Please join me this evening with writer/artist Belle Yang as we introduce and discuss her debut graphic novel Forget Sorrow, tonight at The Asia Society.
This is the New York launch of a remarkable debut graphic memoir by author Belle Yang (Hannah is My Name, The Odyssey of a Manchurian, and Baba: A Return to China Upon My Father’s Shoulders). The author started drawing her memoir during a fearful time in her life when she was forced to hide out in her parents’ home to escape an abusive ex-boyfriend turned stalker. During this time she discovered her Chinese parents’ and grandparents’ lives, a story of bitter struggle and loss but also one she and her family had come to recognize as Xuan to, “Forget sorrow,” which is Belle Yang’s Chinese name.
“Belle Yang is an American writer who writes in English and thinks in Chinese. Her writing feels Chinese. . . . It is as though we, the readers of English, can now miraculously read Chinese.” —Amy Tan
Author Conversation: Belle Yang: Forget Sorrow
Part of the Citi Series on Asia in America
Discussion, Q&A, Book sale and signing to follow.
THE ASIA SOCIETY
May 10, 2010 | 6:30pm to 8:30pm
725 Park Avenue, New York, NY
Click for Directions
$10 Asia Society and AAWW members; $12 students with ID/seniors; $15 nonmembers
…at the core of King’s success was an appeal to conscience that touched hearts and opened minds, a commitment to universal ideals — of freedom, of justice, of equality — that spoke to all people, not just some people. For King understood that without broad support, any movement for civil rights could not be sustained. That’s why he marched with the white auto worker in Detroit. That’s why he linked arm with the Mexican farm worker in California, and united people of all colors in the noble quest for freedom.
And so the days fly by, and the weeks roll on, and here it is now autumn. This time of year is when to take things a bit slower, take good stock of home and hot chocolate, preparing for settling in for cold winter evenings.
I know, I know, it’s been a long while since I’ve written or shared anything meaningful. Of course, I always mean and very much want to doodle something or relate news, but I’ve been so buried in work and things that it just doesn’t happen.
But, not today! Well, I still have too too too much going on, but I wanted to quickly post this tune by the fabulous Shangri-Las. We’ve been on a cool chick groove here listening to their songs like crazy (and Little Eva! and The Chiffons), and we like to listen to this in the morning to get our day on right.
GRAPHIC NYC: SATURDAY 3PM-3:50PM
Graphic NYC’s own Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner host a chat with four celebrated New York City cartoonists: Peter Kuper (Spy vs Spy), Becky Cloonan (Demo), Christine Norrie (Cheat), and George O’Connor (Ball Peen Hammer), to discuss what makes NYC the nexus for comics.
Last Friday, I went to Matthew Ritchie’s gallery opening of The Long Shot. Stepping from a rainy dark and glittery New York street into a bright white crowded space seemed appropriate in order to be launched from our reality to Ritchie’s mind-bending theories of time, science, and chance.
The mini-Morning Line that greets you as you walk in feels like a rope that guides you within the graceful paintings and text that await reading. In the far corner is a kind of painted theater, and there was a mini-performance giving us a small taste of The Long Count. And it was beeeaaautiful.
The haunting voice of Shara Worden against the steady paced sound of Bryce Dessner was amazing. I love the horns, guitar, and string in The National’s music and all of these things visually woven together by Ritchie’s world was an extremely pleasant experience.
Tomorrow evening, I am going to the full show and I am so looking forward to it. I think there are still tickets left, so definitely check it out if you can. As well as The Long Shot, up until Dec 2, at The Andrea Rosen Gallery. And, did I mention that Matthew Ritchie also reads comics?
In an inspired collision of creative worlds, three inexhaustibly original artists—brothers Bryce Dessner and Aaron Dessner of indie rock band The National and omnivorous visual art phenomenon Matthew Ritchie—combine talents to create a song-filled myth about the beginning of time. A feast of images, instrumentals, and songs thick with primordial mystery, The Long Count pairs Ritchie’s protean forms with a twelve-piece orchestra and the Dessners’ gothic mix of electric and orchestral sounds.
Guest vocalists Kim and Kelley Deal (The Breeders, The Pixies), Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), and Matt Berninger (The National) round out the line-up in this visionary collaboration between music and art.
A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. — John Lennon
Is it coincidence that the Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded on the birth date of activist/artist John Lennon? Do you read the quote above and think of how a movement last fall swept millions of people to be inspired and uplifted?
President Obama stated that he is humbled for being the recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. I say that I am humbled as well. For getting to be a part of world history and being one of those millions who’s taking a different approach to how we engage with one another. Recognizing that life’s adversities can be “teachable moments”, a phrase I now incorporate when facing crisis and disaster. For all the tools that allow us to be more involved in government, if we choose, as well as profound achievements that keep the human race moving forward like September 11th’s DAY OF SERVICE and The White House Victory Garden.
Obama’s vision of peace is about the every day act of kindness and generosity. That the small things add up. We pay it forward. And we do it together. The effects of his campaign speeches and diplomacy in The United Nations are felt everywhere. From Brazilians who used it to win hosting the Olympics to the ambitions of local grassroots politics to a single working mom.
It is a great gift and achievement to inspire millions of people to positive action. We endure and depend on the spirit of community as the driving force for peace in this world and in our neighborhoods. One can only HOPE that an individual, a few persons, perhaps great masses, can come together to reduce suffering and end crimes against humanity, bit by bit, measure by measure.
Listening to Obama’s acceptance of the prize on the radio, with his usual familial humility and socially conscious aspirations, “strive towards justice and dignity…” Thinking about peace, it hearkened a little whisper that has made me pin that little button to my jacket today:
YES WE CAN.
Alicia Keys – No One Live @ Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2007, Oslo
What a terrible week of sad things in the news. And a busy busy few days of events for personal and professional reasons. One funny birthday party. Great hope in the new public education process and journey. Amusing conversation in Queens on a Thursday. More catastrophe, though recoverable, thankfully. A friend gives birth to a healthy baby. Another friend suffers a great loss. And, yet another friend is helping a loved one through her chemo treatment.
The world spins ’round, the sun goes up and down, and it makes me appreciate a quiet Friday to stay in all day with brushes and ink…
Guess what?? Last week, DC Comics released a paperback version of the superhero teen comedy Bad Girls! Often described as a superhero “Mean Girls”, it’s a perfect back-to-school comic that young teens would dig. Especially those that liked my Breaking Up, though this is much lighter. And, has girls that are telepathic, fly, shape-shift, and bend steel with their bare hands…
BAD GIRLS
Written by Steve Vance; Art by Jennifer Graves, Christine Norrie, Daniel Krall and J. Bone; Cover by Darwyn Cooke
It’s not easy being the new girl in school – especially when everyone else has super-powers. Lauren is new to the mall-and-beach town of San Narciso, CA. Should she hang with the super-powered popular girls? What mystery lies behind the school’s walls? And most importantly, what to wear? Collecting the 2003 miniseries for the first time!
After what seemed like a long, yet short, summer of rainfall and bright ocean sun, my daughter and I came home in August to prepare for new projects and changes in our lives. Which means lots of cleaning, organizing, and purging of things. We sorted and cleared out the tiny cabin that is our downtown apartment and today I finally decided to sweep up my websites.
With the realization that it’s silly to have two websites, when I can barely manage to update even one, I’ve decided to send spookoo.com away. The posts will be archived on this blog, which I simply am going to call my ’sketchbook’. There’s no plans for any massive routine or theme, I’m going to just post whatever I fancy. Like any sketch, perhaps something will come about, and maybe not.
I’m glad my long hiatus has finally come to a close, though I still have lots of work and projects I am trying to get through, I am happy to find myself opening a new, yet familiar door in this changing season…
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