back

hey there everyone! i'm back. i hope you didn't miss me too much. hehe i'm all moved in. one of my best friends who lived in california moved here to chicago and i moved in with her. we have a cute little place in the down town area. though it's on the 5th floor and we have no elevator. so moving was a pain. but i think i might be starting to get use to the stairs. maybe... hehe. while i've been oot and aboot, my other best friend who lives in florida got married. that was amazing! i'm so happy for her. i had a blast out there. i got to spend 5 days on the beach, meet new people, see old friends and see my friend marry the love of her life. defiantly a good time. other then that, nothing too exciting happened here. just plugging away at this thing called life.

chicago read out 2010!

today was the beginning of banned books week and i went to a read out in chicago to kick off the week. it was great! author's chris crutcher and lauren myracle were there. here are the pictures i took during the readout.

this is chris crutcher.

the robot guy from the ala's think for yourself compaign (look at the front of the podium).

the ala president, roberta stevens

two sisters reading the book and tango makes three by justin richardson and peter parnell

lauren myracle before she read from her book. sorry it's not in focus.

me with lauren myracle after she signed my book.

banned books week 2010

this year banned books week is from september 25 - october 2.

for those of you who don't know what banned books week is: from the american library association:
Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States. Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them. The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings or restrictions.

this year chicago is kicking off banned books week with a readout in bughouse square (washington square park) on september 25th from 12pm-2pm. authors chris clutcher, lauren myracle, carolyn mackler and others will read from their work and share their experiences as targets of censors. after the readings there will be book signings from the authors in attendence. bughouse square is located on 901 N Clark St, Chicago, IL.

the language of conservation

poets house has designed a program to make zoo goers more aware of the evironmental impact that people have on this world. with the help of the american library association the outcome of the project will be shared in libraries across the country. the program is in 5 different cities: new orleans, milwaukee, little rock, jacksonville, and chicago and features poets-in-residence that collaborate with wildlife biologists and exhibit designers to curate exhibitions in zoos that feature poems celebrating the natural world and the connection between species. 

i think is very exciting; for both the zoos and for the poets. i hope the installations will last all summer long at the zoos. thankfully i live where i can go to both milwaukee's and chicago's. i won't get to go to the opening day's, but i for sure will be going to see them. i love the zoo and i love poetry. there's no better combination. i have a mini update - the milwukee installation is a permanent addition to the zoo.

part of the installation in new orleans.

c2e2 - for reals this time.

so c2e2 was amazing! i had a blast. it was a new convention this year for the chicagoland and so jeremy and i decided to go to it instead of wizard world. i'm really glad we decided to go to this one. i liked it much better! there were bigger named people there and it was in a bigger place and less crammed. i'm all for shoving as much as you can into one place, but i also hate having the feeling that there are people all around me and i can't escape.

so i got to meet some artists and some authors. i geeked out hardcore with all of them.

this is jeph jacques that creates questionable content. here he is doing a drawing for jeremy. he was the only one charging for a drawing but i didn't think it was that big of a deal. it was only $5 and he did the drawing on special paper that said chicago 2010. i mean he can't use the paper again except for wizard world, and that's only if he goes.

this is joe quesada, the editor-in-chief of marvel. i was really surprised there was like no line to get his signature. but i'm not complaining, it was really cool to get it. he was an artist before he became editor so he does have some skills. here he is signing a comic that jeremy bought for janell. jeremy had bought it without janell or i even knowing and then he pulled it out and surprised her with it. janell totally geeked out and was like well joe will be signing this then. hehe. it was really cool. and of course he's signing a captain america cover!

this is sam humphries, he's the writer for the fraggle rock comic. honestly i have never read the fraggle rock comic, but i'm a fan of the old show. and my friend lindsay is totally in love with the old show, so i thought she might like to have a signed poster from this guy. so i got it for her. it was still cool to meet the guy. he was really nice. and his shameless plug for his products was a for a free comic on free comic book day. so that was cool. i liked it also because c2e2 didn't just have the artists at the convention they also had the writers of the comics, for alot of the times that is two different people.

so one thing that happened that was a little wierd was that at one point we found peter david who is the writer for the dark tower comics. (ps, sorry this is center aligned, for some silly reason it won't let me change it back to left aligned) so i went to peter david and he had a stack of scripts for one of the comics, and then he had a stack of the comic for that script. well i just wanted to comic for the scripts were $15 and there was nothing cool about them. it was just a word document. i mean its cool cause it's a real script and all, but if your going to charge $15 make the script unique somehow. so i asked peter david if i could just buy the comic and have him sign that. i was willing to pay for something just not the a silly script that i could go type out at home. he said he only gave the comic when someone bought the script. and i just anwered oh, well never mind then. and he just looked at me and then said, ok here. and i was going to pay and he told me to keep my money and he just signed the comic and gave it to me. so i thought that was really nice of him. he could have been a totally dick about it and given me nothing and demanded the $15, but he didn't. he let me get it for free and i still got it signed. so i was really happy. i now have jae lee's signature and peter davids signature for the dark tower comics. i only need two more and i have then all. well three more if you count stephen king.

so all in all it was a good convention. i had tons of fun and i'm already counting the days until next year.

c2e2 quick post

quickly i just wanted to say that i went to c2e2 this past weekend with janell and jeremy and it was amazing! i will share all my geeky awesomeness later. i just wanted to say i had tons of fun. here's a picture to hold you over until i post more.

there was an auction at the convention of props that were from the first iron man movie. here's just one of the props.

cbldf and neil gaiman

c2e2 is doing a special evening with neil gaiman saturday night of the convention. and the tickets are for everyone, not just those who are going to the comic convention. though, if you have a ticket for the comic convention, then your ticket for the neil gaiman evening is cheaper. but the proceeds from the tickets, and i mean all 100% of the proceeds, are going to help the comic book legal defense fund (cbldf). so how cool is that?! not only do you get to see neil gaiman, one of the greatest writers out there, but you also get to help a great cause. so this is an easy way to help a great thing and to see a great writer!

"I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - voltaire

inner demons

so my pals from nothing special productions are doing a new play. well i guess it's a set of plays. called inner demons and it's written by nick cardiff. nick is a great playwright. this production should be good just like the other nothing special productions i've seen. and i've gotten to read some of nick's scripts and they are just amazing! he knows how to write about the human condition. so i strongly suggest everyone go and see this play if you are in the chicago area.

To buy tickets please call Gorilla Tango by calling 773-598-4549 or visit their website at http://www.gorillatango.com/.

Tickets: $10
Shows: February 26th @11:30pm
            March 6 @ 10pm
Run time: 45 minutes.

Inner Demons is Nothing Special Productions’ Chicago debut and features three new plays by Nick Cardiff which explore the haunting nature of loss, betrayal and love. In Fear and Shadows, directed by Mikey Laird, we see Cupid falling in love with a mortal and the grave consequences that follow. Existence, directed by Robert Quinlan, shows how far the mind may go to explain one’s own reality after life throws an unfortunate curve. Finally in The Room, also directed by Mikey Laird, we see the relationship of two men who have been trapped in a room for as long as they can remember and how they react to finding out where it is they really are.

Featuring:
Melissa Imbrogno
Nick Demeris
Brian Rohde
Dane Lewandowski
George Zerante
Ilona Nemeth

chicago poetry readings

so fun fun fun! monkeybicycle is holding some poetry readings in chicago and all should go! if nothing else support your local artists and hear their work. the first poetry reading is with rui on january 6th at 7pm at sheffields beer garden. and the second poetry reading they are doing is with orange alert on febuary 20th at 6pm at the whistler. and it seems that orange alert does poetry readings every month at the whistler so people should go! i haven't gone to a poetry reading since middle school. the writers club at my middle school used to go to a poetry reading once a month at the local library. so to say the least, it's been a long time. so go people! go to your local poetry readings and support your local arts!

edit: rui website says that it isn't doing a reading in january so i don't know for sure if the january one is happening. but the febuary one is for sure.