There’s a story behind these drawings, written by me, and included in the fantastic new anthology The Post-it Note Diaries, edited and illustrated by Arthur Jones. Check out this line-up of contributors: Andrew Bird, Arthur Bradford, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Daniel Engber, Jonathan Goldstein, John Hodgman, Starlee Kine, Chuck Klosterman, Laura Krafft, Beth Lisick, Marie Lorenz, David Rakoff, David Rees, Mary Roach, Kristen Schaal, Jeff Simmermon, Andrew Solomon, and Hannah Tinti. HOLY MOLY, I AM IN A BOOK WITH THESE PEOPLE. And couldn’t feel more honored. A bunch of us teamed up for a big ol’ book-release party in Brooklyn on September 27 and there are more events on the way, including a special Halloween show at the Hideout in Chicago, which I’ll be posting more details about soon. Come out if you can!
He was indeed the fattest man who’d ever been in my section. The hostess wasn’t exaggerating. She’d asked me to bring a chair because he couldn’t squeeze into any of the booths, but looking at him, I worried he might need something sturdier. A love seat, perhaps. Or a baby elephant.
Read the rest of this entry »
I recently completed an assignment for New York magazine, a quick little man-on-the-street piece about the revitalization of downtown Los Angeles. I spent eight hours one Saturday afternoon wandering from Skid Row to Little Tokyo to Bunker Hill, randomly approaching people and hoping like hell they’d have something interesting to say. Fortunately, most everyone did. Unfortunately, due to space limitations, most of what they said didn’t make it into the actual magazine, so I’ve included a lengthier (yet edited and condensed, if we’re gonna get real Deborah Solomon about it) version of the feature after the jump.
(Many thanks to Sye Williams, who allowed me to reproduce his photos here. Hire him sometime!)
Read the rest of this entry »
With all the recent hubbub over Cordoba House and Koran burnings and such, I thought about this year’s anniversary of 9/11 more than usual. Typically, when September 11th rolls around, I really only think about one thing: that it’s my friend Paul Koob’s birthday. I know a lot of people out there have a birthday that falls on 9/11, but to my mind, Paul carries a particularly heavy burden, for if he fails to celebrate by eating a whole deep-fried red snapper from El Barco, the terrorists win.
Read the rest of this entry »
