Feeling the heat

[randy_byers]

I had the day off yesterday for Veteran's Day. It wasn't until I pried myself away from the computer at 3pm that I realized that the furnace had never turned on after I cranked up the thermostat. A repairman came by this morning and discovered that the thermostat had come loose from the base, so the signal to increase heat was not getting to the furnace. Felt like an idiot for not having noticed that myself, but I was also happy that the solution was so simple. You never miss the heat until it's gone.

The Monday mail included a package from D West with a letter and seven cartoons. What a treasure! Well, okay, so he denounced the substance of both Chunga 14 and AmaZed and CorfluZed 1 in the letter, but the treasure trove of cartoons belies the bile. Anyway, this led to a burst of work on Chunga 15 yesterday, as I sent scans of cartoons to carl and he sent new proofs of the zine, and I sent copy-edits back and Andy sent a new editorial simile. It was a lot of fun.

Got e-mail from my niece, too, suggesting that she, my sister, my mom, and I see Baz Luhrmann's new movie, Australia, over Thanksgiving. Stoked! But there seems something funny about this grouping of people. Hm. Odd man out again!

It's been a week since we elected Obama. I'm still feeling proud of my country. How long can it last? Has everybody seen the cover of the current New Yorker?

Comments

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

O! Now I have.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Nice one!

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

voidampersand said it best. AOL-him, plus rambling chat of admiration to the cover's designer and the magazine's editorial team for going with it. Very effective.

Wow. D West cartoons. I look forward to seeing them in your future publications! As for the rest, sure, I'll read that and see what I think of his perspective. I'm pleased that yours is spot-on: "the treasure trove of cartoons belies the bile." True, and very well said.

I'm glad to took so little to get your heat working again. I'm all too familiar with the embarrassment you felt. Last winter I had two heating guys searching everywhere for the broken pipe that I thought was the source of the basement flooding. Hey, we already knew the pipes were frozen, surely a break explained all that soggy carpet. Nope. Turned out the water was coming in under the door. The water treatment system backwash drainpipe had been forced out of the main drain by an exterior ice build-up, so the next time the system cleaned itself, all the waste water came pouring down the outside of the basement and flooded in through the bottom of the basement door. I'd seen how deep the flooding was just inside the door. Why didn't I look outside before calling the heating guys? Duh.

Oh, well. Just more fodder for the "Geri Sullivan, Girl Homeowner" stories.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Don seems to be feeling his fannish oats lately, as this was the second batch of cartoons we've gotten from him in less than a year. But you won't get to see most of his comments on Chunga 14, since we don't have room for the whole letter at this late date and will be WAHFing one of the better bits. Suffice it to say that Georgie Schnobrich's illo was about the only thing he seemed prepared to praise, and it is indeed a damned fine piece of art. Anyway, you'll see his comments on the Corflu PR in the next issue of that.

As for not noticing things until after the repairman arrives, well, I guess that's what they're there for. Or something like that. So now we've learned to check for this particular problem, but next time it'll be something else we aren't seeing!

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

Oooh. Lovely NY cover, thanks for sharing!

On the Wed. morning after the election I woke up and started smiling. I nudged Jordin and when he made semi-coherent noises indicative of semi-consciousness, I said, "President-elect Obama." We both giggled and sighed happily.

MKK

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Ha! Yes, exactly. Giggles and happy sighs.

[spikeiowa.livejournal.com]

Fanac -- a perfect activity for a day off from work. Be sure to take D West completely seriously!

I didn't realize that "Australia" is a film by Baz Luhrman. Awesome! Now it's on my list of movies to see -- though maybe not at Thanksgiving.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

One of the best cartoons in this latest batch is one in which D pokes a joke at himself (via Hazel).

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes -- the blue light at the end of the red tunnel. Actually, it took me a good two minutes of looking after I took it out of the mailbox to catch the Symbolism, after which I muttered something like "Gee, how New Yorker of them". One aspect -- light at the end of the tunnel, and obviously not an oncoming train -- is fairly new, and the Red/Blue thing is (by my standards) quite recent, so -- unlike most New Yorkers, perhaps,-- I didn't find it immediately apparent. (Unlike, say, Jim Schumacher's portrait of Sarah Palin as Joan of Arc, wearing a Crusader's tabard, carrying a Bible and flourishing a sword, with a cape of the American Flag. (He's somewhat bemused, because he intended it as Biting Satire and found that prints sell well to Palin Fans, but being in need of money he's not complaining, and is glad he left off the Upton Sinclair quote caption.)

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Biting Satire is often opaque to True Believers. By the way, I think we may be looking at different New Yorker covers. The one I linked to was for the November 17 issue, and it features the Lincoln Memorial in the moonlight. As for the moon, well, you really have to look at the artwork!

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I didn't get it until I saw voidampersand's comment. D'oh!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Or: d'O!

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

Yup, different covers -- I was thinking of the current one (for Nov. 10, on which day it arrived). That'll teach me to click on the blue -- which I've now done (without causing the computer to crash, for a change) -- before posting on the basis of an assumption.

Yes, it's a most impressive cover, partly because the O/Obama/Moon could so easily have seemed hokey if every other bit of the art hadn't been so charged with dignity.

[kdotdammit.livejournal.com]

Just gave me goosebumps. Seriously. Wow, I am really moved.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

The symbolism is cool, but it's also a beautiful image.

[liveavatar.livejournal.com]

That made me tear up for some reason. Makes me say Hell Yes on several different axes.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Feelin' the heat!

[catabolism.livejournal.com]

Seven cartoons from D.! What a treasure trove! I must get hold of some artwork for Head! which is now really, truly a bit closer to reality as Doug and I are finally getting our act together with writing the material. We do still have your article, and it will see the light of day, honest, RSN etc. Sometimes it's hard to feel the fannish vibe down in Cornwall.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Hey, good to hear from you! Perhaps you felt the brainwaves of my thoughts only yesterday (I think it was) when I wondered how Head! was coming along. But you should definitely hit D up for some artwork. He told me he had also just done a cover for a fanzine that I should probably leave unnamed at this point.