Yeah, you’re gonna hear more about this than you ever wanted to in the next few weeks, but…

… we’re excited to announce that we’re heading to Chicago, as part of the Renegade Craft Fair 2008! We’re even more excited to announce that we’ll be sharing the booth with our lovely pals, Leigh of Rhymes With Twee and Jessee of Art School Dropout!

I am excited and nervous and panicked and more! I’m thinking about doing some kind-of kooky promotion… if you can find me hiding underneath the table, then you get a free gift… (Yes, I was very hide-y at Renegade Brooklyn 2007!)

Hey, Mike… instead of taking a picture and posting it to the Fantagraphics blog, why don’t you tell me my t-shirt is creeping up?!?! No wonder the little kid I babysit calls me a hoochie. (Okay, technically, she doesn’t use that exact terminology, but it would be too difficult to explain the backstory for what she does call me…)

Anyway, Seattle peeps, it’s French Comics Week! Join us! I will wear a shirt that covers my lower back next time.

you can only see astronaut ass in this pic, but there i am in the background, wee and geeking out.

We get a lot of rockstars visiting us at KEXP, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen the staff geek out quite like they did over last week’s guest, Astronaut Stan Love! And, I can’t lie, I was geeking out as much as anyone. He was so super-nice, and had incredible taste in music. He created a special “space” playlist on his iPod for his outer space journey (amazingly, NASA will not let him share the playlist though, so don’t even ask), but yeah, his taste in music is right up there with my music-dork co-workers at the station. You can read more about his visit at the KEXP Blog!

Turns out, someone who I always believed was gay is not. This kinda crushes my dreams a little, because I always imagined this person in romantic situations with another person… possibly a bandmate… maybe I even drew pictures of them together, holding hands, fighting over the remote control, you know.

But, turns out, they’re not a couple, and never will be! There’s something a little sad about that.

Mike and I just got back from seeing Zak Sally and Nate Denver play at the Fantagraphics Bookstore. You can check out more pictures at my Flickr page.

I loved how cozy and intimate this show was. At one point, Zak joined Nate for a song, and just sat down on the floor to play guitar with him… really nice. Zak made a statement during his set about how he never wants to step into a club again, and after this nice little bookstore concert, I can see what he means. Plus, we had free drinks.

I know, I know… but I realized I never finished uploading my pics from New York back in June… and now I have San Diego pics… oh, and those Portland pics… and uh, the pics from the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary show…

So… yeah. I gotta work on that. But in the meanwhile, enjoy these pics from June! That norimaki was so good, I wish I was eating it right now…

we have a delightful new batch of goods from missy kulik in stock now at copacetique! everything is guaranteed to make you smile. (like our little bad apple friend up there!)

more goodness coming soon! and our fancypants site update is underway now — i can’t wait!

copacetic friend Colin Clary just sent word: The Smittens made a music video for the track “Gumdrops” off their latest release, The Coolest Thing About Love. There’s kitties, books, striped sweaters — who could ask for more?…

…Oh yeah, how about a fun, fun song? Thanks, Colin!

aww, missy kulik’s overjoyed raindrop plush was yesterday’s “product of the day” at design for mankind’s blog! hooray! the little raindrop sold immediately, but we have more adorable missy products coming up soon, so stay tuned!

Oh, Merge Records, how you amaze me… I’m so happy you’re still around, and that you continue to release even more awesome stuff to be amazed at… such as:

• Isn’t that the cutest pic of Kurt Wagner of Lambchop? He’s so adorable! I bet he’d cringe if he ever saw I wrote that! Lambchop have a new album coming out on October 7th (yes, 6 days before my birthday!) titled OH (ohio). You can read more about it here. And Kurt will be doing a solo tour later this year! Come back to KEXP, Kurt!

• She & Him have a music video debuting tomorrow night on MTV for “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” — one of my personal anthems of 2008. Read more about it here, and tune in tomorrow night around 8:00 pm EST. (Or, wait til it shows up on YouTube, like I intend to do.)

• And this is really more Fantagraphics news than Merge news, but Merge is sweet enough to host the book release party! That image above is the new Robert Pollard art book, Town of Mirrors! It’ll be available on August 6th, but is already sitting on my coffee table NOW! We’re all pretty darn excited.

chloe over at gleamingthings.com gave an awesome shout out to the lock and key collection by cold licorice available over at copacetique!

thanks chloe!!!

So, my dear friend Marie is in a band with her boyfriend called Bunny Nightlight, and they were recently approached by Cloudberry Records to release a new 7″…

BUT, Marie’s boyfriend doesn’t wanna.

So, please sign this petition for Marie, to show her guy that people DO want new music from Bunny Nightlight! Their music is truly adorable, go listen for yourself, but first, sign her petition!!!

copacetique’s very own art school dropout is one of the finalists of fred flare’s next big thing contest! jessee’s work has always been a favorite of our customers, so we couldn’t be more proud! (and ain’t she a cutie? that adorable bow barrette is in stock now at copacetique!)

Today is my best friend Jeremy’s birthday, so much to his chagrin, I am posting this picture of us about to head to prom back in 1994! I was just telling my-favorite-nine-year-old about our prom adventures the other day, and she could hardly believe me. We blew off the crappy prom dinner (fish or chicken?) and went to Taco Bell, still in our tux and gown. And then we headed down Jacksboro Hwy. to go play bingo with elderly people. My-favorite-nine-year-old thought this was especially hilarious, and we spent the rest of the car ride shouting:

“B9!”
“Eh, sonny, what was that again?”
“I said, B9!!!”
“Let me just turn up my hearing aid…”
“B9!!!!!!!”
“Be kind? Who’s being mean over there?”

And so on… yes, I have the sense of humor of a nine-year-old!

P.S. I’m very sorry about the pizza, Jeremy. The crepes will make up for it, I promise!

P.P.S. I was looking through old blog entries to see if I had ever shared this pic online before, and I came across an old entry with the sentence: “Last night, I dreamt that I was running with a pack of zombies who kept pressuring me to steal frozen TV dinners from my parents’ refrigerator.” Wow, Janice. Just, wow.

adorable accessories from truche are now 50% off at copacetique! each handmade piece is special and one-of-a-kind, crafted using a cool combination of vintage and modern pieces. come check ‘em out!

When Mike and I were in New York earlier this month, we came across the yummiest little vegan cafe, with a very dorky name: The V Spot Cafe in Brooklyn, right across from Southpaw (where we were heading to see Todd Barry, Eugene Mirman, Michael Showalter, and a buncha others).

Not only was the food super-yummy, but I loved sitting in the pretty back patio area, the prices were incredibly reasonable, and the staff was soooo sweet! I was trying to find the restroom at this place, and one of the waitstaff politely said, “Oh, someone’s in there right now. Would you like to take a seat while you wait?” — how nice!

Mike and I enjoyed it so much, we wanted to go back! But, alas. Someday! Check out more pics on my newly-updated Flickr, sure!

I am slowly, but surely, uploading pics from our recent trip to New York to my newly-upgraded Flickr account. Today’s spotlight pic comes from the APAK exhibit at Giant Robot. If it’s still up, you should definitely check it out — their work makes me so happy!

Check out more pics at Flickr. If you feel like it.

I got a new cell phone before Mike and I took off for our trip to New York earlier this month. It has a nifty little video feature, so I tested it out on the best subject ever: Ethel!

copacetique is blasting off with an awesome collection of retro-inspired pouches from brave moonman! the attention to detail is out of this world!

and copacetique could not be more thrilled to be carrying prints by artist mike lowery, aka the argyle academy! bunnies + japan = adorableness!

we’ve also got lovely new pieces from mingi in stock, so click on over and check ‘em out! so much awesomeness!