Leprechaun

I've been a victim of my internet provider's marketing scheme, which involves making their dial-up system as unwieldly and unreliable as possible, so you'll switch to their high-speed, meanwhile making Blogger's failures happen in slow motion, the whole thing ending up in such a crescendo of frustration, that Torquemada and the great sadists of history could only applaud in admiration.



Oh well. Here's another little picture, in black and white this time. Inspired by my reading of Charles de Lint's Spirits in the Wire, which I can't recommend unless you already know and really like his work. Still, I'm pushing through.

Outside of another dental appointment next week, and a bicycle accident in the rain today, things are fine (I'm okay, at least I stayed upright, but the guy who braked in front of me after rushing through a blind corner was very emphatic that it didn't hurt, his sliding along the asphalt and having the bicycle land on his bare legs. He was an older gentleman. I hope he's all right).

Self-Experimentation

In a bit of a trough right now. Last week was very busy --in fact the last while has been very busy. But now nothing for a week or so. Except waiting to see how some project will turn out. I know it's all very mysterious, but TV people do not like their projects talked about before they come to fruition. So it's all quiet, quiet, for the moment. Still, interesting stuff, and I'd love to talk about it when any of it hits the airwaves.



No real news this time. Above is an illustration which appeared in the April 14 McGill Reporter, so I guess I can post it here. The original was tiny, about 3 inches square, but it was blown up to nearly a quarter of a tabloid page, and I was pleased with how well it held up. Despite my complaints about the scanner, the colours were pretty, and the lines weren't too blurry. If I knew it was going to be that big, I might have done a nicer job on the title on the book, but that's hindsight.



This one is just something I did after looking at a lot of pictures from space book, from a link on the Drawn site (I know, I'll have to find it and put it up here). I tried fixing the astronaut's eyes, as he looks a little surprised or worried, but nothing looked better than the original, so I guess he's just surprised to be on the moon.

Tennis Court

No cute graphics to go with this. (no, wait, I'll put up my sad native guy walking on the street).



But, the city tennis court a few block away which was always jammed with players no matter the weather, as long as the nets were up now charges $7.00 a game. It looks beautiful, just like a country club. The nets are up, and there are nice garbage bins by all the courts. But the gates are locked, and there's not a soul playing. Way to go, city.

It's a poor neighbourhood, but I guess this is now for all the "serious players" who will go in the condos which are going up, replacing the artists in the Grover Building, for instance.

Double Hook and Grande Bibliothéque

The Double Hook Bookstore, a friendly, homey place that sold English-mainly Canadian-only books in Montreal, is closing at the end of July. (Got my journalism skills back long enough to write a lede explaining that, which helps give a reason for the below).

Above is an indifferent drawing of the Double Hook Bookstore I did for a project a year or so ago. Lousy scanner cuts out a certain kind of green-blue which goes in the sky here. (made the cat painting below look more skimpy as well). That bookstore was one of my favourite places to prowl around in, when I made the pilgrimage out to Greene Street. Enjoyed the many readings and launchings there for local writers such as (recently) Mary Soderstrom and T.F. Rigelhof. Kind of the cosier, English-Professor-level of writer, as opposed to the hipper spoken word types who hang out in Mile End, or on the Main, or the slightly crazier types I would sometimes drink with, or hear bad reports about.

Light on interesting sketches to blog lately. I've still been drawing things, and if I pawed through my books, I'm sure there'd be something to post. But though things have been going all right (the dentist visit wasn't a big problem, and I got a healthy cheque the other day), I've been in a bad mood. Not identifying with society, or other people much. Hope that changes.

Other good news was that I visited and liked the new Grande Bibliothéque, or however it's called. (actually the Bibliothéque Nationale du Quebec) The place was jammed, like a new exhibition at Disneyland). People like me were walking through the aisles grinning, entranced with all the open space and hi-tech gadgetry. There seem to be a lot more books in the new collection. I hope the good ones aren't all quickly stolen or mutilated, as they were in the previous incarnation of the central libe. I miss the old building somewhat, though it wasn't very friendly. The big tables smashed your knees if you were tall like me, and one had to pull one's chair out as a result, and that meant interfering with people who were passing behind. (Sorry for that sentence, though it's slightly corrected in this second editing pass). As well, there were herds of grumpy old men who would hoard the newspapers on the weekend. Assembling a giant stack of them, and then looking at you with hatred if you glanced their way trying to see if they had the Saturday "Gazette" so you could check the want ads.

Bookstore Cat Found

Rorschach impression of Khan, whom I've only seen curled up asleep.


Khan, the new bookstore cat at Welch's on Saint Laurence, the one who went missing a couple of weeks ago [link], is back. This is good news, and takes the edge off my visit to the dentist today. My own cat vanished for two weeks one spring (the first one spent with me), but had gotten lost and been hiding behind the shed of a neighbour's the whole time. It took him a while to learn the layout. Damned cats, making us worry like that. Also, a friend of mine thought she'd lost her cat in a terible loft fire, but it showed up a few months later. So these are durable little beasts.{Actually, later after writing this, I talked to Mr. Welch, and the cat did not come back by itself. For the full story, though, I'd rather you ask him!)