BookLust

Bloor West Toonin'/Town Cryin' 21

Here's May's Town Crier Toon. And yes, there's a specific reason why I drew this one. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm in an article in the June issue of Chatelaine, talking about creative ways to save money in this recession. Obviously this isn't the only article that's been written about this subject – let's face it, there's a crapload of these articles and news reports out there right now, and no doubt there will be plenty more. Don't get me wrong – I'm very pleased and honoured to be a part of that article, but that doesn't stop me from taking a step back and looking at this bizarre trend in the media of making frugality hip and cool, as if we've never been in this situation before, or as if this present situation is somehow more dire than what our parents and grandparents dealt with during the Depression. It does make me laugh. And it certainly makes me laugh at myself. We are such funny creatures, aren't we?

I Can't Explain Why I've Become Miss Chatelaine

 

If yer interested, there's an article in the June issue of Miss Chatelaine, and I'm in it (p107, 'Living on less and loving it!'). No, it's not about cartooning or kid's books. It's actually about how regular folk (am I regular folk? Hmmm...) are coping in this not-so-pleasant recession. Yes, it's true – in spite of all the great news that has been happening to me of late, I'm still struggling to stretch a dollar in these "tough economic times" as every bloody media outlet seems to be saying these days. So how am I coping during this recession? Well, you'll have to read the article to find out! ;)

UPDATE: Ha ha – I suppose that I am being a naughty tease. I'll post the last paragraph of the article, because it honours my relationship with my husband Guy, and I'm quite proud of that:

As Storms says, "I wonder sometimes, if you have too much of everything, do you really value anything? My husband and I get great pleasure out of each other's company, simple meals and the occasional treat. You don't need to have expensive toys to have a great life."

Random Readings 26

Superstition is the rotten fruit of human stupidity! Stupidity is the seedbed of disinformation! And the sole product of disinformation is disaster! Superstition is the greatest pestilence mankind has ever known and it has killed more people than all plagues put together!

– from Have Mercy on Us All by Fred Vargas

Thingamaboob!

Yeah, I know, you're probably asking yourself, "What the hell is that girl smokin'?" But this post, as silly as it sounds, is very serious!

I'm thrilled to say that my pal Sandra Bell Lundy, creator of the comic strip Between Friends has created some flash animation clips with the characters from her strip, for the Canadian Cancer Society, with the message to women of a certain age to remember to get their yearly mammogram. Here's the first animation, and then you can continue to watch the two stories in the series.

Thingamaboob is a campaign from the Canadian Cancer Society to remind women aged 50-69 to go get their yearly mammograms. Yeah, it ain't exactly the most fun thing to do, but it's important. And if you're interested in Sandra's experience working with the Canadian Cancer Society in creating these animations, check out her great blog post. I'm so proud of Sandra, I could just burst.

A little personal note about, um, my boobs. Years ago, when I was 36, I was lying on the couch late at night, unable to sleep, and so started watching this interesting documentary about one woman's struggle with breast cancer, called My Left Breast. It got me thinking about breast cancer, of course, and so since I wasn't doing anything else at the time, I decided to give myself a breast exam while watching the documentary (confession: at that point in my life, I didn't do regular self-exams). And I'm not kidding, I found a lump. I don't remember the rest of the documentary, because, well, I was freakin' terrified. I made an appointment with my doctor PDQ, and long story short, after much poking and prodding (and my very first ever mammogram and breast ultrasound) and waiting and worrying and just general desperation, I was told that the lump was benign. But just to be on the safe side, I agreed to have the lump removed. And since that experience, I've had yearly mammograms and ultrasounds, and lately I've even had them twice a year (I'm one of those lucky gals who are at higher risk, never having had kids, and being blessed with big dense boobies).

So thank you, Sandra, for being part of such a great campaign, and hey – thanks for the reminder! Time to go check my boobies. And if you should be getting a mammogram, too, well – what are you waiting for?

Your Monday Morning Pirate & Penguin Update

Because that's what you look forward to on a Monday morning, isn't it?

Take a boo at the Owlkids Books 2009 Fall Catalogue. There it is in all its glory! And I love the description of the story (I'll type it out, just in case it's hard to read the image):

Penguin is not your typical Antarctic bird. He's done with the frigid, barren expanse of the South Pole. He's had it with yoga, and daydreaming, and the communal escapades of his feathered fraternity. He wants adventure! Pirate, on the other hand, wants no part in raucous, adventurous ways. Exploration? Treasure? Conquest? Bah! From veteran children's illustrator Patricia Storms comes the tale of how two misfits found each other and, in the process, found lives that suited them better. Loosely based on the classic story of The Prince and the Pauper, The Pirate and the Penguin follows these two characters as they inevitably converge and playfully discover the lives they've been seeking all along.

Squat, Skinny, Buggy and Beady

Had a blast at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival today. Even got to see some cartoonist pals I haven't seen in a while (great people like Rina Piccolo, whom I haven't seen in ages!)

It was tons of fun drawing cartoons for the kids at the Owlkids Draw! event. Animator Nancy Beiman took some photos of me while I was showing the kids how I draw my cartoons.

I've never really thought in any great detail how I draw my cartoons – I just draw them. But while preparing for this presentation, I couldn't help but notice a pattern in my work. My characters are either squat or skinny, and their eyes are either buggy or beady. If you don't believe me, see for yourself:

What does this say about me? Maybe I don't wanna know.

Oh, and yes, some of those characters are indeed from my upcoming book The Pirate and the Penguin. Can't wait for September!

TCAF at TRL!

If yer in the city this weekend,  and yer a comic/cartoon freak, why pop by and say hi to me tomorrow (Sunday May 10th) at the Toronto Reference Library from 12:00pm–1:00pm. It's the Owlkids Kids Draw! I'll be part of the cartoonist panel who'll be drawing cartoons for kids, as part of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

Silly Poetry Friday 50

Yeah, it's not Friday, but seeing as how I haven't even post a Silly Poetry Friday for a while, what the heck does it matter?

I'm still hooked on the stories from Shockheaded Peter, and so today's poem is none other than the terrible tale of that dirty Shockhead Peter. Let it be a lesson to all you naughty dirty folk out there!

Just look at him! There he stands,

With his nasty hair and hands.

See! his nails are never cut;

They are grim'd as black as soot;

And the sloven, I declaire,

Never once has comb'd his hair;

Any thing to me is sweeter

Than to see Shock-headed Peter.

Fightin' Words 6

Beckett does not believe in God, though he seems to imply that God has committed an unforgivable sin by not existing.

– Anthony Burgess on Samuel Beckett

Random Readings 25

Three years ago, McEwan culled the fiction library of his London town house, in Fitzroy Square. He and his younger son, Greg, handed out thirty novels in a nearby park. In an essay for the Guardian, McEwan reported that “every young woman we approached . . . was eager and grateful to take a book,” whereas the men “could not be persuaded. ‘Nah, nah. Not for me. Thanks, mate, but no.’ ” The researcher’s conclusion: “When women stop reading, the novel will be dead.”

– From February 23, 2009 issue of The New Yorker, The Background Hum, a profile on author Ian McEwan, written by Daniel Zalewski