Hoochie Daddy
Comix, cats, gay stuff. Black Lives Matter. Bahamian + Filipino living in Seattle. If you’re an artist, weirdo, or horny, I’ll probably boost you.
Just moved, older posts here: https://artsio.com/@ottsatwork
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Some of its age and my ever increasing reluctance to avoid certain music venues but this is the coolest thing. Buying Cheetos and live music? Yes, please.
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Book 34: “The Secret Commonwealth” by #PhilipPullman.
Re-read to prep for the final book. These 600+ pages are warranted, unlike 95% of the sci-fi/fantasy books I’ve read this year. The Books of Dust evolve and complicate the beloved world of His Dark Materials in many ways, but one of the most arresting is in the relationships between people and their daemons. It’s shocking, heart-breaking, and very human.
Full review: https://books.theunseen.city/user/otts/review/183370/s/a-gift-to-fans-of-his-dark-materials#anchor-183370
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Book 32: “Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil” by #VESchwab.
I’m a fan of Schwab—she always delivers. Not sure why, but I was surprised this turned out to be a vampire novel. Lesbian vampires! Schwab makes some interesting tweaks to the lore, like how walking on graveyard soil is deadly to them. And explores how immortality affects them differently; the way some are less/more successful at hanging on to their humanity. A sad, hollow ending tho.
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Book 26: “The Cartoonists Club” by #RainaTelgemeier and #ScottMcCloud.
Four kids, each representing types of people and artists—the one with ideas, the one who can draw, the one who only sees their mistakes, and the one who likes to try new things—form the titular club. And we get an easy to understand how-to for making comics (and friends). Fun and accessible lessons with McCloud’s usual meta references to the genre.
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Book 16: “Four Roads Cross” by #MaxGladstone.
After five books in this series, what else is there to say besides I plan on buying all of them? And happily re-reading, maybe in sequential order this time, maybe in publication order after that. Only then picking up the new books. There are few series I can think of that bring such perpetual pleasure: Earthsea, His Dark Materials…
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Book 13: “On the Calculation of Volume (Book 1)” by #SolvejBalle.
A woman keeps waking up to Nov. 18th. Non-sci-fi with a sci-fi premise! Tara tests the boundaries of her circumscribed life, driven by curiosity, philosophy, and despair. Short, but it drags sometimes as you’re trapped in the monotony with her. Even though I’d like to learn what becomes of her, I don’t think I can read the full septology. Hubby said the 2nd didn’t add anything.
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Book 6: “The Naturalist Society” by #CarrieVaughn.
Really great premise that’s marred by a largely uninterrogated colonialist worldview: Arcane Taxonomy grants a portion of the magic from the thing that’s named. Primarily birds. Vaughn isn’t ignorant of the dynamics this creates for queers, women, and POC (our MCs), or that Western ways of knowing and naming aren’t the end-all, be-all. But the engine driving everything remains the will to conquer.
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Book 31: “3 Streets” by #YokoTawada.
Three short stories named after streets, which themselves are named after famous people, in East Berlin. Surreal things happen. Tawanda’s writing was slippery for me and I ended up glazing over and skimming. There’s more there for people who know what to look for, but I wasn’t one of them. Finished only because it was so brief.
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Book 30: “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” by #PatrickSüskind.
Set in 18th Century Paris, a man with no scent possesses an incredible sense of smell. If it were written today, it could easily be a super-villain story: scent is the key to power and control here. It avoids those tropes, but gets mired in others that are unfortunately very gendered and tired. Interesting details on perfumery though, and the language can be entertaining in its hyperbole.
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Book 27: “The Sympathizer” by #VietThanhNguyen.
Came to this one late: I remember when everybody seemed to be reading or talking about it. Really enjoyed Nguyen’s immigrant short stories in “The Refugees”. This is much more politically sophisticated as the title says, but not what I expected. Nor did it go where I thought it would—more espionage than I normally like. While the sequel is also on my list, the TV show isn’t anymore. Too dude-focused.
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Missed the aurora last night but I did find 13 new boyfriends: Compagnie Hervé Koubi’s “Les Nuits Barbares ou Les Premiers Matin du Monde”. Lord have mercy, look at these mens.
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CW: “May December” minor spoiler
Well, I went in thinking this movie was a lesbian romance between the Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman characters. Couldn’t be further from the truth. 😂
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Book 7: “The Road to the City” by #NataliaGinzburg.
Such histrionics! " ‘You're playing at being sick. I'm the one who is going to get sick, working as I do morning and night, busting my arms for you all. When I pick up my plate I can't even eat I'm so tired. And you enjoy watching me die.’ ” Or,
" ‘Are you in such a hurry to see me die? I'll live to ninety just to spite you,’ shouted my aunt, hitting her on the head with her rosary.” 👀🍿 Cackling.
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Book 2: “Burma Chronicles” by #GuyDelisle.
This one felt different from Delisle’s other work: more episodic, more editorial commentary, more dad jokes. I didn’t like those bits as much, but as ever, his drawing is wonderful. A little comics journalism and memoir gives us his particular experience in this country where his wife is in Medecins Sans Frontieres. The silent stretches were often my fave, as well as the Water Festival and Buddhist retreat.
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Book 1: “The Famous Magician” by #CésarAira.
Originally written in 2013, this meta novella asks the author to choose between Magic and Literature. Are the two, in fact, the same? Or is Magic a transcendence of Literature? A quick, fun read that’s sitting with me the more I turn it over in my head.
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Book 44: “Factory Summers” by #GuyDelisle.
I envy Delisle’s drawing style: clear lines, deceptively simple, limited color palette. This is about his first job working in a paper factory as a teenager in Quebec.
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Book 43: “The Fragile Threads of Power” by #VESchwab.
I love all of Schwab’s work. This continues the story set up in The Shades of Magic series.
That series got a teeny bit muddled by the end for me, but Schwab’s growth as a writer is evident here. Except for the monarchy, which I’m just more impatient with these days in my entertainment, (enough of the in-born virtue of royals), such a pleasure to re-visit this world and characters.
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Book 38: “Trail of Lightning” by #RebeccaRoanhorse.
Thoroughly enjoyed this. #RuralFantasy (new genre for me) that follows a Navajo monster hunter as she deals with deities and witches with a hot medicine man on the rez. There’s a second book already out that I can’t wait to read.
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Book 36: “The Skull” by #JonKlassen.
A retelling of a Tyrolean folk tale. So sweet! Both the story and the illustrations. I love his art style.
Before making this, Klassen revisited the book where he first encountered the folk tale and the ending was totally different from what he recalled. This version is what he remembered.
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Book 35: “The Secret History” by #DonnaTartt.
I realize now that I have no idea what #DarkAcademia is as a genre (see my journey in this thread). This is supposedly the best example. Magic really isn’t part of it.
This book isn’t for me. Outside of my mistaken expectations, the characters are assholes (a requirement!) and it went on way too long. The writing at the start made me take notice—Tartt can *write*—but I just didn’t care for her world and its people.
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Book 28: "Full FathomFive" by #MaxGladstone.
This series is too smart for me—not in a bad way, just that I think I'd get more enjoyment out of it if I were able to have both a pulled back and a focused in view of the world. The interconnections and the highly specific details of this city, this magic, this social strata.
Like the second book in this series, I think I'll enjoy it more on a re-read, which I'm really looking forward to doing.
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Book 25: “Two Serpents Rise” by #MaxGladstone.
The second title in The Craft Sequence, I didn’t like it as much as the first. Gladstone doesn’t hand-hold in his world-building, which I prefer, but I felt I missed a lot of subtleties with the new characters, time period, and location. This is the kind of thing a re-read will address though, and I look forward to that.
I do love every part of the world across these books, just certain parts more than others.
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Book 23: “Three Parts Dead” by #MaxGladstone.
What a great writer. Learned after the fact that he’s one of the co-authors of “This Is How You Lose the Time War”. Makes sense.
The ideas here felt new and exciting. Exposition and world-building doesn’t happen in clunky blocks like it does in so many books. It takes real skill not to frustrate readers when you throw together dead gods, magic from starlight, gargoyles, vampires, contract law, and a whole lot more.
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This weather makes me want to stay home, but I know I’ll feel 100% better if I go to Short Run. I’ll share pix of my haul later: https://shortrun.org/
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Book 13: “Violenzia and other deadly amusements” by #RichardSala.
Four stories, the two with Violenzia were the best. I love Sala’s creepy sensibilities, but this didn’t do it for me. My library doesn’t carry many more of his books so this may be my last (for now anyway). We’ll always have “Invisible Hands” though, which I’ll link to (again!) for your delectation: https://youtu.be/n5sP4yRb8Mw
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New fan of director #Kogonada. Just watched his first film, #Columbus. (He also directed #AfterYang and some episodes of #Pachinko.) The characters talk about their love (or lack of it) for architecture, and share different ways of looking/seeing that are reflected in the film’s quiet, often repeated shots. Lovely.
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Book 12: "The Spare Man" by #MaryRobinetteKowal.
I've read and enjoyed all of Kowal's books. The worldbuilding is considered & smart, and her characters are always horny for each other (often, newlyweds).
Didn't expect a mystery, but this was fun. Initially annoyed by all the cocktail recipes, but she persuaded me to seek out complex flavors of the non-alcoholic variety (my preference). I always learn something from her, including a 5-senses grounding technique.
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Haven’t visited #Ballard in forever, but went today to see “FLÓÐ (Flood)”, Jónsi’s new installation at The National Nordic Museum. Opening event was sold out last night but he was there today, documenting, and we spoke for a bit! 🤩 it’s a multisensory, site-specific installation. Highly recommended. 🌊
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#WebcomicTalk Q3: Do you have a favorite color palette or scheme that you use in your work?
When I started “Chickenhead” I just used the same palette from my last big project (a mini comic about #KingStreetStation), more out of laziness. For shading, I reduced the brightness on each one, which doubled my color options. Close enough to a rainbow for my purposes, which didn’t really occur to me until this Pride comic. I’ve since added two grays.
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#WebComicTalk Q3: Who influenced your art or writing style of your webcomic?
#Seattle has some incredible comics artists. I especially love #SimonHanselmann’s COVID comics collected in “Crisis Zone”. Simon put out that shit weekly in the middle of lockdown and was able to pack so much into 10 panels. #BrettHamil really skewers City politics well in 9 panels with simple drawings.
#MalakaGharib for not being too precious and her zinester’s heart, #JonMcNaught for silence and mood.
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“Resentment is a sharp emotion that is triggered by a perception of unfairness, built over time.
Asian culture can influence us to stomach hard emotions like these, and the result?
Ruptured relationships between parents and children, and the cycle continues in the way we show up in our relationships.”
Doing this workshop tonight. #Asian #NativeHawaiian #PacificIslander friends, it’s free and virtual:
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There’s an artist residency call for the Fremont and University bridges in #Seattle. If you’re a #DigitalArtist living in King, Snohomish, Pierce, or Kitsap County, you should apply. This time, it’s for digital data visualization art. Prior years, it’s been comics, music, writing, and visual art. Closes April 14, please Boost:
https://seattle.gov/arts/opportunities/current-calls-and-funding#sdotair
#ArtistCall #ArtistResidency #MastoArt #ArtistsOnMastodon #Bridges #SnohomishCounty #PierceCounty #KitsapCounty #DataViz @seattle @art
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Book 2: “Cat Burglar Black” by #RichardSala.
I saw some of his art online and thought it looked like “Invisible Hands” from Liquid Television, which I LOVED. Same artist! This didn’t have quite the same level of twisted, creepiness as that animated series, but I was so happy to find his work in comic form. There’s more too.
Someone stitched together all the “#InvisibleHands”. The voice acting is 🤌🏽 https://youtu.be/n5sP4yRb8Mw