THE SCRIBBLING CONTINUES
Just been doing my lil' karaoke people on chunks of scrap wood, something I have a lot of and a desire to get rid of.
Also, dear subscribers:
If you subscribed because I said I would send you a free fanzine of my karaoke cartoons, and I DIDN'T send you a free fanzine of my ridiculous karaoke cartoons, PLEASE drop me an e-mail, or reply to this one, so I can correct the situation. I've been one poor correspondent, and I've been too, too hard to find, but that doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind.
Also, if you signed up so long ago that karaoke zines weren't a thing yet, e-mail me and I'll gladly send you one. Be sure to include a mailing address, or, don't, if you want to strike up a brief but certainly uplifting correspondence with me.
SKELETON ARTWORK VANDALIZED
Around Christmas Eve, I got a text from Rel saying she had bad news. A deranged man had come on her porch and basically fought with the Crop Failure 2038 skeleton. He broke it into three main pieces. (She said her porch wasn't the only one targeted--this guy tore stuff up all down the block.) My heart sank, but when I saw the pieces I thought I could fix it.
Rel was having a party December 27, and I got it back up by then. I was a bit hasty with the repairs. They could be better, maybe someday they will be, but for now he's hanging on the front of the house again.
REPAINTED THE STACKS DRUM HEAD
This kick drum front head was colored green when we used it in 2005:
During Hurricane Katrina, though, it floated around in Steve and Nicola's basement, and I guess all the green coloring came off. (It was Dr. Ph. Martin's Radiant Water Color. I think the color was Apple Green, but the label fell off this morning, and I threw it away.) I've owned this art supply since about 1993. My SVA teacher Arnie Levin told me this was the stuff to get. It still isn't used up. I thought I might not have enough in the little bottle to finish this job but it only required four droppersful. I've still got a half a bottle left. Maybe that fear of running out of something easy to replace is what made me wait twenty-one years to do this task that took less than five minutes.
I recently saw, on Facebook, advertising for an estate sale at an artist's house, telling us how many excellent, unused art supplies were there for us ghouls to buy. I don't want that to happen to my art supplies; I want to use them up before I, you know, die. I want everyone to say "there's no use for these scraps of paper and used-up watercolors he left behind, just toss them in the trash". Though this means I really need to get cracking on using up some of these gouache tubes I keep buying. Thus concludes the personal philosophy portion of this free newsletter.
Extra note: I was kind of into these squarish block letters at the time. (See blue poster.)
I SIGNED THE PETITION TO RECALL GOVERNOR LANDRY
I was excited to sign this petition, which, if it succeeds, would allow the citizens of Louisiana to vote our dope of a governor out of office (so he could spend more time in Greenland, I guess). There need to be over 500,000 individual signatures of Louisiana voters to get it on the ballot, so it's a tough chore. I went to sign it at SisterHearts Thrift Store in Arabi, Louisiana (close to my house). I figured I'd be the only person who knew about it. Fortunately, I was very wrong. The line snaked through the store (so you had a chance to check out the merchandise) and then way down the block. It was great to spend an hour with so many like-minded people.
I forgot to take any pictures of the hundreds of people waiting patiently in line for a chance to sign a piece of paper saying we don't like our alleged governor and want him to go away, but I did snap a pic of this plaque.
I HAD A KILLER BIRTHDAY PARTY THROWN FOR ME
Rel and Melanie put on a big birthday party for me! There was a big cake full of nuts, with coconut flakes on the icing. My lone request was that there be karaoke. And, oh, was there ever karaoke.
Here's me doing "Love Land" by Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, with a lot of help from Rel and Melanie.
That's all for now, but that was a lot. I'll reiterate my promise, made months ago, to send these newsletters a little more frequently, so they're not so chock-full of exciting news. Please get in touch (you can reply to this) if you want to buy something, book my band, correct my comma usage, or just tell me your news. I'd love to hear from you.