YES

incidentalcomics.com

cover art

While compiling my New Year's reading list, I came across these beautifully designed book covers. Interestingly enough, the covers are embossed prints of original embroidered covers stitched by Canadian artist (now based out of Brooklyn, New York) Jillian Tamaki as a commission from the publishing house Penguin. Each one is an incredible work of art, and I hope to own one of the books soon. Purchase them from Amazon.

She is also married to Sam Weber, who I posted about a few weeks ago. Quite a talented couple.

you're the top

I discovered many of my favorite books, music and movies in 2010.

Here are my Top Ten in each category:

Books:

10. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon)

9. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Jonathan Safran Foer)

8. The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)

7. Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him (Danielle Ganek)

6. Psyche in a Dress (Francesca Lia Block)

5. My Friend Leonard (James Frey)

4. Less Than Zero (Bret Easton Ellis)

3. Bright Shiny Morning (James Frey)

2. , said the Shotgun to the Head (Saul Williams)

1. A Million Little Pieces (James Frey)

Music:

10. Veruca Salt Eight Arms to Hold You

9. Charles Aznavour 40 Chanson D'or

8. The Airborne Toxic Event The Airborne Toxic Event

7. My Chemical Romance Danger Days

6. Tori Amos Crucify

5. The Dandy Warhols Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia

4. Adele 19

3. The Strokes Room On Fire

2. Elvis Costello This Year's Model

1. Elvis Costello and the Attractions Armed Forces

Movies:

10. Basquiat

9. The Science of Sleep

8. Lollilove

7. Easy A

6. The Labyrinth

5. Benny and Joon

4. Before Sunrise

3. Reality Bites

2. Disco Pigs

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

say hello to my little friend

From critically acclaimed author, James Frey, comes My Friend Leonard, a quasi-sequel to his first autobiographical fic A Million Little Pieces. Emotionally stunning, the novel picks up right after James is released from jail and is headed to see his girlfriend, Lilly, a recovering drug addict he met in rehab. When he arrives, she is dead, hanged by a rope in her shower at the halfway house she is staying. From there, you follow James as he deals with the grief of losing Lilly and the happiness he finds when he reconnects with Leonard, his "adoptive" father he befriended at the rehabilitation facility. If you have read Pieces, then you know Leonard's fate, but don't let that deter you from reading Leonard in its entirety. It will make you laugh and most certainly make you cry, but true to Frey's style, it will also make you think.

Straight from the horse's mouth

As 2010 draws fast to a close, we say goodbye to the trends and innovations of the decade to welcome in another year of advancement. However, it has become abundantly clear that this generation relies too heavily on the convenience of technological development. Gone are the days of thumbing through the latest releases at the local music shop, gone are the hours of skimming through the stacks at the book store and gone are late Friday nights spent hunting for the perfect combination of horror flicks and Brat Packs movies at the video store. Only ten years into the millennium and many people have already forgotten the fun in those days, hours and nights, and instead turn their attention to their iTunes accounts, Nooks and Netflix on Demand. Though we would typically celebrate such advancements, we can’t help but mourn the loss of the entertainment outlets of our childhood.

From the decreasing CD, book and movie sales and skyrocketing popularity of torrent sites, e-readers and movies on demand, our future is looking idle and impersonal. The happenstance of discovering a new favorite among the seemingly odd and previously unheard of and the intimacy of the experience is something the technology of our future will never provide. Remember the entertainment we once relied on, and instead of looking to the future, fondly look to the past.

Come, my love, we have oceans to sail

New York poet, writer, rapper and actor Saul Williams knows. He knows how to capture the flutter of a heartbeat, the anger in a fist and the beauty in a blink. He knows pain, heartache and laughter. He knows how to weave simple words into music.

This summer, I read two of his poetry collections, S/HE and , said the Shotgun to the Head. Both seemed to catch emotions as if they were butterflies, lacing them into the inked words as they float across the pages and then suddenly swarm.

"I have seen the truth

many times

but for the first time

she saw me"

from S/HE

"intelligence is intuitive

you needn't learn to love

unless you've been taught

to fear and hate"

from , said the Shotgun to the Head