Before my freshmen year of high school I had never opened a comic book or manga in my life. In fact, it wasn't until I lost my key and got locked out of my parents' house one day that I, upon wandering down Elysian Fields, discovered our neighborhood comic book store, Crescent City Comics. Though now the lot is a semi-level slab of concrete, back then it was a second-story brick suite that sat nestled above Young's dry-cleaning. Having been one of those kids that got a $3 allowance per week, I was thrilled by the existence of a place where I could actually buy my own books, and rent my own videos without having to consult a panel of siblings and parents. What's more so, the guys who ran the place were, and are to this day, some of the coolest people I have ever met. Always glad to have a random conversation, they never complained about my constant hanging around their store, or my frequent request of "May I use your phone to call my mom?" There was even one occasion when I showed up having been drenched from head to toe in a sudden downpour, and the owner lent me his coat to wear home, saying "Don't worry about it. You can return it with your next video." Needless to say, I became a regular, and a comic book reader. Sadly in Katrina, as was true for most things in my neighborhood, everything came to a halt.
After work today I decided to take a detour down S. Claiborne and Napoleon to a certain newly-opened storefront on Freret. There I was quite pleased to see an incredible stock of every variety of comics, manga, t-shirts, and even an old friend whose beard has a bit more gray in it than I remember. It turns out that post-Katrina Crescent City Comics has begun running local art nights and even their own periodical: Antigravity. It also surprised me to find out that some of their personal stories had been featured in Josh Neufeld's graphic work: AD: New Orleans After the Deluge.
If it weren't for Crescent City Comics, I'm not sure that I would have ever taken up comic making as a craft. For this reason, I would like to send out a big "THANK YOU!" for just being your awesome selves. I would also like to invite all who ever visit New Orleans to pay a visit to those who run a comic store the way it should be run.
>Clears throat<
In conclusion, rock on Chicken-on-a-Tuesday, Ponytail man, Weezer-hat guy, and Al... whose nickname I have sadly NO recollection of.
[ add comment ] ( 20 views ) | permalink |
( 2.9 / 169 )
Although the end of the decade is not technically untill December 31, 2010, I have spent the past week listening to several different "most notable music of the 00's" countdowns, dedicated to the period of time which has encompassed parts of my middle school, high school, college and even the beginnings of my professional life. It's been nostalgic to say the least, though I suppose anyone else my age is going through the same thing.
The truth is, this new year was rather special to me for another, albeit slightly more superstitious reason as well. I am a triple tiger, having been born on the day, in the month, and in the year of the tiger according to the kanshi (干支) or the Japanese zodiac. Unlike the traditional Chinese zodiac, Japan celebrates the beginning of the year on the solar new year (January 1st), meanwhile they have a separate purification festival with its roots tied to the lunar new year. Well, it just so happens that this reminiscent new-year's day of purification known as "Setsubun" is celebrated annually on the very same day of my birth, on the day and in the month of the tiger.
I have to be honest here... I really don't know what any of that is supposed to mean exactly, besides being lucky out the wazoo. Still, I felt like I should do my best to remember the first moments of 2010. In case these first few glimpses should represent some preview of the next ten or even twelve years of my life, I decided several weeks ago that I would record them here in complete detail:
January first I woke up having had a hatsuyume (first dream of the new year) in which an old high school acquaintance of mine turned into Lord Voldermort while I was busy drawing maps of Osaka prefecture for tourists in the French Quarter. When I awoke from this odd vision I was a bit groggy to say the least, but because I've been watching my sister's apartment I found myself in her backyard at eight in the morning knocking slugs off of a cat food bowl while wearing nothing to protect me from the winter breeze but pajama pants, my USMC t-shirt and a giant pair of sock monkey slippers. Suddenly, a rogue gust of wind blew across me and I heard an ominous "slam" and "click."
See, the French doors at my sister's place have metal door bolts hung vertically, so that when the wind blew them shut, the bolts were jostled just enough to fall into their respective metal wells leaving me trapped outside on New Years morning with no house or car keys, money, phone, normal clothes or even shoes to speak of.
I decided foolishly out of pride not to bother the neighbors who I'm pretty sure had been taking in my sister's mail the whole time she was gone for fear that I'd neglect it. Instead I set a course for Magazine street, monkey slippers and all, to look for a phone in one of the many near-by businesses. Unfortunately, New Years day being a national holiday none were open at that hour. At this point I was beginning to feel just a little bit stupid, but as I peered into a dark-windowed Blockbuster I saw, to my relief, a middle-aged couple walking their small beagle down the sidewalk. As it turns out, the older white-haired gentleman was a second generation retired Marine who upon seeing "Semper Fi" printed down my left sleeve promptly let me use his cell phone and even invited me into his and his wife's lovely home for breakfast while I waited for a ride to come and pick me up.
So as I drank organic apple juice and ate some of the finest cheese grits I've ever had, I realized that I just may have gained new insight to this beginning decade after all. It seems that my whole life things seldom go the way I plan them, and yet, more often than not I am delighted at how much easier it is to make improvements upon my situation when my expectations go out the window.
[ add comment ] ( 36 views ) | permalink |
( 2.9 / 156 )
Calendar
