Dear Readers,
Greetings from snowy White River Junction, Vermont!
I have good news and bad news.
Let's start with the good news first.
1. I painted my favorite sort of cow for Townshends Teahouse in Bozeman, Montana! Seen above, the cow mentioned is Highland Cattle, with some bubble tea, and some nice birds, and an upside-down blonde sloth overhead! If you are in Montana, swing by and see it.
In case you didn't know, I also painted signs for their Division Street Teahouse, Alberta, and Eugene!
2. Good news: Somebody really super nice person named Danielle (@bearofroses on twitter) sent me some hand-knitted chicken sweaters for the ladies while I was visiting them over the winter break.
Perla is shown above (pre-nail-trim) wearing some lovely warm apparel.
Now the bad news.
While I was in Portland, the chickens were murdered by a raccoon.
People online kept saying "What!? Why!?".
I would rather not dredge up the details.
My best answer to "Why", then, is that life is sad and unfair sometimes, and chicken life is delicate and sometimes fleeting.
These were the first chickens I had (and got close to) in a long time, so it was very very sad.
I do believe they had a luxurious life, though. They lived a clean and uncluttered environment, with free access to a giant yard and garden, with no chicken drama since there were only two of them. Their only pain in life is that they had to be picked up and cradled and photographed more often than they would have liked.
So, I'm sorry to deliver this news.
3. The very morning I discovered the chickens had passed away, I was scheduled to go on KBOO to talk about
Calling Dr. Laura on the show "Words and Pictures", with the lovely host Conch.
Regarding the time, or the ladies, I don't even know what to say. They are the third and fourth animals to pass from my life within one year, all coinciding with times I've had to make very public appearances in service to the book. It's hard and it's sad and it's weird, but I have to do both at the same time. Grieve my animals and go talk to people about my family. I enjoy talking to people about the book, about art, and about the story, so it is a nice distraction, but please don't imagine I have forgotten any of the kind creatures to pass through my life this year. In fact, a sad comic about Beija is forthcoming.
Anyway, I mentioned the girls on the radio, and brought Ponyo along to fulfill her duties as "emotional support".
Here is a link to the show:
http://kboo.fm/node/61651
4. Ponyo visited the senior citizens at The Marie Smith Center with me while we were there, and accompanied me to Olympia's Timberland Regional Public Library for a spirited reading from
Tell It Like It Tiz with collaborator Marc Parker!
Tell It Like It Tiz, my zine anthology of comics and writing from my time spent volunteering with senior citizens, is still available through my
Etsy shop. It is a pick-me-up, and a gift appropriate for all ages.
5. Speaking of Etsy, my 2014 Calendars are now $10 in my
Etsy shop! AND the
2013 Invincible Summer/Clutch split comic is available there for $3! Run, don't walk to pick up these titles.
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| Phyllis "Non-Earl" Georges, modeling with the calendar in October |
6. I gave a talk in Trevor Dodge's class at Clackamas Community College this month and had a lot of fun discussing Calling Dr. Laura and emotional honesty with his class.
7. I have news coming up regarding my
advice column being syndicated, and/or written for specific entitities! Stay tuned.
8. I went on a twitter tear last night with
Lucy Knisley, writing as "Freelance Cartoonist Hulk".
Go follow me on Twitter.
