Chris’ Walkabout
I’M NOT JUDGING. Man, a lot of people I know could use T-shirts with that slogan. And we would all have to wear them every single day.
Seriously I am not judging, because my own post-college plans are equally idealistic. I just want to move to “A City,” and find a job I don’t hate. Yeah; I’d probably be better off walking. Here is my Cities’ Pros List, alphabetically:
Austin, TX: South. Green. Spicy food. Rolling Thunder Pictures. SXSW.
Boston, MA: Half of Hampshire moves there post-graduation (a pro and a con).
Chicago, IL: Midwest. Big. Subway system. This American Life (originally). Chris Ware.
Los Angeles, CA: L.A. Confidential. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Minneapolis, MN: Um, obviously there are about five billion pros.
New York, NY: It’s fuckin’ New York (a pro and a con).
Pittsburgh, PA: Apparently Pittsburgh’s goin’ green, and things are starting to “happen” there.
Portland, OR: Half of Hampshire moves there post-graduation (a pro and con). Comics.
San Francisco, CA: Fulfill my dream of Westering.
Savannah, GA: South. Comics grad school.
White River Junction, VT: Not a city. Simply the location of the Center for Cartoon Studies.
June 26th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Don’t forget Washington, DC and environs! Living inside the Beltway is the coolest thing ever. Reasons:
1. Feeling superior to tourists
2. Gossip column in newspaper focuses on lobbyists and members of congress
3. Free museums time 20
4. A subway system that mostly doesn’t have horrific crashes
5. Feeling really superior to tourists
June 27th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Oh man that’s a great list. You got two of my three: Austin TX, Minneap. My third is Ashville NC, the best little hippy town I have ever been too and it’s right by the Blue Ridge Mountains. By the by if you ever get the chance to get to NC the Blue Ridge Mountains are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. They literally took my breath away.
Peace and Love,
Ben
June 27th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Boston is pretty good for comics. It’s close enough to Easthampton (home of Topataco) and New York’s not too far.
Oh, and I’m here!
If I had to pick another city, I’d probably go to Chicago.
June 28th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Evan: DC has definitely held my interest from time to time, but ultimately it scares me a little.
Ben: You REALLY got my attention with Asheville and those mountains! That place looks incredible! I’ve actually started planning a roadtrip there later this summer–for sometime in August. Those mountains look fucking awesome.
Also, I hear you’re probably gonna get to Minnesota around July 24–that’s great! How long will you be here? How many more months of duty do you have left after that?
We Want Mo Doyle: Yeah, Massachusetts has a lot of interesting cartoonists…I can’t even talk about how upset I am that I missed the first-ever Webcomics Weekend.
Oh shit! I forgot to shove some pretzels in my suitcase for you! DAMNIT. Will I still see you sometime in the fall anyway?
June 29th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I suppose I’ll see you and refrain from murder…
Man, those are some great pretzels though… did you have any?
I’m keeping my eyes and ears out for wind of any other similar event that may occur where cartoonists gather around here. I went to Joey Comeau’s Overqualified reading when he was in Boston, but I’m still jonesing for another weekend-long affair.
June 29th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I did eat some pretzels! They were delicious!
Tell me of any exciting Boston comics events I should know about…
June 29th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
LA’s also got revival theaters up the hinder (film, not plays… dramatic theater’s dead in LA… pro and con). In the past month I’ve seen Lawrence of Arabia, A Hard Day’s Night and Raiders of the Lost Ark on the big screen. Once you get past the smog, the urban sprawl and the constant driving, it’s a pretty good hub of creative types sandwiched between the American Southwest and the Pacific Ocean.
And Boston’s also good, though I may be biased since I was born there, raised there, etc. etc. Singing it’s praises would exceed the space available here.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:53 am
And I am totally walking 20 miles a day for 2 years.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:54 am
By the way, I love your facial expression in the last panel.
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Chris: thanks, I like that one too. And I will support your walk! On the morning of our graduation, I’ll pack you a lunch. With nutella sandwiches.
July 22nd, 2009 at 7:05 pm
IF half of hampshire moves to Portland and half to Boston, what room does that leave for the half that moves to Brooklyn?
July 29th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Oh man, you hit me with the maths.
In Berlin we were talking about where Hampshire grads most often go, and Peter called it the four Bs: Boston, Brooklyn, Berkeley, and Berlin. I remain certain that at least HALF of Hampshire’s population migrates to EACH of those four places. And also Portland.
September 26th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
WTF, why isn’t Seattle on there? Okay, Portland is better in most ways, but it beats the crap out of Boston!
I just realized that I get no e-mail if you respond to any of these….that’s so not fair…
September 26th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Oh, also, why didn’t I get a call when you got back from the USA? HUH? HUH?
October 4th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Dylan: Priorities.