It's corn pudding and Tony Danza time ...
Woman on the F train in a striped sweater
Thinking about all the things that make her life better
Like comic books & eyeliner & people who have met her
(You'll hear about a few of 'em in this week's newsletter)
Hi there! Once again, I'm noodling around with this email format, because all I want is for you to read TO THE END with passion and curiosity. Hope that's OK, and I hope you're healthy 'n' happy.
I love these: Comics by DEREK MARKS!
Derek Marks is a cartoonist after my own heart: His series Grace, Jerry, Jessica & Me follows his (mostly) fictional adventures with eternal legends Grace Jones, Jerry Hall and Jessica Lange. He has written comics based on MTV's 120 Minutes, and his diary comics are sexy and funny and burst with pop culture (like this one with Enya).
See previews of Derek's work and, more importantly, BUY IT at derekmarks.net. (Small, friendly warning: Some are sexually explicit, so you may not wanna click in your cubicle.)
OTHER THINGS I'M INTO: Last weekend I attended a long-running arty party in Bushwick called Rubulad, where I attempted to sketch a topless woman, told a young punk band I'd like to cook them waffles and danced 'til my arthritis kicked in ... I'm finally binging Schitt's Creek on Netflix, and Catherine O'Hara's wigs give me energy ... I started reading Sylvia Nickerson's Creation, and the first five pages got me all emotional in a bookstore.
WHAT YOU RECOMMEND: Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories on Netflix (via Brad) ... The Watchmen soundtrack on YouTube (via Dean) ... The song "There's A Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls)" by Blossoms (via Herman) ... This recent Peter Buck interview (via Joey).
(p.s. Big thanks to Nancy for complimenting my punctuation skills! This thrills me to no end.)
5 Times Tony Danza has played a guy named "Tony":
1. Taxi (Tony Banta, 114 episodes)
2. Who's the Boss? (Tony Micelli, 196 episodes)
3. Hudson Street (Tony Canetti, 22 episodes)
4. The Tony Danza Show (Tony DiMeo, 14 episodes)
5. The Good Cop (Tony Caruso, 10 episodes)
Tony tally = That's 356 TV episodes of Tony as Tony.
Meta-Tony: Danza has been a presenter at the Tony Awards twice.
And close but no Tony: In the 1980 TV movie Murder Can Hurt You, Danza played a guy named ... Pony.
Stuff I wanna do next week:
1. Splurge on tickets to American Utopia;
2. Listen to Peter Buck's playlist on Apple Music;
3. Binge Dolly Parton's America;
4. See Varda by Agnès, the new doc from the late, great Agnès Varda; and
5. Make my grandmother's corn pudding (recipe here).
I won't say it (if you won't say it first),
How's my driving? Please get in touch via email (whitmath@gmail.com), text/voicemail (929-515-1988) or by gazing at the moon and whispering Phyllis Diller's name six times.
Your knobby-kneed pen pal,
Merle Norman*
*Did you know Merle was a real person? Born in 1887, she's credited with originating the "before-and-after makeover." FACTS.
I've been posting lots of stuff on Patreon lately, including exclusive audio and weird little comics. Thanks to all of you supporters! (You can join the mix for as little as $2/month.)