Halloween with Marjane Satrapi

I usually don't post photos here, especially of myself. But then again, it's not often that I'm standing next to Marjane Satrapi, author/artist of the Persepolis series, Embroideries, Chicken With Plums, and a few children's books. I saw her at a book signing session at Politics & Prose in DC. Before that, I spent Halloween at work with co-workers/friends, most of whom donned disguises. One was a silent film star, complete with subtitles, while another was "a brush with death" (the grim reaper carrying a brush); I tried being Space Ghost but could not be useful in any way wearing the suit, so I took it off rather quickly. While I was wearing it, I managed to drop a rather heavy toy piano on my head which led to a headache that I am still enjoying as I type this. Anyway, if the html gods and I are okay with each other, there should be pictures below this nonsense (One seems significantly larger than the other; it's 1:00 am, and I'm too lazy to investigate).

Fatalysia footage from the SPX online

A nice guy was at the Small'>http://www.spxpo.com">Small Press Expo a couple of weeks ago shooting footage of some of the tables. Among them was the Fatalysia table. I found that the footage is now online and may be viewed here. Also, there were a few updates under the gallery link of our website the weekend of the expo.

Fatalysia footage from the SPX online

A nice guy was at the small/'>http://www.spxpo.com">Small Press Expo a couple of weeks ago shooting footage of some of the tables. Among them was the Fatalysia table. I found that the footage is now online and may be viewed here. Also, there were a few updates under the gallery link of our website the weekend of the expo.

Fatalysia footage from the SPX online

A nice guy was at the Small Press Expo a couple of weeks ago shooting footage of some of the tables. Among them was the Fatalysia table. I found that the footage is now online and may be viewed here. Also, there were a few updates under the gallery link of our website the weekend of the expo.

A nice guy was at the Small Press Expo a couple of weeks ago shooting footage of some of the tables. Among them was the Fatalysia table. I found that the footage is now online and may be viewed here. Also, there were a few updates under the gallery link of our website the weekend of the expo.

A nice guy was at the Small Press Expo a couple of weeks ago shooting footage of some of the tables. Among them was the Fatalysia table. I found that the footage is now online and may be viewed here. Also, there were a few updates under the gallery link of our website the weekend of the expo.

Fatalysia footage from the SPX online

A nice guy was at the Small Press Expo a couple of weeks ago shooting footage of some of the tables. Among them was the Fatalysia table. I found that the footage is now online and may be viewed here. Also, there were a few updates under the gallery link of our website the weekend of the expo.

Fatalysia footage from the SPX online

A nice guy was at the Small Press Expo a couple of weeks ago shooting footage of some of the tables. Among them was the Fatalysia table. I found that the footage is now online and may be viewed here. Also, there were a few updates under the gallery link of our website the weekend of the expo.

near squashing and Friday's plans

I just love the "apology wave" so many yuppie DC motorists do right after they almost squash you with their car. It's funny, every time someone almost runs me over in a crosswalk the thing that flashes through my mind right before I turn my attention to the idiot driver is "Crap! I have no health insurance!" If I was Magneto...

In spite of everyone's advice, it looks like we're seeing the Dresden Dolls on Friday rather than NOSFERATU. I wish I could do both but can't. I've seen the movie possibly over a hundred times (without an orchestra, of course), and I'm not tired of it or anything, but it's an opportunity that could come up again next year.

Alabama politics

Huh?!

I can't be two places at once.

Friday night I can either see the film Nosferatu at a nice theatre with live orchestral accompaniment or go to a Dresden Dolls concert. Someone tell me what to do.

Jumping Someone Else's Train

I dreamed I was riding back and forth between Kentucky and New York City on a line of buses that were hooked together like train cars. I put my luggage in the first or second car and never saw it again. It was never marked or anything, so anyone could have taken it. In New York, whenever we passed a comic book store, I got them to let me off to check it out, and I would somehow encounter the buses again later. I went to a Cure concert and found that a friend I went to school with but haven't seen in years, Brian, had joined the band. They were playing a song with lyrics that involved counting, but it sounded like a typical Cure song. My friend was playing a guitar, and every time Robert Smith sang a number, my friend leaned down to the floor and made a mark on it with chalk like he was keeping score. It seemed he was supposed to be making the number of marks that matched the numbers that Smith was singing about. I don't know how I could see their floor on the stage when I was in the crowd in the first row. I noticed Brian wasn't doing a very good job making the numbers matched. After the show I told him I was proud of him but disappointed in his number markings. I told him I was obsessive-compulsive, and numbers were extremely important to me. I then took him to Kentucky and introduced him to my friend Ron. I borrowed Ron's car and drove around.

toilet fish

I dreamed I decided to use a toilet as an aquarium and tossed a bunch of live fish in one. My boss advised me to add a water heater to it, so I did so and also added an aquarium filtration system. I was also starting college at a DC area university. I went to a class and had a professor who was verbally abusive to everyone. I decided I would rather stand towards the front of the room instead of taking a seat, and he yelled at me about it. He also yelled when I asked if he had a syllabus for us. I left class angry and ran into three or four of my real-life co-workers in the building.

rerun dream: Nursing Home of Death

I was digging around in my old Live Journal entries looking for something to shoe someone when I tripped over this old dream entry along the way. I've never posted it here before, so here it is:

"I had a very bizarre dream about a creepy nursing home in which old people simply waited to die. They didn't seem to be in very poor health or anything either. They didn't look terribly old, and all of them firmly had their wits about them. No one there seemed to be the least bit crazy. Yet there was a sense of impending death in the air. The scariest thing about the place was how the people slept. They didn't have beds or individual rooms. Instead, there was a small silver metal thing everyone slept in. It was only three or four feet in length and had about nine three or four foot long drawers in it. The drawers were of dimensions which a small child might be able to uncomfortably smush into. When I saw this and realized these people crammed themselves into these claustrophobic contraptions every night, I was terrified. I asked them how they did it. They all acted like it was no big deal. It got worse. If someone died during in their sleep in their drawer, their bodies were immediately liquified and pumped out the back into some piping that went into some elaborate power system that was attached to the back of the metal encasement. Somehow, I saw this process take place. I saw someone's remains being pumped into this system. The dead person's drawer was immediately ready for its next occupant, no sanitization necessary. There was a clock on the wall next to it all. The clock was somehow significant; I don't remember why exactly. I think it had four hands on it instead of two. A woman I know from work was living in this home. I didn't know why; she works with me every day and is not horribly old or anything. She is in good health, certainly nowhere near the brink of death. She begged me to make sure that when she died, she died in a car and not in the ground. I was confused, but I told her I'd make sure she died in a car."

visitations

I dreamed I was in a hospital bed on the top floor of a hospital. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with me. I was visited by three animals, one at a time: a dog, a cat, and a mountain goat. I was also visited by my friend and comic cover guy Chris, who brought covers with Chasey Lain on them that he ripped from magazines. We got into a weird debate about KB Toys refusing to carry Bill and Ted merchandise (nothing of the sort is going on in reality; Bill and Ted merchandise?). I argued that their old cartoon was offensive to KB's powers that be, and he said it had more to do with the movies. One of my co-workers was sitting at a table close to the bed listening in on the debate.

Tor Johnson

It has come to my attention (thanks to torgroupies@yahoo.com) that today, 19 October, would have been Tor Johnson's birthday.

The Not-So-Fantastic Four

I seemed to be a non-physical observational presence in this dream rather than a participant. Reed Richards and Ben Grimm (Mr. Fantastic and the Thing for those who don't know) were sitting around in their Fantastic Four uniforms waiting for an accident to give them their powers. They weren't conducting any experiments or doing anything to provide an accident that would result in powers. They were just sitting around casually chatting and waiting for it to just happen.

Fatalysia: The Memoria in DC area stores

The SPX was fun and educational. I met some nice people, saw my comics find their way into the hands of various reviewers and readers, and I bought comics from other people.

I was surprised to be approached and recognized by Elizabeth Genco. I spent much of the con talking with my next door (or table) neighbor, Neil King. He self-publishes a nice series about Elvis impersonators who also happen to be hitmen. I'll post links to him later.

Today I ran all over DC asking comics retailers to carry Fatalysia, and they all agreed to. So far, the new book can be purchased at the following stores:

BETHESDA: Big Planet Comics
GEORGETOWN: Big Planet Comics; Big Monkey Comics
TENLEYTOWN: Fantom Comics

I hope to hit more stores later this week or next week.

sentient answering machine

I dreamed that I was suddenly in Kentucky. I didn't expect to be there, but I immediately accepted it. It was late at night, and I was walking. I decided to phone my sister and tell her I was in town. I called her, and her answering machine picked up. Her machine's outgoing message seemed aware of the situation and gave me specific details related to it although my sister was asleep or something and wouldn't know I was around until she woke up and checked her messages.

cereal

I dreamed I got into my boss' car trunk and discovered several boxes of various types of breakfast cereal. I was excited and began looting. I then saw beyond the other boxes there was a box of Raisin Bran. I excitedly discarded the others and took only the Raisin Bran. I went back to work wondering if he knew what I had done.

previous posts

This is my first entry here. Previous entries may be viewed at http://bigredcheese.livejournal.com or at http://blog.myspace.com/thebigredcheese .

I will be posting, among other things, information on my comic FATALYSIA, dreams, and daily goings-on.

http://www.fatalysia.com