sumoandso

Well it's officially h1n1 day here at work.  You know it's serious when I have to sign up to do door duty -- duty which may or may not require me to wear SCRUBS and a mask.

K had to send down her chocolate stash to satiate the grumpy clinic visitors.  I am grumpy now because some of my favourite stuff was in that stash and now I'm inexplicably hungry.

Oh well.

So for the next month I'll probably be blogging less here but more here as part of a writer-in-residenceship for Inside a Dog.

Check in if you're curious.

Until then.

Enjoy November folks.

sumxo

The house is almost unpacked and you can almost almost walk down the hallways without having to turn sideways to get around a stack of something/shelf/box/tupperware.  The cats are starting to settle and find their respective dark/light corners.  Yesterday I caught them in the sun room holding hands on the couch (waiting for someone to turn on the TV I suppose).

I'm still not used to the kitchen, which feels oddly low, and both c and I are a bit befuddled by the bathtub, which appears to be about 2 1/2 feet deep.

But it's a definite work in progress and I'm liking it alot.

Still haven't decided what to be for halloween, although I'm hopeful I'll find something in the way of a costume on Thursday.  I was thinking I'd be a flamingo but I've had a sudden urge to be a clown.  Not sure how that will turn out.

Have a reading coming up for this book, Half Minute Horrors, that I have a short story published in.



See info below.  Come out and wear a creepy costume!

Come to A Halloween Day Family Cabaret in Toronto!

BOO!

See you there!

sumxo

I think I've moved a total of about 15 times in my lifetime.  That seems like a lot, I guess.  I used to be really good at moving.  I prided myself on being the person who packed things into neat boxes.  So all I was ever really shifting was a borg-like structure of my stuff.

This last move has probably been the longest and most painful - physically.  Maybe I'm just too old to casually heave around boxes of journals....

Thank God for our friends and their strange willingness to carry our stuff around.  Three floors worth of five years worth of two people's stuff.  We're just now really starting to shift stuff into rooms, put it where it's supposed to be as opposed to where there's room.  For a while there we looked like we were auditioning for an episode of Hoarders.

The good news is I love our new place.  I'm so excited for everything to be set!  My new study is so cozy with all my stuff in accessible and visually appealing places.

So tired.

More news later but in the meantime to all my LJ-movers big smooching thank yous.

sumxo

For the past little while I've been making a bit of a living of teaching freelance.  I do a part time college English gig at George Brown, and have done a bunch of workshops at a variety of writers festivals and high schools.  It's a funny thing to do for a living.  Sometimes I feel like a bit of a traveling salesperson. Sometimes I feel like a bit of a party clown.  The experience of teaching overall really depends on the school.  There are days when I feel like teaching creative writing is an entirely feasible exercise, the odd school I walk in and think, "Well, clearly I'm insane.  I should go now.  Why, really, waste anyone's time?"

Today I had the chance to enter a school environment that was both insanely familiar and very different from my current norm, my old high school, Havergal College.

So here's something.  It was insanely easy teaching these kids.  They were polite and funny and (aside from a few yawns) pretty engaged.  I did a bit of a twist on the exercise I usually do since the professor in question wanted a class on life writing.  My current theory on life writing is that all you really need to do life writing is to find something interesting to write about.

Just about every kid has at least one interesting thing in their life to talk about, it's usually not the thing they think is interesting.  We had an amazing discussion about amateur celebrity shrines.  This one kid talked about hating abbreviations, and why she hated them (although, really, who doesn't hate the abbrevs!)

My FAVOURITE STUDENT, full stop, casually mentioned that her big plan for her future was to make sure she outlived her husband.  HILARIOUS!  Like what a complicated and strange thing to want.  I had this flash of this couple taking their vows, the woman pulling her husband close to her before she hands over the ring and whispering, "No matter what, you go first."

Then we did some descriptive writing exercises during which we decided that corn pops are really aliens whose bodies are composed of tasteless, but crunchy, bone marrow.

In moving news we are almost packed, the house is almost painted.  I'm trying pretty desperately to keep things in order.  c keeps labeling things by room, "kitchen," all my labels are desperately specific like "kitchen decorative pieces plus utensils and cup things."  The thing is I keep forgetting what I'm packing as I'm packing so I'm not even sure my labels are right.

We move Wednesday, so if anyone's trying to reach me Wednesday and I don't answer, that's why.

All those in favour of coming by and helping move paint I can promise a reward of 80's tunes and pizza and beer.

And my endless gratitude.

of course.

sumxo

Well it's been a pretty BANNER week or so.

Number one, this past weekend Skim/Emiko Superstar got a Joe Shuster!  This is pretty fricking thriling, I have to say, and I'm totally bummed that a bad Ceasar Salad kept me from the ceremonies.  So many talented people in one room, and I was all passed out on the couch!   I'd like to thank the Academy, my co-creators Jillian Tamaki (Skim) and Steve Rolston (Emiko Superstar).  What is the right hand without the left, you know? I'd also like to thank Groundwood and the imprint formerly known as MINX.  

And I'd like to thank Willow for grabbing my plaque for me. 

Number two, I recently found out that Skim just hit 15,000 copies.  So at least 30,000 people have read the book (I'm assuming everyone is sharing).  Hoooo ray.

Number three, I had a butt kicking time at the Kingston Writers Fest.  KINGSTON RULES.

And LAST BUT NOT LEAST
WE'RE LULU-ed!
How exciting is this?!  Pretty darn exciting.  It's even more amazing because I am such a huge fan of this group and of all the incredible women in comics who are and have been nominated in these categories.

Like, DUDE, seriously, I'm up against Kate Beaton.  KATE BEATON RULES (I really and truly hope that just because we are nommed together she doesn't sick one of her crazy ponies on me.  Dude.  Seriously.)

Le sigh.

SO you can go here and check out all the insanely talented nominees.  Vote if the spirit moves you.

No biggie.


A little info about "Friends of Lulu" - from their webpage - linked above - which you should tots check out!

The latest version of Skim arrived today!
Skim in Japanese (published by Sanctuary -- translated by Takashi Tanishita).

Actually, apparently, Skim in Japanese is GIRL.

The book design is a trip - no more blue and orange!





So amazing.

I'm trying to think who I know who can read Japanese who would appreciate/could read a copy.

Kirsten Johnson is an incredible Toronto artist and performer I met through Buddies in Bad Times Theatre several years ago.  Last winter she sent me an email asking if I could pose for a new series she was doing.  She needed some crazy Asians to dress up as Geisha and fight it out in her studio.

Seriously.

How could I refuse?

It's totally an amazing thing to be a part (a fairly small part) of this project and I'm so excited to see the final result.

If you're in TO check out Kirsten's amazing show:

CATFIGHT
September 24 to October 24, 2009
XEXE Gallery
624 Richmond St. West at Bathurst, Toronto.


The complete show can now be previewed in its entirety on her site...
http://www.kirstenjohnson.com/catfight.html 

Here's a taste:



(I guess this explains my profile pic, huh?)

So apparently, "tornadic" is a word.
How ridiculous.

Best
pic
EVER!!!!

Care of gneri .

You'll all have to take some awesome pics for me and keep me posted.  You know, on Twitter or some such nonsense.

I will likely spend the weekend cleaning out my house.

In the meantime, here is an awesome review of Skim (a la Walker Books).

It so strange to have someone sum up your work and your words in such a glowing way. 

Awe
some.

In other news, watched "Knowing" the other day.

WTF!  What happened to that film script man?  Like, I really like the whole numbers and dates of disastors plot.  SO down with that.  But halfway through the movie takes this completely warped turn and suddenly it's not unlike that movie AI. 

 

Five minutes into the film c was like, "it's aliens."

Anyway.

BED!

sumxo

This Thursday, that's tomorrow, June 11 at 2PM EST, Jillian and I will be taking part in a LIVE CHAT for the CBC Book Club - which is featuring Skim this month.  

No holds barred people.

Ask us/me anything.

Seriously.

There is no question too crazy, no question too academic, no question too cat focused!

Go to http://www.cbc.ca/canadareads/bookclub/liveblog.html to sign up for a reminder.

Go to http://www.cbc.ca/canadareads/bookclub/index.html for a look at all the vlogs, blogs, polls, top ten lists, and much more already posted (all about Skim - okay, almost all about Skim).

See you there!

1. Today, for no reason, my left hand (Hand of Darkness?) started hurting.  Like, really hurting.  I waited for other signs of stroke.  None came.

2.  Also, today, for no reason, my mouse disappeared out of my office.  When I called my IT dude, he said, "You know, it's possible to work your computer without a mouse."  I told him I wanted my mouse back anyway. 

3.  In the airport in Barcelona last week I noticed this one elderly couple with two huge carts full of luggage.  The couple was arguing with a representative of Lufthansa airlines.  All I caught was the Lufthansa woman saying, "Of course what you did is completely illegal."  After she said that, the Lufthansa woman pointed at the old couple's bags, then stormed off.  The old couple got really upset and started looking for sympathy from their fellow passengers in line.  The old woman kept shrugging and looking worried.  The old man looked mad. Finally, after a bit of conversing, the old man took two suitcases off the top of one of the carts and, walking out of the winding taped off line, put them in the aisle, essentially abandoning them. I couldn't believe my eyes.  Like, isn't that the one thing they tell you NOT to do in airports, abandon your luggage??!?!?!  Eventually, after they checked in, the old man went back to the aisle and grabbed the suitcases.  WTF?

4. Stanley is mad at Charlie.  Don't ask me how I know.  I just do.  I caught a glimpse of it in his eyes today as he was grooming Charlie's head.  Something is up.

5. Today I told my students I was tired of their empty stares and forced them into group work.  The one other person outside of class I told this to thought this was hysterical.  I wonder what it's like to be my student.  See comments below?

All for now.

Exhausted.

sumxo

So it looks like I did have one casualty from Barcelona.

One lost camera battery charger.

Crap.

This means I will have to use old faithful (which is now c's cam) for a shoot tomorrow.

It's at a the Downtown Soccer game, which I am kind of curious to see as that is my plan for next year - to do soccer with bootcamp.

In other news - today read my first book of manga, Dragon Head #1 recommended by Peter at Beguiling.  Thank you Peter.



This book rules.  Seriously.  Everything about the visuals is so cool and creepy.  My only thing is that it would clearly benefit one to know Japanese characters to get the visual effects of the text used in the panels.  Still.  I felt claustrophobic reading it and I was sitting on my porch in the sun the whole time.

Very excited to go and get more. 

Also we played 8 (not 9 - long story) at the Uplands course last week and I got my own equivalent of a hole in one when my ball landed on an impossible green.  One day later - my dad - hole in one.

Very cool.

Work tomorrow.

UGH.

sumxo

Holy cow.  Barcelona rules.  I'm exhausted.  But here's a couple pics for those of you who aren't facebook buddies.

It's the year of the translated Skims!  This month both Walker Books' Skim (in British - with no actual translation) and Ediciones La Cúpula's "Skim" (in Spanish with MUCH translation) are out and about.  We've already got two Spanish reviews - neither of which I can read.

So for those of you who CAN, here is one of them: El Referente's Review.

In other news, in June we will be part of CBC's Book Club - hosted by Hannah Sung (who I remember back from her Much Music days!). 



The gig involves lots of blogging and vlogging so stay tuned!

xo