Short Run small press fest forever!

OH MAN! Okay so, okay okay okay! SHORT RUUUUUN! Okay, I don't know how best to cover how I felt about Short run 2013 aside from a highlights of my experience at the fest! So here goes! Okay so these are NOT in any order aside from " my memory at this moment" order. I was inebriated for the 2nd half of the fest & for the 1st half I was in performance anxiety mode where I was cycling through my Witchlords performance piece in my mind until I did it! So the memories keep flooding back but they were fuzzy for a while.

okay!
Highlights of my favorite moments (if you get bored I apologize, this is a little cathartic)

- Talking to Vita (one of my hosts & friend) about the magic of Laurie Anderson & my aspirations to be her in every way. This was super refreshing during a predominantly comics show.

-Megan Kelso giving me a very thoughtful rundown on my drawings & stippling that was so elating I cant stop thinking about it. I had begun a disillusionment with cartoonist thinking at all & Megan made me feel like they do again.

-Working with Janice Headley as my stage manager for my performance piece & racing around looking for fun objects to eat cereal out of! SHE DID SO GOOD!

-Emily Nilsson as James Murphy in my performance giving me inspirational advice.

-Showing mega pal Elysia Avery Nason a chill tucked away hiding spot in the festival to calm festival anxiety and having Elysia style rad conversations about the world. Such a tiny Saraswati!

-Finally Getting a contributor copy of NO ME published by Jason T. Miles. It's so fucking gorgeous & I am so flattered & proud to be within its pages alongside such brilliant people as Gerald Jablonski. I am also a huge fan of Jason's LOVE WINS & I was so happy I got a copy of the newest issue dedicated to Kim Thompson.

-Leaping on & Riding Jesse Mcmanus's back  all over the dance floor when he tried to destroy the conga line with reckless moshing.

- Darin Shuler's incredible & infectious smile when I handed him contributor's copies of the Gridlords anthology he is in.

-The way I felt when I saw the muppet-like presence of PONY TIME when they started playing their classic rock vibes at the Comics Prom.

-Seeing Lisa Mangum & Andrice Arp, the 2 tallest & most powerful ladies I know, being seat buddies in the audience during my performance.

-Max Clottfelter getting all choked up when I got copies of his Short Run anthology and expressing gratitude over my inclusion of he & his friend's incredible comic in the Gridlords Otherworlds Anthology.

-Meeting J.T. Dockery's bottle before meeting Dockery himself & getting dragged away from it into a vehicle as soon as our eyes met.

- Kelly Froh pulling me aside when I was loading in my performance gear and telling me that I had to "suck down a Capri sun with her fast & now" and I had to "suck it really hard".  I rose to the occasion and sucked it with all my might assuming that Short Run's success was riding on this new ritual in the making.

-Eroyn Franklin rushing up to me with rosy smile and saying "Sean Christensen I have to go downstairs RIGHT NOW but when I come back I HAVE to dance with you".

- Theo Ellsworth & I getting nuts on the dance floor with Tim Miller and then Theo & I promptly Raising Tim into the air like the beautiful party host he was!

-Starting a conga line by grabbing Tim Millers hips and throwing Theo on mine & Eroyn on the front and snaking our way as we grew en masse over the whole dance floor into an explosive frenzy!!!

- Theo & I Getting Kazimir Strzepek, Tim Miller & Max Clottfelter to get nuts on the dance floor in a circle which Max & I then joyously began darting through each others legs narrowly escaping destruction of each others ovaries to which they are homologous.

-Taking reasonably sober Prom photo's with most of my favorite doods and feeling so strong. Then hours later photo bombing happy couples prom photos with Theo & I darting into there photo's with Marsuplala eyeball balloons strapped to us. Then THEN mob photo boothing with maybe like every friend in there (practically everyone!). So BEAUTIFUL!


-Lillie Craw telling me the whole synopsis of her new release called "My Bitch friend" which is totally about one of MY friends.

-That previously said friend (Suzette Smith) rushing up & throwing her stunning new comic edition at me that I secretly was anxiously awaiting, along with a delightful peanut butter cup:) Did I ever get a copy of my new thang to her? Man Im a dick! well, my work is not worthy of her awesome mind.

-Seeing old friend Pam Cameron Snyder & her telling me that during my performance she "made a new friend in the audience! Maybe for life, Maybe more!"

-At comics Prom coming across warning signs not to "sit on the balcony" and making their trim garnish into googley faces! Then Reid Psaltis pointing out they looked like Uteruses and me promptly turning them into smiley Uteruses! Then Reid saying "you're welcome for that" when he saw how pleased I was with the outcome.

-Suzette Smith looking so pleased with herself & so confident & happy again when I found her at the pre party after texting with her, bummed that we were bolt bussing at different times the same morning.

-Elysia & emily improv acting in my performance piece. Emily being both james Murphy & herself & Elysia playing "my sis" just was SO natural. I felt great & humbled in there presence.

-sleeping on an Air mattress in a tiny room with my best dood Theo & imagining our intertwined dreaming session.

-All my friends giving me Bananas at the festival. A great source of potassium and a re-animator of serotonin!

-Selling more of my buddy & Gridlords hand Graham Kahlers books then ever.

-Tim Miller telling Theo & I that we made all of his comics prom dreams come true & truly gave him a special night!

-Post festival getting Ethiopian food in Seattle's rich ethiopian universe at the kiddy table amongst so many of my favorite people all at once. Then realizing how lucky I am that I get to do almost the same thing weekly back home.

-Post festival hangover fixed with an (unusual for me) Steak & eggs massive breakfast. Then in a beatiful haze being hypnotized by Stefan Gruber's hugs & Vita's dance as Theo, Andrice & I worked on an animated project.

Post festival day of making a heap of collaborative art & starting what we proclaimed to be "the comic we repeatedly make for the rest of our lives" invented by Andrice Arp. We now have 3 strong & I cant wait to meditate with it more!


Regrets

- Nobody filming or photographing the performances again
which I think went like this?

& This


-Not selling enough of my books after my bag broke in multiple ways on my trip up to Seattle.

- Not getting Jesse McMannus's new books.

-Not getting to spend enough quality time with Kelly Froh, Eroyn Franklin, Max Clottfelter & Tim Miller this year.

-Elysia, Wally, Lillie, Asher, Tim Goodyear, Not being able to be at comics prom. You doods were missed.

I cant wait for next year! Each Year it gets more exciting, more fun, and more encompassing of the multimedia art universe that Short Run publications revolve around. Absolute magic by 3 magical organizers! PURE BLISS!