HEY THERE, STRANGER

I know. I know. You don't even have to say it. I already know.

Look, the thing is that I've been busy. I've been working on things that I just haven't been able to share with you yet. Lots of behind the scenes things.

Also, laziness. That's also a thing. Laziness in regards to this blog, anyway. I've been getting outside, enjoying the summer, taking pictures with animals, trail running, going to bbq's and gardening with a two-year-old, playing PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN with a six-year-old, eating dinner on patios, going on nighttime walks to coffee shops. I've been doing all the things that you're supposed to do when the weather gets nice. you should be doing that stuff as well.

There has been a lot of stuff going on in the background though, I promise. Work has been... weird. There's been a lot of drastic changes to the company that I work for and I'm just kind of rolling with it. But enough about that. Let's talk about fun stuff!

• We've been going strong on the soccer podcast for 33 straight weeks now. It's been a lot of fun and if you like soccer and jokes you should check it out. There is a lot of soccer talk though. I won't lie, sometimes even I tune out for 10-15 minutes each time. And I'm in the room! http://www.wearethereserves.com
• I got accepted to Craft Lake City again this summer. I'm sharing a booth with my friend Lauren, who makes cat crafts. It's going to be a lot of fun, but now I have to buckle down and start actually getting my shit together. There will be another issue of FILLER, maybe some buttons and maybe some more shirts. I don't know yet. Depends how much I can get done in the next two months.
• SLUG Magazine and Craft Lake City are presenting some workshops this summer and they asked me to teach one. I'll be teaching a bunch of junior high kids how to make zines, which I'm pretty excited about. The biggest problem is going to be explaining what a zine actually is and that it has nothing to do with a computer. That might be tricky.
• I started reviewing comics again for SLUG. They gave me the first seven volumes of The Sixth Gun from Oni Press, so I worked my way through that and sent in a fairly long review earlier this week. It should be up soon. I've got two more comics I've got to read and a documentary about the early years of the California hardcore/punk scene to review next.
• Casey and I have actually been working on that children's book we concocted two years ago. We've been meeting regularly and pretty much have the whole thing hammered out. Then it moves into the scripting stage, then we need to find an artist. We're hoping to have it done and ready to go sometime next year. We're not exactly sure how that will happen, but it will. Casey's already trying to figure out how it'll be turned into a ride at Disneyland, how much control we'll have over the film rights and what kind of sequel potential it has. I'm trying to figure out how we're going to get it actually finished in the first place.
• I'm 52 pages into the rewrite of the Until My Heart Stops book. It's pretty much like starting over because I'm going back to posts that I wrote in 2004-2005 and seeing how bad they are. I've basically been re-reading each post, trying to get back in the mindset of that specific day and starting fresh. It's been easier and harder than I thought it would be all at once. I'm leaning towards renaming it "Tin Foil Basements and the Junkyard Next to the Women's Prison" but I'm not 100%. There are a few other ideas that I'm kicking around, too. I really like that one, though. We'll see. I want a second draft finished by the end of the summer so I can start playing with the layout.
• Tulip went back to print and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to get it in stores. I knew it would be hard, but there are a lot of hoops that I have to jump through and a lot of bookstores (even the local ones) won't take anything unless they can get it through a vendor. I managed to get it into a local record store, but that's about it so far. Baby steps, you know?

See? I've been getting stuff done, it just hasn't been in the form of blog posts for you to read. I want to change that, but there's also a bunch of other stuff I want to accomplish, too. 

But I love you for still checking in with me. I really will try to update more often. I've got about 20 loose story ideas in my drafts folder. It's just a matter of getting to them.

AMTRAK WRITER'S RESIDENCY

Last month, my friend Jamie Gadette (whom I've known since we were 16 and I was making amazing punk rock/hip hop mixtapes for her) posted a link to this article.

The Wire -- Inside AmTrak's (Absolutely Awesome) Plan to Give Free Rides to Writers - Amtrak has begun offering "writers’ residencies" to, well, writers – long roundtrip rides aboard Amtrak trains dedicated solely for the purpose of writing.

It's a brilliant idea and a great way to get people back riding trains. Sort of, anyway. Apparently, from the limited research that I've done anyway, it's pretty hard to actually get approved. I imagine that there's thousands of writers that heard about this and immediately tried to apply.

Amtrak had to then figure out what kind of writers get residencies and how often they can afford to offer the program. The thing is that these days, just about anyone can call themselves a writer. Every coffee shop in LA is full of aspiring screenwriters and every coffee shop in Brooklyn is filled with 23-year-old kids writing their autobiography (thanks a lot, Lena Dunham; but Allison Williams, if you're reading this, call me).

Trains are a little bit obsolete in this day and age. Flying is cheaper and faster (though maybe not safer. I mean really, it's 2014 and my friend uses the "Find my iPhone" app to keep track of where his wife is at all times, but - as of now anyway - it's been two weeks and we can't find a god damn Boeing 777 airplane?) and driving is pretty convenient if you're going short distances. Trains take anywhere from 2-5 times longer than flying and is way more expensive.

I've never ridden the train long distances in the U.S. I took one in South America, and it was pretty awesome. It feels like this is a good idea, but Amtrak is probably being very selective about who they give these residencies to. They'll probably want at least a bit of publicity out of each one, so it'll have to be some sort of established writer. Not like a famous novelist, but someone that actually has a wide readership. If it's a journalist, they'll probably be someone with connections to a few bigger magazines or websites. The first writer that tried it out was Jessica Gross. The piece she wrote during her trip was published by The Paris Review.

It's really hard for me to believe that they'd just let someone with a blogger, WordPress or Tumblr account ride the train for free for a few days, but I don't know for sure. I do know that they're only selecting 24 people, which makes it more competitive than I thought at first.

But it definitely won't stop me from trying. That's on my imaginary list for "Things to do in 2014."

TENSION

I'm 9 days away from driving to Las Vegas and ten days away from checking one of the few remaining boxes off my "Bands I'd like to see while I still can" list.

I'm seeing Nine Inch Nails next weekend, and I couldn't be more excited.

They're on the list along with Bruce Springsteen... and that's pretty much it. I had to get realistic, and as much as I'd love to see Danzig-era Misfits, I know that's just impossible. Even if Danzig teamed up with Doyle and the rest of the guys for an all-Misfits set, I don't think I'd want to see it. That would just be depressing. That guy has kind of lost his mind. I've documented it a couple of times (like here and here) and he's done a few interviews lately that only reinforce that feeling. Look at this excerpt from his interview with The Village Voice last month:

Glenn also made some waves in the press when he commented to the L.A. Weekly about how he wouldn't have played Wolverine "as gay" as Hugh Jackman did in the X-Men movie. Then, of course, Danzig has revealed what may be interpreted as right wing leanings during his 2011 appearance on the Fox News program Red Eye as well as the "Democrats are fascists disguised as liberals" remark he made to Minneapolis City Pages earlier this year. Oh, and god forbid any journalist ask him about Tom Neely's Henry & Glenn Forever, which features Glenn in a non-explicit, PG-rated relationship with longtime friend Henry Rollins. It's this rigidity in his public persona that makes a photo of him grimacing while carrying kitty litter through a parking lot gain instant internet traction.

Any attempts to clarify his use of the term "gay" for Hugh Jackman's Wolverine performance or to discuss politics were met with outright hostility, a rant against political correctness and the paranoid accusation that the purpose of this interview was to smear his politics under the pretense of the paper's liberal agenda.

"FUCK YOU, FUCK YOUR SPIN, AND FUCK THE VILLAGE VOICE!" he yelled. 

That's a long-winded way of me letting you know that just about any band besides NIN or The Boss would probably be a massive disappointment.  Again, probably. I don't know for sure. Sometimes you take a chance on a reunion and it's great (i.e. The Descendents) and sometimes it's like watching old, out of shape guys trying to reclaim their glory days (i.e. Earth Crisis).

Springsteen is probably never coming to Salt Lake, so I'll have to make a real effort on that front and Vegas is the closest Nine Inch Nails is getting, but I'm not passing it up. From the pictures, videos and reviews I've been seeing it will be one thousand percent worth it.

Plus, it's Las Vegas so I'll get to hit up Ronald's for donuts, Society Cafe for Frosted Flake French Toast and Twin Peaks for comedy and the soul-crushing reminder that most dudes in Las Vegas are exactly what you think they are.

Add all those factors together and I'm really, really excited about it. If you want to check out more pictures of the current tour, go to the Nine Inch Nails Flickr or Tumblr sites. Totally worth it.

PUBLISH OR PERISH

I didn't write this. I stole it from the Trip City website, but every word of it is true and more people need to see it, so I'm re-posting it here.

Written by Dean Haspiel for Trip City -- Comics writer/artist/publisher, Jimmy Palmiotti, recently Tweeted, “Publish or perish.” Maybe it was end-of-the-year blues but I was feeling particularly bleak about my career and was struck by Jimmy’s charge and asked if we could discuss the origin behind those three ominous words and what I got was a pep talk for a lifetime.

Securing work from franchise publishers is harder than ever before and very few other publishers pay livable advance wages anymore. Most deals are made for royalties and back end rewards based on sales. Print is competing with digital and profits are questionable. Readers want archives and new stories but making money at publishing has become a challenging and schizophrenic mess. The risk for a corporation to launch something new has become greater and all the bean counters want to know before they gamble on your idea is the sales of your last three books and whether or not your comic book idea has multimedia legs and if you have a strong fan base. In other words, publishers hardly publish what they “like” and franchise publishers would rather update 75-year old icons every five years [which they've worked hard to maintain] than build and grow new ideas that inspire writers and artists today. I understand why that is but it’s paranoid, lazy, and shortsighted.

Frankly, pitching proposals sucks right now. What if you don’t have three books and your new idea doesn’t translate to a movie or toy? Worse, what if you do have three books and the numbers didn’t inform the zeitgeist and thrill Hollywood? Why does one thing need to yield the other in order to make a cool comic book? Because comic books don’t sell like they used to. I get it. While the internet leveled the playing field it also made everything a niche. However, the comix industry does have a strong fanbase. I’ve seen them and they are us.

Now is the perfect time for a cartoonist to manifest his or her own industry. We have the DIY tools. We have the social networks and viral know how. We have proof that crowd funding works and community is key. We have a cranky comedian like Marc Maron rise from the ashes of every bridge he ever burned and make his own rules with his WTF podcast, and popular acts like Radiohead and Louis C.K. making affordable, direct deposit products; offers no one in their right mind could refuse, and venues like Etsy and Kickstarter changing the ways we consume by supporting work with our wallets BEFORE it’s made so that it can BE made sans corporate fear and scrutiny.

But, what about us? Viva la Michel Fiffe for self-publishing ZEGAS, a print-only experience that reminds us why magical efforts like Los Bros Hernandez’ LOVE & ROCKETS were punk yet vital and stand the test of time. All hail Alex De Campi for recognizing the virtues of the old self-publishing model while implementing new rules with the understanding that in order to hawk your wares you must show up to the party and build sound relationships with the people who produce, distribute, and purchase your wares. Rock out with your cock out Jimmy Palmiotti for having the talent and acumen to keep your feet firmly planted in all ponds while knowing how important it is to be different.

Bottom line: I’m sharing these thoughts to rally myself, too. I count myself lucky to have been paid to make comix and I owe a lot of people my perpetual gratitude. I would love to continue to get hired and occasionally play with the toys I grew up with but I can’t allow over-worked editors to ignore me or my talented friends, anymore. It doesn’t champion creativity and it doesn’t pay the bills. Indifference only engenders ill-will and I won’t be banished to that bitter cabal of disgruntled cartoonists.

“Publish or perish?”

In 2012, I’m excited to see comix auteurs bring their A-game and step up to the plate with a hit in their mind and a home run in their heart.

–Dean Haspiel

GOALS

I don't like New Year's. I mean, I don't like it as a holiday. Generally, I have no feelings about a new year, but New Year's is silly.

That's why I spent my New Year's home sick, watching 30 Rock, writing and thinking. I did a lot of thinking.

I thought about things I accomplished in 2011 and I don't really feel like I accomplished much. I worked a lot, which made doing things I wanted to do much easier, but it also left me tired and without energy for much else. There were some things here and there that I got done, but nothing I'm immensely proud of.

2012 will be different.

I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, because I feel those are too easily forgotten and a resolution implies that you need to change who you are. I like who I am. I don't need to change, I just want to focus on doing more of the things I love to do already. That's why I want to set goals instead. Goals for myself that might seem lofty, but shouldn't be and aren't. I spent far too much time sitting around my house watching TV on DVD or bullshitting at coffee shops last year instead of getting things done. I'll still have time for both of those things, but I need to get other stuff done, too.

And rather than make these goals in my head or on a little piece of paper that I'll misplace (or more likely that Harley will steal because it moves slightly when the heater blows on it), I'm going to do it here. I'll just throw it out on this blog, because there's probably only like 8 people still paying attention to it since it never gets updated (see goal Number 4 below).

Here they are in no particular order.

1. Write/produce comics - I can't draw for shit (as we've covered before), but I have incredibly talented friends that can. I've got two in the works. One is scripted and (almost) ready to draw and the other is in outline form that I'll hopefully get to this week.
- Untitled Space Adventure with Gardner Seawright
- Grudge City with Candace Jean

2. Art show at Cathedral Tattoo in July - Gardner and Candace are going to have pages from the books on display and we'll have the books to sell. It's part of Gallery Stroll that month and already booked. Now we've just got to get it ready.

3. Read more - Pretty self-explanatory. I'm setting a goal of one book every two weeks. That doesn't include comics. I think I can do that.

4. Take better care of trevorhale.com - I just want to do more stuff on here. I don't know what exactly, but there needs to be more of it.

5. Make a movie - Andy, Casey and I have been kicking around ideas about how to make a 8-12 minute short over the summer. Well, Andy and I started talking about it and Casey  pointed out that he has exclusive rights as my producer, so he has to be involved. We have no idea what it will be about or where we're going to show it, but we're going to to do it.

6. Make a Zine - Not only do I have a lot of very talented artist friends, but I have a lot of very talented writer friends, too. I want to make an old school, punk rock style, DIY zine. Haven't figured out the content yet, but that will come.

7. Craft Lake City - This kind of involves numbers 1, 4, maybe 5 and 6 from the list above. Craft Lake City, if you don't know, is a DIY craft show put on by SLUG magazine every August. Since I don't craft, I'll have zines, comics, buttons and t-shirts at the trevorhale.com booth. I haven't applied yet, since it doesn't open until March, but I have a good feeling.

I think those are the big ones. I may add more throughout the rest of the week, but those are the ones I've been thinking about a lot for the past few days/weeks/months.

There are a bunch of other little ones, like stop eating dinner after 10 PM—which I've already broken several times and it's only January 9th—and take better care of myself by getting out and going to the gym more and things like that, but those are small potatoes compared to the big 7.

2012 is the year that I bring my punk rock/hardcore Do-It-Yourself roots back full force. It's going to be a good year.