So this is springtime, and what have I done? April consisted

of a lot of running around, mostly: Seattle, where I gave a talk and appeared

on a panel at the Experience Music Project’s Pop Conference (respectively on

the future of the technology of listening to music and on indie music in the

’00s); White River Junction, where I got to meet with students at the Center

for Cartoon Studies; New York, where I appeared on a panel at the MoCCA

festival; and Seattle again for a DJ gig, and remembering that I don’t get to

DJ nearly often enough. Mostly, I’ve been in Portland, where… I hung out with

my family and sang a bit of karaoke.

Otherwise, the last couple of months have involved a lot of

writing, of course: always writing. The 25th anniversary issue of SPIN had a piece I wrote about the relationship between

’80s music zine culture and contemporary music blog culture (it’s not online,

as far as I can tell). Over at Salon, I wrote

about the new gay character in Archie comics; at Time, I interviewed

David Byrne about Here Lies Love;

at eMusic, I wrote about the lost soul hits of the ’60s and ’70s; at Hilobrow,

I wrote a brief

appreciation of Agnetha Faltskög. For 48HR Magazine, or whatever the youngsters are

calling it these days, I wrote about James Brown’s uncomfortable

intersections with the Hustle. I also wrote a ton of stuff at Techland,

including an interview

with Grant Morrison about his current Batman-related work. And I scratched

my head about the very enjoyable “Exit Through the Gift Shop” at

the NAJP’s ARTicles blog.

April’s Emanata columns at Techland included a guide

to where to start with Love & Rockets, an appreciation

of Brendan McCarthy’s recent Marvel comics, a look

at flash-forwards, a piece

about sense-of-place in S.H.I.E.L.D. and

Market Day, and an expression

of irritation at the end of Blackest Night. May’s were an essay

on the relationship between the future of digital comics and the past of

digital music, an assessment

of Brian Michael Bendis’s wrap-up of the last few years’ Avengers titles, a guide

for prospective Final Crisis

readers, and–I was particularly happy about this one–eight

questions for comics creators.

Next month, of course, I’m hoping to get some actual work

done. I’m giving a lecture

at the Portland Art Museum on the 13th; I’ve also got a massive assignment on

an undisclosed subject that’s due right around then, so I may be going into a

hibernation-like state. I have no idea whether this means another extended

absence from this blog or a frantic burst of activity. I’m hoping the latter.