Bailey/Coy (sniff!) Benefit Auction (baaaw!!)

I adore Michael Wells, the owner of Bailey/Coy Books. He’s the one who nominated me for the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce; he’s the one who introduced me to Barbara Luecke, the Public Art Administrator for Sound Transit, which ended in my getting hired to do two enormous murals in the upcoming light rail station; he commissioned me to do a portrait for one of his best friends. He’s a doll, he’s smart, fun, generous.

When he told me that Bailey/Coy was closing, it was hard to believe. And when he told me there was going to be a benefit auction, I knew immediately that I wanted to donate something big: one of the Big Fuckin’ Hands paintings. This is “J-O” – 2′ x 2′, acrylic on Sintra:

BFH.JO.LoRez

You know you want it! Or you know you want something. Come right to the store this Thursday 12/3 at 6pm, or buy tickets in advance here.

For 26 years, Bailey/Coy Books served as Capitol Hill’s literary hub, providing the community with a place to be amongst books, talk about literature and meet their favorite authors.

On Thursday, December 3, we’re holding a wake for the store, in memory of all those years, and celebrating the customers who’ve walked through the doors, the authors we’ve hosted, the generations of books we’ve sold and the staff who have served us so well. We’ll also hold an auction of the memorabilia we’ve collected over the years. We want to say good-bye in style – and raise some cash to help the store.

Auctioneer Laura Michalek will oversee bidding on a pair of white boxer shorts signed by David Sedaris, original cartoons out of our guestbook by Matt Groening and Lynda Barry, a poster signed by Annie Leibovitz, an original painting from the Big Fucking Hands series by Ellen Forney, signed first editions and other very special and very odd items. We’ll also auction off dates with two of Capitol Hill’s celebrity politicians, State Senator Ed Murray and City Councilmember Sally Clark.

Entertainment will be provided by Fuschia Foxxx and the magnificent Dina Martina. Food and champagne will be served, all provided by local Capitol Hill eateries such as Poppy, Table 219, Charlie’s and High Five Pie. Tickets are $40. We will pop the champagne open at 6 PM—the entertainment, and the auction, will begin promptly at 7. Tickets are available at BrownPaperTickets.com or at the door.

Dug By Digg

Slog posted that “How to Smoke Pot and Stay Out of Jail” was the No. 1 hit on Digg yesterday afternoon. It has over 2000 diggs right now. Cool!

The posts on Reddit and Digg only have the first of two pages, unfortunately, omitting the page on civil rights and how to deal with police. Here’s the full comic, including the two weeks of fabulous, fiery “Letters to the Editor” in the Stranger.

Words in Boxes

Maré, one of my Graphic Novels Lit students, just told me about a comics challenge circulating online: create a pictureless comic, 4 – 40 panels. My first response was something like, “oh, pictureless comic, whatever,” and “panels aren’t pictures?” but then I had an idea and scribbled it on the wipe-off board. Here it is, after a short discussion with a few other students about whether late June counts as spring or summer. (“Summer sounds more robust, anyway,” said Amanda, and so that stood.)

WeFellInLoveLastSummer_LoRez