The Sorensen Monologues

Hello, Alas Readers!

My friend Barry Deutsch has invited me to be a guest-blogger on his site, “Alas! A Blog.” Those of you reading this there may have already noticed some entries by me showing up already. I’ve known Barry through cartooning for a few years now, and recently moved to his hamlet of Portland, OR. I guess this is how Barry welcomes newcomers: by putting them to work for him! (Just kidding, Barry. I know you are a benevolent overlord.)

A bit about me, which regular SlowpokeBlog readers already know: I draw a weekly comic called “Slowpoke” which appears in the Village Voice and numerous other alternative newspapers around the country. You also may have seen my cartoons in Funny Times or CampusProgress.org. Feminist-wise, I was profiled in the summer issue of Bitch Magazine, and I’ve done work for the Women’s Review of Books and Ms. Magazine.

Lately I’ve been lamenting the fact that people tend to get locked into narrow reading habits online, so I welcome the opportunity to share my work with new readers. And for you SlowpokeBlog regulars, be sure to check out Barry’s new graphic novel Hereville, just out from Abrams.

I.T.C.H. Interview

There’s a nice interview with me up on the International Team of Comic Historians blog. The interviewer did a particularly good job of asking not-the-standard questions.

2010 Festival of Cartoon Art Wrap-Up

Here’s a photo of me giving my presentation at Ohio State, taken by “Six Chix” and “Tina’s Groove” cartoonist Rina Piccolo:

I like how she captured me in mid-demonic gaze.  The talk went remarkably well, even better than my wildest expectations. The crowd was great, full of cartoonists and lovers of The Noble Art (that’s what I call it, anyway). Honestly, this was the best cartooning event I have ever been to. We cartoonists tend to settle into little communities, usually with other cartoonists in our same genre. Which is enjoyable, of course, but I liked the way this festival brought so many different groups together. I met a bunch of daily strip cartoonists for the first time. Went to dinner with Lynn Johnston of “For Better or For Worse” one night. On another occasion, I had Guinnesses bought for me by Jeff Keane of “The Family Circus.” I never imagined as a child that someday “Jeffy” would be buying me beer. I saw several old friends and made a lot of new ones (I can’t name them all, but Hilary Price of “Rhymes With Orange” is awfully cool), and nearly lost my voice from talking so much. Hey, we’re cartoonists — we’re used to sitting alone all day.

I was pretty lazy about taking pictures, but here’s a not-too-shabby shot of the Jay Kennedy tribute panel:

L-R: Matt Groening, Bill Griffith, Patrick McDonnell, Brendan Burford

Many thanks to the Festival organizers for putting on such an amazing and well-run event.

This Week’s Cartoon: “Snippets of Conversation With Cartoonists at the Festival of Cartoon Art”

This past weekend was the 2010 Festival of Cartoon Art, held every three years at Ohio State University. I was invited to be a speaker this year, which was an incredible honor; hopefully I’ll have time to blog about it soon. My strip was due mere hours after landing back in Seattle, and I hammered this out in a state of utter exhaustion. But I like how it came out. It was probably more than a little inspired by the “Life in Hell” cartoons Matt Groening was reading at his talk the night before, in which he simply illustrates crazy stuff his kids said. At OSU, I engaged in a year’s worth of wacky conversation over a four-day period. These snippets are just the ones that came to mind first. Pictured in the cartoon are: Rina Piccolo, Dan Piraro, Sean Parkes, and… well, maybe I’ll hold off in revealing the last cartoonist, lest he not want that to be Google-able forever.

Thirty-six

So I turn 36 today.  Normally I don’t mention my birthdays here, but I have a little anecdote about this one. Back in middle school, I remember kids in my art class asking the teacher, Mr. Williams, how old he was. He replied “36.” At the time, it occurred to me that 36 was the quintessential age of adulthood. Not too old, not too young. Just a standard grownup. It’s a rule of thumb that I’ve carried with me through the years.

The thing is, I feel like I’m 26. I can hardly remember what I’ve done over the decade that has apparently elapsed since then. I think I may have drawn some cartoons…

Confidential to New York, Seattle

Speaking of where I’m appearing in print these days, there’s a Slowpoke cartoon in this week’s Stranger (Seattle), and I hear Slowpoke is running in the Village Voice again. If you live in either of those cities, pick up a paper and support good ol’ fashioned print journalism.

Note for Lit Nerds

I have an essay in the current issue of Whitefish Review, a cool literary journal out of Montana that focuses on life in the Rockies.

2010 San Diego Comic-Con Photos

The majority of costumes at Comic-Con fall into standard categories — superhero, sex kitten, Ghostbuster, zombie, warrior, zombie warrior. Oh yes, and steampunk. Lots of begoggled hipsters walking around with vaguely antiquarian-looking contraptions on their backs. But some outfits rose above, and here are a few of them:

Me with flyer man. Someone said he does this every year. A Slowpoke postcard was added to the back of his head.

Gotta give it up for the Jackie O's.

Well done, sir.

In a sea of questionably-enhanced bosoms, it was refreshing to see a few dudes objectifying themselves, however goofily. I liked this guy's pluck.

As expected, the con was a grotesque juggernaut of Hollywood crap. But I did have a soft spot for this Lego Spongebob:

And this frighteningly large My Little Pony reminded me of a Jeff Koons sculpture:

Not-so-little pony

It occurred to me that Comic-Con is basically the internet personified. It’s What Reddit Looks Like. When you think of it that way, it explains a bunch of internet phenomena. Good lord, I don’t even want to imagine all the nerd humping that must have gone on in San Diego over the past few days.

Don’t get me wrong, though. I had lots of fun.

Slowpoke Does San Diego

I’ll be in attendance at the San Diego Comic-Con next week, hovering around the Andrews McMeel Universal booth. That’s number 1018, or so I’m told. Specifically, I’m scheduled to do a signing from 1-2pm on Friday, but you can probably find me at other times on the 23rd and 24th, and probably part of the 25th as well. If you’re going to the con, please stop by and say hello.

Service Announcement

Thought I’d mention that my online activities may be a little light for the next month or so. Mr. Slowpoke and I will hopefully be moving into our new Seattle digs soon, and I’ve got some freelance work piling up (can’t complain about that!). So I may not be posting much more than the weekly cartoon here until we get settled. In the meantime, I will probably continue to issue occasional bleats on Twitter, and you should, of course, join the Slowpoke Facebook page.

AAEC Wrap-up

Okay, okay, I know I said I was going to blog from the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists convention, but I truly didn’t have a moment to spare. Considering that my primary activity consisted of stuffing my face with food and drink, I’m not entirely sure you needed a play-by-play anyway. Here, then, is an executive summary of Important Convention News, from a me-centric perspective.

I was nominated for the Board of Directors. I guess this marks the start of my political career. Today the AAEC, tomorrow the halls of Congress! Or at least Assistant to Tri-Cities Deputy Comptroller.

I was interviewed by KBOO. This is Portland’s community radio station. Matt Wuerker and I were interviewed for a show about cartoonists, to be aired sometime later this summer.

Me in front of the funkily-painted KBOO studios.

I drank wonderful beer. At Bailey’s Taphouse, I had something called a Block 15 Super Nebula Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout. This big, bold beauty is aged in oak barrels, boasts 11% alcohol, and will generally blow your socks off. That’s Ted Rall’s arm behind the glasses.

Goblets of ungodly goodness

A special shout-out to Kevin Moore and his wife Jenn for hosting Mr. Slowpoke and me.

Bitchin’!

Oh yes, almost forgot to mention here that there’s a very nice interview with me in the new issue of Bitch magazine. Print only!