Video of the chat, titled The Oatmeal Shows The Post How To Draw and Answers Questions, can be viewed here:

“I love your style!” a fan wrote to Matthew. “Where do you hang out in Seattle so I can bask in your awesomeness and the awesomeness of those around you? Also, more kitty cartoons please!”

“I spend a lot of time in Fremont, because that’s where I live” Matthew answered. “Lately I’ve been going to Green Lake a lot. I run there, there’s some really good coffee shops there. I generally avoid downtown and Capitol Hill, just because they’re kind of a pain in the butt to get to from where I live.”

Last spring, Matthew shared a few thoughts about Green Lake Park with us.

Riding a bike at Green Lake, he said, “is sort of like taking your jet-ski into a 4-foot-deep hot tub and doing laps.”

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Author Jason Thompson will be at Green Lake Games (7509 Aurora Ave N) on Thursday, May 26, 2011, 6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Thompson, along with illustrator Victor Hao, is the creative force behind the New York Times bestselling Del Rey graphic novel series King of RPGs. He describes the series as “the story of one man’s quest to overcome his crippling World of Warfare (WoW) addiction … and another man’s quest to become THE GREATEST GAME MASTER ON EARTH!”

A “satire of tabletop roleplaying games, anime and manga,” King of RPGS Volume 2 will be available at bookstores and comic stores at the end of May.

The event at Green Lake Games will feature drinks, snacks, twenty-sided dice, and the official launch of King of RPGs Volume 2. At 8 p.m., there will be a game of MAID: The Role Playing Game.

For more information, contact Jason Thompson at jason [at] sonic.net or check out the event’s facebook page.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Matthew Inman at SXSW, March 2011. Photo credit: Liang Shi

Last week, I learned that Matthew Inman, a popular comic artist, is a regular visitor to Green Lake Park.

Matthew Inman writes, draws, and codes The Oatmeal, “an entertainment site full of comics, quizzes, and other delights.” The site has more than 250,000 Facebook fans and more than 150,000 Twitter followers.

Popular ‘The Oatmeal’ strips include How to pet a kitty, Ten Words You Need To Stop Misspelling, and Why I’d Rather be punched in the testicles than call customer service. A recent strip looked at The 4 Seasons of Seattle Weather.

His book 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides), published on March 1, 2011, reached #5 on the New York Times Best Sellers List and #2 on the Amazon Best Sellers List. 100% of book sale profits this week (ending Friday, April 8, 2011) are being donated by Matthew to the Japan Relief Fund.

Matthew is often spotted at Zoka Coffee Roaster & Tea House (2200 N 56th St), where he can be seen working on his comics. Last February, he tweeted a twitpic from the Tangletown coffeeshop which captured “The 10 types of high fives and when to use them” in progress on his laptop. The comic can now be found in 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth.

Earlier today (Wednesday, April 6, 2011) I received an email from Matthew, which he wrote at the Tangletown Zoka.

Although Matthew doesn’t follow neighborhood news closely (he does, however, follow KING 5 on Twitter, ”so at least I get tweets when something horrible happens like a dog catches on fire or a busload of child molesters go on a field trip to the Fremont troll”), he was kind enough to take the time to email us a few thoughts about Green Lake Park.

Matthew, a marathon runner, trains at Green Lake Park a few times a week. Like any regular park user, Matthew has some “favorite” types of path users. “Often times,” he says, “I’ll be in the middle of a long run (16-21 miles) and I’ll start to pass someone, usually a weekend runner wearing khaki shorts and Crocs, Vibrams, or some other ridiculous footwear. They’ll see me pass them and suddenly become convinced we’re racing each other and they HAVE to regain the lead, so they’ll sprint as fast as they can until they’re ahead of me. They usually can only hold this pace for a few hundred feet and then they peter out. It makes me wish I had a sign on my back that showed how far I’ve run.”

Matthew also calls out “the linebackers,” which travel in groups of four or five and walk shoulder-to-shoulder, forcing everyone else onto the grass.

And, Matthew has these words for cyclists at Green Lake Park: “I don’t know what kind of exercise you hope to get out of a 2.8 mile, paved, flat course, but unless you’re riding at 30mph in your hardest gear and doing 40 laps there’s really no point in riding a bike there.”

Riding a bike at Green Lake, he says, “is sort of like taking your jet-ski into a 4-foot-deep hot tub and doing laps.”

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: celebrities, comics and graphic novels

Matthew Inman runs The Oatmeal, “an entertainment site full of comics, quizzes, and other delights.”

Inman treated his 50,000+ twitter followers to the view from his table at Zoka, including a peek at his latest comic, The 10 types of high fives and when to use them.

Welcome to Green Lake, Matthew!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2010.

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Post tags: celebrities, comics and graphic novels, local businesses