the pillow book

Lovely short comics

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:19:27 GMT

I first heard of Emily Carroll when I stumbled on the Draw This Dress blog, which Emily does with fellow cartoonist Vera Brosgol (who did the wonderful Anya's Ghost). At the time, I just knew her as the one who didn't draw as many dresses as Vera. Then someone on scans_daily linked one of her comics, and I realized that she does these amazing, gorgeous short comics.

You can read them here.

But my favorites are the ultra-creepy His Face All Red and the sweet, mythic Anu-Anulan & Yir's Daughter.

Go read them! They are so good, and they don't take much time at all to read.

comments

Self Evident

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 21:01:39 GMT

listen

yes,
us people are just poems
we're 90% metaphor
with a leanness of meaning
approaching hyper-distillation
and once upon a time
we were moonshine
rushing down the throat of a giraffe
yes, rushing down the long hall
despite what the p.a. announcement says
yes, rushing down the long hall
down the long stairs
in a building so tall
that it will always be there
it's part of a pair
there on the bow of noah's ark
the most prestigious couple
just kickin back parked
against a perfectly blue sky
on a morning beatific
in its indian summer breeze
on the day that america
fell to its knees
after strutting around for a century
without saying 'thank you'
or 'please'

and the shock was subsonic
and the smoke was deafening
between the setup and the punch line
cuz we were all on time for work that day
we all boarded that plane for to fly
and then while the fires were raging
we all climbed up on the windowsill
and then we all held hands
and jumped into the sky

and every borough looked up when it heard the first blast
and then every dumb action movie was summarily surpassed
and the exodus uptown by foot and motorcar
looked more like war than anything i've seen so far
so far
so far
so fierce and ingenious
a poetic specter so far gone
that every jackass newscaster was struck dumb and stumbling
over 'oh my god' and 'this is unbelievable' and on and on
and i'll tell you what, while we're at it
you can keep the pentagon
you can keep the propaganda
keep each and every tv
that's been trying to convince me
to participate
in some prep school punk's plan to perpetuate retribution
perpetuate retribution
even as the blue toxic smoke of our lesson in retribution
is still hanging in the air
and there's ash on our shoes
and there's ash in our hair
and there's a fine silt on every mantle
from hell's kitchen to brooklyn
and the streets are full of stories
sudden twists and near misses
and soon every open bar is crammed to the rafters
with tales of narrowly averted disasters
and the whiskey is flowin
like never before
as all over the country
folks just shake their heads
and pour

so here's a toast to all the folks who live in palestine
afghanistan
iraq

el salvador

here's a toast to the folks living on the pine ridge reservation
under the stone cold gaze of mount rushmore

here's a toast to all those nurses and doctors
who daily provide women with a choice
who stand down a threat the size of oklahoma city
just to listen to a young woman's voice

here's a toast to all those folks on death row right now
awaiting the executioner's guillotine
who are shackled there with dread and can only escape into their heads
to find peace in the form of a dream

peace in the form of a dream

cuz take away our playstations
and we are a third world nation
under the thumb of some blue blood royal son
who stole the oval office and that phony election
i mean
it don't take a weatherman
to look around and see the weather
jeb said he'd deliver florida, folks
and boy did he ever

and we hold these truths to be self evident:
#1 george w. bush is not president
#2 america is not a true democracy
#3 the media is not fooling me
cuz i am a poem heeding hyper-distillation
i've got no room for a lie so verbose
yes, i'm looking out over my whole human family
and i'm raising my glass in a toast

here's to our last drink of fossil fuels
may we vow to get off of this sauce
shoo away the swarms of commuter planes
and find that train ticket we lost
cuz once upon a time the line followed the river
and peeked into all the backyards
and the laundry was waving
and the graffiti was teasing us
from brick walls and bridges
we were rolling over ridges
through valleys
under stars
i dream of touring like duke ellington
in my own railroad car
i dream of waiting on the tall blonde wooden benches
in a grand station aglow with grace
and then standing out on the platform
and feeling the air on my face

give back the night its distant whistle
give the darkness back its soul
give the big oil companies the finger finally
and relearn how to rock-n-roll
yes, the lessons are all around us and the truth is waiting there
so it's time to pick through the rubble, clean the streets
and clear the air
get our government to pull its big dick out of the sand
of someone else's desert
put it back in its pants
and quit the hypocritical chants of
'freedom forever'

cuz when one lone phone rang
in two thousand and one
at ten after nine
on nine one one
which is the number we all called
when that lone phone rang right off the wall
right off our desk and down the long hall
down the long stairs
in a building so tall
that the whole world turned
just to watch it fall

and while we're at it
remember the first time around?
the bomb?
the ryder truck?
the parking garage?
the princess that didn't even feel the pea?
remember joking around in our apartment on avenue D?

'can you imagine how many paper coffee cups would have to change their design
following a fantastical reversal of the new york skyline?!'

it was a joke
at the time

and that was just a few years ago
so let the record show
that the FBI was all over that case
that the plot was obvious and in everybody's face
and scoping that scene
religiously
the CIA
or is it KGB?
committing countless crimes against humanity
with this kind of eventuality
as its excuse
for abuse after expensive abuse
and they didn't have a clue
look, another window to see through
way up here
on the 104th floor
look
another key
another door
10% literal
90% metaphor
3,000 some poems disguised as people
on an almost too-perfect day
should be more than pawns
in some asshole's passion play
so now it's your job
and it's my job
to make it that way
to make sure they didn't die in vain

sshhhhhh....
baby, listen
hear the train?

//ani difranco, 2001

comments

Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 19:15:16 GMT

http://womenfighters.tumblr.com

It's just a collection of images of female fighters (mostly fantasy art, but some more historical pieces as well) in armor that someone might actually wear. How rare and wonderful is that?

comments

cats

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:05:21 GMT

The boy and I were walking on the path behind the house, and Katchoo was on the fence and saw us and started meowing like mad. Then she hopped down and ran up to us and followed us up the path and down the path and it was adorable.

And yes, maybe this story is just an excuse to use the Rocky icon I made.

comments

It's time to meet the muppets...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 06:10:53 GMT

...I just can't help myself.

comments

I am so fucking excited about this

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 06:15:17 GMT

Got this from scans_daily! Legend of Korra trailer.

Here's the original post, which includes a gorgeous poster for the series as well.

comments

no one's gonna save you if you don't swim for the boat

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 23:41:49 GMT

I don't know, I just like this song, okay.

comments

A lovely animation

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:43:50 GMT

This is a really beautiful, simple piece of animation that left me a little awed.

comments

Vegetarian Ramen

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 21:21:11 GMT

As I am a lazy bum and still haven't finished resizing all my photos from New Orleans, have some food instead!

The Boy and I found a little ramen place in a neighboring city. It's...not great. But we don't really have very good restaurants, as a rule, in the East Bay. But, shortly thereafter, my mother found an article in the Food section of the Chronicle about ramen, listing off a few local recipes, including a vegetarian version.

So I made it. It took all freaking day, and I bought and used celery root for the first time.

Celery Root-Miso Ramen
by Chef Richie Nakano of Hapa Ramen

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 oz dried kombu
1.5 gallons water
2 med celery roots, peeled and diced
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 med carrots, roughly chopped
2 yellow onions, medium diced
1 head garlic, halved horizontally
1 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 cup white miso
5 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Store-bought fresh ramen noodles, cooked

Toppings as desired (I used grated radish, blanched pea sprouts and baby bok choy, nori, scallions, and some seaweed strips I forget the name of)

Instructions

Wipe the kombu with a wet cloth, then combine it with the water in a large stock pot. Bring to a simmer, remove from heat and let steep 1 hour. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350. Toss celery root in 2 Tbsp of the oil, then spread onto a roasting pan. Toss carrots and onions in remaining oil and spread them onto another roasting pan. Place both pans in the oven and bake until the vegetables are tender and slightly browned. (It took about 30-40 minutes for me.)

In batches, pour the kombu broth into a blender and blend with the roasted celery root. Return the pureed broth to the stockpot; add the roasted carrots and onions, the garlic and the ginger. Bring to a simmer, and simmer until broth is reduced by about one-third.

In a mixing bowl, whisk about 1 cup of the broth with the miso; add to the stockpot along with the minced garlic. Simmer a few minutes to blend, then strain the broth into another pot and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, pour about 2 cups of broth over prepared noodles; top as desired.

comments

Something cool

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:18:43 GMT

Today on Project Rooftop, the costume-redesign site for superheroes, Alex Mitchell reimagines the Justice League as chanbara style Japanese heroes.

comments

line test leak for Legend of Korra!

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:24:31 GMT

Aaaahhhh go here before it's gone! --> http://ftsl2000.blog.me/

comments

just darn cute

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 23:06:30 GMT

Sometimes, when school and/or life is ungodly stressful, you just need to take time out to watch some dudes perform a choreographed dance with dogs and IKEA furniture.

comments

How to make an insanely yummy vegan bánh mì

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:00:49 GMT

I'm sorry it's such a crappy photo. I still don't have a functioning camera.

Anyway. Having gotten into a bit of a vegan cooking rut (pasta AGAIN?), and not having (sadly) any Vietnamese sandwich shops near the house, I decided I was going to learn how to make bánh mì, vegan style, for my family.

Things You Will Need

baguettes (preferably actual bánh mì buuut if you don't have access to these, and I don't, any baguette-like bread item should suffice. I used filone rolls)
Vegenaise
Chili garlic sauce
soy sauce
jalapeño peppers
cilantro
cucumber slices or sticks
do chua (pickled daikon and carrot, julienned -- you can make it yourself easy! Google it, because I am a lazy recipe writer)
tofu (firm or deep fried or whatever else you like)

What To Do
For the sauce: mix some Vegenaise with some chili garlic sauce and soy sauce. Adjust chili garlic sauce level according to how spicy you like it, consistency should be...fairly mayonnaise-like. Very precise, I know.

For the tofu: slice accordingly and lightly pan fry in oil of choice and some soy sauce.

Slice the baguettes open and hollow out the fluffy insides, then slather with the sauce. You may toast them if you really want to. Then layer all the other stuff inside and eat it.

You will probably have a whole lot of do chua if you use a whole daikon, so be prepared to eat many of these. That will be okay, because they are delicious.

comments

Potato Salad

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 06:22:40 GMT

Cooking for Fathers' Day tomorrow, and I made this ahead of time. It was pronounced "awesome" (by, granted, my mother), and it occurred to me it might be a good idea to remember how the hell I made it.

Awesome Vegan Potato Salad
Makes: a buttload of servings

You will need:

20 boiling potatoes, halved (I think this is about 4-5 pounds?)
1/2 red onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 large dill pickles, roughly chopped (or 10 sweet gherkins, if you're into that kind of thing)
1 can black olives, roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped
1.5 - 2 cups Vegenaise
4 Tablespoons dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon Chinese hot mustard
2 Tablespoons smoked paprika
kosher salt, to taste (probably a lot)
black pepper, to taste

Boil the potatoes until they can be easily pierced. Mash half of them and roughly chop the other half, then dump them in a bowl and let them cool.

Then dump everything else in and mix it up. Taste, adjust seasoning, mix, etc, until it is perfect.

Then serve it to your unreasonably large family.

comments

What? No!

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:11:51 GMT

comments

Helloooo, Dreamwidth

Fri, 01 May 2009 05:03:14 GMT

This journal will probably contain a lot of nonsense about writing, comics, art, food, knitting, RP, stuff I read and watch, and the odd rant. I can't promise it will be interesting.

Feel free to subscribe/unsubscribe as you like; you don't need to ask first. Most entries are locked however, so comment if you'd like access.

comments