Damn, was it a good weekend. I’m exhausted, my liver is shot, my head is pounding. I probably need to drink more water. And I’ll say it again–Damn, was it a good weekend.
I got off work early on Friday, and after a quick nap, I headed out to The Story Pirates’ Found Magazine show. If you’re not familiar with The Story Pirates, they are a children’s-oriented comedy troupe. They were premiering their adult-oriented show based on excerpts from Found Magazine. I had seen small bits of this show before so I knew that I would enjoy it, but it far surpassed my expectations. I think it was just a small run to raise cash for their charity organization, but if you ever get a chance to see this show, I would highly recommend it. I hadn’t stopped quoting it all weekend, I’m sure Dylan’s quite sick of me.
At that point I was gonna head home, but decided last minute to head over to the Kareoke bar and meet up with ComicsAlliance’s Laura Hudson. I grabbed only one beer, but Miss Drunky McDrunkerson Hudson kept handing me Sake shot after Sake shot. And I do like my Sake. So I downed a couple of ‘em and sang Wild Wild Life. Also there was Top Shelf’s Leigh Walton, who sang There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. Just to warn you now, Leigh does a mean Morrissey, I’d think twice before taking him on in a Kareoke battle.
As I was walking home, who should pull up but the lovely Monica Gallagher (who makes the comics Boobage and Bonnie N Collide) and her arm candy Dennis–perfect timing. They were staying with us this weekend. So we had some catch-up conversation and soon headed to bed, or in Monica and Dennis’ case, aerobed.
I woke up early the next morning to help team AdHouse load in to MoCCA. Almost all of us showed up so it took no time. I met Jesse for breakfast where we finished putting together some mini-comics, and I headed back to the Armory.
MoCCA was really good, as I re-met a lot of old friends and made new ones. I had some people doodle in my sketch book, including the formidable GB Tran the the debonair Jamie Tanner. And, when I wasn’t running around all over the convention, I got to hang out a bit with Lamar Abrams and Chris Pitzer and the always gracious Lisa Pitzer. Everyone was really supportive of the new Johnny Hiro collection, which was incredibly heartwarming.
Afterwards, we went to Dewey’s and grabbed a drink. Some other cartoonists were there including GB Tran, Jamie Tanner, Neil Swaab, Charly LaGreca and a small boatload of others.
We headed over to Planet Thai. I think there ended up being around 30 cartoonists split among three tables. I was a table with, among others, Salgood Sam, Mr. Phil, SpanoMano, and ComicGeekSpeak’s Bryan Deemer. I could barely concentrate on any conversation as Charly and I kept making up pun-oriented dick jokes. At one point, Charly just turns to talk to me and when I hear him say “Hey, Fred,” I just start losing it, covering my mouth because I’m afraid I’m gonna spit out my curry.
After dinner, we headed to a bar (I forget the name) just under the Empire State Building–it was really gorgeous. Most of the night was spent with Monica, Dennis, Jesse, and Dylan talking about vulvas and Dr. Zizmor. I did get to meet Truth Serum’s Jonathan Adams, who was really awesome.
Afterwards, we headed over to the Limerick bar where I mostly hung out with Jeff dotdotSearch and Caitlin and Molly. At some point I had acquired Charly’s vest and it was decided I could rock it better than he could. We made gang signals with our fingers a good deal of the night, and soon enough it was time to head home.
The next morning Jesse, Monica, Dennis, Dylan and I grabbed breakfast at a nearby diner. It was really wonderful to have a nice slow morning before heading in.
Again, I got to see some really good people including Jim Ottaviani, First Second’s Gina Gagliano, Bergen Street Comics‘ Tom and Amy Adams, and Comic Foundry’s Tim Leong.
The day wound down, I said my goodbyes to everyone. Jesse, Jeff dotdotSearch, Caitlin, Dylan and I grabbed Indian food and went to a nearby bar. Conversations mostly centered around high-school relationships, which was fun to relive now that we’re older and not completely stupifyingly awkward about physical contact with the opposite sex. The night wound down, we headed home, and essentially, that ended MoCCA.
I came out with a pretty good haul. I’m most excited about T-Minus, which I didn’t know was coming out at all, so that was a really nice surprise. I also picked up the third issue of Brian Ralph’s Daybreak (my favorite horror-ish comics story). I’m also wicked excited about the new anthology from the IndieSpinnerRack kids, Awesome 2: Awesomer. Dylan picked up League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910, which I will have to snag from her. From AdHouse, I got Lamar Abram’s Remake and Mike Dawson’s Ace-Face. And Pope Hats, which looks beautiful (I will have to find out more about Ethan Rilly). Not a bad haul.
I woke up early the next morning and worked on my new comic project. It was nice to get back to the drawing table. Jesse came over, we worked together a bit. Then, Dylan and I met up with Thomas Turnbull to wait in line for the free David Byrne show in Prospect Park. The line was absolutely insane, and I’d be curious as to the head count. We never got in, but outside the show area, they set up huge screens. So everyone just sat outside by the screens and danced. It was really great. I really couldn’t believe how many people were there.
Afterwards, I went to a nearby bar to meet up with a couple friends. A tiny bit after I’m there, David Byrne shows up. At one point, I’m talking to Natalie, who is one of Mr. Byrne’s current backup dancers, and David comes up and talks to her. He is all smiles, and it’s really wonderful to see. And I’m just right there and it’s great and odd and great again.
After too many drinks, I stumble home and fall asleep.
I work from home today, which I feel very lucky about. And I’ll say it again–Damn, was it a good weekend.
