Back!

Well, I am back from Vegas... or sort of Vegas. The hotel was about as far from the strip as you could get and still be in Nevada! This was the first time I've ever been a nominee so it was exciting to attend and have the extra bit on my name tag!

 Alas, I did not win. Mark Parisi, who is the chapter head of the NE Chapter of the NCS and a friend, won. He was very nice in mentioning me and Wiley Miller in his acceptance. Too bad I didn't know he'd won ahead of time... I could have paid off some stewardesses to accidentally leave the exit door open!

But for me, the nomination was a huge acknowledgement of my work (and submission package) from my peers, the peers being the Canadian Chapter of the National Cartoonist Society. So a Big SHOUT OUT to Canada! The panel that was nominated was "Smile" which has been running in the Rochester Times for 16 years or so. It was syndicated in 1995 and the title became "Fair Game" but is still running as "Smile" in the Rochester Times. See below for some examples:

It is also huge in that not many women have ever been nominated or won in the Newspaper Panel division.

It was most fabulous to get to hang out with two of my favorite cartooning girlfriends, the beautiful and fun (and hilarious!) Benita Epstein who is the Friday Chick and the lovely Isabella Bannerman, the Monday Chick!                                           

This is how we roll in Vegas. Chix getting ready to hit the town. (Actually, no town hitting was done due to expensive cab fare!) (Thanks to Benita for the technicolor pic)

Swinging cartoonists hanging out in the el Green Valley Ranch hipster lounge.(Yes, girls, it is I with cartoondoms # 1 cool guy Roy Doty). Below, John regales Roy's lady friend, Nancy, with stories about the darkside of the newspaper biz plus gardening. (Thanks to Isy for these wonderfully lurid photos!)

 

Night of the Reubens. Very exciting to see my work on display with all the other nominees.

That's the dapper Mr. Chris Sparks on the right!

At the cocktail party with Mark and Wiley. This is the before picture.

And... after the awards. Hmmm... Mark looks a little TOO happy!

Well... there is always NEXT year.

I had lots of people wishing me luck so thanks to everyone who did, it meant a lot. See you all in Pittsburgh!