I spent the majority of August in SBX's Catskill mountain retreat isolated in my attic studio [a space SBX generously afforded me], writing and drawing episodes of STREET CODE, FEAR MY DEAR, and a 6-page story for GIANT SIZE X-MEN FIRST CLASS [written by Jeff Parker] featuring Ice Man and The Beast. I watched some episodes of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, BURN NOTICE, Michel Gondry's BE KIND REWIND [which evoked the classic movies of Preston Sturges for me], and Will Smith in I AM LEGEND [better than I thought...not as good as I wanted it to be]. I read Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria, and Warren Pleece's LIFE SUCKS, which I liked very much. I started reading Marvel Comics' PLANET HULK collection, and I finished reading Warren Ellis' CROOKED LITTLE VEIN. Ellis' debut novel and compact format inspired me to start writing my own bizarre novel, POST DISASTER ADVENTURE CHRONICLES, of which I've typed 12-pages, thus far.
I missed The Olympics and Obama and Conan O'Brien on TV. In fact, I forgot we had a television hooked up to cable on the first floor. I've missed four weeks worth of new comix but, luckily, ACT-I-VATE's free webcomix kept me sated until my return to Brooklyn where Rocketship is pulling books for me [looking forward to that CREEPY collection]. I missed the beach. I missed swimming. I never once wore shorts. I missed my studio mates at DEEP6. I missed playing ping-pong. I missed playing hooky from work with SBX and seizing the sunny days. I never once went tubing in Phoenicia. I stopped putting sugar in my coffee.
The day after I passed my road test, I drove from New York to Connecticut and back. A week later, I drove to Boston and back. I became a biological father to a baby girl named Ruby whom I've met twice. I was honored to receive her very first smiles just yesterday. Ruby's mother, Lissa, is a natural. I went kayaking twice. I went to the Round Barn where the community converges on Saturday several times. I grilled a lot of meat and ate way too much Liverwurst. Going through ethnic food withdrawal, I ate at the local Chinese restaurant twice even though their food is terrible and they're a phone call away from an intervention. I almost went for a third time but their sewage system broke and shut down a part of Main Street in Margaretville for a couple of weeks denying me egg foo young. I rode my bike around Wawaka Lake many times and on one of my bike rides it felt like I was in an animated Walt Disney movie as birds chirped and flew next to me and rabbits hopped along the road and turtles craned their necks. I walked around the lake, too, with SBX and, one time, we discovered wild blackberries and ate them. I helped build two bonfires. I watched my cat, Coco Piloa, sun bathe on the back deck and drink water from the stream behind our house while my other cat Miercoles [or "fatty puff" as SBX likes to call her] hid in a bush for hours at a time. I hung out with Bob and Michele, George and Sharon, Esther and Donald, and Curtis. My mom hung out with me the most on some of the days SBX was working in NYC. I went to Inverna Lockpez's lecture about her new book, THE NOBLE BARN. I mixed and burned 15 eclectic cds for SBX's car, "Maude," so she and I could listen to great tunes while driving. I stared at the stars most every night the sky was clear.
I'm looking forward to Labor Day weekend.
