a Paris

My last night in Lyon was solo again. I had intended to find a jazz bar, but "sleep" won out. The next morning, despite having ample food and water, the cats were meowing like crazy. Apparently they wanted *fresh* food. Xavier finally came home and frantically packed, and we headed to the train station via the printer. On the platform, Xavier caught me looking at a fellow (as he did often); though he was in error as to which guy. He thought it was what he described as an awful looking guy (but it was another standing near him). Since the guy was far from awful (tall, blond, blue-eyed, Swedish-looking), I dubbed him as Xavier's ideal man in my sketchbook. The next day, I depicted myself as an angel, as I passed by an opportunity to be very naughty. Despite this, karma allowed me to step in some dog-doo. Later that day I hauled all my heavy convention stuff from La Defense to Gare Montparnasse. This inked drawing has become the iconic-me in my mind, and will get lots of use.

Last day in Lyon

Xavier and I were to depart the next morning for a day in Paris. To celebrate our departure, as well as the departure of his friends Patrick and Kelly, as well as the birthday of his friend Simon, Xavier organized a big lunch. The meal was great, and terribly pricey for Lyon. However, the old lady waitress was trying to hurry Kelly along, and at one point even told her to not talk so much. Ultimately, they told us they were closing, so we had to leave. So much for the stereotype of long leisurely meals! :) Later, Xavier was concerned that his cat Duncan was getting sick, and was preparing a Vicks Vapo-Rub treatment for him. Since I was also under the weather, he prepared a bowl for me as well. He put Duncan in a cage and covered it with a towel so he'd breath in the fumes. Then covered my head with a towel so I would breath the fumes. Afterward, we were talking comics—whenever we talked comics, Xavier would disappear for a minute and then haul out whatever comics we had just been talking about for me to look at. The topic had been "Justice Machine" from the 1980s, which I'd never read. You can see from my drawings, the characters had really awful, really gay costume designs.

Not a morning person

Xavier had to spend the night at the hotel he works at, so after we ate dinner there and I drew him an "Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld" I went back to his place for a nice night of sleep (I had been up since 4 AM to transfer from Stockholm to Lyon). His little cat Cassie slept near me, which was sweet. I was awoken in the morning when Xavier came home and was making some tea. I crawled out of bed to say hello, and I was greeted with a chipper, "You are not a morning person!" I then eased into the gloomy day and decided to shop in the dry comfort of Celio. Suddenly, the sun came out, and I hoofed my way around the center city and up the hills of Lyon with my purchases before the rain returned. That night, Xavier took me to the bear bar, Station B. I'm not so into the bear scene myself, so Xavier accused me of only liking children. But I did think his friend François was cute and maybe he could be described as a mild bear or maybe mild otter. We all ate a traditional Lyonnaise restaurant. Since I don't eat red meat, they steered me from that, but when I asked what exactly I was eating, François explained, "it's usually best not to know."

Transfer

My time in Sweden was brief (4 days) and packed with tourism, social outings courtesy of Anders, and a presentation & signing at Hallongrottan book shop. Most of my sketches are quick, about the weather, or all the cute guys in Stockholm. Most aren't very detailed or interesting. I do plan to make a Tim Fish version of the 1919 painting at the modern art museum, "The Dying Dandy," which was described as a "possible comentary on homosexuality." For now, here is a sketch from the day I transfered from Stockholm to Lyon. On the left, a trio of guys on the flight, each with a distinct look: the first, tall, broad, cute, short spikey hair, full kissable lips, and total Ben Sherman ensemble. The second, boyish and the least cute, but with beautiful wavy-curly hair; the tallest of the three, and also the thinnest, with tight jeans to accentuate the fact. The third, the best looking, blond, thick Poindexter glasses, snug Levi's denim jacket with mutton lining, tight brown pants and redneck boots. On the right, the cats of my friend in Lyon, Xavier. Duncan, a very large cat, who likes to sleep on Xavier's '80s computer monitor (which was frightening to see this behemoth crawl up there!) and sweet and fluffy Cassie. Both were friendly cats, which was nice.

Pretentious Euro-tour 2009

After a swell time at Angoulême last year, I had decided to exhibit this year. Without much arm-twisting, Xavier convinced me to spend time in Lyon before the festival. Perhaps with slightly more effort, Anders convinced me to stay in Stockholm before visiting Lyon. I sketched a journal entry every day, and over the next days, I will post the highlights of the sketches. My trip begins with a jaunt up to NH to deposit Aggie with my parents. It was so cold!—maybe -5 degrees F. The cold but fast-running Winnipesaukee River was so much warmer than the air, it was steaming near the old tressel. I drew that, but you only see a bit of the trees here. Also tough to see is the airport guy with the HUGE eyebrows. Instead, I focused my artistic efforts on the hottest guy on the flight from Iceland to Sweden. Dressy-casual, blond, intense blue eyes, scruffy, mild mullet. Yes, many mullets in Scandanavia. Also on the plane were LOTS of bears, all together. Must have been some sort of convention...

Headaches

Some time ago, I vowed to stop sweating the small stuff. More recently, I vowed to stop sweating the big stuff, too. Things always work out, and we just need to make the most of our daily lives. However, with all the financial news and layoffs, and office-political wranglings, so many of my colleagues are sweating everything—big and small. The small things perhaps more than the big. Stress can do that to people. As for me, I've tried to go about my business carefree, but my colleagues are starting to wear on me, and I hate the feeling of disappointment.

Ever since we moved office locations, and I went from a fun, quirky, office with window (in which I took advantage of natural light) to a corporate, big-brother-esque office with no window (in which I rely on flourescent lighting) I leave work daily with a headache. In the old location, it would only be once a week. Now, seriously, daily. Mid-week, it was 1000x worse than usual, and I was trapped in a horrific meeting. During the meeting, I really triued to capture my pain. Not sure I caught it. I left work @ 4:30 and thought I would vomit en route home, the pain was that intense. But I didn't.

I am REALLY glad to be leaving on vacation for 2 weeks!!!

Somerville recycles—or does it?

Sadly, it's time for me to recycle inventory. While all my books have turned a profit, it's sensible to examine sales levels and understand that storing books that are not selling costs money. Thinking responsibly, I put 2 cases to the curb on trash/recycle day clearly labelled "CAUTION—HEAVY" and "RECYCLE PAPER" and the recycle truck took them away. The next week, I put 2 more out which were specifically left behind! I hate to be irresponsible and trash the books, but I need these F-ers out of my apartment... and I have a few more cases to go! This past week I have been going to bed @ 8 PM and getting up @ 4 AM to prep myself for the upcoming jetlag of my trip to Sweden (I know, I'm a dork). Fearful my heavy boxes would be left behind again, and taking advantage of the dead of night, I stealthly moved about my neighborhood, spreading the boxes far from my own apartment house, placing boxes on neighbors' trash bins. I felt bad for trashing rather than recycling, and also for potentially sticking neighbors with trash that woudn't be picked up. But all's well that ends well... the books are gone. Oh—of you are near the Porter Square subway station and want some free books, look for them next trash day.