HALLOWEEN IN THE 'BRARY

          So before I take it all down, I thought I'd post pictures of my lovely Halloween displays.

The big bulletin board, with mostly hand-made stuff by me.  :)

          I wanted to highlight some favorite spooky authors, so we did shrines to Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft.  I try to turn the older kids on to Lovecraft whenever I can, because he's one of the grandfathers of modern horror, even if most people aren't as familiar with his name as they are with Poe's.

The picture is a postcard from the Edgar Allan Poe museum, and the parchment
document is a reproduction of "The Raven" in Poe's own handwriting.  Both were
procured by the Librarian I work with, because she's cool like that.

I found the picture of Lovecraft online, and printed out information on his works,
and a little explanation of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Glass display case with my mom's feathery-fabulous witch hat,
an awesome rubber skeleton, some legit vintage orange Halloween decorations from
the Librarian, potion bottles, and of course horror stories

Close-up of my bug-eyed bony buddy

The long & skinny bulletin board with some clip-art creations, glitter leaves,
and prints from Chris Van Allsburg's "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick"

          Recommended:  "The Halloween Tree" by Ray Bradbury.  It's a fantastical journey through time and space to the origins (pagan and otherwise) of the season, complete with autumn winds and a haunted house.

One of my favorite children's Halloween books, with a
great cover illo by Leo & Diane Dillon

          And my favorite Halloween picture book is a tie between "A Woggle of Witches," and "A Halloween Happening," both by Adrienne Adams.  I could only find a good picture of the first, though.  It's a shame these books are so hard to come by now, they have really beautiful atmospheric paintings.  If I remember correctly, I think "A Halloween Happening" has the witches throwing a party up in the trees, with lanterns and cool stuff like that.

I totally wanna hang out with these witches

JONI

          My library has a booming donation program, which is sometimes a good thing, and sometimes a dusty, grimy, dead spidery thing wrapped in a clingy layer of dust.  We actually decided to keep this book about Joni, the quadriplegic.  We need more autobiographies since that's an annual assignment for the 7th grade English classes.
          Joni was just too earnestly '70s to pass up, with the Dorothy Hamill hairdo and that grin clamped around the ink pen.  The color scheme of the book makes me think of Holly Hobbie and bell-bottom corduroy trousers.


Oh, Joni...  We're laughing WITH you.

          Incidentally, I just happened to flip through the book to the beginning of chapter 8, which reads:

          When I returned from California, I stoically and glibly thanked God for whatever purpose He had in the fact that I wouldn't get the use of my hands back, that I couldn't ever marry Dick.

          Poor Joni, forever denied dick...

PASSING NOTES IN THE LIBRARY

          My Library T.A. brought me two blue Post-its he found in one of our library books while he was shelving.
          The first says:

"OK so the story so far is : a girl asked me out, the she broke up w/me, the she want me bak, then I broke up w/her.  She cried.  I said sorry but she wont accept.  The like 1 day later she said it was ok!"

          The second Post-it reads:

"Next part : another girl asked me out, then she wants to go on a date.  But I was busy and she was angry and she broke up w/me.  The End"

          Oh, the drama of teenage life...

ALTERNATIVE PRESS EXPO, 2010 SAN FRANCISCO

          I just returned from a very cool trip up to SF for APE.  Got to sign comics for fans at my publisher's booth, and hang out with cool people, spoke on a "Queers In Comics" panel discussion on Saturday, and was interviewed by my publisher Dan Vado at the "Spotlight on Tommy Kovac" panel on Sunday.  There is so much amazing artwork to be seen at APE, so much DIY coolness, I just love it.  Tons of stuff you'll never see anywhere else, and you certainly wouldn't find in a chain bookstore, or even most comic book stores.
          Dan says he might have an SLG booth at the American Library Association's Midwinter Conference, which is in San Diego in January.  He's never exhibited at a library con before, so this would be sort of experimental.  He wants me to come down and sign for a day.  I'm so excited I can't stand it.  I'm nerding out.  I totally love ALA and it would be awesome to have an excuse to go, and especially to get in for free, which I'm assuming would be the case if I'm appearing as a creator.  Anyway, I certainly hope that happens.
          I know there would be lots of interest in a very hip publisher like SLG, since most libraries and library workers have now realized the importance and validity of graphic novels as literature.  Lots of librarians are just looking for help in building their graphic novel collections.  And I told Dan that those librarians buy SHITLOADS of library- and book-related T-shirts, totes, and any other library-related stuff they can wear, carry, or otherwise affix to their persons.

RUBBER BAND ON FACE

          The first week of school we had some horrible Back To School rally, the kind of thing I hated when I was an ill-tempered teen with no school spirit.  I still have no school spirit, so this kind of thing seems just as obnoxious to me now as it did then.
          Our ASB coordinator sent out the following message, which did not make me want to participate, although I did appreciate its strangely grim tone:

Dear Staff,
We would like staff members to participate in a game in the back to school rally this Thursday.
the game follows by putting a large rubberband around the face, above
the upper lip and under the ears. one must move the rubber band down
to their neck by using facial gestures only.
Please contact me if you are willing to participate.
Hope you're having a wonderful first week.