From the Mail

Today I paid a late afternoon visit to the Famous Hairdos P.O. Box and found my receipt for another six months of rent on Box 11872 as well as these four drawings, postmarked in Wyoming. The latter definitely make the former seem well worth the expense. The artist writes that she picked up the blank hairdo templates at the Madison Zine Fest and wonders if the drawings are up to snuff. I think they're great. Thanks, Isabel!

Happy New Year

Above: 2011, the year in haircuts

I started 2012 the way I ended 2011-- with a whopping cold. So here, almost seven days and one bottle of Multi-symptom Cold and Flu Nighttime Relief Liquid into the new year, is a belated wish for a happy new year for you and yours from Lemon o Books and The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music.

Before talking about what 2012 has in store around these parts, let's take a quick look back at last year. It was a good one. The Chicago Zine Fest, the Madison Zine Fest, and, just last month, the stellar Milwaukee Zine Fest were great experiences. Taking myself, my projects and books out of the house and into the world is always a surprising, heartening, and illuminating endeavor.

And the books made in 2011 stand out for me as the best I've made so far. Last winter, The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music Volume Six cataloged drawings made by dozens of individuals (out of the total hundreds of drawings received so far) who contributed their work to The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project. I am forever grateful to everyone who has made this silly idea of mine into a real and growing thing, and I hope it continues. While the drawers are the soul of this project, I think this book has my best design and craft yet for this series.



This fall saw the release of Actual Bird Song, the first non-hairdo project from Lemon o Books. This project was a collaboration between myself and two Milwaukee musicians, Lucky Bone and Slow Owls, who each contributed a track to a CD packaged inside a short booklet.



Now, with the highlights of 2011 lovingly packed away like so many Christmas lights, let's talk about some of my most anticipated projects of 2012. I'm still so excited by Actual Bird Song that my next project will continue in a similar vein. Two musicians are already on board to create sounds for a compact disc while I'm working on an accompanying book. I'm going to keep my lips sealed about the subject matter and the collaborators until things really start to take shape, but I guarantee that no one will be as disappointed as me if this project isn't just as good as last year's foray into audio-visual collaboration.

Also, the long-rumored seventh volume of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music will become a real thing that you can hold in your hands. This will definitely happen before the project turns four years old in July.

Thanks for reading, everybody. Here's to another great year!

Madison Zine Fest

Hello again! It feels great to be posting a second time in one week.

Monday saw the grand Internet unveiling of Actual Bird Song, a zine that has nothing to do with hairdos, famous or otherwise. In fact, it is all about creatures with feathers. I am very excited about that book and its accompanying CD, but don’t think that The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project has been abandoned, forgotten, or neglected. Below are three sets of hairdo drawings collected at the Madison Zine Fest, which was held this past weekend in Madison, Wisconsin on a beautiful fall Saturday. I was there, manning a table, for most of the day. Thanks to the organizers and everyone who came out.



The above set of drawings was done by a quiet fellow whose name I wish I knew, who came to the festival all the way from Portland (Oregon, I presume) and sat at the table to my immediate right.



This second batch was done by Brad Gottschalk (www.silenttheatercomics.com), a cartoonist who sat to my left and the acquaintance of whom I am glad to have made. We discussed Aldo Leopold, coffee, architecture, and the runaway popularity of the name Ethan. The third set of drawings is by a festival-attendee who was kind enough to stop and make drawings for me.




Thanks to everyone who came to the Madison Zine Fest, checked out books, made a drawing, or said hello. And thanks again to Jason and family for the air mattress, coffee, and companionship.