Every Picture Tells A Story
This one's got a new podcast with Scott Guild about PLASTIC (the novel and the album), my insomnia-withdrawal, some art I've been making, and my father's orchids
The Virtual Memories Show News
A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life
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This week, I posted Episode 577 of The Virtual Memories Show, feat. a conversation with Scott Guild about his debut novel, PLASTIC (Pantheon), which features a dystopian future of eco-terrorism, meta-reality, and . . . a world populated by plastic figurines who break out in song? We talk about the 10-year process of writing the book, how he found the stylistic elements that made it work, and why making the lead characters plastic let him bring comedy into his apocalyptic vision of the future. We get into Scott’s history as a musician and how songwriting differs from fiction, the album he made (with all sorts of great artists) to accompany the novel, why he’d love to do live performances of it, and how the songs changed genre from the ones in the novel. We also discuss his writing influences, how he accidentally created his own Barbenheimer (the Barbie movie created a conceptual entry point for readers, but the characters are under the Oppenheimer-esque shadow of a nuclear war), why he didn’t show his novel to his wife until 3-4 months before their wedding, and a lot more. Give it a listen, and go read PLASTIC!
Last week, I posted Episode 576 of The Virtual Memories Show, feat. cartoonist Aaron Lange as we talk about AIN’T IT FUN: Peter Laughner & Proto-Punk In The Secret City (Stone Church Press), his breathtaking new graphic novel that weaves together obscure records, urban legends and psychographic history. We talk about Aaron’s fascination with Cleveland’s punk scene, why the musician Peter Laughner stood out to him, and the way Cleveland’s hidden landmarks pointed him toward this massive project. We get into Aaron’s research and interview process, how he edited this work into a looping, flaneur-like, discursive (but never aimless) narrative, and the influence of Greil Marcus, Iain Sinclair, and Adam Curtis. We also discuss post-Laughner Pere Ubu, Aaron’s visits to the Zodiac Circle by the Cleveland Museum of Art at all 4 equinoxes, the constraints of the comics market on a book that defies easy description, and plenty more. Give it a listen and go read AIN’T IT FUN!
Recent episodes: Donald J. Robertson • Elizabeth Flock • David Thomson • Sammy Harkham • Ed Subitzky • Chris Silverman • Silence, a monologue
Every Picture Tells A Story
It’s a good news/bad news stretch for me. As noted in Sunday’s linky-mail, the MRI on my neck allayed my doctor’s fears about disk-collapse or whatever, and he said it’d be okay to get back to exercise in another week or so. He put in a referral for physical therapy, which I need to follow up on, and told me to finish up the anti-inflammatory (Naproxen 2x/day) and see how I do off the muscle relaxant (Flexeril), after ~2 weeks on both.
Which brings us to the bad news. Apparently, quitting after 13 consecutive nights of a relatively small dose of Flexeril (10mg) is enough to create some weird CNS/withdrawal effects like NOT BEING ABLE TO SLEEP MORE THAN 2-3 HOURS A NIGHT. We’re in day 3 of that phenomenon, and boy, is it starting to get to me. Still, my neck & shoulder feel pretty good.
But enough about me: today is my dad’s 87th (probably) birthday! I had a tangential dream about him in this morning’s insomniac haze. I’d tell you about it, but there’s nothing more boring than someone telling you about their dreams, except for when they talk to you about work.
Late last year I posted a nice pic of Dad & our fur-boy Bendico, and another of them along with me and my brother. I’d post another one here, but there are only a handful of photos of me & my father. Wish I could tell you why that is.
I do have a few pics of the orchids he used to grow in his kitchen. (I haven’t been in his kitchen in years; no idea if he’s still growing them.) Here’s one:
Postcardery
Let me know if you want to be on my postcard-a-day list. (Financial supporters of the podcast get a hand-drawn/painted postcard as a thank-you.)
Art
I managed to make a little art this week: two more of my Japanese White Eye postcards. I’ve run into the problem of getting too finicky with the smaller size of the postcards, relative to the watercolor paper I made my first ones on. Like, this one (above) has all sorts of neat effects to it, but it’s too overworked and stiff. (Also, I was trying to figure out how to do the outlines of the Ume blossoms, and failed heinously; next time, I’ll try a water soluble light blue pen and see if I can blur that with a brush so it gives the outline and the shadow at the same time.) Then I decided to go close up (below) to give myself more room to just drift with the brush, but again I got too close and overworked things and, in the process, screwed up the proportions and the curve of the bird’s neck. I’ll keep trying to figure it out. One of the things I like about this project is that I’m not drawing anything first with pencil or ink; it’s just the brush and the color that dictates things. As opposed to this quick ink sketch that started out as Lee Marvin and got so screwed up it became Norman Mailer. Anyway, there were some other sketches I made but didn’t bother scanning, of Benny and poses people posted on IG or Bluesky. You should go to the Flickr album of most of the art I’ve made & find something you like.
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading this far! I’ll be back on Sunday with links, books, & somatic craziness, and Wednesday with a new episode, maybe some art, & who knows maybe a little profundity or something.
Believe it if you need it, if you don't just pass it on,