… you must listen to this new podcast:

The Mosh Knit

What’s extra great about this? The Mosh Knit began when the hostess complained about Brenda’s choice of music and Brenda responded, “Quit your yippin’ and start your own durned podcast.” So she did.

Right on.

Another great one recommended by Brenda: CraftSanity.

The first ever NYCC is over. Woo hoo!

And what a fabulous time it was. I haven’t had a chance to check out any of the press about the show (I’m sure Heidi has the full scoop), but here’s all you really need to know: they oversold by about seven million. Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but we heard reports of 11k pre-sold tickets for a room with a capacity of 2600 (according to our intrepid-and-angry source who apparently looked the information up on the Javits Center website). A number of people reported being turned away yesterday (”I would have been here on Saturday, but they wouldn’t let me in”) and they didn’t sell any additional tickets today. Leland overheard some story about a livid Frank Miller and police escorts to the con floor (escorting him in, not out, let’s be clear…).

Anyway. The moral of the story is, yes, Virginia, New York City is an excellent locale for a comics convention. If you build it, they will come.

More later, but for now, thanks to each and every person who spent time at our table, old and new friends alike. It meant the world to us. We had a blast!

Everyone knows that Kristin Hersh is my favorite favorite female artist. Ergo, when she sings the praises of someone on her blog, I’m there. Enter Lauren Shera, 17-year-old folk songstress of amazingness. Amazingness-itude, even.

Go download some of the lass’ mp3’s right now, please. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

*hums “Rosemary Lane” to kill some time*

Oh, you’re back! See what I mean? See?

No need to thank me, guys. It’s what I’m here for.

We made our way out to our new apartment today to take some measurements… and some crappy camera phone pictures:

I can’t wait to get out there and further check out the neighborhood. Figuring out our new spots is the best part.

We found our place yesterday and signed the lease today. It’s a two-and-a-half bedroom floor-through with its own separate dining area, and, of course, a big living room and kitchen. It’s in Windsor Terrace, snugly nestled between Green-Wood Cemetery and Prospect Park, two of my favorite places in the world.

Best of all, the landlord gave us our keys early.

We’re pretty darned happy. Pictures to come soon.

This might be the beginning of getting back to updates with some degree of normalcy.

In case you haven’t noticed, Gmail has unleashed their chat client IN THE MAILBOX. So if you’re typing mail and someone else is typing mail at the same time, you can chat with ‘em.

See, this is the kind of thing that I usually find dorky and useless. But here it’s Google, so it’s really fricking cool.

Leland and I just tried it. It’s really fricking cool.

The Endicott winter issue is live. Big props to everyone involved; extra snaps go to Midori, who spent all kinds of time coding it. Enjoy!

Reviews to come later.

Did I mention that we’re in the midst of looking for a new apartment?

Things have improved. We’re on the stick for a cute little number, located mere steps away from the 36th Street express stop in Brooklyn. It’s big. It’s clean. The kitchen has never been used, and Time Warner Cable assures me that high-speed Internets are available. If the landlord will have us, we’ll probably take it, so keep your fingers crossed.

We’re also checking out a place on the cusp of Red Hook and Carroll Gardens, two of our favorite neighborhoods. Either way, if we end up in one of these places, the springtime biking will be fabulous.

(Of course, we need to get Leland a bike, first.)

Mine (left) and hers (right).

Alec Longstreth made my night with an email full of praise for PORTRAITS OF TWENTY-TWO KEYS:

I know it’s been MONTHS since SPX, but I’m only just now finding the
time to write some “thank you” emails for some of the awesome trades I
receieved. One such piece of work was your “Portraits of Twenty-Two
Keys” which I enjoyed quite a bit.

Anyways, I can’t remember what I traded you, but I hope you enjoyed
it, because I enjoyed yours! Oh–I also wrote a mini review of your
book for the upcoming “Best Zine Ever” #5 which collects some of the
best zines from 2005. It’s put out by Tugboat Press and is FREE, so
maybe some people will contact you about ordering it (I put your
website down in the review, I think).

Okay, I have a confession to make.

I totally sweated over that thing. I wrote and re-wrote and wrote those stories so many times, I actually got sick of Tarot (sacre bleu!). That skinny little thing took me months. And here’s a second confession: it’s really kind of a drag to go through all that work and then not get a single piece of feedback until yet more months after it makes its way out into the world.

Don’t get me wrong. I have fairly reasonable expectations for a chapbook of flash fiction. I wasn’t expecting the skies to open up and the seas to part. All the same, you know what I mean?

If you’re out there picking up and supporting indy comics and indy-whatever-else, I encourage you to go that extra step and send the artists some feedback, especially if it’s positive. It’s slow going, this making-in-spite-of-the-obstacles thing. A little fuel in the form of outside feedback can really help a thirsty creator. Even if you don’t like the work, if you take a minute to put a few well-reasoned, constructive sentences together, the person on the receiving end will know and understand that you were paying attention, AND they’ll have some things to think about for the next time. They’ll feel it. It means so much, really.

Thank you, Alec. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.