Monthly Archives: March 2020

Someone sent me one of those "How Many of These Things Have You Done?" lists. I usually ignore them but this time, I felt like filling it out…

• Driven 100 mph — Done it briefly at like 3 AM and other cars were passing me..
• Ridden in a helicopter — Never done it, might some day but only if we can follow a police chase.
• Gone zip lining — Never done it, never will. For years, I had a great excuse because I was over the weight limit. Now I'm under so I have to either come up with a new excuse or pack on about forty pounds.
• Been to an NFL game — Never done it, never even watched one on TV. I am a 68-year-old American male who isn't really sure how football is played.
• Been to Canada — Done it three times, loved it twice.
• Visited Florida — Done it three times: Two Miami Books fairs, one Disney World business holiday.
• Visited Mexico — Never done it. But I'm around Sergio Aragonés a lot so maybe half-credit for that.
• Visited Vegas — Done it a lot though it ain't as much fun as it used to be.
• Eaten alone at a restaurant — Done it, especially in Vegas.
• Ability to read music — Never done it, wish I had. But I know how to draw a real neat-looking Treble Clef.
• Ridden a motorcycle — Never even rode a two-wheel bicycle, nor do I have it in me to be as annoying with noise as most motorcyclists are.
• Ridden a horse — Never done it unless you count merry-go-rounds.
• Stayed in a hospital — Done it once for my appendix, once for cellulitis, once for gastric bypass, twice for my right knee.
• Donated blood — Done it but they'll only accept it from me to put it back into me during surgery.
• Been snow skiing — Never done it. I've barely even been in snowy climates.
• Been to Disneyland — Done it. Hated the Indiana Jones ride and most of the food. Liked everything else.
• Slept outside — Did it once when I fell asleep in a lounge chair in my backyard. Laid down on it at 11 PM and the next thing I knew, the sun was waking me up.
• Driven a stick shift — Never done it. It looks a lot cooler than I am.
• Ridden in an 18 wheeler — Never done it. It looks a lot less cool than I am.
• Ridden in a police car — Did it once. Voluntarily. Found it fascinating but was disappointed that they refused to strip search me.
• Driven a boat — Did it for about thirty seconds and didn't crash into anything or sink and so decided to quit while I was ahead.
• Eaten escargot — Never done it due to a lifelong pledge to never consume anything that leaves a slimy trail on a wet driveway, as do snails and my third agent.
• Been on a cruise — Never done it and doubt that a lot of folks in the future will.
• Run out of gas — Never done it but I came close once.
• Been on TV — Done it, never really liked it.
• Eaten sushi — Did it once, we all got food poisoning and the Board of Health closed the place.
• Seen a UFO — Seen things I couldn't identify but I also did that in the above sushi incident.
• Been bungie jumping — Never done it, never will, question the sanity of those who do it. Never in my life have I thought, "Gee, I wonder what it would feel like to be a yo-yo."

In case you're running low on Things To Watch, here's an hour and seven minutes of Cirque du Soleil. It's not as magical as seeing it live but you don't have to pay $18 for parking and God-knows-how-much for decent seats…

Here's a good article from yesterday on how all the late night hosts have had to retool to do their shows from home.  It's probably fair to wonder if they'll ever go completely back to the old way of doing things.

John Oliver was great last night. If you missed him, the coronavirus part of his show is online here but if you can, catch one of the many rebroadcasts this week so you can see the other moments.

What strikes me every time I venture close to TV news coverage of what's happening is how much of it is devoted to Donald Trump and his obsessions with looking like he's a strong leader, not taking responsibilities for the many screw-ups and suggesting that the only real tragedy of this whole crisis would be if it hurt his chances of a second term. There are also genuine tragedies out there as well as real, life-threatening problems and tales of true heroism and selflessness…but somehow, no matter what channel I turn to, it's about Trump. So I turn it off.

It would be easy to just make this blog about all of that but this feels to me like a good time to be an alternative. If you want what's on the news channels, it's there on the news channels. Here, I'm more inclined to write about cats in my yard, comic book history and, of course, the unique experience we're all having.

The other day, I had a phone conversation with a lady who's 19 years old and she actually asked me, "Was it like this the last time this happened?" I had to explain to her that in my 68 years on this planet, nothing like this has ever happened before. And I hope we can go at least another 68 before it happens again.

Otherwise, it's fine here in solitary. I got a great restaurant delivery yesterday from a place I trust to do all the right things in food prep and handling. I don't have a huge appetite these days but around the middle of the afternoon, I suddenly thought I'd better place an order in case they're swamped when I do get hungry and it takes a few hours for the chow to arrive. I have food here I can prepare and eat but it just felt like time for someone else's cooking.

So I ordered at 3 PM and it was here by 3:30, left on my steps by a gent who, my doorbell cam showed me, was wearing gloves and a mask. And I got enough to last me several days. Things like that — coping with all the little concerns — makes you feel really good.

So do the calls from friends, including a few folks I haven't spoken to in years and one former lady friend who has decided this would be a good moment to make Naked Facetime calls. I have a lot of friends I'd like to hear from but a small, select group from who I would like Naked Facetime calls. Don't get any ideas, Sergio.

Working today on Volume 7 of Walt Kelly's Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips, which is still on target to be released officially in October and (this is not a promise:) unofficially a month or so earlier. It's called Pockets Full of Pie and it will present all the Pogo strips from 1961 and 1962 plus all out regular features and a foreword by Sergio Aragonés.

Lastly and speaking yet again of Sergio: Next on my "to do" list is the letter page for the first issue of the Groo Meets Tarzan mini-series, which was supposed to come out in July but now it probably won't…then. Still, I have to finish up the letter page so you still have time to send one in. All four issues of the series have been drawn and so have some further Groos so they will be published just as soon as there are supply lines to get them to you. Now, back to work…

The cat I named Murphy has been showing up in my backyard for several weeks now. I do not know if it is a male or a female and it may never let me get close enough to find out. If I had to guess, I'd guess female and it doesn't have the little ear notch that indicates the cat has undergone a Bob Barker-approved spaying or neutering. I do not want to go through what I went through when Lydia — a longtime resident of said yard — got seriously preggo. You can read about that little adventure here. And yes, we're approaching the twelfth anniversary of that and Lydia is still happily hanging out on my premises and being well-fed by me.

For the sake of pronoun neutrality, we'll refer to Murphy as an "it." It's out there a few hours per day, usually howling for no visible reason. It does not seem to be in need of mating or food, which are the two major reasons cats howl. Come to think of it, they're the two major reasons I howl, too. It's so scared of humans, I don't think it craves attention. It kind of wants to be Lydia's friend but it howls when Lydia is in the yard and it howls when she isn't.

I don't know if anyone claims Murphy as "theirs" the way I've assumed the responsibility of keeping Lydia in Friskies but Murphy is not here enough to only be getting food here so it must have a reliable source elsewhere. Lydia is not in my yard quite as much as she used to be and when neither is present, I wonder if Murphy hasn't invited her over to dine wherever else Murphy dines.

When they're both there, they usually aren't close. Lydia is usually in her little house. Murphy might be near it or Murphy might be on the other side of the yard. They're clearly aware of each other but not any sort of "item."

If I put out food for Lydia when Murphy is present, Murphy makes no attempt to get any of it.  I've had feral cats out there shove one another aside to get at the Mixed Grill.  Not Murphy.

Lydia usually leaves food in her dish. She eats a third of what I put out, goes back to her house or off to wash herself, then comes back ten or twenty minutes later to eat another third, then comes back later to clean the plate of what's left. Murphy watches patiently and waits until it can't see me inside and Lydia has at least momentarily abandoned her meal…then with no objection from Lydia, Murphy sneaks up and eats just a little of it. Like I said, Murphy never seems to be that hungry.

Murphy also never seems dirty. Lydia spends most of her "awake time" cleaning herself and often, she clearly needs it as much as you would if you liked to sometimes nap on dirt. Murphy always looks like he/she/it just came from the groomers and I've never seen it lick itself.

I don't know all my neighbors but the ones I asked before going into isolation did not recognize Murphy from my description or even from a photo on my cellphone. Murphy is about the tenth feral cat over the years to routinely stop off in my yard and partake of the buffet. I had a good idea where the others came from — Lydia, before she settled in here used to cross a busy street to get to my place — and where they went and I also knew all of their genders. Most of all, when they meowed — which none did anywhere near as relentlessly as Murphy — it was obvious why.

So I don't know where Murphy came from or where Murphy goes or who else feeds Murphy and I don't know why Murphy cries so much or even whether Murphy is a male or a female.  All I know is Murphy is here and loud and absolutely terrified of me.  Let's see where this leads.

Some online sources say John Oliver is doing a new episode of Last Week Tonight this evening from his home. I hope that's so but if you look at some of the online schedules, you wouldn't know it…and even my TiVo is confused. It has tonight's episode schedule to record but if I search by show name, it tells me that the next episode is the one next Sunday or…

Well, you just may want to check. I have the feeling he'll have some interesting things to say. He always does.

By the way: For promotion this season, they've been using that photo of Mr. Oliver taken, I guess, when he was in high school.  Imagine you were the photographer back then.  Imagine this is the eleven thousandth photo you've taken this month of a teenager who looks like a duck, as teenagers tend to do.  Imagine that someone tells you, "You know, that kid is going to become very famous and someday, that photo you just took of him is going to be on billboards and bus signs all over America."  What would you have said?

Day before yesterday here, I posted a number from the BBC Proms concert presentation of the musical Kiss Me Kate, which they did back in 2014. Reader-of-this-site Dan Kravetz pointed out to me that the entire show — all two hours and 13 minutes of it — is up on YouTube and quite linkworthy…so guess what's below.

Dan wrote, "This performance, and the abridged TV version with original stars Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison, are must-sees for anyone who loves this show (and had strong reservations about the last couple of Broadway revivals)." Well, I love the show, though I didn't see the most recent Broadway revival which was last year and starred Kelli O'Hara and Will Chase. I'd go see anything with Ms. O'Hara in it but that version closed after a brief 125 performances and I couldn't work a New York trip into my schedule during its short run.

I did see — twice! — the 1999 revival with (originally) Marin Mazzie and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Saw it once with Mitchell and once with Merwin Foard (recent obit here) filling in as Fred Graham and I thought it was just about perfect both times. And I also saw a touring company production of it in Los Angeles with Rachel York and Brent Barrett, which was captured in London for the PBS Great Performances series. (Not quite as good as it was on stage in New York, though not because of the leads.)

And I've seen a few other productions of it which didn't, I thought, serve the material well. The one below suffers a bit as a scenery-less concert performance with the orchestra in almost every shot that isn't a close-up. Still, the performers are near-flawless and the songs never sounded better. If you have the time to spare — and you do because what the hell else do you have to do these days? — give it a look. Thanks for the head's up, Dan…

This afternoon, a messy two-car auto accident occurred outside my home, an ambulance quickly arrived and I found myself being reminded that there are other problems in the world beside the one we're all confronting. A much-less-bad bit of bad news I also saw is that Nate 'n Al's Delicatessen — one of those places that felt as much a part of Southern California as the coastline — is closing for good tomorrow and not intending to reopen when the Zombie Apocalypse has ended.

I am not filling this blog with articles about Trumpian incompetence and arrogance because I'm largely avoiding the news just now and I also figure you can find such articles easily these days. They're certainly plentiful and you have all the time in the world to do that for yourself. At least, we can hope we have all the time in the world. If you go looking for articles, don't miss this one.

One does get the impression that if we want him to do the right thing, we have to all kiss his heinie, tell him he's the greatest friggin' President ever and promise him a second and maybe a third term. If Trump was a lifeguard and you were drowning, he wouldn't lift a finger to rescue you until you promised to be sufficiently grateful.

Someplace on this blog, I think I recently wrote that the phrase, "We need to work together and compromise" had come to mean, "You need to do everything my way." Lately, even in what little news I do read, it seems that "We need to deal with this on a non-partisan basis" means "I get to criticize you but don't you dare say a bad word about me, you slimeball."

And I think I've just had my fill of politics for the weekend. Car crashes aside, things are fine around here. Lydia and Murphy are out in the yard. I'm unworried about supplies. I'm writing the stuff I'm writing. Not too many friends are calling to talk about how terrible things are.

I'm confident it will end and that things will be "sorta normal" again but "sorta normal" will be a long time in the future. Even after the coronavirus becomes a minimal threat, there'll be a slow crawl back towards — but never quite reaching — The Way Things Were. Some things just ain't going to ever be the same again.

Seems like some people are waiting for the day when someone yells "All clear!" and within 48 hours, everything will reopen and the world will be as it was and we can even shake hands again and buy all the toilet paper we want at Costco. The first problem with that is that no one's going to declare "All clear!," at least no one we'll trust. As Election Day draws closer, a certain person I don't want to think about anymore this weekend will probably yell it every day while he insists he and he alone saved us.

What I'm guessing will happen is that at some point, contracting the virus will be 10% less likely and after a while, another 10% less likely…and so on and so on. Everyone will have to decide for themselves how "less likely" it has to get before we'll end our personal isolations. You may decide it's time to go to crowded places again well before I do.

Businesses will have to decide how "less likely" it should be before they reopen and of course, that'll be a chicken-and-egg conundrum: My hair-cutter will resume cutting hair when he feels customers are willing to come in…and customers will consider going in once he reopens. Anyway, that's my answer to folks who ask, "When will it end?" My answer is gradually and at different times for each of us. But it will end.

Some wonderful, largely-homemade things are appearing online. I'm just starting to watch episodes of Stars in the House and let me tell you what that is. It's a twice-daily webcast telethon to benefit The Actors Fund, which is a charity that helps folks involved in show business and not just actors. It also helps writers and stagehands and ticket sellers and anyone who's in that vicinity and needs financial aid…as so many do at this time.

It's run by SiriusXM Broadway host Seth Rudetsky and producer James Wesley from their New York home (they're husband and husband) and they do an episode each day at 2 PM Eastern Time and another at 8 PM Eastern Time (so 11 AM and 5 PM on my coast) and via Skype or some other teleconferencing software, they chat with Broadway stars and even get performances out of them. There's also some surprisingly-responsible medical news and advice.

They started this March 16 with a show featuring Tony winner Kelli O'Hara and that's the one I've embedded below. Since then, the guest list reads like a Who's Who? (or maybe a Who's Anybody?) of live theater. So far, the list includes Jason Alexander, Sebastian Arcelus, Colleen Ballinger, Laura Benanti, Linda Benanti, Annette Bening, Stephanie J Block, Sierra Boggess, Betty Buckley, Andréa Burns, Norbert Leo Butz, Liz Callaway, Len Cariou, Will Chase, Kristin Chenoweth, Gavin Creel, Charlotte D'Amboise, Jason Danieley, Colin Donnell, Raúl Esparza, Tina Fey, Christopher Fitzgerald, Melissa Gilbert, Joanna Gleason, Mandy Gonzalez, JoAnn Hunter, Jeremy Jordan, Ramin Karimloo, Tom Kitt, Judy Kuhn, Anika Larsen, Norm Lewis, Judith Light, John Lithgow, Melissa Manchester, Terrence Mann, Andrea Martin, Eric McCormack, Audra McDonald, Lindsay Mendez, Ruthie Ann Miles, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessie Mueller, Patti Murin, Pamela Myers, Kathy Najimy, Anne L. Nathan, Rosie O'Donnell, Kelli O'Hara, Billy Porter, Jeff Richmond, Chita Rivera, Blake Ross, Lea Salonga, Keala Settle, Marc Shaiman, Christopher Sieber, Jennifer Simard, Ashley Spencer, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Will Swenson, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Vanessa Williams, Patrick Wilson and Chip Zien.

See anyone on that list who's any good? I can spot a few.

Throughout, they encourage you to donate to The Actors Fund, which you can do here or other ways they'll tell you about. There are also auctions and other fund-gathering mechanisms and while I haven't watched them all, the shows I've watched are very entertaining. You can see the lineups and watch episodes on this page. And now, here's Show One…

Patrick Galligan sent me this today…

Hi Mark, just wanted to run a question by you. I recently spoke to a friend of mine to inform him that I had bought a DVD complete series of I Spy! Boy, when I say I was not prepared for his response, it's a total understatement! My buddy ranted how could I support that rapist with my hard earned money?

I tried to explain I separate the performer, from their art, much the same way I would with a performer's politics, but you'd have thought I told him I was baking a birthday cake with a file in it to spring Bill Cosby out of jail. How would you explain it, or maybe you too hold that opinion? Am I wrong to say, what's in the library is not an endorsement of any bad behavior?

Well, there are two aspects to this question, one being whether you really can separate the art from the artist and enjoy the work now. Apparently, you can. I was never a huge fan of Bill Cosby the performer but I respected the work and recognized the joy he brought to so many. I was not likely to patronize much that involved him before we learned of his reprehensibleness so I dunno. If I was a huge fan, would I now find it hard to laugh at what I used to find funny? To look at him and be reminded of what he did? I might — which would be a perfectly acceptable reason to not buy it. Why buy something that doesn't please you?

As for the other aspect: If I could still enjoy the work, the idea that in doing so I would "support that rapist" would not have much impact on my decision. The amount of dough Cosby would clear from the purchase of one I Spy DVD set is probably inconsequential to him. Even after paying oodles of loot to his lawyers, he probably still has enough for that income to make no difference to his life. It might mean a little something to any less wealthy writers, producers, other actors, owners of the DVD company, et cetera, who were involved with I Spy and as far as we know, raped no one.

It was also, as I recall, a pretty good show. It deserves to not disappear because of something one of its stars did later in life. Enjoying it would not be an endorsement of anything done by anyone in the cast when they were off the clock.

What I guess I'm getting at is that this is a matter of individual choice. Your friend wants to boycott Cosby? Fine. You can not watch any show for any reason. As I've said here before, I don't think most boycotts accomplish anything more than to make the boycotter feel better…but that's not a bad thing. It's your decision and don't let anyone take it away from you or feel bad because of it.

In 2014, the BBC Proms did some numbers from Kiss Me Kate as part of their presentation. Here, the John Wilson Orchestra accompanies Michael Jibson and James Doherty in one of the best numbers from that show…

It has been suggested to me that this would be a good time to rerun this post from 11/30/14…

I would like to talk about an aspect of creative work (writing, drawing, etc.) that doesn't get enough attention. It's the part about making a living. And in what follows, I am not talking about trying to earn enough to live in a mansion, own a summer home and a yacht, drive a Rolls, etc. I'm talking about living in a decent home with enough to eat and having health insurance and providing for one's family. A few dollars in the bank is also nice. Everyone has unexpected expenses and should have the dollars to coast through life's little emergencies.

We live in a society where if you declare yourself a businessperson, a lot of folks cheer you on as you amass wealth. That's more or less the defining scorecard on whether you're a success and worthy of admiration. When you're supposed to be an artist, it's a little different. An awful lot of folks expect you to create your Art for the sake of Art and nothing more…which might be okay if we lived in a world where food, rent, clothing and even the tools by which you create your Art were free. 'Til then, one must pay one's mortgage and Visa bill. A person may well be a capital-A Artist but first and foremost, he or she is a person with human needs and realities.

It is difficult to judge someone's life from afar. I have found that frequently, the guy you think is loaded is in actually in desperate financial trouble. And very often, people don't think of that at all. (How many of you were surprised to read that Burt Reynolds was broke?)

A few years ago, a Creative Person I know — I won't say if he's a writer or artist or actor or anything — took on a job for which others pilloried him as a sell-out. It was not worthy of him, they said. Not up to his high standards. He lowered himself for the Almighty Buck. It was like Olivier had gone out and dropped his pants in an Adam Sandler movie because someone had waved a big paycheck.

But to those who knew the Creative Person, it wasn't that at all. He hadn't done it because he was greedy. He'd done it because he was trying to save his life. He was in hock to Loan Sharks (in the guise of a perfectly respectable bank) for a large amount and they were talking about taking his home away…taking away everything he had in the world, in fact. He was literally "borrowing" money from friends to buy groceries for himself and his wife and kids.

I put "borrowing" in quotes because they all knew he'd never be able to pay it back. And he was running out of friends who were willing and able to make such "loans."

Needless to say, a Creative Person cannot be very creative in those circumstances. A painter cannot paint when he can't afford paint. A writer cannot write when his electricity is turned off. It's hard to create anything, good or bad, when your stomach is tied in sheep shank knots and you're panicked about the rent that's due in ten days.

Increasingly, I find myself discussing this when I speak to classes of wanna-be actors or writers. There's a certain romance to some about being in the situation where if you don't start getting decent-paying jobs soon, you'll be out in the street. I've also met some who think that putting themselves in that precarious position is a way to guarantee success: "I'll make it because I have to." It's been my observation that that rarely works. It's why there are more people in Los Angeles waiting tables who want to be Professional Actors than Professional Waiters.

What I suggest to them is that they find a steady source of income to tide them over while they wait for their break. Ideally, that might be in a related field — say, writing tech manuals while you wait to sell your screenplay — but that's not always possible. Second best would be something that gave you a steady income but flexible hours. You may have to, in effect, work two jobs at the same time: One to make your weekly nut and one to break into your chosen profession.

An actress I knew was getting small acting roles — a good start on a full-time career but not yet a full-time career. She signed with a "temp" agency to do typing and secretarial work and she did something I thought was smart. She told them to never send her to any job that involved show business. She'd drive to Downey to type mailing labels for a plumbing supply company but she wouldn't go type scripts over at Paramount. She didn't want people in the industry to see her and then think of her as a secretary who was trying to act. Getting "inside" that way might have been a pathway if she'd had no credits but she had enough that when she went in on auditions, they thought of her as an actress, not a secretary.

In my case, I was kinda lucky because I landed writing jobs right out of high school. They weren't necessarily the kind of writing jobs I wanted to make my career but they subsidized me while I got ever closer. When I was trying to break into writing for television, I had a decent income writing comic books and that made it easier to break into TV. When you're financially desperate, you can make some very bad decisions you wouldn't make if you had some cash banked. And a lot of folks just plain aren't inclined to hire you if you appear to be desperate.

But the main thing I want to get back to here is that a Creative Person has a duty to his or her muse and to his or her audience…but there's also a duty to paying down that MasterCard that's charging you 18.99%.

I know one Creative Person who's dealing now with a duty to pay a whopping tax bill to the Internal Revenue Service. He's doing jobs he might not otherwise do and selling things he might otherwise not sell, and some observers and acquaintances are saying he's greedy, he's a sell-out, he's just out for the Almighty Buck. But that's not what's really going on. What he is is desperate. (But of course, he doesn't want people to know he's desperate. Not only it is humiliating, it's also — see above — a good way to not get hired.)

And I want to also get back to something I said before: Sometimes, people you think are well-off are actually desperate. There are a thousand reasons why it happens but the point is it happens. Don't begrudge them the necessities of life: Home, food, car, health care, etc. Human beings need that and I don't care what anyone says. Actors, writers, artists, directors, producers, editors…they're all human.

Well, maybe not some producers…

We were set to do Quick Draw! at WonderCon next month with Sergio Aragonés, Scott Shaw! and the star caricaturist for MAD, Tom Richmond. I also had a great Cartoon Voices panel lined-up and several other fun program items. Anyway, it's nice to see that Tom Richmond found something else to keep him busy.

Next week on April Fools Day (aka Wednesday), I will be the guest — via Skype from my Fortress of Solitude here — on Stu's Show. That is the only thing I have on my calendar between now and the first week of August apart from Comic-Con International (still a maybe) in July. Everything else has been canceled.

Not much to report here in All Alone Land. I've been reading Woody Allen's memoirs, which seem to be getting decidedly-mixed reviews. I'm nowhere near the parts involving anyone named Farrow yet but I find what I've read to be delightful. I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud at anything I read off the Kindle app on my iPad but I'm laughing at a lot of this. It is an odd mixture of too much self-deprecation and the occasional brag. Here's an Amazon link if you want to buy a Kindle download. The hardcover version is sold out at the moment.

But I don't feel all that all alone here in All Alone Land, perhaps because I'm well aware that everyone I know is in their All Alone Lands…so we're united in that. And the phone rings a lot. And people FaceTime and Skype and Zoom and I'm getting a lot of writing done. And the ones who don't just want to talk about how terrible things are make it all much more endurable. So here I sit. I hope you're equally well and at peace.

Bill Cosby, because he fears getting the coronavirus, is requesting early release from the prison in which he is confined. Hey, get in line, Bill. We'd all like out of our current prisons…and you may be safer right where you are. At least you probably have toilet paper.

By the way: It's probably just me but when I hear that someone is "cosplaying," I don't immediately think that they're roaming around a comic convention dressed as some super-hero or character from Star Wars or Trek. I think just for an instant that they slipped something into someone's drink so they could criminally molest them and in so doing, betrayed the admiration and love of a nation. But like I said, that's probably just me.

I may not make these dispatches a daily thing because, first of all, a lot of my days of isolation so far have been nearly identical to one another. The main thing of interest yesterday was calls and e-mails relating to the mess that's happening due to Diamond. Diamond Distributors — the folks who disseminate most comic books and related publications — have announced they will stop receiving new product from printers for distribution starting in April. So everyone's scrambling to decide what's on, what's off, what's postponed, when things are now due, etc. A couple things I'm working on will be affected but I'm not yet sure which ones or in what way.

Otherwise, I'm just staying in, writing and talking to friends. I wonder how the folks who lived through the 1921 Diphtheria Epidemic got through it without FaceTime. When friends tell me they're bored, I tell them the following: "Think back to a moment in recent memory when you said a sentence that began with the phrase, 'When I have some free time, I'm going to…' and do that thing. You've got free time now. You may not have hand sanitizer but you've got free time…plenty of it. Do that thing you said you were going to do when you had some. If you don't do it now, it'll never get done."