The Way of the Editor:

Eskimo Grandmother Takes the Stage

The enigmatic woman behind the tutu comes forward. Human Computing Editor Shiaw-Ling Lai has the story …

 

It’s okay, you can say it.

“But I just saw a—!”

That’s right.

“There’s a half-naked Eskimo grandmother on your web site!”

Yes, we know.

“But WHY?”

That’s a really good question. Sometimes, things just kind of drop into your lap and you really have no idea how they got there. In fact, you may even be the kind of smart, sophisticated person who knows when to swear off all knowledge of said subject when it gets there. In this case, Eskimo Grandmother just appeared one day on my desk.

I don’t know where it all started. Pete’s already asked that question more than once anyway, and I still have no answers for him other than to just laugh and laugh and then laugh some more, because there comes a point in conversations when laughing nervously really is all you have left to do. He rolls his eyes. I make an attempt to snicker. Eventually we all clear the hallways and return to our little cubes. And there she is:

 

Eskimo Grandmother complete with fox fur hoodie and a tutu. Maybe I have been indexing too many Fantagraphics graphic novels. But it doesn’t matter how many times I blink. She’s still there. And my god, is that a bikini she’s wearing—?!

Legend around Human Computing headquarters is that she just appeared one night over the conference room whiteboard. There was no warning. No flicker of light to announce her arrival. No flash of smoke to signify that something extraordinary, something beyond our understanding was about to take place. You can’t prepare for this kind of thing anyway. And at first, we tried to ignore it.

But she persisted. Gradually, Eskimo Grandmother spread her influence across the other whiteboards in the office. She appeared on our glossy printer paper, smirking and tilting her martini glass seductively over the white, helpless pages. She infiltrated the cubicles, took over the far left corner of Pete’s desk. And always, always, always, she wore that same bikini and tutu outfit as she grinned down at us with her two triumphant, remaining front teeth.

And we knew then that we were had.

There’s no escaping the influence of the Eskimo Grandmother, we accept that now. But if you’d like to find out more about the Eskimo Grandmother phenomenon, please visit the Eskimo Grandmother FAQ online, today. Also, buy your ComicBase Archive upgrade now for only $99.95 or she will be angry!