Silver Fox Edition
This one's got a new podcast feat. Bob Fingerman, my latest Boxer At Rest sketch, the best picture I could have taken on a hike, and more
The Virtual Memories Show News
A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life
Podcasters
This week I posted Episode 593 of The Virtual Memories Show feat. cartoonist-humorist-author Bob Fingerman as we celebrate (lament?) his 40th year in comics and his new career retrospective book, That’s Some Business You’re In (Zoop, with an intro by Bill Sienkiewicz!). We got together in LA to talk about that milestone, what it meant to him to bring together decades of his comics, art, and illustration into a single volume, the challenges of writing the narrative to his work-life, and what he learned from looking at the arc of his career. We get into the ‘maybe someday’ vibe of the big projects he wants to tackle, the process of getting over his younger shame at making comics for, um, ‘lower-prestige’ (but well-paying) magazines, the distance he needed on his best-known comic, Minimum Wage, the artist’s retrospective he really wants to see, why he enjoys creator-owned work instead of someone else’s IP, and his true artistic goal. We also discuss the life-changing stuff — like addressing the tension between narcissism and imposter syndrome, the nature of change, the toxicity of NYC, and the need to leave a better memory — while we talk about life in LA, the way his characters changed from punching bags to people, the joy of hummingbirds and small dogs, and a lot more. Give it a listen! And go get That’s Some Business You’re In
Last week I posted Episode 592 of The Virtual Memories Show feat. author & illustrator Swan Huntley as we celebrate her two new books, I WANT YOU MORE, and YOU’RE GROUNDED: An Anti-Self-Help Book to Calm You the F*ck Down. We talk about how ghostwriting a memoir for a Real Housewife of New York led her to write I Want You More, a thriller of a novel about fame, identity, and murder, why she uses the first person in fiction and loves the challenge of lying to the reader, how we’re seen by others and how we want to be seen, and the fun of writing thrillers and melding character with a big plot. We also talk about how You’re Grounded took shape as a melding of words and drawings, the ways her various addictions shaped her identity and what it meant to be herself as she overcame (some of) them, how she took up drawing during a writing lull, and our collective need to calm the f*ck down. We also discuss the creation of identity vs. the discovery of identity, why she biked the El Camino pilgrimage solo, the memoir she’s working on, her upcoming essay, “My Best Friend Is Famous”, how she found her place in Los Angeles, and more. Give it a listen! And go read I WANT YOU MORE and YOU’RE GROUNDED
Recent episodes: Stan Mack • Jim Moske • Adam Moss • Randy Fertel • D.W. Young • Jen Silverman • Leonard Barkan
Silver Fox Edition
There’s something to be said for being devoid of introspection, but I don’t know what it is.
I’ve got lots of work to do, so rather than try for some fake profundity or offer up commentary on Friday’s anniversary of my CLL diagnosis, here’s a pic from my recent Catskills fire tower hike that’s too funny to resist:
Art
I didn’t do any drawing-painting at all last week, so that bummed me out and I made a quick brush-pen sketch of The Boxer At Rest sculpture last night. I screwed up the proportions: the right leg is too low for the elbow to be resting on it, the torso isn't bulky enough, and all the lines are too confusing, but there it is. You should go to the Flickr album of most of the art I’ve made & find something you like.
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. I’m falling behind on those; better get to making some art!)
Kickstartery
No recordings this weekend, so no Instax pix!
But again: I’m going to make a book that I plan on launching via Kickstarter. If you’ve got ideas about what sort of rewards I should make for different tiers of donors — like, things you’d love to receive if you contributed, say, $30, $40, $50 OR A WHOLE LOT MORE to this project — let me know.
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading this far! I’ll be back on Sunday with links, books, & workouts (if this shoulder issue goes away), and on Wednesday with a new episode, and maybe some art & more Instax.
Hush little boulevard / Now close your eyes / I’m a millionaire in Paris / In a raggedy man’s disguise,