The year I was born, there was no such thing as Sesame Street, none of the icons we have grown to love existed. When I was four, Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, Kermit, Cookie Monster, and Oscar (who was originally orange) came into my living room and taught me about letters, sounds, numbers, and being kind to others. That last part didn’t stick as well as the numbers and letters, but it shows up every once in a while. Sesame Street and Jim Henson’s muppets have always been a part of my life, from that moment on. Every once in while I’ll catch an episode in passing- OK, Mr. Hooper isn’t around, Mr. Snuffleupagus isn’t imaginary anymore, and Cookie Monster? Let’s not even go there, but it’s still some great stuff for kids to learn the basics at a really young age. Oh and if you are counting, this is the 313th MINIon this year. Let’s count them shall we? One, one MINIon. Two, two MINIons. Three, three Minions Ha, ha, ha… Four, four glorious MINIons! Five…
Also today is my mom’s birthday so if you see her around wish a happy birthday- How old is she? Let’s just say older than me, and I’m older than dirt. You See Sesame Street taught me to be polite and not ask questions like that.
At some point in time it had to happen. Somewhere during this epic journey full of monkeys you knew it was unavoidable, I would draw a “flying monkey” (not with a jet pack, I’ve already done that once, or twice).
I remember watching “The Wizard of Oz” with “i’ll get you my pretty…” as a kid. I remember Disney’s attempt to “Return to Oz”. That film actually got me to go back and actually READ (on paper) A few books in the series. Did you know that the books don’t have any song lyrics in them? Shocking I know.
Now While I still like imagining it all on my own, Eric Shanower & Skottie Young’s graphic novel adaptation (that I read as comic books) is faithful to the original source material and a wonderful read. Then again, Skottie Young’s drawing style is one of my favorites. In fact At C2E2 years ago I actually got there early enough to request that he sketch an flying monkey for me. His is much more artistic than mine, and well worth whatever I paid for it… which I don’t recall fortunately.
I was fortunate enough when I first visited Europe (in my late 30’s) to wander through Strasbourg and into the art museum. It was there I saw a drawing that impressed me, and made me laugh. The illustration was for a French edition of Don Quixote in the mid-1800’s, It was by Gustave Doré a local boy who went off into the big city to find fame & fortune, or something like that. the print made such an impression on me, that I hunt it down on the Interwebs every once in a while… Did you know Don Quixote was supposedly 50 when he started on his great quest. More on that in the weeks to come. 
