September 2011
9 posts
7 tags
Do you have Bill Watterson's email address?
I would love to send Bill Watterson an email. Just a digital note to let him know how much I enjoyed Calvin & Hobbes. I might gush a little, as I am quite smitten with his work on the comic strip.
If he responds, I might take the opportunity to ask him what he’s been up to. I think he lives in Ohio, so I might make some small talk about Ohio, see how he likes it. Poking around, I might...
Calamitous opportunity
Unemployment is high. Consumer confidence is low. Many homeowners have seen their biggest asset lose a sizable chunk of its worth, and their mortgage is underwater. The government has a towering, ever-growing debt. Many people are burdened with substantial personal debt.
Where’s the silver lining?
In the midst of calamity and chaos, there is opportunity. A chance for introspection and...
Shazam!
You’re showering, and SHAZAM! A brilliant idea strikes you. As you soap up and wash your hair (or shave your glorious, handsome head), the idea percolates. You mull this sparkly-new concept over, and the more you think about it, the more resoundingly electric the idea seems to be.
As you towel off and dry your hair (or your beautiful, bald head), the luster of the concept begins to fade....
4 tags
5 tags
Building a shanty
You can build a starter shanty, easy-peasy. Just lean a couple of wooden pallets together, binding them with some wire. Boom! You’ve got an A-frame shanty house.
If you want more luxury, you could salvage some scrap plywood. You might scrounge up a plastic tarp to keep the rain out. Ideally, some corrugated metal could serve as the roof. Now, you’re building a more comfortable,...
3 tags
Even on the weekend
Famously, Stephen King used to say that he wrote every day except Christmas, the Fourth of July, and his birthday. Then, in his memoir On Writing, he called that a lie. It was a titillating tale for interviewers. It made good copy.
The truth, he explained, is that when he’s writing something, he writes every day. That means Christmas and Independence Day. Yes, he even writes on his...
8 tags
What to do with rejection
When I first conceived 1000 Steps To World Domination, I was an unpublished cartoonist, bursting with ambition. However, the circumstances were not promising. I wanted to start a career writing and drawing comics, but I was a nobody-cartoonist making lousy comics.
In the summer of 2002, I attended San Diego Comic-Con, where I shared my portfolio with a senior editor at Marvel Comics. He said,...
2 tags
One idea
What if today you had one idea? What if you looked at this idea, quickly scrutinized it, and after a little consideration (let’s not over-think this one), decided to implement this one idea?
What would happen?
