Ex-Sassy Columnist Moves Forward

Trawling the web for suitable blog material, I discovered that my acquaintance Marjorie Ingall has a column at the Forward. Poking around the archives turned up at least one article with a book bent: an appreciation of Free to Be... You and Me.

I was oblivious to most of the heavy-handed messages about bias and liberation. I liked the bouncy tunes and humor of the album and the super-cool graphic design and humor of the book. I did sometimes know there was a didactic intent I was not getting; both of Dan Greenburg's contributions — a poem about sartorial conformity and another about the perils of assuming that certain jobs are for certain genders — annoyed the living daylights out of me. "Don't dress your cat in an apron/just 'cause he's learning to bake"? Uh, why not? Boy kitties like to get flour on their clothes? I didn't get it.

Also found a swell Ben Katchor page, which is always a good thing. I keep forgetting to make the time to look for my favorite cartoonists, and Katchor is definitely one. Want to know another? Sure you do!