tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29922732893803040142024-03-18T05:14:12.317-04:00Beyond Where You StandWebsite of Jesse KarpUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger302125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-46186591802810150212023-06-29T09:52:00.001-04:002023-06-29T09:52:16.540-04:00The Epic of Gideon Concludes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2XpHiPIpDFUfw8gm-_C2Lvj0NbgRHvRNU4kJdChOcBGyEm8znq07ZmQjVpMNigfqJ2mWmHXxQFfmHmNV7eC8pIu1E10ipimamuD4moAxZvMO2Lmdvxbv_Eceu7bNFm6GLAprxXVajKF_-cxZBmirVJlqikL-aWvjzBtMDjp2WI98qgZet-lwG6xwwBXlk/s500/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-29%20at%209.48.54%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2XpHiPIpDFUfw8gm-_C2Lvj0NbgRHvRNU4kJdChOcBGyEm8znq07ZmQjVpMNigfqJ2mWmHXxQFfmHmNV7eC8pIu1E10ipimamuD4moAxZvMO2Lmdvxbv_Eceu7bNFm6GLAprxXVajKF_-cxZBmirVJlqikL-aWvjzBtMDjp2WI98qgZet-lwG6xwwBXlk/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-29%20at%209.48.54%20AM.png" width="200" /></a></div><i> <a href="http://www.beyondwhereyoustand.com/2022/05/the-epic-of-gideon.html" target="_blank">The Epic of Gideon</a></i> is now complete, with <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/collections/issues/products/bible-toons-10-tba-coming-soon" target="_blank">Part 3</a> concluding the story that began in <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/products/bible-toons-8-tba-coming-soon" target="_blank">Part 1</a> and <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/collections/issues/products/copy-of-bible-toons-9-tba-coming-soon" target="_blank">Part 2</a>. Adapted by Yours Truly with art by Rush Kress and available over at <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/" target="_blank">Churchie Comics/Bible-toons</a>. <br /><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-9366063006975561162022-09-12T09:31:00.004-04:002022-10-05T06:37:59.141-04:00The Neighborhood that Made Me<p> The <a href="https://sohomemory.org/index.php/" target="_blank">SoHo Memory Project</a> is Yukie Ohta's extraordinary archive and digital museum dedicated to one of New York's most fascinating and distinctive neighborhoods. The latest article is by yours truly. Please have a look at it <a href="https://sohomemory.org/the-neighborhood-that-made-me-jesse-karps-soho">here</a>.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRrMMYpzOK-muyXj7MXeiTrfuSMsrmwhlNNcwaL7zpbYCyf5m0l49doKfhQrnCWBEbEVQq4v1tj5DO1ICE0ZOiIkeKyYgeSVsTE1C-CdWppiPVg_aFwpinA-R0zbnCesQpz9fC6Vqjnko25mritgrHP9bfG6ZXgHIKRVXP1rXIRvGpyKOWv0gmhHt8Q/s1231/WB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="1231" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRrMMYpzOK-muyXj7MXeiTrfuSMsrmwhlNNcwaL7zpbYCyf5m0l49doKfhQrnCWBEbEVQq4v1tj5DO1ICE0ZOiIkeKyYgeSVsTE1C-CdWppiPVg_aFwpinA-R0zbnCesQpz9fC6Vqjnko25mritgrHP9bfG6ZXgHIKRVXP1rXIRvGpyKOWv0gmhHt8Q/s320/WB.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-29282895833346445752022-05-09T09:01:00.013-04:002022-05-09T09:01:00.193-04:00Shepherd (and Secret Control)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFMB9LE526iBBU6LZYW9q1P7it2n3a4cu62975rrEflggHkSZEil-bvGMRtxVRYgg913wtCOgzLLYWDfz_u8KYfpunCLiQutYkSE5xMtt0guvvzdt5E47zgg6-Nufn4qxq_DXNPY2qIiZ9NuRUtXT9g2K2dKvhcNPe9louDBCFNTYRKts-EFh7UzqnWA/s66/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-09%20at%207.53.53%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="66" data-original-width="54" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFMB9LE526iBBU6LZYW9q1P7it2n3a4cu62975rrEflggHkSZEil-bvGMRtxVRYgg913wtCOgzLLYWDfz_u8KYfpunCLiQutYkSE5xMtt0guvvzdt5E47zgg6-Nufn4qxq_DXNPY2qIiZ9NuRUtXT9g2K2dKvhcNPe9louDBCFNTYRKts-EFh7UzqnWA/w117-h142/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-09%20at%207.53.53%20AM.png" width="117" /></a></div> <a href="https://shepherd.com/" target="_blank">Shepherd</a> is a new website featuring book lists by authors recommending stories that inspired their own work, books they're fascinated by or books they just love. Definitely take some time to explore the site, it's loaded with fantastic titles, many of which I had never heard of before, even though they're about subjects I've always loved. My own featured book list, <a href="https://shepherd.com/best-books/a-world-under-secret-control" target="_blank">The Best Books About a World Under Secret Control</a> just went live. <br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-75040807922104307812022-05-05T09:01:00.000-04:002023-06-29T09:40:59.207-04:00The Epic of Gideon<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxCVNSlnOcWnzVcAOWXOHbVZOSN0YbrTDMxQGdpwcZKYQIt7Rtgy-x132zJj1rXUeeu4oxRg1QRiaRKy_EIMFKvic8DgbT6d9Cb1N6aGpF7TqNY2SRxK4e_lVe-iyyt2TlWa7C_oWbut1qfgqSCkZMwa33SuWbmZYRgPl2O8CU3I74Fun2riyniQp7A/s482/Gideon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="301" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxCVNSlnOcWnzVcAOWXOHbVZOSN0YbrTDMxQGdpwcZKYQIt7Rtgy-x132zJj1rXUeeu4oxRg1QRiaRKy_EIMFKvic8DgbT6d9Cb1N6aGpF7TqNY2SRxK4e_lVe-iyyt2TlWa7C_oWbut1qfgqSCkZMwa33SuWbmZYRgPl2O8CU3I74Fun2riyniQp7A/w187-h299/Gideon.png" width="187" /></a></div> <i>The Epic of Gideon</i>, <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/collections/issues/products/bible-toons-8-tba-coming-soon" target="_blank">Part 1</a> and <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/collections/issues/products/copy-of-bible-toons-9-tba-coming-soon" target="_blank">Part 2</a> (of 3) have joined <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/collections/issues/products/bible-toons-7-deborah" target="_blank"><i>The Song of Deborah</i></a> over at <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/" target="_blank">Churchie Comics/Bible-toons</a>. All are adapted by Yours Truly with art by Rush Kress and are available through the links above.<br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-3331197366126461412021-08-05T09:01:00.002-04:002021-08-05T09:01:00.182-04:00From Mount Sinai to Chestnut Hill<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEildebNFrXCrwEpdApJL87eyvkFyLowotNa6qlJgWgqLdwyDA7qxAsoG_HD9G0VLhkilR2-k3O1mvUN3v9kk2LVo6BrPzGxXTsXS5aDfNGdTvm10TyRARpbY42QAg68bGCsMn_yFlLNrXh5/s1112/Toons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1112" data-original-width="750" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEildebNFrXCrwEpdApJL87eyvkFyLowotNa6qlJgWgqLdwyDA7qxAsoG_HD9G0VLhkilR2-k3O1mvUN3v9kk2LVo6BrPzGxXTsXS5aDfNGdTvm10TyRARpbY42QAg68bGCsMn_yFlLNrXh5/w135-h200/Toons.jpg" width="135" /></a></div> <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/" target="_blank">Churchie Comics/Bible-toons</a>, which I collaborate on with creator and artist Rush Kress, has been featured in Philadelphia's <i>Chestnut Hill Local</i>. Have a look right <a href="https://chestnuthilllocal.com/stories/bible-taught-with-hill-cartoonists-churchie-comics,18164" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><p></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-88942793957607002702021-07-29T09:01:00.001-04:002021-07-29T09:01:00.203-04:00Song of Deborah<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixYKYkn6w5SvrIo5stYShnXFoxOBJyLGH6vwZAtSQlPMWFSKOZhejsgSudTUs8LpQlQ_n6XAT7e7kjk5z5Y6XgMCGejK2YOaciQIaX0KlCXG1BpNxi0kA3N59C4-FFtZMcY-yUNKBxrb2H/s219/Deborah.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="142" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixYKYkn6w5SvrIo5stYShnXFoxOBJyLGH6vwZAtSQlPMWFSKOZhejsgSudTUs8LpQlQ_n6XAT7e7kjk5z5Y6XgMCGejK2YOaciQIaX0KlCXG1BpNxi0kA3N59C4-FFtZMcY-yUNKBxrb2H/w207-h320/Deborah.webp" width="207" /></a></div> The <a href="http://www.beyondwhereyoustand.com/2021/01/bible-toons.html" target="_blank">aforementioned</a> <i>Bible-toons #7: Song of Deborah</i>, scripted by yours truly with art by Rush Kress, is now available <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/collections/issues/products/bible-toons-7-deborah" target="_blank">here</a>. <p></p><br /><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-9864849635081384402021-07-22T09:01:00.022-04:002021-07-23T10:17:24.108-04:00Storytelling, Corporate Agendas and the Fate of the Multiverse<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC072qnoS99UtalHEQmX4kCEo5ATHq6Dvn6nkLMQuwPJVVvNXngw_XERPI1uk1zLikjqeH5Jz2LD3UrIfLuRZzQsMLljDi7v1Cbnp0LwDYCbNGf-RODjwG49lk30JDj2o4sdOr0gp0gcdM/s1920/Multi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC072qnoS99UtalHEQmX4kCEo5ATHq6Dvn6nkLMQuwPJVVvNXngw_XERPI1uk1zLikjqeH5Jz2LD3UrIfLuRZzQsMLljDi7v1Cbnp0LwDYCbNGf-RODjwG49lk30JDj2o4sdOr0gp0gcdM/w320-h180/Multi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>We invest a lot in stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They entertain us, sure, but they also help us shape ourselves and our
understanding of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If they’re the things we make ourselves out of, they
ought to be made of good stuff.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span> </span></span>Storytellers
invest a lot in shaping those stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, it’s a way to make a living, but the storytellers who really care
know that they’re helping to build identities and worldviews, asking questions
and offering possible answers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span> </span></span>Corporations
invest a lot in stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re a
crucial part of the package they label with the unease-inducing generic term
“content.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The better the stories are,
the more people will watch them, so there’s a reason to make them
good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for the corporations, the investment is mainly a financial one, the foundation
of what Mike Hale of the <i>New York Times</i> referred to as the “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/arts/television/wandavision-review.html">narrative-industrial
complex</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">." </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span><span> </span></span></span>We’re in an
age where a certain kind of story has taken over: the overarching, infinite
serialized mythology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For corporations,
this is the best kind of product possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For storytellers, it’s got unique, exciting opportunities, but also dangerous,
frustrating pitfalls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For us, it’s
potentially a whole new level of investment, for better and worse.
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span> </span></span>The artist
struggles to tell a story they actually feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s how you connect with other people and get people to connect with
each other through the stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
corporation has a plan, a determined structure to the overstory, of which any
particular storyteller’s part is only a small piece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The artist struggles to tell a story they
feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The corporation needs a story that
fits.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span> </span></span>In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi</i>, Rian
Johnson sent the Star Wars mythology spinning off its axis with a more idiosyncratic
and personal tale that departed from the established lines of expectation, away those emotions already contained within the overstory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This made
fans queasy at first, buts seems to be widely lauded in retrospect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things happened in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Last Jedi</i> that surprised us in a way that Star Wars movies hadn’t
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now admittedly, Johnson wasn’t
working in a vacuum (so to speak).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whatever he did ultimately required the approval of Disney and its arbiters,
in this case, producer Kathleen Kennedy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now, maybe Kennedy saw the value of letting a young rebel go for a
joyride, narratively-speaking, and how it could jump-start a kind of excitement
and emotion that had been static.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe
she also knew that they still had an episode to go and any damage done could
be rectified. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span> </span></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>And, of course, the addendum to this is
that J.J. Abrams “corrected” the narrative course in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skylwalker</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feeling more beholden to what he saw as the
overarching theme of the three trilogies, the overstory, he determined that
certain expectations had to be met and that the themes of redemption and facing your dark side had to
rise to the top of the tale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was he
right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first trilogy was about a
fall from grace, which you could say was a set up for redemption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second trilogy turned out to be about
redemption (thanks, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Return of the Jedi</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seems like the third trilogy was really up for grabs in that regard and
Abrams imposed his interpretation on it (along with the assistance of Disney
and Kathleen Kennedy, perhaps).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even had he not
gone back and canceled out much of what Johnson introduced, he could still
have played out those themes through the character of Kylo Ren and let Rey blaze a frontier into new, powerful thematic territory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abrams does strike one as a company man and
he seems to have held the company line, here.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span> </span></span>In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loki</i>, meanwhile, creator Michael Waldron
crafted a natural story for the title character that ultimately
funneled into an unnatural place, as if his directions had been to tell
whatever story he wanted, as long as it ended with certain very specific
pieces in place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thematically-speaking,
the ending <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loki</i> seemed to be driving
toward was something on the order of have having a final, ultimate Loki variant
revealed as the cosmic manipulator behind the Time Variance Authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire show was about Loki facing down
and owning up to the various versions of himself, struggling with the false ambition
of himself “on a throne.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when we
finally get to the figure sitting atop the throne-iest throne of all time
(literally), it turns out to be . . . some scientist from the 31<sup>st</sup>
Century we’ve never seen or heard of before?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, comic book readers know him and audiences will certainly get to
know more of him and his machinations in the future (that’s the whole the point here),
so Marvel is setting its ducks in a row very carefully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I do wonder if
Waldron would have grown Loki’s narrative into that conclusion, had he been permitted to follow
his storytelling instincts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span> </span></span>There’s a joy
in a story that we know is going to keep coming, characters and world that
we get to return to over and over and over again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But sometimes, we need a story to end so we
can fully understand it and use it to understand ourselves; so that it actually satisfies us instead of just leaves us wanting more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is a storyteller?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do we expect from them and what do we
need from them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely more than just
turning out "content."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s good for the
product, is not always good for the story. And good stories are good for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-6578935649333191612021-03-04T09:01:00.003-05:002021-05-07T17:23:09.616-04:00Webinar Video<p> The <i>Engaging Accelerated and Reluctant Readers with Comics</i> webinar I participated in last week is now available on video. It's free and streaming <a href="https://librarypass.com/2021/03/01/engaging-accelerated-reluctant-readers-with-comics-archive/" target="_blank">right here</a>.<br /></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-31087626041206749352021-02-19T08:26:00.000-05:002021-02-19T08:26:03.066-05:00Webinar Registration<p> <i>Engaging Accelerated and Reluctant Readers with Comics</i>, a free webinar I am one of the panelists for, is next Thursday, February 25th at 7:00 PM (ET) and <a href="https://librarypass.com/2021/02/03/free-webinar-engaging-accelerated-reluctant-readers-with-comics/" target="_blank">here is the registration</a>. Please join us!<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-2499847144854102552021-02-04T09:01:00.012-05:002021-02-04T09:01:00.414-05:00Readers and Comics Webinar<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi07ATL224t_bkKVkkSxaCQAPtCy-QG4v78xt_dxEo3xqkbNTG-zUGXJbI-ZZxBe2uByHnLgkt0TCJlooBSGt_538qOqcl43imxw1VEc7GVsVAvo6QCfBVZSTtjj4ZS3V8pHGzylwQeEMPq/s1058/Miles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="755" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi07ATL224t_bkKVkkSxaCQAPtCy-QG4v78xt_dxEo3xqkbNTG-zUGXJbI-ZZxBe2uByHnLgkt0TCJlooBSGt_538qOqcl43imxw1VEc7GVsVAvo6QCfBVZSTtjj4ZS3V8pHGzylwQeEMPq/w143-h200/Miles.jpg" width="143" /></a></div> I'm delighted to be joining a panel of experienced educators for a webinar on, as the title says, <i>Engaging Accelerated and Reluctant Readers with Comics</i>. If you're an educator or librarian or are interested or invested in literacy education and comics, please join us on Thursday, February 25th at 7:00 PM (ET). Registration is free and you can find it right <a href="https://zoom.us/webinar/register/9816117859726/WN_SIIsR1_aS3erX0eh0NkgWg" target="_blank">here</a>, along with a space to post questions for the panelists. <br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-34722720156588362132021-01-14T12:56:00.001-05:002021-01-14T13:42:27.759-05:00Bible-toons?!?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheC_B_mOnUvl685O7UX7UYMkjyQWXh5PJmtDYMDE8-ICG4ul8Gw6RxKbNQbnA1AqvVkcMnkNgpp1OAkzg7LCXMHyYRRIDDSHLOpUD6vjTmNzlGkPPr7WopctUBka3UfcjAWQa1XItWfT8c/s330/Deborah.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="330" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheC_B_mOnUvl685O7UX7UYMkjyQWXh5PJmtDYMDE8-ICG4ul8Gw6RxKbNQbnA1AqvVkcMnkNgpp1OAkzg7LCXMHyYRRIDDSHLOpUD6vjTmNzlGkPPr7WopctUBka3UfcjAWQa1XItWfT8c/w200-h189/Deborah.png" width="200" /></a></div> Bible-toons tells both famous and obscure stories from the Bible in comics form. No proselytizing, no satirizing, just exciting stories with historical and thoughtful content and sharp visuals. Headed by my <a href="https://www.alastore.ala.org/content/graphic-novels-your-school-library" target="_blank"><i>Graphic Novels in Your School Library</i></a> and <a href="http://www.beyondwhereyoustand.com/p/dr-lollypop.html" target="_blank"><i>Dr. Lollypop</i></a> collaborator <a href="http://www.rushkress.com/" target="_blank">Rush Kress</a>, Bible-toons is off to a smashing start with <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/collections/issues" target="_blank">six issues</a> ready to go. Number seven will be my first scripted story for the line, <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/collections/issues/products/bible-toons-7-tba-coming-soon" target="_blank">"Song of Deborah,"</a> featuring the Old Testament's only female judge. Whether you're interested in comics or the Bible or just a rousing story, <a href="https://churchiecomics.com/" target="_blank">have a look</a>. <br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-22215111116320250182020-08-27T09:01:00.010-04:002020-08-27T09:01:00.756-04:00What Puts the Evil in Evil Geniuses?<p> <a href="https://www.kurtandersen.com/evil-geniuses" target="_blank"><i>Evil Geniuses</i></a> is Kurt Andersen's work of (recent) historical and analytical journalism. It seeks to recount and explain how a group of very wealthy conservatives used their money to alter the public consciousness and influence politics to bolster their own profits, and in so doing set the country on a path of social, economic and climatic ruin.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTsJ7xeJct4v-cnAd0hFWvvn60fEX8zQOvInZz4XcqUnUOmDijagc9ThCggR5vFUdoFz7TakZ1l0LFozAV_47s7f_-npdD-TT5MacVnEDQGo0PCcGv4IDHSoqJmmEUwBflbNDkd8_DGQFM/s300/Cabal.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="172" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTsJ7xeJct4v-cnAd0hFWvvn60fEX8zQOvInZz4XcqUnUOmDijagc9ThCggR5vFUdoFz7TakZ1l0LFozAV_47s7f_-npdD-TT5MacVnEDQGo0PCcGv4IDHSoqJmmEUwBflbNDkd8_DGQFM/s0/Cabal.gif" /></a></div><p> In <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/books/review/kurt-andersen-evil-geniuses.html" target="_blank">his review of the book</a> for <i>the New York Times Book Review</i>, Anand Giridharadas discusses how Andersen closes the book on a note of hope (I suppose you'd technically call this a spoiler, but I doubt anyone's reading this book for a shock ending). Just as the conservatives stole the world out from under the liberals back in the 1970s, when liberal power appeared to be at its height, so too can the liberals now take back that power and steer the country away from destruction. They must, Andersen suggests by way of Giridharadas, simply use the same cunning, the same manipulation, the same power-grasping practices that were once -- and continue to be -- used against them and the rest of us.</p><p> But here's what worries me. What if it's the abandonment of self-limitation, the willingness to steamroll over everything else in order to get what you want that is the actual problem? Granted, we are not in a good place right now and granted the liberal route is far preferable in terms of both humane existence and just plain old survival. And granted, the methods they are currently using have not seemed sufficient to the enormity of the task. But what if, in doing ANYTHING you need to in order to win, you become something different than you were, and the extreme level of power you wield simply sends us toward ruin, just a different kind at the other end of the spectrum? What if <i>how</i> you do something is just as loaded with consequences as <i>what</i> you do? <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-71205689316982108012020-05-21T09:01:00.000-04:002020-05-21T09:19:45.613-04:00The Coronavirus Novel I'm Not Writing<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJbHXYEyzp_a6EmBN9S1YiXPFEJrsJQs42WhEhoel5cKMhJI_Ggk2GTC1ApGcOltkNsbAsL5lRYnW6dNgpBRkjrgWa-Bvc6Y0lStn_3Ga-omCcsZ-I7DwxnX_jcnSIfMV_ggCgWuwPo9b/s1600/blood+test.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="512" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJbHXYEyzp_a6EmBN9S1YiXPFEJrsJQs42WhEhoel5cKMhJI_Ggk2GTC1ApGcOltkNsbAsL5lRYnW6dNgpBRkjrgWa-Bvc6Y0lStn_3Ga-omCcsZ-I7DwxnX_jcnSIfMV_ggCgWuwPo9b/s200/blood+test.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A woman gets herself tested for the COVID-19 and they find something they’ve never seen
before in the antibody test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Re-tested
and examined, it turns out her blood holds the key to the cure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pharmaceutical companies will pay
millions for proprietary rights to that key and they will, of course,
disseminate it to the world . . . for a price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also, though she will be vastly wealthy, the company will control her
blood for the rest of her life, meaning among other things she can only ever be
examined by their doctors and any blood test she ever gets for any reason will
go through them.
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She considers turning it over to the
government, for the good of the country and, eventually, the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will pay (way less than a
corporation) and they won’t control her blood forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But she has deep moral reservations about their
politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe she could
use her cure-blood as leverage, hold it hostage until the government takes
some real and permanent steps towards, for instance, improved climate policy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But should a single
person get to dictate policy that will change the course of an entire
country?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She could
give it to another country, one that seems to be handling things well, one that
seems more likely to share without excessive demands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But doesn't she have an obligation to her country and
its people, which exist beyond a transitory government she may not agree
with?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> What are all the things her country has given her and should she be thinking in those terms? </span>Should she consider emigrating?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does she need to?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does it mean to be a citizen of a country?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>How about a
non-national, she thinks, like the World Health Organization?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably she wouldn’t get paid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The resources at their disposal might be minuscule
compared to a private company, so the cure would likely be slower in
coming, but would theoretically be distributed more evenhandedly, or at least without as much
consideration for profit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>How does she
help the most people as quickly as possible and how much does she consider
helping herself?<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-33601562661959695692020-03-23T09:01:00.000-04:002020-05-20T08:59:01.237-04:00Not a Dystopia I didn't set out to write a work of dystopian fiction. <a href="http://www.beyondwhereyoustand.com/p/books_02.html"><i>Those That Wake</i></a> was originally set in the present and the characters in it were trying to prevent circumstances which would lead to dystopia. Market forces pushed the time-frame of the story ahead a few years, but I worked to ensure that it retained something I felt was crucial: a focus not just on how the world could be worse, but on how certain powers work to make it worse.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQnMQX5SKmTRnlSHgw7R_uGJI7T-FvAZ0HGRmEqWvbVcbeITW08bVJXb3_HFgWycnzmbzIzNn_dBvoWkSHENqiLCATX8XTtewtmbsx_p4-ZAHdnSl6gAXEdYcVFlzdzqEBcgfIDgrOTf7/s1600/Empty+Streets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQnMQX5SKmTRnlSHgw7R_uGJI7T-FvAZ0HGRmEqWvbVcbeITW08bVJXb3_HFgWycnzmbzIzNn_dBvoWkSHENqiLCATX8XTtewtmbsx_p4-ZAHdnSl6gAXEdYcVFlzdzqEBcgfIDgrOTf7/s320/Empty+Streets.jpg" width="270" /></a> We are not living in a dystopia, though the Coronavirus certainly invites comparison. Dystopias are about living in an aftermath, dealing with the world <i>after</i> the disaster has happened. The world is currently working hard to stop the dystopia from setting in (and we will, though exactly how long that will take is hard to say). This situation is effective, though, for observing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-leadership.html">how certain powers are meeting the challenge</a>, and also how people are contending with challenges on our own level.<br />
Reading is an excellent way to spend some extra time inside. I find that reading books which allow me to conceptualize and understand the problem we're facing help the most. Two books that get right to the heart of things are:<br />
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070208184519/http://www.philipkdick.com/works_novels_timeoutofjoint.html"><i>Time out of Joint</i></a> by Philip K. Dick - For my money, this is Philip K.'s best (no small claim in a field of forty-four novels and one hundred and twenty-one short stories). While it doesn't appear so at first, this is very much about how higher powers deal with times of crisis. If you believe the article linked in the second paragraph of this post is about how powerful people try to alter the narrative, or if you believe it's the people who wrote that article that are trying to alter the narrative, <i>Time out of Joint </i>will still resonate for you.<br />
<i><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-camus-plague.html">The Plague</a></i> by Albert Camus - A work of literature that reads like an existential thriller (at times), it has much to say about how people deal -- and fail to deal -- with the particular sort of trouble we're in now.<br />
Maybe you prefer books that get you far away from the problem. I get it. If so, have a look at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/books/comfort-books-celeste-ng-ann-patchett-and-others-coronavirus.html">this</a>, instead. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-11338991819704193432020-02-20T09:01:00.000-05:002020-02-20T09:01:09.169-05:00Prince Valiant's Bartender<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8FMIkeQ1urMwWvNvWGHygcXxxArOSMGWI1-hS7uZiZZ1nEvrIB_xvPpnwqvA31822PkGpH6sq5kroop0wSi_dp6IBB-G_sRrqHttcxISRxkA1qC88O3jZuIkKNWIVeTwxVM5YdkqlggL/s1600/Valiant+Barman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="191" data-original-width="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8FMIkeQ1urMwWvNvWGHygcXxxArOSMGWI1-hS7uZiZZ1nEvrIB_xvPpnwqvA31822PkGpH6sq5kroop0wSi_dp6IBB-G_sRrqHttcxISRxkA1qC88O3jZuIkKNWIVeTwxVM5YdkqlggL/s1600/Valiant+Barman.png" /></a></div>
So, when you know a comic artist (<a href="http://garyamaro.blogspot.com/">Gary Amaro</a>, in this case) and you happen to be in the right place at the right time, maybe you end up behind a bar, serving some mead to Prince Valiant himself. That's what happened to me in the <a href="https://www.comicskingdom.com/prince-valiant/archive">February 16th, 2020 installment</a>. Thanks, Gary!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-48268892442658773132019-11-28T09:01:00.000-05:002019-11-30T11:43:38.292-05:00Thanks 2019<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZreNCwwoOHXUpclo7yO5YOezxnkIxdvsspoLm-qKBmM6Xh3OJH5727Gce585Oprigv6kYC6D4dspfgRYzv4Z8j2v9Lrp7YlGLcE9pY6-mZXmk9ZWrPaB5Ik63LSlFHpTJhEsh83Od_1HN/s1600/Pumpkin-pie-recipe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZreNCwwoOHXUpclo7yO5YOezxnkIxdvsspoLm-qKBmM6Xh3OJH5727Gce585Oprigv6kYC6D4dspfgRYzv4Z8j2v9Lrp7YlGLcE9pY6-mZXmk9ZWrPaB5Ik63LSlFHpTJhEsh83Od_1HN/s200/Pumpkin-pie-recipe.jpg" width="200" /></a> Maybe things are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/23/us/politics/trump-impeachment-voters.html">crazier now</a> than they were <a href="http://www.beyondwhereyoustand.com/2018/11/thanksgiving-2018.html">last year</a>, or maybe not. The truth is, things are always crazy somehow or other and no matter what side you're on, or if you believe it shouldn't be quite so much about taking sides, normal people just have to muddle through. We can be thankful for the things that help us do that. Sometimes they help us escape, sure, but sometimes instead they comfort us by telling us we don't need to escape. <br />
Philip K. Dick wrote about normal people: shopkeepers, farmers, salesmen, teachers. A lot of his stories were about what happens when these people have a false world swept right out from under them, but some weren't about that. Maybe the best one that wasn't about it is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Bloodmoney,_or_How_We_Got_Along_After_the_Bomb"><i>Dr. Bloodmoney</i></a>. The apocalypse has come and gone, but society is putting itself back together, as it does after its catastrophes. This is about the normal men and women who have to get it done in small and sometimes impossibly big ways. The villain of the piece may ring uncomfortably -- but also comfortably -- familiar in his obsession. It's Philip K. Dick, so it gets very, very weird. And what do the normal people have to do? Of course, they have to let the weirdness happen, navigate between <i>this</i> side and <i>that</i> side, and muddle through.<br />
It always helps to have a joke on hand, too. <a href="http://www.beyondwhereyoustand.com/2011/09/joke.html">Here's one</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-61561387103546989102019-07-19T11:24:00.000-04:002019-07-19T11:24:28.946-04:00Notes from the Field<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmS7Rut4Cv6Yq40wy3DQq2DAo9rD6b9ULdtuAcWYhFSeEuvtsUieOTRGrYj6sXRTaAX7sjVqvLlEpaU9O63tALlJlphD2YJti6fmuC9baALvofIxbVIfx8EsJKGzeWOdlTAWTegji-f8E-/s1600/gn+spotlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="639" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmS7Rut4Cv6Yq40wy3DQq2DAo9rD6b9ULdtuAcWYhFSeEuvtsUieOTRGrYj6sXRTaAX7sjVqvLlEpaU9O63tALlJlphD2YJti6fmuC9baALvofIxbVIfx8EsJKGzeWOdlTAWTegji-f8E-/s200/gn+spotlight.jpg" width="200" /></a> The July <i>Booklist</i> is the graphic novel spotlight issue and features, among many worthwhile things, an interview with me on the subject of comics and graphic novels in school libraries, the evolution of the form and its expansive future. Have a look right <a href="https://www.booklistonline.com/Notes-from-the-Field-Jesse-Karp-on-Comics-for-Kids/pid=9720863?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1">here</a>.<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-85604461322913909242019-04-18T09:01:00.000-04:002019-04-18T09:01:15.361-04:00Beyond Where You Stand<div class="MsoNormal">
Today is my fiftieth birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been a school librarian for twenty of
those years and a writer for a lot longer than that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first multi-volume epic was written at age
nine, the story of a boy who created a planet by firing a square stone out of
his sling shot so hard it fell into the orbit of a distant star and formed the
planet Cuberon, the denizens of which fought an eons-spanning war against the rapacious
Lizard Men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A librarian is a kind of
story-teller, too, and also a custodian of stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stories echo through time and offer deep
insights into what changes about us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a
custodian, especially if you work with children, you hear a lot (from parents)
about the messages some older stories inadvertently give us, holdovers of
obsolete thought, bad ideas from before we changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s an urge to make those ideas
disappear, at the cost the entire story they're embedded
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But those stories are an opportunity to
educate people in how we’ve grown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Surely there’s no more important lesson for a child than that we can evolve
from what we were.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s not as
though we have reached the pinnacle of our enlightenment, not as though there
are no ideas we hold true now that people down the line won’t read about and think
us monsters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe every time someone in
the future reads about one of us using a phone, they will think about the
enslavement of children in the Congo who mine for cobalt, a component crucial
to our smart phones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We text away
without much thought of that, just like someone long ago took certain things
for granted, until something cast a light on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually a book.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Librarian
or not, something else you hear a lot about these days is the bad things
people have done in their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bad behavior
they’ve exhibited, bad words they’ve spoken which, some contend, should be
grounds for dismissal, for shunning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
it doesn’t take that much work to see what their record shows:
do they continue to act this way, hurt people around them, propagate bad
ideas?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or has their trajectory been
upwards, do they appear to be improving, do they regret what they’ve done and
are they doing predominantly good things?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There’s an
urge to sweep away a person’s present along with their past, just as we seek
sometimes to banish the bad ideas of our past so our present won’t be infected
by them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As if we could ever have grown to
where we are without learning from the mistakes of our past.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Turning
fifty is an opportunity to think about growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Making the bad ideas of the past vanish, or suggesting that who we were
is a trap we’re stuck in forever, is to deny our greatest strength: our ability
to rise, to become better.</div>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thanks for
coming on this journey with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the
name of the website suggests, the journey is what it’s all about.
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</style>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-27739752696714839222019-03-21T09:01:00.001-04:002019-03-21T09:01:00.319-04:00Mythologies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPpV_UyKuUgMX2pYS1_rIR0LiggLVqmcz8JTnNZaPOqyYS_1p1Lt7K0r7HB_-0KuKiRAwB6aDRk_7YwStCLDGp-QBOhfr3_pulGl0lcnjJyf97CfqR7C0fN1-Oxi2aZybLSINuGk4u_E7u/s1600/World.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="426" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPpV_UyKuUgMX2pYS1_rIR0LiggLVqmcz8JTnNZaPOqyYS_1p1Lt7K0r7HB_-0KuKiRAwB6aDRk_7YwStCLDGp-QBOhfr3_pulGl0lcnjJyf97CfqR7C0fN1-Oxi2aZybLSINuGk4u_E7u/s320/World.png" width="200" /></a></div>
Our culture is ever more in love with mythologies: <i>Star Wars</i>, <i>Harry Potter</i>, superheroes. The more that are invented and the more available they are, the deeper we go. They're so much fun, it's easy to get lost in them, like we might lose track of the forest for how closely we're studying the trees.<br />
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The forest -- the larger world the trees inhabit -- is important, though, because that's where we live. We need to judge mythologies based on what they say about the
world, on their metaphors and lessons, not just on what they say about themselves. Relating them to our lives draws us outward and helps
us engage with the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we go down
the rabbit hole of their invented histories exclusively, then the stories draw us ever inward, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">away</i> from the world. The best mythologies have always been about something bigger than themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-17431079690915955292019-02-21T09:01:00.000-05:002019-03-11T14:08:39.466-04:00Must Writers Be Moral or Just Profitable? <i>The New York Times</i> recently ran an op-ed piece titled "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/opinion/sunday/metoo-new-yorker-conde-nast.html">Must Writers Be Moral?"</a> focusing on the recent trend of publishers adding a morality clause into their writers' contracts. This stipulates that, should a writer become the target of a scandal that could damage their sales or readership numbers, publishers are released from the contract and no longer have to publish the work as agreed.<br />
There are plenty of heady issues to address here and the piece engages with some of them. One that it doesn't touch on is this: publishing companies don't care if writers are moral or not, they only care if writers endanger the profit margin. This clause isn't saying writers mustn't act immorally, only that if they get <i>caught</i> for doing something (or get blamed for doing something they didn't actually do, or even traffic in ideas that are too controversial for the company), then they suffer the contractual consequences. <br />
In a capitalist society, money is how we enforce morality, which seems dangerous for many reasons, not the least of which is that it allows profit to trump the the free exchange of ideas.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcrRdWhgu8N224JEof934_NQ4FrNHsLyvROVJAtspKfhK_7Agt1CdxvIn3r5SnWXk2IDjMMSWxuxt5aWQLGTmcLyv_VJaxUeepzmThj7wni-DHycSpfLgoCi8v_A2RnGdVzGOkxp6nxLW/s1600/argue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="821" data-original-width="1600" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcrRdWhgu8N224JEof934_NQ4FrNHsLyvROVJAtspKfhK_7Agt1CdxvIn3r5SnWXk2IDjMMSWxuxt5aWQLGTmcLyv_VJaxUeepzmThj7wni-DHycSpfLgoCi8v_A2RnGdVzGOkxp6nxLW/s320/argue.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcrRdWhgu8N224JEof934_NQ4FrNHsLyvROVJAtspKfhK_7Agt1CdxvIn3r5SnWXk2IDjMMSWxuxt5aWQLGTmcLyv_VJaxUeepzmThj7wni-DHycSpfLgoCi8v_A2RnGdVzGOkxp6nxLW/s1600/argue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-10032756406161231522019-01-17T09:01:00.000-05:002019-01-17T09:01:00.313-05:00The Most Important Graphic Novel of the Year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpu56qMNXDMJjwZf2wP0QFjrq-fIh9V5LJxKTK4H_4yA8ZLtAa_nvEhRtpISFxFLyB5cnAvna-pjnJfBlqx7tn8CIimc40n28FD5N6xRKIkToPgu4jGEEfNKTOz2Vj2x18tsogpM65SFWM/s1600/New+Kid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="432" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpu56qMNXDMJjwZf2wP0QFjrq-fIh9V5LJxKTK4H_4yA8ZLtAa_nvEhRtpISFxFLyB5cnAvna-pjnJfBlqx7tn8CIimc40n28FD5N6xRKIkToPgu4jGEEfNKTOz2Vj2x18tsogpM65SFWM/s320/New+Kid.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.jerrycraft.net/newkid.html"><i>New Kid</i></a> is a graphic novel about a boy of color entering a predominantly White private school. It's handled with sensitivity, intelligence, insight and humor and told with great accessibility. I spoke with Jerry Craft, the writer and artist of the book. You can have a look at the interview <a href="https://www.booklistonline.com/Books-and-Authors-Talking-with-Jerry-Craft/pid=9713072">here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-71424830414102118992018-12-13T09:01:00.000-05:002018-12-13T09:01:10.171-05:00Struggle for the Human Spirit<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWVz62DG6EYZowgXJSRPKtpgrEijZLkY0z9ptPBiDP5yzsgA94JsjZpRaMY-MTMmimLbCSbjLna0EqD8DMHd2jSz6iC4pi1GSQE-MZINrXqi_Zn8wm05wJEUcZakA4PEl0pXltvMCP01M/s1600/Spirit-Soul-Body.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWVz62DG6EYZowgXJSRPKtpgrEijZLkY0z9ptPBiDP5yzsgA94JsjZpRaMY-MTMmimLbCSbjLna0EqD8DMHd2jSz6iC4pi1GSQE-MZINrXqi_Zn8wm05wJEUcZakA4PEl0pXltvMCP01M/s200/Spirit-Soul-Body.jpg" width="150" /></a> Checking back in with the Internet as I do from time to time, I found <a href="http://eastcoaststories.com/?p=7828">this much more recent review</a> of <a href="http://www.beyondwhereyoustand.com/p/books_02.html"><i>Those That Wake</i></a>, gratifyingly headlined by the epic (and timely) title above. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-51778206066975817812018-11-22T09:01:00.000-05:002019-11-24T19:52:08.639-05:00Thanks 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPn5u8BdatO5iA-MBVcHmDuRTnel8gkmhtcihRdYcXJemb7WWL3IkGCWwsH3lPrY99AkScTxwUGNov5r4hpSoCW5JkhfUuq3ft8IIMtG9Dt6KhWY3la-OznyHVbC9u5xx82eg67Pc8WmE/s1600/No-Crust-Pumpkin-Pie_EXPS_PCBZ18_21735_B04_27_2b-696x696.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="696" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPn5u8BdatO5iA-MBVcHmDuRTnel8gkmhtcihRdYcXJemb7WWL3IkGCWwsH3lPrY99AkScTxwUGNov5r4hpSoCW5JkhfUuq3ft8IIMtG9Dt6KhWY3la-OznyHVbC9u5xx82eg67Pc8WmE/s200/No-Crust-Pumpkin-Pie_EXPS_PCBZ18_21735_B04_27_2b-696x696.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Well, there's still <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/us/politics/trump-khashoggi-statement.html">plenty of turmoil</a> in the world, but it's embracing the things we value that helps us get through it. Hopefully, you have a few big things to be thankful for (for me, it's always about the people in my life). As in <a href="http://www.beyondwhereyoustand.com/2017/11/thanks-2017.html">years past</a>, here's a list of some small things that I'm enjoying and that are helping me explore some of my favorite art forms more deeply.<br />
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<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1695/1695-h/1695-h.htm"><i>The Man Who Was Thursday</i></a> by G.K. Chesterton - The world's first conspiracy thriller? Published in 1908, it's about a poet recruited by Scotland Yard to infiltrate a group of anarchists (the terrorists of the <i>time</i>) and finds himself on their Council of Days, where he comes up against the terrifying man who is Sunday. It's sinister and hilarious by turns, but flat out nutso from beginning to end. Centered on dueling philosophies (sometimes literally dueling) and obsessed with disguises (the kind that hide, but also the kind that reveal), the esteemed British author Kingsley Amis called it "the most thrilling book I have ever read."<br />
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazeworld"><i>Mazeworld</i></a> by Alan Grant and Arthur Ranson - The story of convicted murderer Adam Cadman who is hanged for his crime, only to awaken in the fantasy realm of Mazeworld, where he's forced into battle with dark forces, including the ones he harbors inside himself. Back on Earth, though, his not-quite-dead body is being carefully studied by dark forces of yet another kind. The story is epic yet moves at breakneck speed, but it's <a href="http://www.arthurranson.com/content/mazeworld">Ranson's jaw-dropping visuals</a> - gritty, grainy photorealism deepened with tactile surfaces and atmospheric lighting -- that elevates this work.<br />
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<a href="https://www.room207press.com/">Room 207 Press</a> - Howard David Ingham's website is a deep analytical dive into many of cinema's greatest cult movies (among other things). Some of his pieces are trenchant and humorous, like the one on <a href="https://www.room207press.com/2018/03/on-thousand-walls-12-american-werewolf.html"><i>An American Werewolf in London</i></a>; others are deeply personal and meaningful like the one on <a href="https://www.room207press.com/2018/10/the-question-in-bodies-21-lectio.html"><i>Possession</i></a>. All of them touch on what lies beneath the stories we see and know, and make an old favorite seem like a new experience <br />
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And, of course, don't leave without your free <a href="http://www.beyondwhereyoustand.com/2011/09/joke.html">turkey joke</a>.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-61081824392716334902018-10-25T09:01:00.000-04:002018-10-25T09:01:00.619-04:00The Nature of Argument<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ZM6k_GOdQ49p98OJtjANFNMT0aFRfSTQ0htiuyqct4Ekh1UCAGjOh37NlUfovyOVV2e-dZ-WVVjH8gQ7HVoIy5olG4Zo2C1rUvpge-42xreEgvNnB_TL0XtgBH9Up49RiLNzwSUGi714/s1600/Handshake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="276" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ZM6k_GOdQ49p98OJtjANFNMT0aFRfSTQ0htiuyqct4Ekh1UCAGjOh37NlUfovyOVV2e-dZ-WVVjH8gQ7HVoIy5olG4Zo2C1rUvpge-42xreEgvNnB_TL0XtgBH9Up49RiLNzwSUGi714/s200/Handshake.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
In their book, <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo3637992.html"><i>Metaphors We Live By</i></a>, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson discuss the ways a few basic human experiences formed our language and the way our language forms our understanding of the world. Their first example they use is about the way we think of arguments. The fact that argument is steeped in metaphorical terms like winning and losing, defending your position, attacking your opponent's case, shooting down your opponent's points and going in with the right strategy deeply ingrains in us the idea that argument is warfare.<br />
What if, I've been wondering, instead of looking at argument as warfare, we understood it as a way to cooperatively solve a problem? What if, instead of battle, it was a way we helped each other fix things?<br />
Particularly in light of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/24/nyregion/clinton-obama-explosive-device.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage">recent events</a>, just an idea I thought might be apropos to our imminent elections.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992273289380304014.post-2928776726125583182018-09-06T09:01:00.000-04:002018-09-06T09:01:08.002-04:00Real/Interesting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoK1Tz7jSAWa3ux8XOw_yrNU_ffkpBpi5CVrGmSnKXO2GNTmfvcM1oDt4AW9-KPBMFWucM921E0M_pvlpoCz8BX0Wj4Vl_ta15Fkk_AP8_GqaYK6MzoZ8Pq4hDa9cairtikG4khrb33X9/s1600/Interesting+Tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="495" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoK1Tz7jSAWa3ux8XOw_yrNU_ffkpBpi5CVrGmSnKXO2GNTmfvcM1oDt4AW9-KPBMFWucM921E0M_pvlpoCz8BX0Wj4Vl_ta15Fkk_AP8_GqaYK6MzoZ8Pq4hDa9cairtikG4khrb33X9/s200/Interesting+Tree.jpg" width="197" /></a></div>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Kubrick">Stanley Kubrick</a>, director of many classic and pivotal movies, was once approached by an actor after a take, who commented that he was pleased with how real the scene felt. Mr. Kubrick responded, <span style="font-size: large;">"Real is good. Interesting is better."</span><br />
Feels like, as long as your emotional core is accessible and honest, the more unusual, the more bizarre, the more imaginative -- the more <i>interesting</i> -- every piece of your story is, the better.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0