Austin Kleon – Page 568

THE GAS GIRL

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

One day I’m going to do a graphic novel about my parents, and it’s going to be called THE GAS GIRL AND THE RODEO RIDER. The Rodeo Rider part of the title we’ll save for another day, but the Gas Girl, I can explain now.

When my mom was young, she wanted to be Betty Newton. Betty Newton was the Martha Stewart of her day–only she wasn’t an actual person. See, the Ohio Fuel Gas Company was looking for a way to get consumers to switch to gas appliances, so they sent out home economists to demonstrate cooking techniques on gas ranges. (Gas girls!) And each of these gas girls went by the pseudonym, Betty Newton. Betty Newton would show up to your door or your 4-H club in her pinafore and show you how to cook with gas.

Ok, so here’s the treasure I mentioned yesterday:

“To Your Kitchen From Mine,” was a recipe booklet put out by the Ohio Fuel Gas Company in 1961. Its goal was to enlighten home owners about the advantages of cooking with gas versus electricity. It’s author? Betty Newton.

Check out Betty with her gas range:

[Read more…]

HAVING OUR CAKE, AND EATING IT TOO

Monday, August 7, 2006

Spent the weekend travelling to Cincinnati and Oxford, planning for our wedding. If you’ve never been cake tasting, I highly recommend it. Just pretend you’re having a wedding, set up an appointment at a bakery, show up, and cake is brought out to you to taste! For free! Bring as many people as you can fit in the car! Make it a party!

We brought my mom with us. Mom and I used to have great trips down to Oxford when she was driving me to school. We started this weird tradition of always listening to Bob Dylan (and playing “Oxford Town” on the way up the hill to Miami). For this trip, we had 14 episodes of Bob’s radio show to listen to. He’s done a theme show on weddings, which was appropriate.

“While we’re on the subject of marriage, here’s what Minnie Pearl had to say about it: ‘Gettin’ married’s a lot like gettin’ into a tub of hot water. After you get used to it, it ain’t so hot.’ Rodney Dangerfield had this to say: ‘My wife and I were happy for 20 years. Then we met.’ “

He also quoted Groucho Marx: “Marriage is a wonderful institution…but who wants to live in an institution?”

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Other things: I got some time on my old piano, trying out some arrangements of our wedding music. Which reminds me, I’m really looking forward to seeing the Ditty Bops live. They’re keeping up this cool blog about their bicycle tour, complete with a comic strip!

Since working on a graphic novel, I’ve been listening to a ridiculous amount of music. Right now, I’m listening to Everclear’s old one, SPARKLE AND FADE. What happened to these guys? Somebody should re-record “Santa Monica” as a country song. It’s a great tune for the apocalypse: “We can live beside the ocean / leave the fire behind / swim out past the breakers / watch the world die.”

Have I ever told you about my theory that all great bands should make a country album? Everclear would be one of them. The Shins would be another.

I don’t know about Love. Poor old Arthur Lee died this weekend. Meghan used to listen to Calexico’s version of “Alone Again Or” over and over on the way home from work. If you go to YouTube, you can see them on TV doing my favorite song, “A Message To Pretty.”

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Something I forgot to post up at the top as a great read: Re: A Guide To Reproduction, a free PDF file by Jordan Crane and some other folks that tells you everything you need to know about xeroxing, silkscreening, scanning line art, and scamming Kinko’s. It’s really something else. Go to your library and print the sucker out for free.

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On top of all this, I forgot to mention that we had to hit up a family reunion on Sunday. I had a few family members come up to me and say, “Oh, I saw your website!” And I said, “Cool!” And they said,” Yeah! I didn’t understand a word of it, but it looked pretty neat!”

So if you’re family, hello.

Tomorrow I’m going to post about a little treasure I found at my Mom’s house…

BEAT THE HEAT, PT. 2

Thursday, August 3, 2006

This is kind of what my book looks like before the pages actually happen, which is fun, I think, because it looks nothing like the finished product…

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Meg was quoted big-time in a great PD article today about how sustainability doesn’t equal the hippie/granola scene or spending lots of money:

“There’s this preconceived notion that living green costs more, which isn’t necessarily true,” says Meghan Feran, architectural resource coordinator for the Cleveland Green Building Coalition. “The main things are that it’s healthier, more energy-efficient and better for the environment. It’s win-win across the board.”

AND:

Feran says the three fundamental principles of green-building — energy-efficiency, resource conservation and good health — address issues that help save the earth and the individual from illness and bankruptcy. She says many people inquire about green alternatives because of toxins in the home that put them or their children at risk. And although many people think that living green costs more, it actually aims to save you money.

“Look at what you’re paying at the pump,” Feran says. “Imagine what your utility bills are going to look like in six months.”

Meg’s ideas about bringing sustainability to the mainstream audience by appealing to the pocke book are really on target. We will be seeing lots more quotes from her in the future…mark my words!

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Two of my favorite writers were on NPR this week: David Milch and Etgar Keret. And Alison Bechdel returns with the NYTimes to setting of FUN HOME.

BEAT THE HEAT

Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Yesterday I moved my whole rig to the bedroom and spent the day cowering in front of the air-conditioner with a pen. I guess we’ve got one more day of this inferno, then we’ll be out, for a little while…

Here’s a fun way to beat the heat, courtesy of Gerry: every episode so far of Bob Dylan’s XM radio show. Download ’em now, before they’re gone.

Here’s another option, which I saw on GERALDO yesterday. God help us.

Yet another option is to read Harvey Pekar’s introduction to the upcoming inaugural Best American Comics 2006 book. He basically summarizes every piece in the book, which is a nice preview. This book is going to be really good for comics in general, and fantastic for little-known artists who’ve been selected to be in it. One can only hope for that kind of exposure. (We live in Harvey’s neighborhood, and see him when we’re out walking sometimes, but I’ve still never met him.)

AND IT WILL BE STARRING MYSELF, A SNOWMAN, A ROBOT, AND A PIECE OF FRUIT

Monday, July 31, 2006

The Center For Cartoon Studies is having a scholarship competition. All you do is fill out the application and draw a “two page comic story starring yourself, a snowman, a robot, and a piece of fruit.”

I’ve been admiring the center for quite a while, but I’ve never considered it as a possibility, since they don’t have much funding and lack accreditation. (It’d be so great if they offered an MFA.) But what an incredible thing: to cartoon for a year with teachers like James Kochalka, and a slew of top-notch visiting artists. (Kevin Huizenga designed their brochure, and Alison Bechdel drew her visit.)

It’s really tempting…check out their summer programs.

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Speaking of Alison Bechdel, a little birdie told me that she’s going to appear at the Cleveland Joseph-Beth in October. She was just signed, so there’s no confirmation of it …yet.

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Also: as another great experiment in shameless self-promotion, I’ve started a Myspace account. If you read this and you’re on Myspace too, what the hell, let’s be friends.

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It was really hot this weekend, so we spent a lot of time at the movies. We saw the new Woody Allen with a 5 p.m. matinee/geriatric crowd, which was perfect, since the movie contains jokes about metamucil. The old lady sitting next to me had a husband who was hard of hearing, so after every joke she repeated the punchline for him.

While watching, it occured to me that I work on very small canvases: either an 8 x 11.5 inch sketchbook, or a 15 inch monitor. And the final form of my work, whether it’s a book, or zeros and ones on a computer monitor, is kind of intimate: it’s like something just you and I share. I draw it mostly in solitude, and you read it in solitude…

Film, on the other hand, is such a huge production, a collaboration between so many people, and I think it’s really only done justice by seeing it with other people, in a dark, cool theater, with the characters larger than life….

Okay, that is all for today. I wish you nothing but air-conditioning.