SPX 2009 and the Sixth-Grade Sugar Babies to Follow

The internet is a broken record and right now that record is that hit single "SPX WAS THE BEST EVER!" performed by like 2,000 completely amazing people. Marianne and I helped design the cover art, which is a good chunk of that crowd who bought ridiculous beards from us. Men, women, small babies alike. Actually no, not true. Babies didn't get beards. That would just be silly. We gave them small axes. This year the beards were particularly awesome thanks to a genius idea from Mz. M. They were lovingly sexy-glued (even hotter than hot glue) with a variety of colored and shaped mustaches on top! This is our fifth year of Lumberjack Day and it seems appropriate that an idea we got at our first ever SPX we attended as attendees would turn out to be the focus of our best table ever.

We easily sold out of books TWICE! Okay, okay so the first one totally didn't count after we found one book that tried to run away under the table, but we did get to celebrate and make grammatically incorrect signs twice.



Amazingly we made 75 copies of the Lumberjack book and we came home with NONE. I can't even begin to tell you how happy that makes me! The book came out so great and I have all of my friends to thank. This was a super fun collaboration. Those of you out of town creators will get your books in a week or so after i get me another batch of felt. If you have a beard color request, make it now!



Take that SPX 2009! Post show powerpose shot of Cristi, Chris, Curt, (both from http://www.letsbefriendsagain.com which you should be reading if you aren't already), Brett, Eugene, and Marianne. Not pictured because she joined us later in the evening to rock out is Klio from http://www.spqrblues.com fame.

Highlights from the show go on and on. Kinda like the amount of pictures that go on and on underneath this cut.




A glimpse at our booth which we shared with Klio, boothmate seller MVP Amy, and Dylan Meconis whose FAMILY MAN comic I have gobbled up since returning. How did I not know about these comics before!? Surely I am slacking at my webcomics reading!

Note the suspenders on the wall. I was originally wearing them with a plaid flannel skirt, but then I realized that if you wear suspenders with a skirt the skirt tries to become a necklace. Whoops.



Another view of our table, including some of Greg's deliciously deranged Mudtown minis.



The first day I went by the name OAK HOGAN. You'd think, according to the pictures everyone is posting, that I wore my "Hollywood Oak Hogan" beard non-stop, but really I was just cold. I kept thinking all show how much of a failure the mini would have been if we had tried to debut it at MOCCA. People would have put on beards and they would have GLUED TO THEIR FACES permanently. Luckily frigid temperatures made everyone want to grow extra facial felt! And made them easy to remove!



Shot of the crowded crowd, which feels like a Where's Waldo with a bunch of my friends in metaphorical striped shirts.



Our row was pretty amazing. Jeph, Meredith, Yates, Malki, Aaron, Erika, John, Kate, Dylan, Carol, Me, Marianne, and Richard.



One of the highlights of the show for me happened before it. Gahan Wilson and Carol Tyler gave a talk for exhibitors a day before the show opened focused on how they got started in their careers. Carol was hysterical and so sweet in her appreciation for the fact she was sharing a stage with one of her idols. Gahan was brilliant both in stories and facial expressions. I am now looking into the legality of adopting him as my grandpa.



We had the pleasure of dinner with the Comics Bakery crew Saturday nite. They entertained us with stories, got horrible songs stuck in head for life, and then beat me up! I heart them all so much.



This armwrestling match was as serious as the GIANT vein in my neck. It went on for...well a really long time!



I love Raina's face in this shot....though Sly Stone would be so disappointed in me. If only I had my arm sock! At least with the left hand Marion and I were evenly matched that we couldn't budge each other for over a minute....or you know she was just being nice to me OR tying to hold my hand. I can't blame her. They are pretty soft. Above photos by Marianne who was a good arm wrestling coach by yelling at me to stop laughing and focus.



The next day Marion was still fondly thinking of how she destroyed me in a feat of strength when a beard spontaniously shot out of her face. That's how badass Marion Vitus is!



Jen Vaughn, one of my newfound favorite people of 2009, made a joke that she was hoping for a pink beard so during our lunch break Marianne and I went to the store and bought the materials to make her one. I know I keep saying this but SERIOUSLY beards look so lovely on ladies! Brings out our eyes!



Miker was one of my favorites we sold a beard to because he went on to wear it the rest of the day non-stop. He's my new hero.



This outfit was not planned though I think this awesome guy (whose name I didn't catch) must have had some psychic connection and knew it was Lumberjack Day inside of his heart when he got dressed that morning.



Sexy LumberLeah! Her mustache minis were the perfect compliment to our beards. So sad she didn't have a table this year especially when I saw all her new amazing plushies! WANT.



Chris and Curt have joined the ranks of comics people I adore. People who just get awesomer every time I talk to them.



Another accidental lumberjack outfit resulted in a Free fake ax to this lovely lady. I have a feeling she's wielded one of those before! If anyone got murdered at the show by mini-ax, sorry!



Darryl Ayo and I lived in the same area of the same borough for years but never saw eachother, a fact that makes me so sad because I now know he's one of the best people in brooklyn! Here he is convincing a passerby that he's holding literary GOLD. (One of those people actually bought the book a few hours later. Way to go Darryl!)



Liz Baillie KICKING ASS hosting the ignatz. Oh I remember it well when I met her by getting a random ride with her to SPX a few years ago and we at enough junk food to kill a small mule. R.I.P. small mule. You will be missed.



Many people abandoned their free drink tickets on Saturday nite and a group of us took one for the team and made sure they didn't go to waste. Robin, Chris, Pat (not pictured), and I were among the few, the proud, the very-overwhelmed with free drinks.



The next morning a crew of us went out for Lumberjack breakfast celebration, though there were a lot of "oh man I am so hungover texts" that prevented people from coming. I did get to talk more with new friends L and BT.



If you go to SPX and have yet to find THE SILVER DINER, seriously skip over this next line because it is mine. ALL MINE! I love that place so much. Next year I am making sure they always feed me with those little cardboard car trays. Everything there is so awesome and large. This glass of OJ was big enough for Liz to swim in it!



And this straw makes Gina (my coworker at :01, friend, and SPX roommate) look like she's a measly 5'6".



I found out that if you put money in a jukebox at the diner the song will play in the order it was selected over the speakers for THE ENTIRE DINER. Next year me, $5, and song P4 on repeat are totally going to do a science experiment to see how long it takes for me to get kicked out or beat up!



A shot of Carol's books which sold like pancakes covered in syrup! She did really well. Mt Vesuvius is about to explode. We don't know who's going to die and who is going to live! Amy, Carol's friend from MI who came to the show to help out, and I are both keeping our fingers crossed the bear makes it out alive.



I am upset no one bought a Menander pin.



OKAY book review time! My two favorite books from the show happened to come from two of my favorite people AND two people who makeout and save cats from eating bees. (Not sure if they've ever done that at the same time.) Jess's WE CAN FIX IT has been one of things I have forwarded to people the most. It's funny, heart-breaking, touching, tongue-touching, and left me with such warm and fuzzy feelings. Eric's TOMB debuted there. I will not give anything away, because the ending is AWESOME, but read it and tell me you do not love the "slap the hand away, don't touch that" museum guy and his facial expressions. I knew I was going to like it because Eric made it but I couldn't get over how much I loved it. Read it twice in one sitting. GET IT. Or just read it on his LJ as he posts it.

I'm sure you all heard about the super sad "The Karaoke Place Closed!" news. I was particuarly bummed since that's where I've bonded with so many of my friends in the past. We made up for it with the free drink tickets in the hotel, but Marianne and I were still craving some Journey. Along with Curt, Chris, Carol, and Eugene (let's call him Cugene for consistancy's sake) found a place on the interwebs and found ourselves in the weirdest karaoke room with only like 300 songs in English. 90% of those songs were covers by WESTLIFE (if you don't know who they are, as I didn't, consider yourself high-fived)

Still that didn't stop us from rocking out! Most of these photos were stolen from Curt because I am a thief and he has a lovely camera and singing voice.











Other highlights not pictured include:
-Hanging out with Douglas Wolk and finding out the man knows just as much about music as he does about comics (Seriously! I wound up with a 217 song Beatles cover cd he made!)

-Marianne rapping in the car and shooting dance fake guns at truckers

-Finally meeting a lot of internet friends in person including the Dustin Harbin who was just as internetrific in person, and Brian Heater who is wonderfully sarcastic. Just the way I like my friends!

-Hearing R. Stevens and Malki ! 's plans for pants you can poop in. (Seriously guys, can you start working on that one a little faster?)

-Once again getting a ridiculously embarrassing picture that I personally LOVE featured in PW Beat's SPX write-up. Heidi was one of my favorite Karaoke'ers from 2008. Heidi, I'll stop being so "photogenic" (it's all in the beards) if you stop being so awesome. Deal? I wish more industries had such smart, fun people for their reporters.

-Great books! MK's new Crosscountry looks AWESOME, though I forgot to get a copy. Doooh! Save me one from the road MK! Finally got my own copy of Johnny HIro from the ever fantastic Fred Chao. Chris Duffy's mini left me with a big smile. Anthony's OH YEAH! THE METEOR panel in his mini has been copied and blown up big for my cubicle wall. LOVE it. Also got a great poster from Joe Flood. One of my fav posters in years! Now if only I will unpack my bag to find it...

-A lot of other things I am sure I am missing!

EDIT! See I knew I was forgetting a big one! Add "Hanging out with Chris Yates meeting Jon Rosenberg and Erika Moen and making this silly comic with the three of them." Erika and Jon are both as fantastic as the internet wants you to believe.



There has always been something magical about SPX. Next year I hope to make it even MORE magical when I finally convince someone to drive me to that magic store down the road. I got two words for you SPX 2010: SMOKE MACHINE. Also two more words: BURNT EYEBROWS. Woo!

SAD THINGS:
-There were some big key people missing (you know who you are...Ed, Dave, Melissa, Matt, Katie, Zack, Stephanie, Journey!) and some other folks who were there, but didn't have a table like usual (you also know who you are...unless you got hit on the head since I last saw you, Leah, and have amnesia....in which case your name is "Susan," you are my mom and you owe me like 37 weeks of backpay allowance.)

-Missed the Nerdlingers and my Baltimore fav people Robyn and Andrew because we got stuck in traffic. So sad! But my Great-Grandbaby Nerdlinger went to Aaron. I think this means I'm required to tell him stories about how hard it was picking cotton uphill both ways wearing dinosaurs for shoes. That or start sending him age-inappropriate birthday cards.

-Mr's Marriott still haven't asked me to marry both of them. What's up with that!? I've been wooing them for years. Also, we have yet to learn what the secret blue-print was other than a possible disciplinary tool for Marriott Jr. I'm pretty sure it's the cure for cancer, but we'll never know since Marriott Sr seems really attached to it.

-Didn't spend enough time with enough people. Why can't spx be four days? Ed says I have "Schindler's Syndrome". What I think I have is "whoops I didn't mean to fall alseep I meant to go to the next party first syndrome." Next year. It's you, me, everyone we know, and another pane of glass. (Tyler and Phil have never looked more handsome.)

-I did not design nor did I paint this book cover.


That was a gift from editor extraordinaire Molly O when she cleaned out her office at Harper. Makes me wish I lived in 1992 so everything I made could look just like this! For the record, I accidentally started reading the book last night and it's actually really good!

I guess what I'm trying to say is SPX 2009, will you have a sixth-grade sugar baby with me?

All the rest of my SPX pictures live here and in my heart.