We Honor You, Star Wars Girl Katie Goldman

Today my blog honors Katie Goldman, aka Star Wars Girl.

As I told my gay friends and followers on the day we all wore purple to honor them, the bullying that occurs over our differences needs to STOP. NOW. Like Katie, my wife is also adopted. My wife is a geek. I’ve felt the wrath of being different as a kid – I was the painfully shy military brat moving all of the time…always the nerdy new kid in school, drawing comics silently in the back of the classroom, hoping no one would call attention to me. You might say we both identify with Katie’s plight. Denise was the one who brought it to my attention through a Facebook posting from ACME DESIGN.

We need to start celebrating our differences instead of clamoring to be the same. The Me, Too-ism Movement is clearly alive and well. Why else would women be financially challenging themselves just to wear the same overpriced designer brand purses, shoes, jewelry, sunglasses, etc. Why are men driven to buy luxury brand cars when the mechanical performance is often sub-standard? We’re all caught up in this endless cycle of sameness and trying to come off as too cool for school. I just don’t find it terribly interesting…or relevant.

I find individualism interesting. I find Katie’s bravery interesting.

Most of those “cool” celebs that everyone wants to be like? I’ve met more than my share. I’m usually disappointed. Leonardo DiCaprio sneered at me and wouldn’t stop smoking in a NYC elevator when I asked him. John Leguizamo talked shit about me–right in front of me–at the Telluride Film Festival. It turns out, he has some weird prejudice against sitting next to portly gents like myself. Dennis Miller is one of the few celebs who actually exceeded my expectations. He’s a class act. And he’s also a geek like me. Like us.

Today CNN.com picked up Katie’s story, but those of us in the know within the geek/nerd culture and Star Wars community have been following it online for at least 10 days or more. I think it’s very cool that  Star Wars: Clone Wars Padme Amidala voice actress Catherine Taber and  Her Universe.com founder and Ahsohka Tano character Ashley Eckstein took up the cause and very publicly showed Katie (and her parents) that Katie’s not alone.  Catherine’s online participation was the Tipping Point in giving Katie the credibility and social media support to thumb her nose at those know-nothing naysayers.

Apparently Katie’s classmates haven’t realized yet what every major movie studio knows, as they show previews at San Diego Comic-Con:  Geeks are the world’s taste makers. Geeks RULE.

So… all of those haters out there had better be nice to us or else their TV, videogame, book and movie options are going to suck. As for me and my house, we’ll be wearing Star Wars gear on December 10th to honor Star Wars Girl Katie Goldman. If you wear some, shoot me your photo and I’ll post it here on my blog.

Thanks for reading,

Dave.

 

Dave Dorman Announcement: FINAL CHAPTER IN CRIMSON EMPIRE is a GO!

Dear Friends,

For some of you, the moment you’ve been patiently awaiting has arrived – I will be doing CRIMSON EMPIRE for Dark Horse, finishing out the series, with 6 covers. I discovered this at Star Wars Celebration 5, as I was surprised by “Pith Lord” Randy Stradley, who sneaked up on me (literally) and surprised me with this wonderful news. I can’t tell you how eager I am to do this project. I’ve been asked about finishing Crimson Empire thousands of times, and I’m so glad I finally have good news to share.

Before I forget, big news: I’m on CNN.com right now. Here’s the link: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-482375

My friend Josh Estrin (who wrote the CNN piece) runs Celebbuzz (smack-free interviews with celebs) and I like his stance, as there’s just too much negativity in this world and he keeps his interviews devoid of it. Check him out. He also writes for Examiner.com.

In other PR news, Sirius Satellite Radio had a channel dedicated solely to Star Wars Celebration 5 for 4 days. I believe it was Channel 180. I was interviewed on Saturday morning, but I didn’t get to hear it, so if anyone has a link or feedback for me on the interview, I’d love to hear it.

I want to thank Chris Spice and his crew for lending me some muscle in setting up my booth this year. They are the best people and fellow 501st members (and Chris runs a certain Web site…). I also thank all of you who purchased prints from me this year at Star Wars Celebration, as well as prelims.

One of my customer couples soon became  my wife’s & my closest friends – funny how you just click with certain people that way.  So for Gary & Rhonda Price, I thank you for ALL that you did for us over the 5 days, which was a LOT. For those of you with product, please let me connect you with Gary, who is very involved in the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Hollywood, FL. It’s a worthwhile cause and I support it as well and will be sending plenty of product to Gary.

I thank all of the 501st members from all over the world who signed my personal print from Star Wars Celebration 5, which I will hang with my other 2 signed prints.  I really treasure those.

I thank The Collector for all that he did to support me and promote me at the show, and my old Pensacola friend  Pat Augustine, whom I hadn’t seen in way too many years. It was so good to catch up. He brought me the fan comics he & I used to create & Xerox over at the Pensacola newspaper (one of our friends’ dads was an editor there at the time), so he really saw my evolution in my work up close and personal. If anyone wants to see this work, I can scan it in & post it on my blog. Let me know if  you want to see it.

Before I forget, please be sure to post reviews of my new book “ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN” on Amazon.com. That really helps me out a lot, and I appreciate it. The books should be available in retail outlets soon, or you can order them directly through me for $100 and I will include a full-page sketch on the inside cover of the book.

Okay, I’m heading back to Chicago soon, but I wanted to check in and fill you all in on all of the news. I will post pictures from my personal photos of SWC5 on this blog this week as well.

Thanks for reading,

Dave.