"Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be"
except when it's a really good idea


So a former co-worker friend of mine...let's call him Sass-Man, has a feature on his well-appointed and very well maintained blog known as Friday Photo in which he posts a particular photo he's taken which strikes his fancy. He then includes a link to his online gallery in case the reader's appetite has been whetted enough to want to view more from said album.


It's a great idea. So great....I think I'm going to steal it. Not so much "steal" it as borrow it...pay homage to his creative genius by, by...pinching it. Before I pilfer his notion and make it my own, let me tell you a little about my friend as way of clearing my conscience.


S-Man is a graphic artist with whom I worked for many years at the Big K, until ten years ago when he decided he'd had enough of the best of the worst of local TV. At the age of 43, when most of us have re-evaluated our career choice only to surrender--beaten, a hollow echo remaining where our hopes and aspirations lived--to life's dominant paradigm, Sass quit his job, cashed in his 401K, bravely proclaimed "the future is NOW" and headed west to find comfort under the warm San Diego sun.


Jesus! Who the hell does that? Seriously. Who the hell has balls like that? What a tremendous thing to do. That's the kind of shit you do when you're 22 and bolstered by the courage of youth and naivety that life's going to roll the way you've mapped it out.


Prior to his departure, Sass filled his creative void by self publishing his own comic, Innocent Bystander. It's a lovely collection of personal stories and observations filled with warmth, wit and nostalgia. The comic is no more, but I think there are seven or eight back issues available. Geo and I are lucky to have an entire set. Thanks! A long-time lover of comics, S-Man came to fall in love with San Diego from his numerous trips to the Mecca of the comic world--Comic Con.


After a brief stint back in the quagmire of local TV (San Diego style), he sweet-talked his way into a position at his dream company, the much ballyhooed Comic Con. I suppose his persistence along with his enormous creative talents had a little something to do with it. Since he's been there, attendance has sky-rocketed establishing Comic Con as the ultimate stop for Hollywood honchos as well as comic book royalty. For the first time Entertainment Weekly devoted almost its entire August issue to the event. Plus there are postings of popular panel discussions with the cast of shows like Chuck (a terrific show suffering from low ratings--watch it Mondays @ 8pm on NBC) on NBC's web.


The convention's meteoric rise in popularity after Sass's arrival could just be coincidence, but I like to think his passion and tremendous east-coast work ethic had a little something to do with it. I'm so proud of him. It took him a while, but he found his home. He's finally...happy. Kudos to you, my friend.


Let this be a lesson to every one of us. We should all grow a set, say f*ck it and go find what makes life worth living. The future is NOW, Baby!