Monday, October 06, 2014

Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning...


Well, it happened. Today's my birthday. The BIG one. The one that causes most men to have midlife crisis's. MOST men.


Jay P. Fosgitt just turned 40.

Of course, I'm a professional cartoonist. Started drawing at age two. Determined I'd be a cartoonist at age five. Started getting paid to cartoon at age thirteen. And now I draw comics that are enjoyed by kids, and by adults with childlike sensibilities. I create those comics in an apartment with walls bedecked with posters of superheroes, Muppets, and cartoon characters, and with shelves piled with comic books, toys and puppets. Seems to me, with all that evidence, that I was born into a midlife crisis. But if this is a crisis, don't anyone try to help me. I'm having a grand ol' time.

It is appropriate to the point of almost being ridiculous that I'm spending my 40th birthday (well, the day after) in New York City, with my first (and best) stop being a tour of The Jim Henson Company. My wildest dream since childhood has been to step into that fabled workshop, and just BE. To breathe in the collective imagination and constructed conjurings of over fifty years of creative legacy. My heart skips a beat just considering how this IS happening. The only way this could possibly be better is if I could step back into 1987 and bring twelve year old Jay with me. Right after he'd written Jim, and gotten his fabled response, he was interviewed by a local newspaper:


The punch line to that article, other than twelve year old Jay having eventually worked professionally on the Muppet characters, and having worked professionally in comics, is that Jay thought of 40 as OLD. That's truly hilarious to me now. Mainly because 40 is proving to be a fantastic turning point in my life, and I've never felt a day over twelve.

I'm blossoming in the comics industry, both with my characters and licensed characters. I'm getting recognized by fans and professionals. I'm traveling to big cities promoting my work alongside my friends. I'm seeing things, experiencing life in ways I'd dreamt of but was never certain it could actually happen. But it could. It IS. And this is just the beginning.

So where so many men my age have lamented the loss of their youthful ambitions and cashed in those dreams for a fancy car or some other luxury items, I grin contentedly knowing I had my eye on the dream from the start, and never let go of it. True, I live modestly, and my car is nothing to brag about. But having the satisfaction of doing what I love, and knowing that the me from my youth would be so happy and proud of what I'm accomplishing, is all the wealth I need. I welcome 40, and all the rest of the years of my perpetual youth.

"All children, except one, grow up."
 J.M. Barrie--Peter Pan

--Jay


6 comments:

James Anderson said...

You're my hero, Jay! For reals. I can't wait to see where else you go.

Unknown said...

40 looks good on you. Happy birthday!

ebd said...

Happy day and best wishes, swete hearte <3

Unknown said...

Congrats Jay! We all knew that it would just take the right person seeing your work and the rest would be history. The quality of your work is undeniably smart and your art is fantastic. You absolutely deserve all that is coming your way.

Best!
Danimal :)

michaelgarlick said...

Congrats Jay,

I wish all kids, could pick their Star in life as young as you, and hang on till they reach their goal like you have. Still have the Haunted Train Ride Poster from 99 on my wall, I always knew you'd Make it!

We Always need more Dreamers!

DoctorSlime 8 )

P.S. Happy Birthday!

Jono said...

First of all, Happy belated birthday Jay! It was awesome meeting you at NYCC and getting a signed copy of your Bodie Troll book. The charm, humor and magic just oozes out of every page. I am ecstatic to see that you have more plans for the series and I hope to see more of Bodie Troll in the future. I wish you the absolute best, your talent as a writer and as an artist is incredible. It was an honor meeting you. Good luck and best wishes.

Jono