APE 08

Things I must have at the table in Ought-Eight! A button machine. All the cool kids have one, and I am going to drag my little sister next year so she can run it! Something Silk Screened. Always the Trouble with Color. My crummy little printer does stripes on things and getting stuff done at the photo place is spendy, so this year I am going to spend the big bucks and get a silk screening set up (because why save money when you can spend more!) The H, nuff said. More Fat Camilles! With silk screened covers! with lots of color, color color color! Art Prints! Of what, I don't know. Maybe small ones on nice all-cotton paper.

APE

APE was a riot of parties, comics, San Francisco and couch-surfing. The H and I are starting to think about what we want to do next year and are considering other local zine fests. We shall keep you posted here!

Procrastination Must End

(tomorrow!) Ha Ha. I actually did get stuff done today. The end is nigh, goaties!

Bug Porn

The bugs have been drawn but they need something to say. A few are in comprimising positions. I need to come up with some witty, risque, naughty things for them to say. My brain is out of ideas. I should take these over to the Blue Bonnet Sports Bar (open at 6 a.m.!) and gather some suggestions.

Action Packed Tacos

I just wrapped up two intense comic workshops with the Small Set. In the morning I had the fourth to seventh graders and in the afternoon I had the second and third graders. Quite a few kids have taken the class before (serial offenders or fan club members, depending on one's perspective). Both groups were great. I have found that nearly all the kids take the class because they want to take it, and as a result, their behavior and attitude is stellar. The class has no pretensions to fine art, high class or something that a neurotic parent would push their children into. I never have parents reminding me that their child's Ivy League education is resting on my shoulders or anxiously asking me if their toddler has "talent". Au Contraire It is the cool parents who sign their kids up for my class, the ones who think childhood is for fun and exploration. I love being a catalyst for healthy projects. Ezekiel and Dave Ezekiel and Dave appeared on the page last spring, as yet another pedegological sample (like Fat Camille). In fact, they predate her. I was trying to show the students that writing legibly was very important-- nearly as important as content. (Not to be confused with the nefarious content issues that plague adult book artists). There is a reference to them in Camille's Eye Balls. I have started a few other ED stories, but never got around to finishing them. The characters are rather dense and pathetic, and there already is so much of the underdog aesthetic in the indy comic world that I hesitate to even put any more energy into them. Usually the students say they don't get them, but that they are funny. I suspect they add the "funny" statement to protect my feelings. Action Packed Tacos That is indeed a penguin. The story revolves around an evil, trident-wielding mouse, a magic taco and a penguin who just wants "a refill." The artist is 8, and male. To see more kids stuff, come to the table, I'll be shamelessly selling them.

We Are at Table 274

We are at table 274, on the Mezzanine. I don't know how it works, but they always put us there. Its a cool spot, with 360 degree visibility. I am thinking about having some kind of food there to entice the hungry. Or maybe not. What is not up for debate is the huge Fat Camille that will be floating behind my head.

I need lots of plastic bugs.

Last night I got an idea. I was sitting in class, trying to fight the mind wandering that ensues during boring lectures. I got the idea. I am a super-genius! I am brilliant! I need more plastic bugs. I need to clean off my desk. Details, details.

Fat Camille Goes to Bed

fat camille goes shopping
Originally uploaded by camille94019.

I just put the FC omnibus to bed. Its out of my hands right now. I feel rather empty. I am not particularly pleased with the outcome. I am starting to really hate the typical 5.5x8.5 zine format (affectionately known as "trashcan comics" in the trade). Its too small. I had to squish and shrink things that didn't want to go any smaller, and because I used weirdly formatted sketchbooks I bought on the fly in Bear Town, some of the pages don't fit correctly at all. Additionally, I couldn't find some of the originals when I discovered I scanned them it at too low a resolution, so a good quarter of the book looks even more lo-fi (but not as badly pixelated as Gary Panter's Jimbo's Inferno).

Its slowly dawning on me that this handmade, low capital format has severe limitations. If I want to keep doing this, I am going to have to start taking it a bit more seriously (which is something El Caballero has been saying for months) or at least convincing someone like a publisher to take it seriously. Its still fuzzy in my mind what exactly wooing a publisher would actually entail. I keep waiting for an angel to come down and give me a Word.

Calculus and the Modern Girl

I took the proofs to the usual place. My favorite xeroxer was there but she was busy, so a new guy helped me out. He was very nice and thoughtful and did some complicated math to make sure I could get as many copies of the book out of the $50 gift certificate that Seaweed Girl gave me.

Me: how many copies do I need to make to get the lower price?

Him: (after a long, thoughtful silence) Vell, ve vould have to do a derivative first...

I couldn't tell if he was joking, but for an instant I could see him in a white lab coat, standing in front of a large blackboard.

Classroom Doodles

I've got a week of vacation coming up. I am planning on spending it chained to my drafting table with Pitt pen in hand.

Hot Mexican Love

Happy goat is listed in the "H" section! With "Hot Mexican Love!"