I’m tired. Displaying your wares and hawking your merchandise to the public in an Expo setting for 2 days in a row is by turns an exhausting, inspiring, humbling, exciting, nerve-wracking, lovely, super-stimulating and boringly boring experience. I think doing it once a year is about all I can handle, at least until my next book is out. I’m just now getting my druthers back, after a long Monday morning/afternoon of traveling back home from SF to Mpls.
I am not very mercenary. I will happily talk to potential customers about my work if they come to my table and leaf through The Book of Boy Trouble or Curbside Boys and I sometimes give them a bargain price if they seem sincere enough, but I can’t bring myself to try to compel people over to me as they walk by. My pal and APE tablemate, Cathy Camper, is a master at doing this with charm and grace, as opposed to being obnoxious or overbearing (offering free candy doesn’t hurt!); but this just doesn’t come naturally to me, so I always think it’s best for me to skip the tactic.
Oh yeah, I have a history, that’s right! When this nice woman named Pat bought a copy of The Book of Boy Trouble and told me she’d been reading my stuff for years, it actually made my day, rather than making me feel all decrepit. Thanks, Pat - I have been at this for a while now, haven’t I?
My peers in the comics world are pretty great. I was hanging with Andy Hartzell over at the Prism table on Saturday and remembered to give him a copy of my new Curbside zine; “just a little trifle,” I told him. Andy in return gave me his “little trifle,” complete with three-color silk-screened cover, in contrast to my little photocopied 8-page affair. Even Andy’s little knock-offs are lovingly and expertly crafted. Buy his upcoming book immediately, trust me.
A favorite moment: charming Tommy Roddy bought a copy of Curbside Boys from me early on and came over to my table the next day to enthuse over a reference to a Team Dresch song in one of the strips, while I was gabbing with Mikhaela Reid (about self-publishing and right wing assholes). Mikhaela then indicated her enthusiasm for the band as well. It’s really fun to connect with others over shared tastes in the arts – it’s always a little epiphany for me when someone else has had their life interrupted by the same band that interrupted mine; or swooned for the same writer that I swooned for, or watches the same movies that I do over and over again over the years; that they felt the deep emotional connections to the exact same elements always seems like a tiny miracle to me. Team Dresch must’ve been at least close to being as important to both Tommy and Mikhaela as they were to me in the 90’s (when they truly provided the soundtrack to my life, the way The Smiths did in the 80’s and the Magnetic Fields did in the late 90’s and early 00’s); I think I need to pull out my old cds to play today, this afternoon, right now, for sure! Thanks, Tommy, if you read this, for that little reconnection.
As long as I’m talking about shared art experiences: during my plane ride home yesterday one of the short stories I read was “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler. Last night, I was reading the intro to Mikhaela’s Reid’s book where she expresses her affinity for Butler’s work, stating her as a big influence. So, cool. “Bloodchild” was an spellbinding story, BTW, and my first Butler story ever.
I think I get actor/performers a little better now. My Power Point segment thing at the Three Dollar Bill cafe reading event went okay, but having to deal with a microphone and a PC-and-not-my-Mac threw me a little, and I actually sorta wanted a do-over. It took me a while to warm up, and my prior experience doing the presentation here in Mpls was way more better. I have more insight into performers now, and how important it is for many of them to get their blocking, lighting, and all other technical aspects under control to keep them on track before going in front of an audience. Next time I will ask more questions and try to prepare a little better. Anyhow, the rest of the event with Tim Fish, Justin Hall, Paige Braddock and Abby Denson was a success and I thought the Three Dollar Bill Cafe was a pretty cool venue.
Being on the Gays in Comics Panel. I really liked being a part of this event, and it could have gone longer than an hour as far as I was concerned. The only sucky thing about it was that the sharpie organizers at APE scheduled us on dead last on Sunday, and several sellers told me they had to skip it, as that final hour of the expo is often important to make those last-minute sales. On the other hand, I was really sick of hawking by that point and was happy to get away while Bill Roundy kindly and ably handled that chore for me. I gabbed away on the panel with Brad Rader, Leia Weathington, Andy Hartzell, and Abby Denson, with our moderator, Justin Hall, skillfully helming the discussion. I wasn’t very familiar with Leia’s or Brad’s work before this weekend, but it was very interesting to listen to them expound on their aesthetics and voice their opinions regarding the gay cartooning scene, sexuality in comics, etc. Abby and Andy were totally charming and engaging as usual, natch. So yeah, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. You shoulda been there.
Some other cool people I hung with/talked to/traded with/read with:
Larry-Bob, Brian Andersen, those Two Shy Guys, Brett “Susurrus” Hopkins, and Richard Ruane; Steve MacIsaac (a real sweetheart), Tim Piotrowski and his BF (also named Tim - cool, huh?), Cathy Camper’s pal, the awesome Tom Harkins; Prism Comics total dude, David Paul Brown; the publisher of Manic D Press, and many others that I’m sure I can’t remember at the moment. Everything’s becoming a blur already…
People I missed: David Kelly and Craig Bostick couldn’t make it this year.
Things I need to do: get back to regular life. The dog needs a walk for one thing, and I’ve got stuff to do, like figure out my finances before the BF and I go to Costa Rica next month. I had a great time in SF all-in-all, but thank Ghad I don’t have to think about another expo until SPX, and not until next year in 2008 - they’ll have to get along this year w/o me!