I've had Gerard Jones' enthralling must-read, MEN OF TOMORROW, on my mind a lot the past few days, thanks as much to the Speakeasy fiasco as my general feelings about the comics industry lately. So much of what I see happening with seemingly naive creators getting screwed over by inept publishers with big plans and little common sense -- and even in the corporate comics world, what with hastily revised plotlines resulting in lackluster stories potentially killing fledgling careers, etc. -- reminds me of the Donenfelds, Liebowitz', Siegels, Schusters, Fingers, et al, of the early days of the industry. Back…
Crazy.Crowded.Lot of fun.After-party was off the hook, exceeding my expectations.Two panels tomorrow with no sleep. Yikes!Sleep now...Packed to the rafters.PopCultureShock booth and back of Senior Games Editor Howard Brown's head.((FREQUENCIES)) and Necromancer writer, Joshua Ortega.Elsinore and Monkey vs. Lemur writer, Ken Lillie-PaetzNostalgia Rampage!Cool Superman art from the Geppi's Entertainment Museum booth.Tim Seeley and Josh Blaylock representing for Devil's Dueat the PopCultureShock booth.Writer Charlie Huston representing for Moon Knight and his novels, with C.C. Banana and Howard Brown in the background, at the PopCultureShock booth.Charlie Huston and #1 Moon Knight fan, Comic Geek Speak's Kevin Moyer.Sabrina the Teenage Witch writer/artist, Tania…
A co-worker/friend of mine is tracking himself through googlerankings.com, trying to get his site listed as the number one search on Google, Yahoo! and MSN for his name. Out of curiousity, I manually searched my full name on each of the search engines to see what my years on the internet have reaped.Google Top 5:Comic Book Commentarycomiccommentary.blogspot.com/loudpoet productionswww.loudpoet.com/BUZZSCOPE :: Establishing Shots #4: One Year Laterwww.buzzscope.com/features.php?id=1209Blogger: User Profile: Guy Gonzalezwww.blogger.com/profile/1165003louderARTS Projectwww.louderarts.com/poets/gonzalez/I'm a little surprised by the last three searches as they seem rather specific, especially the Buzzscope column and my louderARTS page. I'd have expected my staff page on Buzzscope to…
Remember when I used to post every day, sometimes multiple times a day? Those were heady times, between the war and the elections and the poetry scene, etc. Nowadays, I don't think I'm even averaging one post a week.Part of the reason is that comics have pretty much taken over the little bit of free time I have, so most of what I have to say these days either goes on CBC or Buzzscope. On the personal front, I've always been reluctant to get too personal here, and Salomé is doing a much better job of keeping people updated on…
I knew there was something I wanted to blog about recently. The Frey guy and his fictional memoir, A Million Little Lies, or something like that. Glad to see Oprah ripped him and his editor a new one over it.Reminded me of the poetry debate we used to have over "fiction in the first person", and whether or not it was cool for poets to perform first-person tales of woe without clarifying the truthfulness of the content.Noel Jones wins!...Yeah, that's all. Hit the comics blog if you want verbosity from me these days. :-P
I hadn’t seen him in a few years, drifting apart when we moved to Virginia and never reconnecting after we returned, and had no idea he was sick, much less dying.
He missed his 30th birthday (today, Saturday) by one day.
I’ll always remember the carefree Peter who let it all hang out when the music was playing and he was surrounded by friends. The Peter in the picture here (at the National Poetry Slam in Chicago, 1999, courtesy of David Huang), who stood by me as a friend that entire season when ‘a little bit louder’ was born into a community divided. The Peter who could go toe-to-toe with me in a debate without ever letting it get personal, because in the end, we were fighting for the same thing.
The Peter who introduced me to a kind of spirituality that didn’t demand a church or a bible or any outward symbols, simply a desire to connect with something larger than one’s self and draw strength from it.
The Peter we always joked about being my gay twin brother, and who, despite his own insecurities about his poetry and his performances, inspired me every single time he got on stage. The Peter who brought me to full tears three different times with one of those performances, more than any other poet I know.
The Peter who had a way with words and never, I think, truly realized how special and talented he was.
Not even death can take that Peter away from me. Or from anyone else who knew him well enough to call him friend.
Rest in peace, Peter.
And if there’s anyone who could figure out a way to come back now and then and watch over his friends, I believe you’d be the one to pull it off. So I’ll be looking for you every time the music’s playing loud enough to get me on the dance floor; for that sign that it’s okay to let loose sometimes and simply enjoy the moment.
Thank you for your friendship. You’ll be missed, but never forgotten. (more…)
(Actually, a few days ago, but work's been kicking my ass this week.) This is the blog version of a chain letter Salomé "infected" me with. The point is to state 10 random things about yourself and "infect" ten others. Here we go...1) Despite the former poetry series, editing Buzzscope, and my apparently good reputation at work (see #2), I am one of the most disorganized people I know. My desk is almost always buried under piles of papers, most relating to jobs in various stages of incompletion.2) I can't take a compliment. Makes me feel awkward and I never…
