3/6/2012

In June, like a slim amount of the French votership, I voted in the so-called legislative (parliamentary) elections that followed on the heels of the presidential ones. I ended up being at the French embassy for what feels like every other week for two months. The party I voted for didn't make the second round,  and the new president ended up getting his majority in parliament. Watch your butt, capitalism.*

*This is a joke, I think Hollande has as much communist blood in him as a package of Oreos.

[ Auditory bonus ]

June 1, 2012

Je suis allée sur un coup de tête visiter mon ancien taf ce matin, en partie parce que j'avais ouï dire que mon ancien chef s'en allait. Je suis même montée dans les bureaux et me suis un peu baladée, et je trouvais que c'était presque comme si je n'étais jamais partie -- le "presque" venant bien sûr du fait que les gens étaient surpris de me voir, et que j'ai fait exprès de ne pas rester plus de quelques minutes. // J'ai la sensation que le plancher des choses se barre sous mes pieds. // Dans le métro j'apprends que des ateliers au Tacheles ont été évacués hier. Les bonnes choses n'ont-elles donc plus d'importance? // Après le boulot, je suis revenue faire un tour à une soirée dans la cour de mon ancien taf. Ca a apporté une sorte de contraste à ce que je ressentais: entourée d'amis vs. toute seule. C'est rare, une boíte qui te donne le sentiment d'être en famille. // "C'est diiingue!! Hug au-dessus du bar!" Je suis allée à la fête d'anniversaire de The Cheese Mountain Tragedy, où j'ai rencontré Josh Bauman. Il était enthousiaste quand je me suis présentée. :)

***

By the by, my fellow countryman (sort of) Josh Bauman does a daily diary strip called Caffeinated Toothpaste, and he has a Cintiq. Both are awesome to behold.


Au fait, mon (en quelque sorte) compatriote Josh Bauman dessine une BD autobio qui s'appelle Caffeinated Toothpaste, tous les jours, et il possède une Cintiq. Les deux sont des trucs de oufs.

[ Death Cab For Cutie - Doors Unlocked and Open ]

I came back to die with my city

I'm baaack! Hoo-boy, I walked up and down the northern suburbs of Stockholm, discovered Phad Thai, met with peeps, took a zillion iPhone pictures and did a whole lotta writing. Stockholm (like Sweden in general) is one of my favorite places in the world, it's a shame the winter there is psychotic and I go more crazy the earlier the sun sets.

Anyway, here are a few things I dropped into my sketchbook while I was there:

One of the main things I was looking forward to was Stockholm Pride. I didn't actually see much of the festival or the parade itself (walking at Berlin's CSD was enough), but I did get graciously invited to a garden party up the hill from Mariatorget, where I got to meet cool people, drink Spanish beer and wonder if that was, in fact, a pretty well-known person standing over there with a glass of punch. It was an awesome party (or "best gay bar in the world", as someone put it.)

This picture translates the way I felt about interacting in environments where mostly Swedish was spoken. (Not to brag, but I haven't felt like this in years.) Translates roughly as "Not understanding exactly what's going on... That is my problem."

As was required by my stay, I went to the movies a few times -- most notably to see The Dark Knight Rises. Needless to say that Bane killed it. Oh, and Blake? Yes. Shortest three hours of my life. BOOM! alltså.

(c) S.K. Webster / Clairikine

And since I am currently reading Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy (in Swedish), I also got my picture taken in iconic spots from the book. The first floor here is where the Millennium offices are supposed to be. The other iconic spot was the yellow pathway where a character gets mugged. Not going to put that out there right now.

In addition to this, I began watching Doctor Who*, amassed a small treasure trove of used CDs** and DVDs to further cement the fact that I need to buy more shelves,  and I squee'd like a teenager when the Spice Girls appeared during the Olympics' Closing Ceremony.*** And then I had to explain to my 17-year-old sister why this was a cultural milestone, and I proceeded to buy a used copy of Spice and play "Wannabe" for her in the car. She still didn't get it.

Updates continue Tuesday! Ha det så bra.

* I started at Ten. Because everyone only talks about Ten anyway. Right?
** Placebo's self-titled debut, baby!!!
*** I also squee'd at Muse. Because, you know. Muse.

Edit: Yes, a piece of Bane's mask is missing. It's hot down in Hell, so this is a lighter version.

[  MOVITS! - Fel Del Av Gården ]

Newsletters

(Also it's Julia Robbs' birthday! Commission her. She rocks.)
See you next week!

Le matou revient

"Wander-Kater Felix" ("Felix the migratory tomcat") made German headlines recently by breaking out of an animal shelter he'd been transferred to in Lower Saxony and hiking all the way back to Berlin, where he was originally from.
"Wander-Kater Felix" ("Felix le matou migratoire") est récemment devenu célèbre en Allemagne lorsqu'il s'est évadé d'un refuge en Basse-Saxe pour être retrouvé des mois plus tard à Berlin, d'où on l'avait transféré.

[ Bonus sonore inversé ] 

Over spring of this year I started listening to Finch's Say Hello To Sunshine on a regular basis, which probably tells you something about what my mindset was like. One of the tracks is called "A Man Alone", and I associated the theme of it in my head with the general ambience of Max Andrew Dubinsky's short stories (collected in We Can't Go Home Again), which I also bought and read during this period.
I am a big fan of both Max and his wife's various endeavours, and if you want to have a look at something very big, Max' next project should go live at this address in a couple of weeks.

Courant printemps de cette année, je me suis mise à écouter l'album Say Hello To Sunshine de Finch en boucle, ce qui vous en dira certainement un peu plus sur mon état mental de l'époque. Un des morceaux s'intitule "A Man Alone", et dans ma tête j'en ai associé le thème avec l'ambiance générale des nouvelles de Max Andrew Dubinsky (réunies dans un petit volume intitulé "We Can't Go Home Again"), que je m'étais également procurées pendant cette période.
Je suis une fan conséquente des différents projets de Max et son épouse, et si vous voulez jeter un coup d'oeil à quelque chose d'énorme, le prochain projet de Max sera en ligne à cette adresse d'ici deux semaines à peu près.

[ Finch - A Man Alone ]

Rest times

As my impeccable timing would have it, posts resumed just in time for me to go on vacation, ha ha. Tomorrow I am taking off for my yearly Avkoppling in Sweden (att koppla av = to relax), so here is a picture of my young alter ago Anaé, doing something I have long been yearning to do. Brief cartoons will be here to keep you company while I ride the T-bana, drink chai lattes and pet my cat. See you in three weeks for more diary comics!


Comme je possède un impeccable sens du timing, j'ai repris les posts juste à temps pour partir en vacances, ha ha. Demain je pars effectuer mon "avkopplage" annuel (du suédois att koppla av = se détendre) en Suède, donc voici à juste titre un dessin de mon jeune alter ego Anaé qui comate comme j'ai ardemment désiré le faire. En mon absence, des BD brèves sauront vous tenir compagnie pendant que moi je prendrai le t-bana, boirai des chai latte et ferai des câlins à mon chat. A dans trois semaines pour plus de journal en BD!

[ Coldplay - Charlie Brown ]

Celibacy

Things that I may not have
include:


- looking into someone's eyes and laughing
- flirty smiles
- cuddling
- holding hands




I am too weak to deny myself these things
so I sit and wait in ambush




and wait
and wait




and wait some more.

Frankfurt/Main - Berlin, July 2012.

Bonn, May 20, 2012

"Ils ont des quartiers alternatifs ici aussi! Et des freecards! Et des tags! Et Starbucks!"

Clairikine découvre la vie en province.

Friday Bonus Sketch: re:publica 12

This spring I got a free pass to  the re:publica 12 conference, in exchange for tabling with guys who designed a geocaching app for the iPad. Here are some cartoons I drew while I was there.


Au printemps j'ai pu squatter gratos la conférence re:publica 12 à Berlin, en échange d'une tenue de stand avec des gars qui ont conçu un app de geocaching pour l'iPad. J'y ai fait ces quelques dessins.

[ Linkin Park - In My Remains ]