{"id":5539,"date":"2010-08-16T08:06:59","date_gmt":"2010-08-16T12:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=5539"},"modified":"2010-08-16T08:08:59","modified_gmt":"2010-08-16T12:08:59","slug":"what-it-is-81610","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/what-it-is-81610","title":{"rendered":"What It Is: 8\/16\/10"},"content":{"rendered":"

What I’m reading:<\/em> I finished Holy Terror: Andy Warhol Close Up<\/a>\"\", the Scott Pilgrim comics<\/a>, and The Playwright<\/a>\"\", a comic written by Daren White and drawn by Eddie Campbell. I enjoyed The Playwright<\/em> a lot more than I enjoyed Campbell’s last big comic that he wrote himself, The Fate of the Artist<\/a>\"\", and it was a much more satisfying book than the ill-conceived adaptation of The Black Diamond Detective Agency<\/a>\"\". I need to go back and re-read The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard<\/a>\"\" to see if I was judging that one too harshly. Anyway, I also re-read Wilson<\/a>\"\", which I enjoyed just as much as I did when I read it in May, and went back to Matt LaBash’s essay collection, Fly Fishing with Darth Vader<\/a>\"\", but that’s partly in the interest of clearing off my nightstand<\/a>. I haven’t thought about what book I want to commit to next.<\/p>\n

What I’m listening to:<\/em> A random mix of singles and albums, none of which are coming to mind right now.<\/p>\n

What I’m watching:<\/em> Greenberg<\/a>, Notting Hill<\/a>, Matchstick Men<\/a>, and District 9<\/a>. I’ll try to write about them tomorrow.<\/p>\n

What I’m drinking:<\/em> Whitley Neill and Q-Tonic.<\/p>\n

What Rufus & Otis are up to:<\/em> Visiting their golden retriever cousins in Connecticut<\/a>, then taking a long greyhound hike the next day up at Wawayanda state park.<\/p>\n

Where I’m going:<\/em> Nowhere! Amy managed to get Monday and Tuesday off, so I tweaked the remainder of my vacation schedule to match that, but I think we’re just gonna stay in and do some house stuff and otherwise try to take it easy.<\/p>\n

What I’m happy about:<\/em> Learning that one of my pals is the subject of a new Paris Review Writers at Work<\/a> interview. And clearing out a shelf and a half of books by admitting to myself that I will never write a novel about the epistemological implications of the Enigma machine and what it means to decode something. Even though it means I have to give up on using the title Tales from the Cryptanalyst<\/em>. Which I still think is awesome.<\/p>\n

What I’m sad about:<\/em> One of the people on our grey-hike learned she has throat cancer and is getting what sounds like pretty aggressive radiation treatment.<\/p>\n

What I’m worried about:<\/em> What I may find when I’m cleaning out the attic today.<\/p>\n

What I’m pondering:<\/em> How you separate the questions, “What is the meaning of life?” and “Do you believe in an afterlife?”, both of which were posed to me by another person on our grey-hike on Sunday. She’s “conducting an informal poll,” as she put it, on the former question, and it struck me that it’s difficult to talk about that without making assumptions about the latter question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What I’m reading: I finished Holy Terror: Andy Warhol Close Up, the Scott Pilgrim comics, and The Playwright, a comic written by Daren White and drawn by Eddie Campbell. I enjoyed The Playwright a lot more than I enjoyed Campbell’s last big comic that he wrote himself, The Fate of the Artist, and it was … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “What It Is: 8\/16\/10”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_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}},"categories":[61,26,4,20],"tags":[823],"class_list":["post-5539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures-in-rufus-and-or-otis","category-comics","category-literature","category-religion","tag-eddie-campbell"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-1rl","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16165,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-545-eddie-campbell","url_meta":{"origin":5539,"position":0},"title":"Episode 545 – Eddie Campbell","author":"Gil","date":"July 11, 2023","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 545: Eddie Campbell \"There's probably a memento mori that runs through all my work, including The Fate of the Artist & The Second Fake Death of Eddie Campbell. The reminder that life is short and don't take it for granted.\" With the publication of The Second Fake\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\/campbell2023.jpg?fit=1200%2C524&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/campbell2023.jpg?fit=1200%2C524&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/campbell2023.jpg?fit=1200%2C524&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/campbell2023.jpg?fit=1200%2C524&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/campbell2023.jpg?fit=1200%2C524&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17795,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-660-dean-haspiel-and-whitney-matheson","url_meta":{"origin":5539,"position":1},"title":"Episode 660 – Dean Haspiel and Whitney Matheson","author":"Gil","date":"October 24, 2025","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 660: Dean Haspiel & Whitney Matheson Cartoonist-playwright-filmmaker Dean Haspiel rejoins the show for the homestretch of his new Kickstarter, ANTIMATTER (finishing Nov. 3, 2025), and brings his studio mate Whitney Matheson along to talk about her new story collection, THE FEELING. 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But that's the very thing that distinguishes Kate Carew from all the others.\" Cartoonist & historian Eddie Campbell returns to the show with his fantastic new book, KATE\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\/campbell2024comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/campbell2024comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/campbell2024comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/campbell2024comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/campbell2024comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C533&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13472,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/covid-check-in-with-eddie-campbell","url_meta":{"origin":5539,"position":3},"title":"COVID Check-In with Eddie Campbell","author":"Gil","date":"May 29, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show COVID Check-In: Eddie Campbell Cartoonist & comics-historian Eddie Campbell checks in from Chicago. We talk Pandemic Hair, surviving with a pair of 2-month-old kittens (acquired by yesterday's guest, Eddie's wife Audrey Niffenegger), finishing his book on the great cartoonist and interviewer Kate Carew, the difference between imagining\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\/covideddiecomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covideddiecomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covideddiecomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covideddiecomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covideddiecomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9917,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-188-hayley-campbell","url_meta":{"origin":5539,"position":4},"title":"Episode 188 – Hayley Campbell","author":"Gil","date":"October 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show #188: Hayley Campbell \"I love finding people who are obsessed with things. People who devote their lives to things are my obsession.\" Writer and Twitter provocateur Hayley Campbell joins the show for a conversation about her inability to describe her job (don't call her a \"content provider\").\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic books & strips"","block_context":{"text":"Comic books & strips","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature\/comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/29993554956_b8c114e6de_k.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/29993554956_b8c114e6de_k.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/29993554956_b8c114e6de_k.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/29993554956_b8c114e6de_k.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/29993554956_b8c114e6de_k.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1392,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/explain-that-to-st-peter-mon-general","url_meta":{"origin":5539,"position":5},"title":"Explain that to St. Peter, mon General","author":"Gil","date":"March 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"It's all a bit of a blur after I invented wine. --Bacchus Doing the Islands with Bacchus, a collection of comics by Eddie Campbell, is one of my all-time faves. 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