Cringe
Shaenon: Remember the lovely bio portrait I posted last Sunday? It’s for Cringe, an anthology of embarrassing personal stories in comics form. Publisher Birdcage Bottom Books is running a Kickstarter to fund the book, a course of action I highly recommend. You can even get the original art from my charming Cringe story. So, hey, have a look.
Channing: Wait, what? I totally want to hear this story. Successful Kickstarter hook!
Wow. I bet nobody who’s never met McCloud could ever understand how that would happen.
I’ve only “met” him through his books, and those were engaging enough to have me walking into things because I refused to tear my eyes away from the page.
I feel the same way about Scott McCloud the way I do about religion – I respect the reverence other people have for him, but I’m utterly baffled as to why they have it.
Where someone else can pick up a “Holy Book” and tell me they see and feel god, all I see holding the same book is stories – interesting, undoubtedly, and certainly containing some nuggets of wisdom and truth, but nothing transcendant or even really all that unusual.
I have a healthy respect for Mr. McCloud and his works, but I just don’t “get” them. I don’t see why they evoke quite the extraordinary reactions they do in other people. Whenever people try to explain it to me, they invariably fail because they speak of what is to them the sublime, but I can only see the mundane.
His books are good. Their content is good. His advice is good. But for whatever reason, he doesn’t leave me startruck or awed in the way he does others. And I don’t blame him or those who do find him so stirring for that fact – if anything, I’d blame myself for being somehow blind to whatever it is that others see in him and his work. If there is a failing anywhere, I prefer to believe it is mine alone.
The majority of the starstruck have seen Scott talk live, or met him in person. You may be less susceptible than most to the little neurological tricks that give some people Cult of Personality level charisma. The thing I respect most about Mr. McCloud is that he uses this superpower to improve art, instead of the usual human habit of imposing some hideous political theory into their acolyte’s minds.
More importantly…who drinks Coke with no ice?
Only if it’s chilled first.
It’s been a while since I worked construction, but I used to drink hot cokes out of the back seat of my car in summer.
I used to specify no ice when ordering soda. I hate when the ice melts and the soda gets watery.
You also get WAY MORE SODA at a lot of places. Pro tip for movie theatres, sports stadiums, and anywhere else they overcharge you for drinks – always demand no ice. Better value.
That’s like asking who drinks wine with no ice.
*has flashbacks to Helen Sr.’s pink wine, from back when I wasn’t aware that “rosé” and “mixed red&white wine” were two different things*
The same people who drink iced catnip tea, nyao? {giggle}
Oh, wait, catnip doesn’t have the same effect on you two-leggers as it does me… Never mind.
[Trying to come up with an idea for a filk about this, I asked myself, “What’s funny about wetting yourself?” At that point, the answer became obvious …]
(TUNE: “We’re In The Money”, Al Dubin & Harry Warren)
Urine is funny! Urine is funny!
The joke is Coke, she’s got a lot, so let it out!
Urine is funny! Her pants are runny!
Her soda binge is cringe-inducing, there’s no doubt!
When Scott McCloud is speaking,
She’s geeking like heck!
And though her bladder’s leaking,
Sacrifice the pants, she’s in a trance!
Urine is funny! So spend the money,
And buy the book, you schnook, and see what it’s about!
Yep, I’m going to Hell.
That’s where all the best people are going.
See ya there 🙂
I’ve been married twice. I’ll be your regional Manager.
“Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.” –Mark Twain.
The cool thing about being neopagan is that I don’t need to worry about going to Hell, because I’m not part of the religion that created it.
Well, that and that little “noodle incident” involving cryogenics and a large summoning circle… On the bright side, the restraining order against me means that I can’t go to Hell for another thousand years or so! {evil grin}
When ordering out, “no ice” seems a better value because you get more soda in the class.
At home I will fill a glass with crushed ice and use a soda from the cupboard (not the fridge), specifically so the ice will melt and dilute the syrup (most sodas taste a bit too sweet for me). That way I get some flavor, and the benefits of more water.
You never realize you’re a Coke addict until you lose control and wet yourself in front of your idol. Shaenon, it may be time to admit you’ve got a problem. 😛
Shaenon we all luv ya but,TMI! :>D
No ice! Not with no ice! Anything but no ice!
…do you ever drink coke with ice?
“My first meeting with Scott McCloud. I am so excited!”
Now I specifically want to meet Scott McCloud. This is then nth time (n=1+x where x is a positive integer) that I’ve heard about Scott’s incredible ability to fascinate people by talking.
I funded this and it was a real Curate’s egg. Shaenon’s anecdote was great but some other contributions were much less so.