Mm. I just finished a brand new book. It was a grueling process to get through 20 pages, written, pencilled, inked and hand-lettered. And it was heavy subject matter. I spent weeks putting it off, and then I found a way to reach the end. And that ending was MoCCA.

I went to New York this weekend for the MoCCA festival, the indie-comics convention that the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art puts on. Thanks again to my tablemate Pranas. We had too much fun meeting and interacting with New York comics lovers, and eating Shake Shack burgers (You’re the best, Amy!)!! I met talented cartoonists, talked about The Village Voice article that came out that weekend, exchanged copies of “Luke Holds Off”, and enjoyed the comics culture that I most identify with. The comics blogs are all talking about how the show is all about the cartoonists, and it is. People making handmade printed books. Stapling sheets of paper together and saying “I did this”. That what comics are. It’s so simple, so basic. And when you’re in it, you forget that there’s a world that doesn’t know this kind of art and expression exists.

I’m always scared to travel to new places and stay in unknown neighborhoods. Who isn’t!? I stayed in Brooklyn with my good friend Andy Mai, and we had too much fun making fun of Asian people. We hit up a stand-up show in Williamsburg at the Knitting Factory that I’ve been dying to see ever since I found out who Hannibal Burress is. And the comedians made so many jokes about Asians. Wyatt Cenac brought up Asian people and he looked right at Andy and me to see us approve. Btw, Andy is hilarious and super talented. I am glad to see him with the success he has. Thanks so much for hosting me this weekend, man!

Next up is FLUKE in Athens. I was just there a couple weeks ago chatting with Patrick and Robert, and they are so excited for this year’s event. I saw Patton Oswalt perform at the 40 Watt club, which will be the exact same venue for the FLUKE festivities. I’ll be bringing more copies of “Luke Holds Off”, because nothing beats feeling proud of the work you’ve done. Come see me at my table, because I want to tell you “I did this”.

Click the image above to read “New York Bagel”!

New York is a magnificent place. Can you believe that I went there for the first time ever?? I had a blast with my classmates, Ben Frisch, Amber Gant, Lilly Higgs, Caleb Soloman, and Dean of SCAD: John Lowe. It was a brilliant week, felt longer than 8 days, and it’s too bad I won’t be back for a long long time. I kept a log of it in my sketchbook. It’s filled with visits to plenty of professional offices and practicing artists, including:

• Mickey Duzyj
• Rebekah Isaacs (whose name I spelt wrong throughout my journal, SORRY!)
• Cliff Chiang
• Paulo Rivera (whose name has a ‘o’ in place of the ‘u’. Gawrsh, I’m a great journalist).
• R. Kikuo Johnson
• Sean Chen
• Peter Kuper
• DC Comics
• Marvel Comics
• First Second Books
• ….and more!
• Special thanks to my great friend Alyssa and her family for housing me for a period of time (she’s in the journal for a bit, too). Hope you enjoy these 20-24 pages of my vacation/class!

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