newyorkette

(Click on the goat above, and then on the blue “view calendar pages” link, or here, to see each month’s animal.)

For those that haven’t taken advantage of my “Get someone’s goat” heifer.org offer, there’s the “Critter Calendar,” which contains an animal drawing per month, taken from my heifer.org collection. Some of these drawings are no longer available as originals, having been given away as part of the offer, so this is your chance to have them as a print. Only $17.00 each, two dollars (the profit after cafepress.com’s production fee), will go to heifer.org as a donation before January 1st. I hope to sell enough of them to at least buy a goat for $120.

Personally, I have already bought a goat in my parents name for Christmas, as have a friend or two. I highly recommend this charity—you have probably already received their catalogue in the mail. Check it out!

Click on the pic to see the winning caption. (I don’t choose the winner, in case anyone wants to ask me about it—I leave that to the New Yorker!)

I haven’t done a T41 in a while! Well, here’s one. More TK.

Inakaya:
A fancy Japanese place on 40th street, right next door to The New York Times building. I’ve had numerous occasions to treat myself to a seat at what looks like a sushi bar, but it’s since it’s not all sushi, I’m not sure what to call it. Maybe a robata/sushi bar?  In any case, it’s great to sit there, because sometimes you can catch a frozen but still living crab fidget a little in it’s grave of crushed ice, which is kind of creepy and neat, like watching the end of a thriller about crabs. But it’s also fun because the guys preparing your food will pass your robata orders to you on a long wooden serving paddle, while yelling something purportedly uplifting. Every time they do something there, they yell something out in Japanese, and everyone on the staff joins in. You walk in, they yell, you sit down, they yell, it’s kind of like letting hapy people in a Japanese boot camp serve you. It’s amusing when you get up to use the toilet and they yell something, which I’m sure only happens when they think you’re leaving. (I don’t think they’re saying, “enjoy the super high-tech wand-washing fountain toilet with the heated seat and automatic hiney-dryer.” But they might be. Yes, by all means use that toilet! You’ll be in there all day marveling at the technology.

You’re wondering what robata is? It’s Japanese BBQ. I really like the sweet potato robata, but the okra is also delicious, not gooey at all. My favorite thing to have for lunch is the chirashi sushi lunch special, $18, which comes with soup or salad. I always get the miso soup, which is rich and delicious. If I’m hungrier than usual, I’ll order a side of robata. I’ve also had the bento boxes, which are copious and delicious, but a little more expensive. The cheapest one is still plenty filling.

Inakaya is pricey, but worth it. They do have lunch specials, which are in the high but reasonable range if you’re looking for something extra-special, as well as someplace a little quieter than the rest of the places midtown. I once met a friend there for drinks and sat at the bar for quite a while alone while she was delayed, and felt very comfortable with my little wooden box of saké, and some robata. It’s definitely a place where you can feel at home alone.

That’s a picture of me above at Happy Hour, where they pound “mochi” and let the guests participate. They also share the pounded mochi amongst all the guests present. Full disclosure: I was not alone when I did the pounding (I don’t drink alone at Happy Hour!), but I go there for lunch mostly alone.
Inakaya: 620 Eighth Avenue (Aka: 231 West 40th Street), New York, NY 10018
(212) 354-2195

It’s having a cartoon in the “Cartoon Issue” of The New Yorker!

On a sadder note, Leo Cullum, one of the great New Yorker cartoonists, passed away this weekend. He was a true gent, a swell guy, and a brilliant cartoonist, and I’ll be sad not to see him around anymore. Links to articles on his life and his passing here, and here.

I did this little strip to help promote Adam Wade’s wonderful, exquisitely funny show. Go see it, you’ll laugh a LOT. He is a sixteen-time Moth storytelling slam winner, and was my teacher this summer at the Magnet Theater. After seeing him, you might want to take a class with him yourself.

This weekend on Studio 360’s “Aha moment” segment you’ll hear me! I’m being interviewed about my own “Aha!” moment. The work of art was the movie “Holiday,” with Cary Grant as Johnny Chase, the idealistic young man who wants to “retire young, work old.”

I’m very grateful to Britta Conroy-Randall and Jenny Lawton at Studio 360 for patiently helping me remember not to bump the microphone, not trip over my words, and not repeat myself unless requested to. One little correction to the intro, the discussion with my dad happened when I was a really little girl of about 8, not when I was a teenager!

Click here for the interview.

illustration by carolita johnson

Here’s the latest of my cartoons in The New Yorker magazine. They’re both cartoons I drew a while ago, which may be evident from the drawing style. Sometimes a cartoon waits a little while before being published, for no particular reason other than that there are a lot of cartoons waiting to be published, so someone has to wait a while. It’s nice to see cartoons I forgot about! Much better than getting them back in a “kill” envelope.

and:

In case you’re wondering why clicking on one cartoon links to the New Yorker’s website, and the other links to the cartoonbank, the older cartoons are no longer accessible to me on the magazine’s website, so I have to link to the cartoonbank instead.

I try to avoid the topical, but sometimes I come across something that’s too good to keep under my hat.

www.thedailyshow.com

Forgot to post this cartoon, which appeared in the August 2, 2010 issue:

(That’s what I always think when they say the wedding vows!)

PS!! I have started a new website (as opposed to this blog) because my old one (carolita.org) is too hard to update, unfortunately, and gave me too many headaches and heartaches. My new website can be seen by clicking HERE.

I just realized I never put a link up to this article, written about me and my good man and fellow cartoonist Michael Crawford. I guess I just figured the New York Times was coverage enough!  Anyway, here it is: Where Punchlines Pay The Rent. And no, there’s no audio of me playing the banjo badly! Phew!

I re-post this every year for Father’s Day. Click here!

I’ve added lots of new items to my newyorkette storefront at cafepress.com! Check it out. Animals from my heifer.org giveaway repertoire, and new items like aprons and travel mugs…

It’s June, which means wedding season. Here’s my cartoon from last week’s The New Yorker, on the subject of proposals.

Go see it, it was GREAT! Here’s some drawings I did in the dark from the seat that was so kindly given to me by a friend who couldn’t make it.

Fort Tryon Park:

This is the blizzard view of the GW Bridge.

UPDATE: Fort Tryon Park, at night.

Hey, lady, there’s three giant dames standing behind you trying to give you sound advice, but you’re feeling so sorry for yourself that you’re going to settle for Bacchus on the rebound.

But seriously, if you can make it to the Met for “Ariadne auf Naxos,” by all means go see it. It’s a beauty. And Kathleen Kim’s Zerbinetta gives a way better performance than Nina Stimm’s Ariadne. She’ll make you laugh, just like she promised, and Ariadne will put you to sleep a little (just like Zerbinetta promised, too). I very much disagree with the Times’ review, particularly on the subject of Kathleen Kim and Sarah Connolly, who as far as I could hear, both outshone Nina Stimm that night. I wonder if my ears aren’t cultivated enough anymore from not hearing enough opera lately to appreciate Stimm. And if so, I don’t see what’s wrong with it. Maybe opera singers should appeal to less cultivated ears a little more.

It was gone by midday. It must have had a sell by date like the fresh organic chicken I ordered from Fresh Direct. The one that said sell by [the day I received it].

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