{"id":4107,"date":"2009-06-22T05:00:43","date_gmt":"2009-06-22T09:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=4107"},"modified":"2009-06-21T21:51:17","modified_gmt":"2009-06-22T01:51:17","slug":"what-it-is-62209","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/what-it-is-62209","title":{"rendered":"What It Is: 6\/22\/09"},"content":{"rendered":"

What I’m reading:<\/em> Plutarch’s lives of Timoleon<\/a> and Aemilius Paulus<\/a>, and Seth’s amazing comic about Canadian designer Thoreau MacDonald<\/a> (it’s in an anthology called Kramers Ergot 7<\/a>\"\"). Reading that strip after his George Sprott<\/a>\"\" and Wimbledon Green<\/a>\"\" books (the latter of which I reread on Saturday), it struck me just how much Seth’s work has grown in recent years, and how much of it seems to be a response to the work of other top-flight cartoonists of this era. My pal Tom has a great interview with Seth<\/a> that explores this topic, but the MacDonald pages, even more than George Sprott<\/em>, really drive home the point that Seth’s response to “the competition” (especially Chris Ware) is to make better and better work. I’m not sure he would’ve made the leaps he’s made without it.<\/p>\n

What I’m listening to:<\/em> Greatest hits collection of Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, after reading this short post<\/a> by Ta-Nehisi Coates. (He thought she was high yellow?)<\/p>\n

What I’m watching:<\/em> The Original Kings of Comedy<\/a>, Big Night<\/a>, Futurama: The Beast With a Billion Backs<\/a>, Manhattan<\/a> and Hot Rod<\/a>, the latter of which was inspired by its recent My Year of Flops writeup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What I’m drinking:<\/em> Miller’s & Q Tonic<\/p>\n

What Rufus is up to:<\/em> Getting the last of his stitches out, learning how to hang out by himself again, and building up his stamina. I can’t believe we went 3 weeks without a walk outside of the yard. I’m glad it’s not hot out.<\/p>\n

Where I’m going:<\/em> Pharmaland. Lots and lots of Top Companies profiles to write!<\/p>\n

What I’m happy about:<\/em> That it’s not raining right now.<\/p>\n

What I’m sad about:<\/em> That my dad got pasted with an attack of gout this weekend, which means we have to put off our Father’s Day lunch till next Sunday. And that we’ll have to take the red wine off the menu.<\/p>\n

What I’m worried about:<\/em> Getting all of those profiles written and then laid out in time to put the issue to bed by July 2.<\/p>\n

What I’m pondering:<\/em> Whether crystal meth would help with that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What I’m reading: Plutarch’s lives of Timoleon and Aemilius Paulus, and Seth’s amazing comic about Canadian designer Thoreau MacDonald (it’s in an anthology called Kramers Ergot 7). Reading that strip after his George Sprott and Wimbledon Green books (the latter of which I reread on Saturday), it struck me just how much Seth’s work has … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “What It Is: 6\/22\/09”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26,4],"tags":[747,506,746,548],"class_list":["post-4107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comics","category-literature","tag-lisa-lisa","tag-nathan-rabin","tag-seth","tag-ta-nehisi-coates"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-14f","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1632,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/fashion-police","url_meta":{"origin":4107,"position":0},"title":"Fashion Police","author":"Gil","date":"August 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Moreover, the Economist's arts mag's blog (?), has a good post on Sen. Schumer's (D-NY) idiotic legislation against fashion knockoffs. Beyond the standard complaints about how these knockoffs allow fashion to trickle down to people who can't afford couture (I hope I'm using that term correctly), I was intrigued by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Design"","block_context":{"text":"Design","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/design"},"img":{"alt_text":"Peter Bagge's Hate: Lisa in a potato sack","src":"\/vm\/images\/baggies\/feast.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12347,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-327-karl-stevens","url_meta":{"origin":4107,"position":1},"title":"Episode 327 – Karl Stevens","author":"Gil","date":"July 1, 2019","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 327: Karl Stevens \"I wanted to be an artist but I didn't know how, and comics were so accessible that I latched onto that.\" It may be a fine line between comics and art, but Karl Stevens' fine line crosses effortlessly between them. Karl & I talk\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/karlcombo.jpg?fit=1200%2C444&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/karlcombo.jpg?fit=1200%2C444&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/karlcombo.jpg?fit=1200%2C444&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/karlcombo.jpg?fit=1200%2C444&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/karlcombo.jpg?fit=1200%2C444&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16488,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-568-the-guest-list-2023","url_meta":{"origin":4107,"position":2},"title":"Episode 568 – The Guest List 2023","author":"Gil","date":"December 19, 2023","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show: The Guest List 2023 It's time for our year-end Virtual Memories Show tradition, now celebrating its tenth anniversary: The Guest List! I reached out to 2023's pod-guests and asked them about the favorite book(s) they read in the past year, as well as the books or authors\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6720-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C633&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6720-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C633&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6720-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C633&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6720-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C633&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6720-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C633&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7590,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-the-guest-list-2013","url_meta":{"origin":4107,"position":3},"title":"Podcast: The Guest List: 2013","author":"Gil","date":"December 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories \u2013 season 3 episode 32 - The Guest List: 2013 The year is over! I exceeded my podcast goal of getting a new episode out every other week! And rather than eke out one more interview for the final podcast of the year, I decided to make my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=voyantpublishing&l=as2&o=1&a=B002VA464S","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16716,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-583-leela-corman","url_meta":{"origin":4107,"position":4},"title":"Episode 583 – Leela Corman","author":"Gil","date":"April 2, 2024","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 583: Leela Corman \"My positionality when I work with the Holocaust is not insular; it is my way of carrying my little corner of humanity's coffin at the funeral.\" At long last, artist Leela Corman joins the show as we celebrate her breathtaking new graphic novel, VICTORY\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/corman2024comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/corman2024comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/corman2024comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/corman2024comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/corman2024comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14066,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-411-lisa-kohn","url_meta":{"origin":4107,"position":5},"title":"Episode 411 – Lisa Kohn","author":"Gil","date":"December 8, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 411: Lisa Kohn \"There's nothing as intoxicating as knowing the truth (quote-unquote), and that's what cults offer. It's the best drug ever. Walking away from that is terrifying.\" In her debut memoir, To The Moon And Back: A Childhood Under The Influence (Heliotrope Books), Lisa Kohn tells\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/lisakohncomp.jpg?fit=1066%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/lisakohncomp.jpg?fit=1066%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/lisakohncomp.jpg?fit=1066%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/lisakohncomp.jpg?fit=1066%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/lisakohncomp.jpg?fit=1066%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4107"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4110,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107\/revisions\/4110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}