The Ben Esch Website

Hey readers,

Sorry for the lack of postings the last few days. I've been pretty busy with some stuff, and I feel like writing a list right now, so you better goddamn believe that a list of stuff I've been busy with is about to come up.

Stuff I've been busy with

1. Writing.

Yes, my actual job. I chunked through a tidy stack of pages (for me) last week, and I'm a polish or two away from sending my new book off to my editor.

2. Being sick.

Because chunking through a stack of pages comes at a cost. And that cost is puking a lot and having fever dreams. But, on the good news side, this left me with plenty of time to catch up on Top Chef Masters. Dang that is a fine program. Granted, it was kinda rough to watch the food stuff, you know, with all the vomiting I was doing and all, but other than that, those were some fine hours of entertainment.

3. SCBWI Conference. (author's note: that's Society for Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators, for those of you not hip to the acronyms)

Which was awesome. I'll do a bigger post about all the cool things that happened there in a few days, but it was a super fun time and I got to meet some really cool people.

Okay, so that's what has been going on with me, but now that I'm not writing as much or being as sick or going to any conferences for the next few weeks, I'll definitely have some more time for blogging. So, get ready for that.

MORE NEWS

I'm going to be talking at the Emerging Writer's Institute in Berkeley tommorow. So, if any of you out there happen to be an emerging writer, or just squatting in a classroom on the Berkeley campus over summer, you will most likely get to hear me talk about writing and stuff. So, that's gonna happen too.

Why I don't do yoga

08/04/2009

Note to readers: Okay, here is the part where I would usually apologize for being lazy and just posting a video as the entirety of my blog entry, but you know what? I’m not gonna do it. That video was so goddamn trippy, that I just don’t think any words from me is going to make that any more obvious. If anything, me writing about it would just make things worse.

So, I stand by that creepy yoga video. And I hope you support my artistic choice.

Note to readers #2: But seriously, how effed up was that creepy cow puppet talking about breathing? I mean, at first I thought there wasn’t going to be anything weirder than that old creepy dude in the leotard and the rasta chicken, but then BAM! Creepy cow puppet talking about breathing.

God I love the internet.

Note to readers #3: I got this video off filmdrunk. And that is a quality website.

Follow Douglas Coupland on Twitter

07/31/2009

Hey readers,

So, quite a few months ago, I recommended that you guys would like Douglas Coupland. But, seeing as the entirety of my blog readership at that point consisted of my immediate family, I thought it would be good for me to hit that point up again. You know, since my readership has gone up ever so slightly since then (author's note: thanks again for reading this. You guys are awesome.)

Here's the original post. Plus, if you click over, you get to see a picture of where I eat breakfast. If any of you guys are interested in that sort of thing.

Anyway, for those of you who are on twitter, I'm gonna recommend that you add Douglas Coupland on Twitter, and here are my reasons.

Reasons to add Douglas Coupland on Twitter

1. The guy wrote Generation X. Seriously. That whole concept came squarely from this dude's brain, and I believe that deserves our respect.

2. He only has like 7800 followers, and that is a goddamn travesty.

3. Following Neil Gaiman is totally played out at this point.

4. His tweets are funny and thought provoking. Much like his books. Bottom line: if it involves Douglas Coupland and words it is going to be funny and thought provoking.

And last, but certainly not least.

5. He linked to this super awesome chicken workout animation a few days ago.

Remember: www.twitter.com/DougCoupland You won't regret it.

So, I know I'm teetering on the edge of fanboyness here...

07/27/2009

6 Comments

But I had to show you guys one more thing by Jon Klassen. I didn't actually know this existed until a couple days ago, so I feel justified blogging about him twice.

Anyway, this here video is called "An Eye for Annai" and it is one of the most badass things I have seen all year. And yes, that includes the new Star Trek Movie, Up, and Ellen Page at the coffee shop (author's note: she is seriously tiny. Like, I'm pretty sure she could fit into a duffel bag and ship herself places if she didn't want to pay for a plane ticket.)

And the fine folks at youtube were kind enough to let me post this, so you don't even need to click anywhere to watch this. Just scroll down a skootch, and enjoy some super fine animation.

Now, did I lie about how effing cool that was? Goddamn I wish I could draw stuff.

You know, I've been thinking about art quite a bit the last few days, and I really think I want to start sharing some of the stuff that I dig that's out there. So, expect more of these "stuff you will likes" in the future. And I promise not all of them are going to be about Jon Klassen. Just some. A goodly bit of some, perhaps, but definitely not all.

6 Comments

Something you will like: the art of Jon Klassen

07/21/2009

There are some good parts about living in LA.

The Good Parts about LA

1. I saw the chick from Juno at a coffee shop once.
2. Walking distance to several taco trucks (true story 1: my favorite taco truck got fire bombed a couple weeks ago. True story 2: even fire bombings are not enough to keep me from my favorite taco truck).
3. I get to hang out with some really talented people.

I'm sure there are some other cool parts, but right now I want to focus on #3. Specifically, I want to talk about Jon Klassen.

Jon is a ridiculously talented artist and all around good guy. His website is here, and his blog is here and both chock full of some of the coolest art work you've ever seen. You know, I was kinda tempted to rip some of his artwork off his website and post it here so you have an idea of the depth of his artistic coolness, but stealing pictures kinda seemed like a jackass move on my part, so I didn't do it.

Anyway, I think the easy solution to this is for you to visit his website and give the stuff a look for yourself. Thanks. Here's the link again in case you missed it the first time.

And once you're done checking out his website, I want you guys to click on one more link for me. I know, I know, I'm asking for a lot of clicking out of you guys with this post, but this click is most definitely worth it.

Question: Why is it worth it to click on the next link?
Answer: Because Jon just made an animated video for U2.

Question: Effing U2?
Answer: Yes, effing U2.

The link to the video is here and it's a doozy. It looks cool and you are guaranteed to feel feelings when you watch it.

I wanted to post a youtube of the video here, but U2 won't let me embed it on my website for some reason or another, that probably involves money and lawyers and probably makes a lot of sense.

Either way, please give the video and the rest of Jon's stuff a looksie. You'll be glad that you did.

In which I continue to defend Carrot Top

07/16/2009

Hey readers,

Just so you know, celebrities that get on soap boxes and talk about issues have always kind of pissed me off for some reason. I'm not sure why. Like, I understand that thinking about Darfur and electric cars and stuff is important, but as soon as George Clooney or Leo or somebody equally handsome starts talking about it, I immediately tune out. And I like George Clooney. A lot. Some might say that I like George Clooney to a "verging on uncomfortable" extent. That's how much I like George Clooney.

Anyway, now that we have that covered, I'm gonna get on a soap box and talk about an issue. I feel pretty okay about this for a couple of reasons:

Reasons why I feel comfortable in my hypocrisy

1. I'm not a celebrity.

Cool. Okay, so let me get down to the nitty gritty of the issue:

The issue: people have got to leave Carrot Top alone.

Don't ge me wrong, I used to hate on Carrot Top just as much as everybody else. I hated those goddamn ATT commercials or whatever that he did back in the 90s and yes, his recent physical changes have been a bit, uhh...unsettling.

But lets not let that distract us from the most important factor here: dude is just a comedian. Sure, he's a prop comic, and a ginger, and he looks like he just got stung by a thousand bees and all that stuff makes him a pretty easy target, but ultimately, he just wants to make people laugh.

And I'll be damned if that man isn't succesful.

Exhibit A:

And not only is he funny, the man also has feelings. Giant, muscle bound, gingery feelings.

So the next time you hear somebody make fun of Carrot Top, I want you to think long and hard before you laugh. Because that man is a person. A person who wants to make our lives better through the gift of humor. A person that could probably rip off a heckler's nose if he felt like it, but decided to make jokes about tennis rackets and toilet seats instead.

And I believe that deserves our respect.

I'm posting a good review. Because I have low self esteem.

07/13/2009

Hey readers,

The title pretty much sums up the tone of this particular blog pretty well, but let me spell it out in a bit more detail.

Longtime blog reader, proud Canadian, and overall good person Monica posted a super duper positive review of Sophomore Undercover on her blog the other day. The link to the review is here. Please give it a looksie.

Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering why I never link to any of my reviews that aren't super duper positive, and I have an easy answer for that.

The negative reviews hurt my feelings.

And as long as we're on the subject of bad reviews and hurt feelings, let me throw a little preview of an upcoming blog topic at you guys.

I don't care who you are or what you say, Carrot Top is goddamn hilarious.

Writing tips from Ben #5ish: Don't question the muse

07/06/2009

Hey readers,

So, I know it's been a while since I've put up any writing tips, and there's a pretty important reason for that: I basically have no idea what the hell I'm doing.

But, taking a step back from that for a second, I would like to share with you guys one of my more important lessons of writing:

Don't question the muse.

There are things that are going to inspire you to write. It's not your job to judge them, it's not your job to choose them, pretty much the only thing you can do is pay attention to what they are and make sure that you are surrounded by them when it's time to get creative.

This has meant different things for me:

Things that poke my muse

Ratatat
toothpicks
Diet Root Beer
french vanilla Coffee Mate

But over the last few days, something has poked my muse harder than all of that stuff.

Author's note: this next bit might hurt my street rep a little.

Yes, that is Swedish disco supergroup ABBA.

And yes, I have been listening to them pretty much non-stop while writing the past few weeks.

And yes, this raises a number of unsettling personal truths.

But I'm going to ignore all that, and do you know why? Because it helps me write, and if there's something that inspires you, and it's legal in your county and it doesn't bother the livestock, then I say keep on doing it.

Even if that means listening to ABBA for several hours a day.