"I Now Can See..."

Ah, the pinkeye is at last fading; this is the first morning since Tuesday I've awakened with just a slight itch in the orb instead of gunkathon deluxe. What a relief! Still keeping the eyedrop therapy going, but nice to literally have light at the end of the ol' eyeball.
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Blur Volume 1 is in hand, with the initial orders already shipped (and my first to Canada -- hey, Bob, and thanks! -- going out this AM). I'm really happy with the book, and plunging into the book-formatting of Volumes 2, 3 and 4 with the high from Volume 1's arrival feeding the work.

If you'd like to support this ongoing archival project, please place your order for the first volume this weekend -- it's the best way to support my creative life, and ensure a lasting series of volumes preserving my writing, artwork and comics continues.

To those who have already ordered Volume 1, thanks for your support! It means the world to me.

I know my returning to work on Tyrant and new comics is all that many desire from me, but this new phase in my life is falling into place, piece by piece, and Blur is a vital piece in this stage. Please, support this effort, if you can; I can promise you solid reading in return, and assure you Blur brings me a major step closer to getting more new work out, as well.

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As it does to other creators and their projects...

Foremost among those fellow authors in my thoughts this week are my good friends Tim and Donna Lucas, whose lives have been turned upside-down by the long-awaited delivery of their new book, Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark.

Personally satisfying as it might be, my little box of Blur doesn't hold a candle to what Tim and Donna are punchdrunk on today: two truckloads of the Bava book arrived yesterday, and Tim posted this photo (taken by Donna) of himself and the motherlode of Bava books straining Tim and Donna's dining room floor. Here's hoping it holds up!

Actually, here's hoping Tim and Donna hold up -- the enormous task of shipping the books lies ahead. From my own experience with Taboo and Tyrant in the old days, I know well the weird fusion of giddy satisfaction and exhaustion such a process entails -- but I never dealt with as physically oversized a tome as the Mario Bava book. Good luck, Tim and Donna!

As one of the anxious recipients of the book (more than one copy: I've prepurchased copies to donate to both the Center for Cartoon Studies Schulz Library and the Bissette Special Collection at Henderson State University's HUIE Library), I'm eager for the day my own copy arrives, but hey, Tim and Donna, pace yourselves and take care of yourselves in the days ahead.

Tim and Donna announced the joyous news on the Video Watchblog (always great reading), and there's

more photos, news, info and the purchase links are here, at the Bava book blog!

Congratulations, Tim and Donna, and much love from the Bissette hacienda on this momentous weekend...

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The very real economic crisis upon us -- predicted by many economists since 2001, and emblematic of the US at every level (has any US President ever racked up such an enormous national deficit?) -- has finally "supplanted terrorism as the gravest immediate risk threatening the economy...," though note the credit risk is untethered from government spending in the survey.

It shouldn't be: as above, so below.

Have a great Saturday and weekend; I won't be posting tomorrow.
Road trip!

BLUR Vol. 1 Has Arrived!

Still a bit bleary-eyed, unable to deal with computers or even watch TV due to the lingering blur of pinkeye (see my Wednesday post, below), after Marj headed out to work yesterday at 7 AM I drove myself down to our remaining two rented storage spaces. Determined to complete the final heavy task of summer, and knowing the cool temperatures and overcast skies of this week were coming to an end, I shouldered myself (and my car) into the four-hour chore of consolidating two storage spaces into one -- the smaller (and cheaper monthly rental) of the two. I worked up a solid sweat and got it done, feeling better for the physical exercise and duty done.

With my car carrying the second of two loads of boxes of books and comics I shuttled home, and greatly relieved that it would be the last such haul for this month, I was instantly rewarded with some goodies in the mailbox -- and a surprise delivery from UPS propping open our front screen door.

My first batch of copies of Blur Volume 1 had arrived!

It looks mighty fine, and orders are now being filled --

-- so order without further ado from Black Coat Press, pronto!

(Black Coat Press has a number of new releases available now, so take a moment to explore the site.)

There's nothing like holding a new book you've had a hand in, much less holding it for the first time. It felt -- feels -- good.

I spent a couple of hours scouring the text and wincing over the few things I wish I'd done differently, but it's still a cool little book and an accomplishment. As noted before, this is the first of four volumes of Blur, collecting all my weekly newspaper "Video Views" columns written and published 1999-2001; the second volume is about done, and CCS alumni and cover designer Jon-Mikel Gates is showing me Volume 2's cover this weekend, so there's already more on the way.

Here's the full cover spread, designed by Jon-Mikel Gates;

Jon-Mikel's website, bio, specs, blog and more awaits you here!

All this does is whet my appetite for the archival projects ahead. After completing Blur's four volumes, I'll plunge into Gooseflesh, an illustrated book series collecting all my genre articles, essays and interviews from the past two decades. With the winter months, I'll also be forging ahead with the final draft of We Are Going to Eat You! for FAB Press, and other projects, all the while savoring the third year teaching at The Center for Cartoon Studies.

More news later; I'm catching up on the two days+ of pinkeye aversion to the computer, including pressing workloads, so I'll be back here later today. I'm doing much better, thanks, though the eye drop treatment continues and I'm not sleeping much as yet.

Have a great Friday, and check in later today and this weekend for more on Blur... the books, not the infection.

The Fortunes of Pinkeye Pissette
A True Story

So I woke up yesterday morning around 5 AM (I'm an early riser) to my left eye feeling gummed shut.

I didn't think much of it -- I mean, it didn't itch or hurt or anything. I waddled to the bathroom, washed my face, gave a little extra scrubbing to the eye, and began my day. I've been dancing on the edge of what feels like it might be a cold of and on all week, in the wake of Tuco's illness (which, as of this morning, our other cat Lizzie now has a bit of); no big deal.

By the time Marj was up for work a little over an hour later, my eye was looking sort of bloodshot, but it still felt fine. Marj fretted a bit and urged me to call the doctor, which I'm usually loathe to do unless there's either major fall-down agony/tragedy happening or an obvious compound fracture or spurting jugular at hand. Or stump.

Still, "OK, if it gets worse..."

Well, by lunchtime, it was. I don't usually have any sort of 'gunk' in the corner of my eye -- well, I did now. Every 40 minutes. My left eye was narrowing a bit, and looking redder by the hour, too.

I called off my plans for the day. It took some phone tag (that least entertaining or rewarding of all indoor sports) -- with the local medical center, our insurance company, and Marj -- but by 2:45 PM I was at the clinic, meeting my new doctor.

By this time, my eye was really bloodshot, looking positively Fulci-like under the lids. Let me back up a bit: as I drove myself to the center (a mere ten minutes away), something filmy began to assert itself en route. My left eye blurred between every other blink, as if some sort of obstruction was occluding it; once I was safely in the parking lot, a glance into the rear view mirror confirmed a creamy yellowish sludge was drifting piecemeal over the orb of my left eye.

Like I said, Fulci time. Low-gore Fulci, mind you. More like The Curse, which he only produced -- sort of mild pus slushage without the maggots or major spew (for you Fulci fans out there).

It turns out I somehow contracted

conjunctivitis, most likely its viral form,

aka "pink eye." Not to be confused with 'red eye,' the condition or the Wes Craven movie.

Anyhoot, by 4 PM I was in the pharmacy, enjoying the Bush-era joys of fucking about with pharmaceutical cards and such, finally electing to just pay for the inexpensive prescription (eyedrops) out of pocket so I could make my pathetic way back home while my eye was still semi-functional.

By now, it was oozing and puffed up. I looked like an old, runny-eyed dog; you know the look. A pus-dribbling winky-eyed old canine with a hat.

I got home about fifteen minutes before Marj, time enough to apply the first dose of the prescribed drops.

Now, I had not been able to find any eye wash at our local pharmacy, which the doctor had required I get, too. Our local pharmacy (I forgot to mention) is also midway through transformation from being a RiteAid to being -- some other damned chain pharmacy (which only added to the fun noted above, since they're also switching computers, customer files, etc.), and eye wash was not in stock.

Marj, bless her, offered to go get some in nearby Lebanon, NH, and to get Chinese takeout while she was at it. Cool.

To make a short story shorter, she got the eyedrops and dinner.

We dined with chopsticks and it was delish, and Marj somehow was able to eat despite my eye no doubt looking like a Graham Ingels panel.

"You want your fortune cookie?" she asked as we sat back from our plates.

"Sure."

My fortune (no shit):

"You will enjoy razor-sharp spiritual vision today."

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Have a great Wednesday...