Description:
I shall destroy all the civilized planets. - LiveJournal.com
Contents:
FALL '11
Laundry list:
Dad is all moved out, I have no official ties to Northwest CT anymore.
I need to hightail it here soon myself. Looking around for a nice place for me and the pup to rest our heads. Need to decide if we're sticking around until Winter is dead or if we're leaving to find the sun asap.
Did I tell you I was an extra in The Dark Knight Rises? That was cool, I went to Pittsburgh for it in early August.
Drawing. Always drawing.
Missing some old friends that aren't on Facebook. This is what people must've felt like in the 20th century. This song goes out to M + T, with a dash of N thrown in there because I worry.
It only ever seems to rain.
Everyone has nice haircuts. I'm still growing mine out after the last cut back in June (?), it was an awful one.
That's good enough. Good night enough.
Thrived.
I went to write this as a grand update on my happenings, but now I'm just going to try to skim around and sum it up real concise-like. Right now I am at my dad's house which I lived at most of my teen life and even some of my 20's too.
I'm dog sitting 4 dogs (3 of his and my sweet dog Jill who LOVES the country) for the week and it's been nice. He's moving in August or September, and this place will never be seen or heard from again. In a way, I'm glad - it never really was the same after my parents split up or after he rented out some rooms or even all the crazy remodling that was done recently. It's just a shell of a home. But as I've been spending more time here lately, it's been a familiar shell. Sure, my old room is now full of moving boxes and hasn't had any of my posters on the walls for a very, very long time but it's shape and feeling has embraced me with a phantom's comfort.
Going through old things, packing - it's weird. There's love letters, pictures and various other momentos put in boxes. I still remember where everything came from. Why am I still holding on these things? For a while it was because emotions always stuck with me for some reason, I could never shake sadness or pain so easily. I'm still not the greatest, but I'm certainly unrecognizable to any of those times, people or places. Every relationship an improvement, a lesson of who not to be. Friendships come and gone, making me a bit more callous but a lot more developed in what it takes to be a person worthy of loving, of hanging around with. Let other people pick the music, every girl has to smoke a cigarette at least sometimes, timeliness. All of these things are representing in records, notes, comics, whatever. The point is I'm able to look back older and wiser and I'm also not ashamed to say I loved every goddamn moment. When I need to I can think back to a place in time with someone or just by myself and remember what I felt and who I was. When I said I loved you, especially in the beginning I would look into your eyes and just say it to make sure you knew that I did - I hoped my stare would really tell you how I was feeling. That I was happy to be with you - I liked going to dinner with you especially.
And I'm happy now. I LOVE making new memories and moments. If you just stay loose and live in the now everything will be okay. I don't know where I'm going with this, I guess I just needed to talk. Getting out of the city, watching cable - I'm enjoying pop culture. I'm over guilty pleasures, I want to be able to relate to my peers again. I'm through thinking everything is shit, I'm staying open minded. I feel like I was always in a rush to leave this place and now that I can soon never come back I am sad.
My 20s were a total 180 from my teens, but I was a great teenager and I just wanna give him a hug and a high five. The 2 of us have worked hard and are building something that I am going to adore in my 30s. It's going to start as a camp and end as a castle.
How's that for concise?
JB Q
Get lonely
"I know people get lonely because I do, so that's what I end up writing songs about, how you get lonely sometimes and come up with these big ideas that give you meaning for a second but then leave you like everything else leaves you." Cass McCombs, in a handwritten note.
Quoted in a review, and it really stood out to me.
Perverted girl
My new favorite thing is to get stoned and walk around the city at night with my headphones on. Up early watching last night's Justified I downloaded earlier. 6 pages into a 12 page comic and it's my dream project. Loving every minute of creation. Jill is sleeping at my feet I'm ready to pass out myself. I love that dog. Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
Journal entries of the past and present.
Not much going on with me gang. Freelance artworking mostly right now, with some writing gigs here and there. That's been fun. Launched a store for original art: http://weedcoat.bigcartel.com
Just finished a NSFW free digital zine full of babes I drew from old p**no mags. That's a drawing from it above and you can download it here.
I've been listening to Rhino's box set compilation "One Kiss Can Lead to Another" that's just all amazing lost songs from girl groups. Ellie Greenwich's "You Don't Know" is incredible: I've listened to it at least 3 times a day since I downloaded this thing. Hear it here: http://f**kyeahgoteam.blogspot.com/2011/01/best-song-ever-you-dont-know.html
Jill and I are adjusting to city life. It's been pretty cool, living with Elise has been nice. Got a ton of new projects coming up, almost done with the last comic for my new zine, and submitted a bunch of stuff to some publications. Starting up a collective with a buddy too. Woo!
NH11
Happy new year / 2011 dudes. Moved into our new apt yesterday. We unpacked a ton today and Jill is loving it. Found a great park for her like five minutes away. Also checked out the local comic shop: pretty dece. Our studio is mostly set up but Elise needs to bring her desk over tomorrow to complete it. It is pretty dope, I gotta say. Got some rad Indian delivery last night, and it was a fine end to a pretty okay year. Blowing up. Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
A return to the past.
I was offered a tour in mid-Jan with some friends to tour manage and do merch. It's just two weeks, it pays and Elise was very excited & supportive about it. It'd be nice to do one last tour honestly, the only thing holding me back is I've never been away from Jill for more than a few days and the 3 of us will have only been in the new apartment for a few weeks. Still... the open road, the country. It's tempting. I'll keep you posted. Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
Galloping into the sunset.
So let's talk, journal.
I am writing and drawing daily. That's insane and really fun. I find my artwork improving and have found a comfortable, personal way to write my scripts. It can't be beat. My newest digital comic PRINCES is online now, 7 pages and available for downloadable enjoyment: http://www.radicalfortress.com/comics/PRINCES.pdf. I am already hard at work on the next chapter in this series of crime comics. Here is page one:
So that's that. What else? The relationship between Allison and I had become strange and uncomfortable so a day was called. It was shortly after our end that I began vomiting large amounts of blood. Hospital sleepovers, blood work, x rays and cameras down the throat later revealed a possible tumor or ulcer. Good stuff. But I have been handling it well. And an old friend named Elise became a new friend and now a girlfriend. I don't ever like to jump from one relationship to another as it seems unfair to the other person, but I am quite over my past and very head over heels for this beautiful creature. It's been incredible. That's about it. My apt Camp Rad is fantastic but I am moving in January to be closer to my ladyfriend and back into the big city life. I look forward to a year in New Haven, a place I've wanted to try out for quite some time. After that, come early 2012 will be the next move, but for now I will be keeping that plan a secret to not jinx it. It's going to take hard work and I can't wait to get started. I'm 26 next week. If this entry has typos or makes no sense, I am placing the blame on the fact that this was written on the LJ app on my iPhone. Bravo, technology. Rest in piece, handwriting. XOXO Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
YELLOW.
My comics work is paying off like gangbusters. Not only does my RADICAL FORTRESS imprint have a stable of talent (including one of my all time comic book heroes) working hard on projects, I myself have been "killing it" as they say.
Above is a page from my upcoming graphic novel "Honey Bunny". I've been slaving over it since January of this year, and it's coming along at 100+ pages. There is publishing deals, new digital comics and...
I was asked to speak at a panel at the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE) in Boston this weekend!! This is a very exciting moment for me and maybe one of the biggest payoffs of my entire life, and certainly one from a year of hard work. I don't want to downplay that, by the way: I worked my ASS off all year long to make my dreams come true and they totally are.
RAD FORT will have a table with comics, zines, stickers, shirts and mixtapes at the show and here is the info for my panel:
12:00 - "Webcomics/marketing through social media" - Franklin Einspruch moderating. Panelists: Dirk Tiede, George Burnett, Joey Gantner, Jen Vaughn, Tyler James, Susan Soares.
If you are in the Boston area, please come! The show is from 10AM to 6PM this Saturday, September 25th at the Art Institute of Boston. Address:
700 Beacon Street
Boston MA 02215
617-585-6600
www.aiboston.edu
BEST OF ALL THE SHOW IS FREE! YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE (UNLESS YOU'RE SICK OR HATE ME OR SOMETHING)
ALSO: f**k yeah! Go team! won an award, I've met myself a wonderful lady, my mom is moving to New Jersey (I will miss her dearly), my dog Jill wags her tail in a full clockwise circle and it makes me melt everytime, I've got a dope new apartment all to myself and a new car is on the way. So there are many paths that I am excited to explore in the future. Can't f**kin' stop me, yo.
COOL THINGS
I should've taken a digital or iphone picture or whatever shit of the zine I made for Danielle's birthday. It came out really cool and she loved it which is what it's all about.
MORGAN IS COMING NEXT WEEK! Can't wait to hang with one of my best friends in the world. Believe it. Oh and my mom is moving to New Jersey which is WEIRD.
UP IN THE SKY.
The moon was no where to be found, hiding behind the murky clouds that were just sort of sloshing by up in the sky. Sure, the stars could be seen for miles, but that's just how New England has always worked: it's a given, a "sure thing".
I was lying on back, to the right of Robin and Skyler, still stoned from an hour ago and drinking a hard apple cider (granny smith apples to be exact). It's been a sludgy summer but at the beach at midnight, the breeze was perfectly brisk while wafting the smell of the water past our noses. Passerby's would come and go but we remained the constants on the sand.
I looked up and to my left many times and thought to myself "everything is perfect". I then felt obligated to make that statement aloud, to which my friends agreed. It was right and the world was still for just a little while and I hope to carry that night with me forever and ever.
Speed boat.
Whoa, okay. So it's been a hot second. That's okay, it's hard to write in internet diaries when you're out having a fun. That's just what I've been doing too. I'm going to keep it down to the facts:
Jill's 4th birthday (and first with me), I love my job, got promoted already, made a ton of new friends/reconnecting with old ones, drinks and weed, 4th of July in Albany, Grouper, Jason Anderson and Happy Birthday gigs, there's a lady I'm fond of, beaches at 4 in the morning, staying up till 7AM, air conditioner in my car, bong rips, comics, vinyl, cassettes, drawing, tanning, oceans, making new zines, cooking, sex and dying in high society.
You can't top it. Moving into the new pad next month, it's ultimate.
What's your favourite vitamin?
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Also, it brings to mind a certain sun drenched nostalgia from the early 90's. Seeing the adverts in the mornings/afternoons between Nickelodeon marathons of the Adventures of Pete & Pete or Clarissa Explains It All made me want to chomp down an orange or drink some Sunny D. It screamed of sunscreen and beach visits with friends, and each time I ingest the vitamin, a small part of me is always taken back to that time. And it always feels right and safe, like nothing else does anymore.
Thanks, Vitamin C. What's your favourite vitamin?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C
Me With Harvey Pekars Signature April 28th, 2010.
Self portrait. Radical Fortress 010.
Harvey was way cool. Read and watch the American Splendor film if you haven't already.
The secret.
Many pages into my graphic novel. Above is random finished pages and a half inked page (which has since been completed and I am way proud of it). Working hard everybody!
You think I ain't worth a dollar, but I feel like a millionaire.
(info on the above coming soon)
Dash Shaw in Cambridge was incredible. Very inspiring stuff, when I got home I hardcore worked on my graphic novel and haven't stopped. I'll post pictures of the cool drawings/signings I got some day maybe. Also rad to see Caitlin for a hot second and get a pint with my old high school friend Stephanie. Glad to see she's been killing it.
Big pay day from my taxes. Stoked.
Will be trekking it to Connecticut tomorrow night for Dead Meadow in New Haven. That's gonna rule. Also, I've got to finish some artwork for my friend Amanda's new record so I'm hoping to squeeze that in all through out the weekend. I've got some crazy ideas, hope she digs em.
Chill Jill has a tumblr (because I'm sure people are sick of my dog pictures, but I f**king love that pup so I needed to post them somewhere): http://chilljill.tumblr.com
I have a tumblr but that's old news: http://warmcoat.tumblr.com
(spell check)
Sew yeah, loving the sunshine. How are you?
Gimme danger.
(Shirt design by my friend John.)
This month is going to be bananas. I'm going to try to make all of the NY and Boston events for Dash Shaw's Bodyworld as that dude has influenced me more than anyone or anything else at the moment. So I'll totally be in Brooklyn for the release party on the 15th at my new favourite place, Desert Island Comics.
The next day is going to be the hugest because I have a f**king meeting set up with probably my favourite female musical performer ever about doing some vinyl on Radical Fortress. It blows my mind that we even got in touch and that she knows my name but it looks like it's happening and I will get to meet her face to face and have a working relationship. That is completely insane to me. I am so honored to have gotten this far.
I've been working odd jobs and selling off 90% of what I own to fund this and many other projects including comics by friends and a graphic novel by me if I can't get it published.
And I'm trying really f**king hard to make it to Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland this year. That shirt design at the beginning of this post is a shirt made just for the event and I'm rushing them to the printers next week. Also, I will have a TWENTY PAGE preview of the graphic novel I'm working on. I plan on smoozing like crazy. Also, I miss Portland like crazy and I am going to hug the pavement and never let it go.
But if I can't make Stumptown, it's not the end of the world. I will be in Portland at some point this Spring, plans are being made to attend cons all Summer and I couldn't be more thrilled. I got my first international order for 4 issues of Cornwall yesterday and to think someone across oceans knows and wants my work is the most touching thing to me.
So yeah things are beyond great. Chill Jill and I are having a blast and I'm happy that I have the world's greatest dog in my life and I'll be moving this summer and shit... it's insane. There's so much I can't even talk about. Jinxing it and otherwise. But I know my last billion entries have been a bummer and I want you (readers and myself ten years from now) to know it was worth it and not to worry about me. I'm f**king famous.
RIP ALEX CHILTON
You f**king ruled.
THE LEGEND:
THE TRIBUTE:
I can only hope I raise my children this well.
Goals.
Hi.
GOALS FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS:
- Go to college.
- Make a successful living off of comics.
- Get high with Tom Petty.
- Write, complete and get a novel published.
- Write a screenplay.
- Travel to at least 3 other continents.
- Own a house.
- Jump out of an airplane.
- Have fun with science.
- Keep my dog Jill happy throughout her life.
There's more. Some I don't think need posting, some I can't think of.
Jeans.
I'm tumblin' again: http://warmcoat.tumblr.com Unlike others, I am not replacing this journal with it. This will always be a journal and a place for thoughts and such, but I like to post random shit too. So there you have it. If you tumblr, let's hang.
Also google wave: warmcoat@googlewave.com
Holy shit thats a lot of hip nerd computer dumb shit. Sorry. Things are actually going pretty great, I feel really great about the future. I don't want to jinx anything, so that's all I will slip out at the moment. It's important to me that it all happens, so I need all the cards to work out. Mostly it means for me to not wait for shit to happen and to make it f**king happen.
But yeah I'd hit the edge of things this week. I'll get into that another time, but it was dark. But I came out of it loved and ready for the sunshine. Just try and stop me!
S A D
Alright I am only going to talk about this once because... you will see. I really am writing this to vent because my thoughts are very heavy.
I've dated Jessica for 2 years now. Just a few weeks ago was that anniversary. Yesterday she left me to go find herself. She has been in Austin for a month and did this over the phone. Today, I find out she has cheated on me... a lot. Like a whole lot. Like too much. I really feel betrayed and hurt and at my lowest. I am leaving Lawrence to return to the East Coast over the weekend, maybe sooner if I can help it.
I really trusted her with my heart and soul. It's going to be really hard to move on and away from this, but it's the only thing I can do to keep from sinking. Jill is coming with me (whew) and we're starting fresh and doing things right.
So yes, this will be the last mopey post. 2009 is almost over, thank god. I really need a new year. I'm trying to look up, today it's hard but tomorrow I will be Captain Sunshine. Or something.
Wish me luck friends.
Abe.
"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that
unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of
my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and
an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the
money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its
reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until
all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic
is destroyed."
-- U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864
(letter to Col. William F. Elkins)
I feel ya dawg.
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