian), when we'd sail past doormen, when we'd inherit indie-rock-royalty secondhand clothes via Otis, when Nancy once marched up to Kim G0rdon and thanked her for a conspicuous furry coat she was wearing (it looked like Cookie Monster's pelt).

The ex, who surely never wore a Kim G. coat, but probably reviewed many LPs that she'd played on, asked what I was doing these days.

"I'm a comic book editor."

"STILL??? And where are you living?"

"JC."

And then he'd just laughed. I'd stammered that I'd done a lot in the meantime, but it was kind of embarrassing.

"I went around the world a few times," I said, talking too fast and too nervously. "I've written four books. I've bought and sold two condos, left comics and returned to them over and over, lived in Uganda, Spain, Australia, and Kuwait...I wasn't in JC the whole time. I haven't been in comics this whole time."

Really, I'm not as pathetic as it sounds! I've done things! My years haven't been utterly controlled by inertia!

"Is your friend still married to D? I can't remember her name."

What? Could he be serious?

And suddenly, my awkwardness evaporated. Smugly, I answered.

"Marie. Her name is Marie."

Anyway, I'm 42 years old now. It's probably time I did more than talk about my next book. Mustn't let inertia take over!

'Nuff Said

On second thought, maybe I'll wait a while before jumping back into the real estate market.

Hey Kids, More Comics!

Okay, not comics. Visual storytelling. Comics are on my mind today because it's the big New York comic book convention weekend. I'm exhausted from running around, my voice is hoarse, and I'm in the kind of daze that can only come from constantly being "on" and chatty while simultaneously keeping an eye out for real live Stormtroopers, Boba Fetts, and Mister Ts. (I was keen to send camera phone photos to C down in Princeton, as I suspect he is still a bit baffled by this world that I live and work in. I doubt the Boba Fetts cleared things up much.)

One thing I've noticed in my world travels is that many cultures have heritages of visual storytelling. Papua New Guinea has its storyboards, carved boards that feature a scene or sequential scenes. Sri Lanka has paintings in temples. Ethiopia does too. Egypt has hieroglyphics. Heck, even cavemen made pictures to communicate stories.

Here are some examples of visual storytelling from around the world.

Hey, Kids! Comics!

People always laugh when I say that Archie comics are published in the Middle East. "Don't you have to cover up Betty and Veronica," they ask.

Of course not. The Gulf has movies and satellite TV. Western pop culture, for better or worse, has no borders.

Nevertheless, certain cultural concessions must be made for the most conservative countries. So Betty and Veronica do not wear bikinis, for example. They wear modified burqinis. (In an unmodified one, Veronica would have her hair covered, and her arms & shins would not be showing.)

My Clark Kent Mode

There's an article in Newsweek about my day job right now.