"Cowpaths of Waltham" mentioned on radio

Inbound 4 on the radio, again! Callie Crossley likes the Waltham Cowpaths comic that Dave Unger and I created.

http://www.wgbh.org/programs/programDetail.cfm?programID=855
See the program for Feb 22 2010.

To hear the interview with the Boston Comics Roundtable, go to 34:50

To hear the specific segment that mentions my cowpath comic, go to 45:10.

Joel mispronounced my name ('Ah-ya', not 'Ae-yah'!), and also he described the cowpaths as a little off from what Dave's reseach and the comic suggests*. But he captured the basic interesting idea behind the story - of how cattle and cowpaths affected Waltham history. Anyway, very cool.

* The roads in Waltham that have an association with cowpaths look pretty straightbuilt, to me. The better-known urban legend of twisty downtown roads being based on cowpaths is probably what Joel refers to. But that story, from the brief research I did, does not seem to be true. Those convoluted roads of inner Boston are just what happens when people settle somewhere without planning roads... NYC used to be like that, until a fire resulted in most of the roads being rebuilt in a grid pattern. Except the very lower part of Manhattan, which still has the jumbly roads of old.

New Book and Boskone 2010

I have a new book!

Some upcoming events relating to it....

* The original watercolor for the cover illustration will be on display at the Kresge Center at MIT on Thursday March 4th, along with comics pages and other watercolors from me.

* On Thursday March 7th, the Marblehead Arts Association will be hosting a reception for their new exhibition, which will include the above watercolor as well as some other comics pages I have done. Come and join me! (The book may be on sale there.) Click here for map.

* Saturday March 20th, I will be at the Mini-Zine Fair at the Cambridge YMCA, hosted by the Papercut Zine Library. I will be selling my new book as well as other comics. Click here for a map.

This book was also sold this weekend at Boskone, a 50 year old sci fi/fantasy convention with a literary bent. I hung out at the Huckster's room with a table full of indie comics to see what would happen.

Here are some photos from Boskone:



Some people stopped by with bright eyed squirrels.





There was a marble-and-track toy set up in one corner. The first photo shows who was typically playing with it through Saturday and Sunday. The second photo is actually Friday night, before the younger attendees showed up.

At one point, a gentleman stopped and sort of stared at one of my books. When I found out why, I was completely tickled and had to take a photo --



So apparently, Maine is populated by many "Gilleys". According to Chad, it is an old last name.

Below, my table in the Huckster's room:




My neighbors, NESFA press. Tony Lewis is pictured, as well a gentlemen I keep calling "Morrie" or "Death", but I think his actual name is Dave.



Bruce Coville was also tabling next to me, pictured here posing with Suford Lewis. I managed to not do a stupid dance in front of him this year, but I was too caught up in tabling and general shyness to really carry on a conversation with him. Many thanks to Mary, Alice, and Sue and Everett Soares for helping me table.

Mountaineering! And Boskone next weekend

Me last weekend, flinging my arms open on a mountain in New Hampshire. (The trip leader strikes a pose behind me, as well.)

Convention/comics news: I will be at Boskone (science fiction/fantasy literary convention) next weekend! Tabling in the Huckster's Gallery! If all goes according to plan.

Ice sculpting: Trilobite!

Ice sculpting at the BU Winterfest 2010!

After brainstorming, Julia and I ended up settling on a Trilobite. The theme this year was "Olympics", which was optional to follow. But Julia and I decided to show some school spirit, and we added the theme into the sculpture.

As you can see, the trilobite won everything in the Olympics. But we live in a cynical age, when an honest trilobite can't win every single 1st place in the Olympics without casting a shadow of doubt.

Erik (I think?) from Bookline Fire and Ice uses a chainsaw to cut the basic form for us.




Julia and I sculpt the rest with wood chisels.

I forgot to take photos, but it probably looks a lot like last year:


(Image from Winterfest article, here. )


Oddly enough, more people seemed to get this year's carving then last year's Viking Kitten. Or at least, they laughed more.

Book presentation and signing at Porter Square Books this Thursday!

This Thursday (Jan 21st, 2010), contributors to Inbound 4 will be giving short presentations on how we put together our history comics. Dave Unger and I will be there, talking about our Waltham story. The event starts at 7pm and will probably go on till 9pm. Join us!

Location: Porter Square (see googlemap)
http://www.portersquarebooks.com/
Book signing info on the BCR website

News: I'm on a lake and it's frozen!

The lake has frozen!
There are people playing hockey and skating on it.

I go out to the middle of the lake and eat lunch.


Then I hang out with some gulls.




Then apparently I dance around.



Later, I go trekking across the lake again. (This time with the power of crampons.)




On other news, I have a mini art show in MIT's Infinite Corridor this month (during MIT's January Independent Activities Period). One of the glass display cases holds a few of my watercolor sketches and comics pages. The comics including pages from the 24 hour comics last October, printed copies of the cow comic for Inbound 4, and a page from "Sights and Smells from MIT" (a minicomic).

The display is near MIT's main entrance at 77 Massachusetts Ave (Building 7). Tim Fish and other MIT staff/affiliates also have work in the display cases.

Happy New Year!

Here's a big ol' spider to say hello to you and the New Year!

(Actually it's the shell of a spider)