dietsch ::

auto is the name, nomo is the game, us is the shame

I spy with my little eye: Autonomous

Rent Girl

Laurenn McCubbin has illustrated a new book: Rent Girl, a collection of autobiographical essays written by Michelle Tea. Laurenn talked to Reyhan Harmanci of the San Francisco Chronicle about the new book. Harmanci says of Rent Girl:

In tracing Michelle's journey from Boston to San Francisco, with a stop in Arizona, "Rent Girl" doesn't flinch from showing the physical and emotional cost of sex work. "Rent Girl" also tells of the allure of such an outlaw lifestyle. McCubbin's drawings stick with you. Her style is so natural, it looks as if she could have drawn her images in one sitting. This is far from the case. McCubbin took "hundreds and hundreds" of photographs after setting up elaborate staging of the scenes Tea described. To create the drawings, she would meld the photos together, taking an expression she liked and pairing it with an especially effective pose.

The Chronicle also talked to Michelle Tea.

Mousey-poo

In which Kelly Sue feeds shit to her husband.

4 corners

Ryan's me cousin, see. I saw his name on a Wired News piece a whole bunch of months ago, and then I saw this and e-mailed him asking whether he was the same Ryan Singel who was related to me. A ha! He's living in the Bay Area now, which is beautiful, but not quite as cool as New York.

Martinroys

Jen Krieger, web designer

My buddy Jen Krieger is now pimping her web-design services. For $100, plus the necessary fees, she'll set up a hosting account, register a domain name, design the pages, and install or set up Movable Type or other blogging software. She'll even design a photo album! All this for a Franklin is a bargain, especially when you consider what a pain an MT setup can be.

And Jen's goooooooooooood. For examples of her work, check out my girl's site, Kelly Sue's, or Lauren's.

Ryan Singel and Wired News

Earlier, I blogged a piece from Wired News, about federal information databases, and mentioned I thought the writer might be my cousin. He is indeed my cousin.

Small damn world, and sometimes, this internet thing makes it smaller.

Federal info databases, la la la

Total Info System Totally Touchy. The U.S. government wants to create a massive database of Americans' personal information to help root out terrorists. Privacy advocates cry foul, and some in the industry aren't even sure it's technologically feasible. By Ryan Singel. [Wired News]

What do you think? Do you want the U.S. gubmint tracking your credit card and medical data? I just received a note in e-mail from EPIC, asking me to become a contributing member. I met some of the EPIC people when I was out in San Francisco earlier this year; they do good work, fighting for privacy rights and informing the public of privacy violations. I should seriously consider forking out the dough. By the way, the writer of that Wired piece mentioned above? I have a cousin by that name. Wonder if it's the same guy.

Copyright and IP stuff again.

Copyright and IP stuff again. I know, it ain't your bag, probably. Oh fucking well. But this is more ha-ha than zzz-zzz, so be cool. I was out at St. Mark's Bookshop tonight and I bought a couple issues of 2600, along with the paperback edition of Laurence Lessig's latest book, The Future of Ideas. My interest in copyright and IP stuff went on hold while I moved, found a place to live, found a job, and so on, but now I can pay more attention to these things again. Anyway, I started reading Lessig's book tonight. I'm not far in yet, but it's interesting. Remember the days, about six years ago, when everyone said the Internet would revolutionize communication and entertainment? "Watch out, big boys," they all said. "When consumers can get music and movies and books over the Internet, why will they need cable or record stores or Borders, eh? It's a new world, old media, so adapt or get the hell out of the way." So, it's 2002, and where are we? Napster is dead. Audiogalaxy, dead. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act have double-teamed the American public, stifling innovation and keeping older works from entering the public domain. Someone "adapted" in the old vs. new media war, and it sure wasn't old media. These are the issues Lessig covers. And, really, I've been meaning to read his book for months. But it took until now. So, I sat and read about 30 pages tonight and then I got to thinking, "Hmmm. Anna Mojo has been discussing IP stuff off and on in her Web log also. I wonder whether she has anything new on this." Go have a peek and see what I saw when I got on her log. Maybe you'll chuckle as I did.

Nagl

Stylin' Lauren has pictures up on her site. I'm in three or four, so have a peek if you're inclined to see documentary proof of my debauched NYC stylee. The first batch are from ex-roomie J.O.S.H.'s birthday bash; the second group (with the girls kissing) are from the weekend Brit-boy Jon Nagl visited NYC.

Props to Anna

Props to Anna, 'cause she's kooky: She beat me to the thing on copyrighting silence. Now go see her blog, dagnabbit.

Annamojo!

One more, since I'm in the mood to blog like a blogger, which means linking to other blogs: Go visit the groovy kookymojito blog. I met Anna in London back in December. She's very funny and she has a great Web log, with some interesting links. Go check it out. Reading one of her entries, though, brings up a point. She has comments enabled on her blog, which I haven't done. I'm not sure why--I think in part because I don't necessarily want stupid people talking shit here (I do enough of that myself). It might be interesting, though, to see what would happen if I do....

Chair-tee!

Faithful readers of my Web log (which I can't say without smirking, because I don't think there are any) have seen this before. I don't care. Go visit Charity Larrison's art blog. I'm telling you this for three reasons: first, because she's a good artist who draws pretty pictures that you'll enjoy seeing; second, because she's sooper dooper; third, because she sent me a box of neat stuff in the mail. The stuff's not a bribe, 'cuz she doesn't know I'm linking to her, but it made me happy.

Heath

One good blog turn deserves another. Over a month after he posted it, I discovered that I'd been cited in another person's Web log. Surprising. His facts are a little off, of course, since I travel from Indiana, not to Indiana, but it's still damned cool. Heath's blog. Heath's forum.

Chair-tee!

Charity Larrison needs a gig. In fact, I wish I were a publisher so I could publish her. I wish there were more sequential fiction on her site (that is, comic strips that tell a story), but the pinups and single figures are lovely. Update (6/21/04): Charity's here now.

Artbomb

Artbomb.net has launched. Artbomb is a nice new site from writer Warren Ellis and entrepreneur Peter Aaron Rose, with design by Brian Wood and content from reviewers Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction. As for what it's about, I'll quote from the FAQ: "So, what's ARTBOMB all about? "ARTBOMB is about broadening the appeal of diverse comic books and graphic novels. We hope to demonstrate that comics can offer an entertainment value that many people currently enjoy in film or television or prose. This a storytelling medium that has a lot of dynamic voices with mainstream and adult appeal. It's our mission to help promote their works to new audiences." So, what does this mean? Artbomb contains reviews of new and backlist graphic novels. A graphic novel is basically a comic book but in an extended format. Think of a traditional 28-page comic as a short story or a serialized chapter from a longer work. Think of a graphic novel as a, well, novel. Graphic novels sometimes collect individual comic-book issues into one place. The Invisibles: Say You Want a Revolution is one example. However, graphic novels can also provide a venue for original works of non-fiction or literature, as exemplified by The Golem's Mighty Swing. Oh yes, and Artbomb provides links to Amazon, where you can run off and buy these books. So there's no excuse, really, is there? Still reading? Go. There's a groovy new Web comic, Superidol, by Ellis and painter Colleen Doran available. Go. If you feel compelled to tell 'em how much you love the site, tell 'em I sent you.

Mawwiage

Well, I suppose it was bound to happen. After nearly two years on the Warren Ellis Forum, I've just learned that two of its leading lights are now engaged to be married. A New York writer named Kelly Sue DeConnick has gotten engaged to a Web monkey and writer named Matt Fraction (no, "Fraction" isn't his real name and, no, I won't tell you what it is). Fraction lives and works in Kansas City. The two "met" on Warren's forum and eventually began a long-distance romance. They announced their engagement today and it's been the buzz of both Warren's forum and Kelly Sue's. Although I only know either of them in this online setting, I'm actually very happy for them both. They come across as funny, genuine, sweet people and from what little I know, I think they're well suited for each other. And I'm only a little jealous of them that they're so happy together. Okay, I'm very jealous.

Supafast Sizzles

I've been telling y'all about Superfast comics. Contributions continue to come in, from people inspired by Warren's call to arms. My Internet buddy Joe Szilagyi created this one, and I'm quite impressed. Furthermore, what he's done is something I know I could do--although probably not with his skill. Anyway, enjoy it. It's a simple idea Joe had, but he did it right and he did it well.