Pen-Elayne on the Web

From the Mailbag In-Box

I ought to pass along more of my e-mail news, but I still seem to have a disconnect between e-mailing and blogging, and usually keep them separate (one major reason I prefer comments sections, they keep everything in one place so to speak). First off, the latest news on Dave Cockrum via Mercy Van Vleck:

Yesterday I went to see Dave Cockrum at the VA (Very un-Appetizing) Horsepital.

Dave just continues to amaze me with his recovery process.

He was sitting up! Not eating the very expired spinach on his dinner plate, and on the phone as I entered the room around 5:00. I had brought him some chili from the local diner and tho it wuz a little spicy for his taste, he did luv the flavor. The hospital food is always microwaved... they beat the taste out of the molecules and meat is as leather. Dave would love to have a hot dog! Gee, he's only a couple a subway stops from Yankee Stadium?

Paty [Dave's wife] had sent a chocolate treat that Dave enjoyed and there was most of it still in the drawer to savor later. He's really working hard on his recovery, getting into his chair and going to physical therapy and doing exercises. I sat in the chair and it's very maneuverable in some ways and other ways it's stubborn as a mule. Takes some figuring to wheel it right. I asked Dave if this is how Professor X started out? The chair is flat with very little cushion. Really tough on the derrière. Government cost-cutting in action? I'll have to look into getting him a wheelchair seat cushion? Medical supply place?

[In a previous e-mail, Mercy had mentioned: There's a man in Dave's room who's blind and diabetic and he screams out; "I WANT A SNACK!" All - The - Time. Day and night. The staff says if they give him a snack he'll yell again in five minutes for more food. He has an eating disorder. He's been there 20 years. I don't think all of the staff knows he's blind. I'm guessing it's probably because they refer to him as the screamer in room 10, not the blind patient in room 10.]

The screamer in 10A was exhausted tonight after dialysis treatments, but joined right in on several conversations about Dave's new home in South Carolina.

Dave said they moved to South Carolina so they'd never have to survive another Catskill Mountains winter in the bitter mountains north of New York, and here he is in the VA Horsepital in da Bronx!! I reminded him that he's warm and dry inside and not stuck out there in a snowbank. Dave suggested to the nurse that maybe they could lose Mr. 10A in the snow outside, and I added that the snow had mostly melted and there's hardly enough left to bury him in. She laughed out loud as she went to bring him back in.

At least Paty doesn't have to shovel snow! She's just wrasslin' alligators and parrrots in South Carolina. 'Bout two hours from Atlanta, Georgia.

Dave and I talked about intelligent parrots...

Some Med students came in today to learn how to write up Patients, and Dave told them he drew the X-Men, and two of the guys, their eyes got SO wide! I had to ask Dave to repeat that, for at a crucial moment, the screamer yells - CAN I HAVE A SNACK! And I couldn't hear. This was ten minutes after 10A had eaten dinner and threw stuff all over the floor.

I went out to the desk to see if I could get ice, and there was a package in the "in mail" bin that said Cockrum on it, so I asked if I could give it to Dave and after 57 I-don't-knows I just took it. It was a package of cards for Dave! There were all kinds of addresses on the letters, but they did get to him. He really loved opening each letter, reading the notes, and checking out the drawings of Nightcrawler. There was a beautiful color photo shot of Dave's drawing of Shadow Lass from Legion comics, and Dave said he designed the flight ring that DC used for years and made into the collectable ring Diamond distributed. The Nurses are amazed at all the cards he gets, a lot of the guys there are forgotten and there are few visitors, so Dave really likes getting those letters, kids!

He's actually in bed D in room 10, and I saw the letter D over his space and thot oh, yeah, D for Dave, but then C would be good too... BUT he's in room 10 and the letter D, is the letter that he is (Python voice). Dave and Paty have lived with reptiles and amphibians for years, I remember his pal Spiro T. Agnewt from the 70's, whom he drew back then with a nekked tiny lady riding through the water on a saddled and bridled newt and he told some amazing stories about living with snakes. With the 11 foot boa, you never go to feed or do stuff with the snake alone, always take a partner.

They installed new Pepsi machines at the horsepital, They are not turned on. No cold diet soda for Dave and it's Pepsi anyway! Bleah! There doesn't seem to be a gift shop, or anywhere to get a cold pop. You have to call the nurse to get ice, and I hate to bother them with "hotel maid" stuff. Sheesh.

If you want to send cards, Dave's address is Extended Care Nursing Home, NA1A, Bronx Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Floor 1A, Room 10D, 130 W. Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468. His phone is 718-741-4303, and visiting hours at the center are 10 AM to 8 PM. If I'm well enough on Saturday I'm hoping to visit Dave again, but I want to make sure every bit of this lingering bug (including the accompanying muscle pain and exhaustion) has gone from me first...

Also got word from Lawrence Klein that the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) is moving to a new venue, and they're having a housewarming/fundraising party in a couple weeks to celebrate. Robin and I hope to be there (again, health and weather permitting!). Details here. It's a pretty good deal, the admission price gets you a free pass ($15 value) to ArtExpo New York at the Javits Center the following weekend. And hey, go wrong with Dean & DeLuca right near MoCCA's new space... I'm sure much talk at the party will be of the Harvey Awards presentation at this year's MoCCA Art Fest, particularly as the keynote speaker will be Neil Gaiman.

In addition, I've recently been contacted by an old friend and fellow zinester from my INSIDE JOKE days, who happens to have a blog of his own, so please welcome Trevor Blake to the blogroll! Yet another bit of proof that those of us who were doing this sort of thing 20 years ago are still doing it only with different tools...

Lastly, Cat Simril Ishikawa reminds me that his radio play Red Shift (on which Robin and I have brief roles) is now available for download online here. Speaking of which, I'm late for Firesign Chat!