Here is what I would like to leave behind as we move into the next decade

I WISH I could perform surgery on certain feminist pop culture magazines (mainly Bust and Venus, which I really like to read) and take out the surplus of horrible horrible puns and play-on-saying type Titles (worst of the decade being this caption to a photo: "Jeepers Creepers, Look At Jenny Lewis's Peepers!").
.... but I know I can't.


In Lieu of this surgeon power, I would like to wish away the two most common , lazy and boring trends in reviews that I've seen this year:


I would like to officially leave behind writers who preface every vegan cookbook/restaurant review with some kind of disclaimer about how normally vegan food tastes Bad, goes on to say that this cookbook/restaurant's food tastes Good , and then concludes with some kind of saying about how EVEN your carnivorous friends will enjoy their meal.

Snoring!

I would also like to leave behind reviews of graphic novels or memoirs that start out by saying that there are a lot of graphic novels or memoirs.
"Seems like everyone's doing graphic novels nowadays" , that kind of thing.
Graphic novels have been coming out since the dawn of time, as have autobiographies and memoirs, so please don't discount each and every book by saying it's part of a trend.
Argh!

There you have it. My Cathy-esque "Argh" of the decade.

xoxo
n.g.

Where to buy an Invincible Summer Calendar

Looking for an Invincible Summer Calendar?
Here is your list of places to go:


PORTLAND

Alberta CoOp
Land
People's CoOp
Reading Frenzy
Powells City of Books
In Other Words
Grass Hut
Fontanelle Gallery

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

Firestorm Cafe & Books
48 Commerce Street


SAN FRANCISCO
Needles & Pens
Little Otsu

CHICAGO
Women & Children First Bookstore
Renegade Handmade

NEW YORK
Bluestockings

LOS ANGELES
Reform School


If you live in one of these cities, by all means please step outside and support your local business! If you do not live near these places, you can order calendars directly from me:
spinstersummer.etsy.com , or from
papertraildistro.com ,
buyolympia.com , foodfightgrocery.com , or renegadehandmade.com

OR, get your local bookshop or crafty boutique to order a couple of calendars.

Thank you thank you!

n.g.

I'll be at the HMB

Handmade Bazaar is pleased to announce the return of Winter Handmade Bazaar!

Handmade Bazaar
buy/sell/trade

Sunday, December 12th

at: Mississippi Studios
3939 N. Mississippi
Portland, OR.

sale runs from 11am - 4pm

http://www.handmadebazaar.org

Featuring 50 local crafters! Fun, food + music. Come support local arts
and crafts and buy handmade for the holidays!

www.handmadebazaar.org

Exotic Pets!

Hi Friends.

I just saw photos of the face of Charla Nash. She was the woman who was attacked by Travis the chimp earlier this year. She lost her eyes, nose, hands, and upper jaw in the attack.

Please don't support exotic animals as pets or performers!
They don't want to be in your house wearing a diaper, they want to be in the wild!

Please extinguish all romanticism of chimp motherhood or of owning your own talking parrot. If you're feeling that maternal , just adopt a human child. Or better yet, get a special needs dog!

Here is Jane Goodall's response to the travis attack.
If you're in Portland, please visit the Macaw Landing Foundation for a bit of reality on the plight of parrots as pets and the human impact on their rain forest homes.
Lastly, let us not forget the Siegfried and Roy incident.

For a story on the photo above, click here.

Questions Received at Keep Portland Weird Fest

I was an asked to do an advice table at the library's Keep Portland Weird Fest last weekend. I may do a comic about it in the future, but for now, here is a list of questions I received, as well as a comic by one of them, which I found online the next day.

Please note that children were apt to ask me questions not related to advice, but to facts like "What is the longest word in the dictionary?", and adults often mistook me for a psychic. Men tried to challenge my "America's Smartest Girl" title, and/or told me I looked pretty before assuring me they weren't being creepy, just telling me.

*******Here they are, 37 quandaries from Portland, Oregon:***********************

Will I find love in the next 3 months?

My hampster died, should I get a new one?

Why did Abraham Lincoln try to save America?

How do I meed Conservative women, as an Atheist?

Does this guy at school like me?

How many days are in a year, because I forget.

Should I leave my job in late December or early January?

My roommate's cat has pneumonia, what can we do to make her comfortable while she finished her antibiotics?

Should I get another dog?

Should we get a new car?

What is the meaning of life?

What should I give my wife for Christmas?

Should I go to Cuba to go to medical school for free?

Should I join the military to pay for school?

My baby waked up 10-15 times per night, what can we do?

Should I meet a guy that I've been talking to on the internet?

My friend keeps meeting guys who just use her. She wants a boyfriend. How can I help her?

What kind of birthday party should I have?

(getting mistaken for a psychic): Should I do the move I've been thinking of?

Is it more important to do something or to have people approve of what you do?

What's the meaning of life (x2)?

How to know yourself?

What's the longest word in the dictionary?

What do you do after you squash a bug?

How many seconds are in 5 weeks?

Should I go to California for my birthday?

What hairstyle should I have?

How do I get women to like me?

How do I make friends in Portland ? (x3)

What can I do for my mentally ill neice?

What makes Portland Weird?

Where is the best place for candy?

How do I find investors for my children's book project?

My girlfriend likes to stare at me. How do I handle this?

Greetings from Beaverton

This is a view from my Craftypalooza table,
where we sat with calendars, prints, mini-prints, cards, buttons, narwhals and used cds.


These dudes are still up for adoption.

Get them while they're room temperature!

Updates from Little House

Here is your update from Little House Studios, a.k.a. Spinster Summer Headquarters, a.k.a. my residence and place of work:


A new narwhal has been introduced into the fold. He looks really really friendly and nice. You can take him home via my etsy page. I am hoping to make a small fleet of narwhals for the upcoming Craftypalooza this weekend in Beaverton. Go Beaverton!


In Other News,
Beija Georges got into the remaining Halloween candy. I followed the trail of punctured Nerds boxes to a small nest in my bed made up of foil wrappers and dog toys.
I will post this potentially embarrassing photo of my dog as punishment for her crimes:

Guest Appearing in Jesse Reklaw's diary

I think you can click on these to make them larger.





Check out more of jesse's work here.

Remembering Anne Winter (1964-2009)

Anne Winter, record store owner and free-speech advocate, dies at 45
from The Kansas City Star

Kansas City’s alternative music and free-speech communities are mourning the death of Anne Winter, longtime music promoter and proprietor of Recycled Sounds, a midtown record shop which closed in 2006.

Winter, 45 and a mother of two, died Thursday at her home.

Winter, a native Nebraskan, was well-known in the local music scene by virtue of the independent music store she owned with her husband, Kurt von Schlemmer, for 18 years. She often employed local musicians to work behind the counter and at one point hosted her own music show on KKFI-FM as “Little Orphan Annie.”

“She was the only person playing punk-rock music,” said Mark Manning, another KKFI music host, who said he has a radio show mainly because of Winter’s encouragement.

But Recycled Sounds was more than a store. Timothy Finn, The Star’s pop music writer, described it this way in 2006: “It became a haven for people who wanted to know what was happening in the city’s underground culture, for local bands and visual artists who needed a place to peddle their music or promote their shows and exhibits, for musicians who needed a stopgap part-time job.”

In the wake of congressional hearings in the 1980s on “indecent” lyrics in rock and rap and politicians’ intense criticism of the National Endowment for the Arts, Winter became heavily involved in anti-censorship advocacy and served a term as president of the Greater Kansas City Free Speech Coalition.

In 1994 several area school districts either removed or considered removing a book for young people, “Annie on My Mind,” from library shelves because of complaints that it endorsed homosexuality. The coalition invited author Nancy Garden to speak as part of its annual Culture Under Fire free speech celebration.

“Sometimes we forget how important (our) rights are or the fact that Americans have this right, whereas in a lot of countries people aren’t allowed to present ideas that may be a little bit more on the fringe,” Winter said at the time.

Echoing others, DJ Robert Moore wrote to her on Facebook Friday: “You gave me my first job when I moved to KC. You talked me into getting involved with KKFI. You encouraged me to do my own show. … Thank you, Annie.”

Friends planned to establish an education fund for Winter’s children, Max and Eva, though details were unavailable Friday.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Anne Winter is someone who drastically changed the course of my life. She was the first person to carry my zine in her record store when I was 14, she got me involved in community organizing and the Greater Kansas City Free Speech Coalition Board at 16, and offered unflinching support and friendship through my teen years and into my twenties. I owe so much to her. She created community and served as a mentor. She was a supportive, encouraging, and practical member of the community around her and we are forever grateful.

Please consider this blog my best version of a candle in the doorstep of Recycled Sounds from 2000 miles away.

She will be greatly missed.


Please take a moment today to think of Anne Winter, and to consider making a donation to her family.

http://www.anniewinter.org/

2 events and a list of calendar vendors

Please Find Me This November







Starting next week or so,
you can pick up your copy of the 2010 Calendar at any of these lovely shops and distros:

Reform School in L.A.
Buy Olympia online & at Land
Paper Trail Zine Distro online
Little Otsu in San Francisco
Needles & Pens in San Francisco
Reading Frenzy in Portland
Food Fight Vegan Grocery in Portland
Bluestockings in New York
Powells in Portland
and soon,
calendars in Australia & The U.K. !

2010 Calendars Are Home!

Calendars are here!!!


I am very happy with them (Thank you Eberhardt Press) , and this year, for the first time ever, they come with HOLES for you to hang them by!
I'm getting really high tech over here.
What's next?








I have one new narwhal on my etsy site. They go fast, so if you like him, snatch him up!


Enjoy your fall times.

xox
n.g.

Tattoo Commission

Buy some Narwhals, Come say Hello

You can Find me Here:



On Saturday, November 7th.




At the Beaverton
Masonic Lodge
4690 SW WATSON AVE.,
BEAVERTON, OR 97005

Squashluck & Pet Portraits

Two orders of business:


1. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12th, 7PM at READING FRENZY
2010 Queer Animal Calendar Release Party and Squashluck!


Join us to celebrate the release of the 2010 Invincible Summer Queer Animal Odyssey Calendar and Squashluck! Please bring a vegan item -- sweet or savory -- made from squash to share. Remember zucchini and pumpkin are squashes!

Special Guest: Key Losers will play a set for you to chew by .





2. There are still Pet Portrait spots open for the holiday season.
And, most recently, people have been commissioning me to draw all sorts of things.
Tattoos, animals for their true loves, dogs, pigs, birds, popcorn, and even themselves as dolphins!
You could jump up in the mix!
Pen and ink drawings start at $120
Paintings (such as the one seen above with Lucky the dog)
start at $200

Think about it!
See more portraits here.

Reading October 11th with Sister Spit in Portland

October 11
SISTER SPIT AT MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS
as part of WORDSTOCK!!

Featuring MICHELLE TEA
BETH LISICK /
SARA SEINBERG
KIRYA TRABER /
RHIANNON ARGO
ARIEL SCHRAG /
BEN MCCOY
NICOLE J. GEORGES /
DEXTER FLOWERS

Evening Show: Doors 7pm, Show 8pm
$10 advance, $12 day of show
Get Tickets

Henry the Goat by spinstersummer on Etsy

Henry the Goat by spinstersummer on Etsy

Shared via AddThis

Calendar Calendar Calendar!

Hi Friends.
If you live outside of Portland and can think of a place where you'd like to see the Invincible Summer 2010 Animal Odyssey Calendar , please email me with the name of the shop and the person to contact there.

I would like to reach further!

Thank you thank you.

n.g.

Plea

Not to be too bossy,
but
Please Comment on things!

I accidentally erased my site meter button a while back, and it will help me know that you are seeing.

Thank you.

n.g.

p.s.
here are some photos from my current show up at Half & Half.
they will be moving upstairs to The IPRC for the month of October. Details soon.

Two New Things

1. Noted cyclist and local Veloshop owner Molly Cameron just had me design her a fan card in which she is portrayed as a bicycle riding dolphin.
Totally weird, also amazing. Thank you!





2. Bitch Magazine let me draw a page about one of my favorite musicians, Betty Davis, for their new Feminist History Comic Section! Take a look in this month's issue of Bitch. I hope I did her justice.

Root Canal & Subscriptions

Hi Everyone.

1. I had a root canal yesterday, which was actually very fun because I have a nice dentist and my tooth was in such rough shape that anything was an improvement. Even having a dental dam over my propped-open mouth for an hour. The weirdest part was when curls of smoke came out of my tooth and the dentist and assistant said in unison: "Barbeque!".





In Other News:

2. Our spotted friend Rorschach is having surgery today. Please keep her in your thoughts.

3. The Invincible Summer Calendar is going to the printer at the end of the month and will DEFINITELY feature:
1 unicorn
1 dalmation
1 terrier
1 cheetah
2 cows

These are potential subjects who have applied to be part of this year's calendar:
koalas
ostrich
deer
horse-women
opossums
elephants
and orcas

If you order one now, you'll be the first to receive one and find out.
It will once again be small and in one color of ink.


4. ISSUE 16
Issue 16 is a split diary comic with Clutch, and came out this year at the Portland Zine Symposium. HOWEVER, being that Clutch and I were the editors, there were typos not only on the first page but also THE COVER, and so back to the drawing board it went, where it is being corrected and then sent to a printer so that we may have a thousand such copies , lovingly bound and printed in a nice color like green or red.
If you would like to pre order it, you can email me. Otherwise, sit tight and i'll let you know when it becomes available.

5. MISSING ISSUES
Some people have wondered aloud, Where Are Issues 14 and 15 of Invincible Summer?
Issue 14, the Sister Spit Diary issue, was never printed as a zine, only in Vol. II of the book. Issue 15 was a split with Clutch last year, but was a short run, as one of the people drawn yelled at me after seeing themself in there. HOWEVER, the sting has faded and we will be printing more soon.



Thanks for sitting through all of this and reading the gross part about the "Barbeque".

See you October 11th when I read with Sister Spit in Portland.

Until then, here is a video from Back Fence.

Nicole Georges at Back Fence PDX from Melissa Lion on Vimeo.

Sincerely,
n.g.

True Love

A Large, Resin-ed painting for Holly & Erin.
I believe it!






Have i mentioned to you yet that Jenn at Robot Candy does all my resin work? I tell you this so that you may perhaps know about her business of making resin covered coasters, lightswitch plate covers, and magnets.

Things I Will Trade For

Dear People,

If you have every looked at the pet portrait portion of my website, or wanted to commission a tattoo or a logo or personal drawing but didn't have all the funds, I want to tell you that there are things I would trade for.

- Coffee (free coffee from a place, or certain kinds of beans)
- Pet Sitting
- Ad Space (truly depends on the publication)
- Photocopies
- Dog Food
- Human Food
- Books
- Studio or Retreat Space
- Business Cards/ Postcards
- Dentistry


Maybe you work somewhere where you get these things for free.
Maybe you have your own business and need some design work.
Who knows.
Usually it ends up that we take the retail value of something and then deduct that from the price of your item.
This is how i had a year and a half of free bubble tea from Townshends (shown above).
I have also received a Trina CD, dog sitting, buttons, and some produce from deals like these.


Just saying.
In Case you have these things and you want to do a swap, email me!

xoxo
n.g.

Harlan is my hero!

Take a look at THIS.
My website has been newly remodeled and made to function by Harlan Mahaffy.
You can now request a pet portrait with a simple form, and view many complex html feats right before your very eyes.

Harlan made this website after thousands of emails back and forth, many last minute requests, and- the night before launch- the entire site going down courtesy of my web hosts who speak mainly Romanian. How did he fix it? Learn Romanian on the fly? Not sure, but very impressed.

If you want to get in touch and order some prints from Harlan, or just say "Kudos, Man." you can find him here.


Also, I have an art show up at Half & Half in Portland starting Thursday and running through September.
Come and have a look at my wigged horses and sad looking dogs.
Everything expensive has an inexpensive archival print counterpart for your wallet.

xoxo
n.g.

Temporary Web Crisis

Aye yay yay.
Just as Harlan and I were about to launch the newly redesigned and better-functioning nicolejgeorges.com , things went haywire at the server and currently you see nothing but an error message.

stay tuned for more updates!

in the meantime, visit me here and at spinstersummer.etsy.com

thank you.

n.g.

Our New Favorite Books!

My favorite graphic novel of the year is Swallow Me Whole, by Nate Powell.
I would like to recommend it to everyone, be you a fan of comics or otherwise.
A tale of adolescent schizophrenia , siblings, and family. A book that holds its life and radiates energy even after you close the (very beautifully printed, hardbound) cover.




Beija and Wishbone vote for Neptune, by our friend Aron Nels Steinke.
A dog-friendly book , lovingly bound by Tugboat Press & Sparkplug Comics.
As an adult I love A.N.S.'s style, but you must know that his books Neptune & The Super Crazy Cat Dance come alive when read aloud to children! They are beautifully drawn and a favorite at any comics workshop I present.




Note: Wishbone is not dead in this photo, merely disturbed from her nap by my camera phone.

Pages, Portraits, and Print Runs

Hello there!
Here are two items of interest:


a recent page from the graphic novel





and a recent pet portrait, a Memorial box for a kind cat named Pedro.








I've been receiving orders for subscriptions lately, as well, which is fantastic. The subscriptions help to pay for the printing of the calendar, which shall go to the printers at the end of September. You can pre-order one through my etsy page , or have one included in a subscription.

SUBSCRIBERS: Clutch and I will, i believe, be doing a large offset print run of our current split. Sit tight and you will get one printed in a colored ink and looking nice!

Also, I'm teaching a class at the IPRC's Comics Certificate Program. Dylan Williams (Sparkplug Comics) and myself will be leading a weekend long intensive for would-be students.
Applications still being accepted!


Take care

n.g.

Write Around Portland Benefit!

Hi Friends, I am decorating a journal which will be auctioned off at this benefit for Write Around Portland, a nonprofit offering writing workshops and resources to under-served populations.


XY&Z is a word art extravaganza.

XY&Z is an interactive evening of words.

XY&Z is Write Around Portland’s 10th Anniversary fundraiser

and celebration.

Join us Saturday, October 3rd at Design Within Reach
1200 NW Everett in the Pearl
7:30pm – 10:00pm

Featuring classic word games—and some new games created just for XY&Z—in a gallery of modern furniture with great music, great drinks and great people. Silent auction of journals designed by authors, artists and lumaries, including:



Dave Eggers, Author

Beverly Stein, Former Multnomah County Chair

Cory Schreiber, Chef & Author

Rebecca Pearcy, Queen Bee Creations Founder & Designer

Storm Large & The Balls, Rock stars

John Brodie, Artist & Owner of Le Happy restaurant

Charles D'Ambrosio, Author

Nicole Georges, Zinester

Matt Love, Author & Oregon Aficionado

Lynn Penner-Ash, Penner-Ash Wine Cellars

Charles Froelick, Froelick Gallery

...and broadsides honoring ten years of Write Around Portland’s writers created by ten amazing book artists.

All of the proceeds support Write Around Portland’s unique model of writing workshops coupled with published anthologies and community readings.



Tickets at $50, $100 and $250 on sale now. For more information or to order by phone, call us at 503-796-9224.

2009 Zine Challenge

2009 Zine Challenge

I just found an entire box of zines i made with a 5th grader called "My Top Five Most Embarrassing Moments".

I'll trade you one for a zine about YOUR top five most embarassing moments.


Deadline: September 1st, 2009

Send $2 with your zine submissions to receive an envelope full of zines received from the challenge (this is for postage).

THIS SWAP IS OPEN TO ALL AGES
Please specify whether or not your zine will be 5th grade appropriate.
This will determine whether your zine will be swapped with 5th graders or just other adults.



We did a Spring Break Zine Challenge in 2008, with great results! Intergenerational zine trading with everyone from gay road trippers to feminist raisins, six year old artists, lesbian poets and bike messengers!

PLEASE REPOST!

Email Me to sign up. (<-- you can see my email address if you put your mouse on that Email Me link, but maybe spammers can't?)

Calendar Pre Orders

I am taking pre orders for the 2010 Invincible Summer Calendar here.
Your pre order will help fund the printing of this year's project!
Take a look!

(Don't forget- you get a calendar if you order an Invincible Summer subscription {see below})


See you in 2010,

n.g.

Invincible Summer 2009 Subscription

Hi Friends. I am now offering Invincible Summer 2009/10 Subscriptions!
For $20 you get 3 zines, a 2010 Calendar, and two free gifts.
Click Here for details.

Recent Pet Portrait and Vote for Me

Two Hound Friends, somewhat out of scale.




Also, I applied for this very meager zine "grant" thing.
If you vote for me, I might get it! And then get a new zine put out for free! And it might be a zine for all ages!

Look How Clean My Office Is !!!

Current amount spent on office furniture: $0.00

Neighbor Chelsey gave me these two small orange things, which ignited a spark in my office, leading me to paint my sewing table light blue and to rearrange.
Better pictures soon, but look at how spacious it is!




I look forward to a productive month of pet portraits and Rock n Roll Camp for Girls. I have pet portrait orders through September, and will only have space for 2-4 portraits between Sept and the Holidays, so think fast if you want to paint a pet for your sweetheart!
Or, as a matter of fact, if you want to paint a portrait of your sweetheart. Or yourself! I do portraits of people, as it turns out.
email for details. nicole at nicole j georges dot com.







Whilst looking for these human portraits, I stumbled upon a photo of myself packing the box for the aforementioned portrait!



These photos courtesy of Jenn Hill (of Robot Candy and Chet & Dot), my official resin expert.

Akumal Retreat Diary