Beginnings
Well, that was quick. From start to finish (with a break in the middle for video games), it took a bit less than 12 hours for Amy Kim Ganter & Kazu Kibuishi‘s first child to arrive. Oh, yeah, plus the whole almost ten months pregnant thing, and their entire lives together before that; to paraphrase Carl Sagan, if you want to make Juni from scratch, you first must invent Scott McCloud to officiate at your wedding. Coincidentally, young Juni started the active part of arriving a mere two hours after dad laid out the last rough pages of Amulet 3. Good timing, Juni!
- Speaking of brave new beginnings, the pseudonymous Gene Ambaum, actual librarian half of the librarian-themed Unshelved, is no longer. I don’t mean he’s no longer Gene (a good pseudonym isn’t something you just give up), no longer part of Unshelved, or simply no longer (that would be more of an ending than a beginning). No, he’s no longer a day-job librarian:
I’ve been a librarian for 9 awesome years — first in teen services/reference then in staff development — and I’ve loved every minute of it. But for the last 7 years I’ve led a double life as Gene Ambaum during nights, weekends, and vacations. There were a lot of things I couldn’t help Bill [Barnes, the not-librarian half of Unshelved] with (thanks Bill!), and even more ideas I couldn’t start because I didn’t have the time.
So I gave notice. Last week was my last as a full-time librarian. I’ll still occasionally work the reference desk as a sub, but it’s time to concentrate my efforts on Unshelved, writing projects, and other things that are important to me.
So that would be another person quitting the day job and jumping into cartooning as main source of income. Nicely done, “Gene”, and enjoy the adventure.
- Know what else makes for an awesome beginning? The start of an art show. There’s an energy in the air at the opening that you don’t have for the rest of the run — excitement at seeing the pieces, the sense of being at something new, the nervous tension from the creator, wondering if everything is perfect or not. The fact that there’s usually booze doesn’t hurt. Even if you’ve done lots of shows, that first night remains special, and there’s one coming up in about ten days.
Those of you that don’t want to awkwardly stare at some webcomickers in Massachusetts on a Saturday can instead meet the double-fine Scott Campbell (fresh off the release of Brütal Legend) and Leontine Greenberg at the debut of their two-person show, Adrift. Fun starts Friday the 13th (dun dun DUUUNNNN), 6:00 to 9:00pm at My Plastic Heart in New York City.
I’m gonna do my best to make it to Adrift, so maybe I’ll see you there. Actually, I guess you could also go stare awkwardly if you wanted to, make a weekend of it, but try not to overextend yourself. You know I worry about you.
- Finally, Chris Watkins has now spent a few days in a new state — not a physical location, but one that’s more philosophical. He can now call himself a 100+ updates-with-no-misses webcomicker, which (given the large number of abandoned webcomics out there) is probably the new basic qualification for proving you’re serious about webcoimcking. Nicely done, and please check out Odori Park when you get the chance. And heck, we told you to check out the strip what? Four months ago? Somebody’s slipping on this whole I tell you to do things and you do them deal we have, internet. Better work on that.
I feel obligated to point out that a full-term pregnancy is considered 40 weeks which is ten months. I only learned of this once my wife was pregnant, and we could never get a clear idea from anyone on why 9 months is so embedded in our minds in regards to pregnancy. (here ends the lesson for the day.)
By tyler page on 11.04.09 9:58 pm
That’s a cute baby! It was nice of her to wait for dad to have a good break point.
Tyler, the 9 months thing might just be clever marketing to encourage the survival of the species. Saying ten months, or god forbid, 40 weeks, could have a negative impact on future diaper sales…
And thanks very much for the mention, Gary!
By Chris Watkins on 11.05.09 2:35 pm
Uh, 40 weeks is nine months + a week. Counting 4 weeks as a month leaves out all those neat 29ths and 30ths and the occasional 31st.
By Robert Hutchinson on 11.05.09 10:10 pm
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