november 2007

nov.05.07

Are you a fan of my color Sunday strips AND saving the planet? Read on!

Hey guys! Okay, I have a new deal for you.

My friend Brian created a website called Free Mesa about a year ago, which is a community-geared website meant to reduce waste and bring people together. Free Mesa allows people to offer things they no longer have a use for, or to request something that someone else may want to get rid of. It's the "Reduce, Reuse" part of the Recycling mantra that we always skip over. I think it's a GREAT idea.

Free Mesa was recently given several pieces of quality equipment by an anonymous donor, including a couple of iPhones. Brian has decided to give these items away to people who gain the most points in a month-long contest going on through November 15th.

For every person who joins FreeMesa through the link above (it's free, easy, and your garage will thank you!), I'll get nine points for the referral. And if I win the contest, I get an iPhone.

Now, if that iPhone falls into my hands, YOU will get color Sunday strips from now on, starting in December.

So click the link and get rid of that old 1 megapixel camera you used to use, or your old cell phone that still works, or the couch you've been meaning to replace!

And by all means, don't be afraid to try to win the contest yourselves! The more the merrier. Just click the link above, choose your login, and start e-mailing people about FreeMesa (or put the FreeMesa link on your MySpace page/website).

nov.05.07

Sidenote...

In case you DON'T already read In His Likeness by my esteemed peer James Hatton, you'll notice some familiar faces in today's strip! Can you pick out me and the girls?

And in case you were wondering, that adorable nose-less face at top left is Kristy of Noses Optional, which has ADORABLE art.

Now, back to Free Mesa...

nov.07.07

Mitosis.

Boy, I hope I got that right.

nov.08.07

KUKUBURI!

If you're a fan of Butternutsquash, I HOPE you've been following Ramón Pérez's newest big hit, Kukuburi.

This is easily the best work I've ever seen from Ramón... and that's saying a lot!! I was instantly attracted to Butternutsquash because, essentially, it's the male Canadian version of GWS. Drinking, relationships, coffee, sex toys, the word "eh"... they've got it all.

Now he's throwing himself into another full-color, full-WOW weekly strip about a cute chick and her lizard as they fall into a fantastical world of giant purple giraffes and flying orange whales. What's not to like?

I know it's after Halloween, but I finally held my day-long pumpkin carving tradition on Sunday. I tried to come up with something GWS-themed, but just petered out of ideas. So instead I did a little fanart of Kukuburi's main character, Nadia.

Click the image, scroll down, and enjoy! And by all means, don't be afraid to hit the "First Page" link at the top. He's only got 37 strips up right now, so now's the perfect time to start reading!

nov.12.07

Kool-Aid & Money

Maybe this strip will make more sense now. I previously assumed that EVERYBODY used the Kool-Aid analogy!

I need to make a quick clarification about donations, because I think I've confused a lot of you.

I'm not even going to try to explain what I was doing with the graph before, because it didn't make any sense. All you need to know is that the graph doesn't automatically update, I have to do it by hand, which I try to do once a week. And the goal amount every month is the actual amount I need to cover my bills and food ONLY - any other money I need, I make by doing caricatures on weekends.

That said, I most certainly do NOT need $4700 in order to continue doing GWS full-time through November, as the graph suggested previously. :)

Also, while the price for GWS originals has back gone up to $75 apiece, I've decided it's kind of silly to not allow all original art purchases to toward the donations drive. So from now on, if you purchase a GWS or Bat Boy original, you'll be keeping GWS updated 5 times a week as well. Your money will go STRAIGHT to that graph up there, much the same way ingested fat goes straight to yer thighs.

nov.14.07

The Kid's Book Project!

I'm a doofus, I keep forgetting to plug this.

I contributed to this collection called the Kid's Book Project, which contains 58 single pages (each by a different artist) to tell a full story. You can read about how it was put together here

Thing is, it's got a lot of great things going for it. One, the list of contributing artists is phenomenal. Two, it's got a beautiful color cover by our own favorite Liz Greenfield. Third and best of all, all the profits go directly to the Make a Wish Foundation.

There isn't much time left to pre-order, so if you'd like to buy a book (and give to charity at the same time, bonus!), please CLICK HERE (or HERE if you're in the UK/Ireland) so you'll be sure to get one!

nov.15.07

Great article!

Octopus Pie linked to this FANTASTIC article for you budding cartoonists out there - how to break into the biz!

nov.19.07

"Testers."

The last panel ought to make for some interesting Thanksgiving dinner conversation. Sorry, Mom.

nov.20.07

iPhone and Sundays!

Hey y'all! Well, I just got the bad news and the good news today. I didn't get the highest score at Free Mesa and therefore didn't win the first iPhone. But you guys helped me score such a high score that I had a MUCH higher chance of being drawn for the SECOND iPhone... and I was!

So I'm still going to do Sunday strips, with one slight change; I'm going to start December 9th instead. I'll be visiting family in Colorado the first weekend of December.

Either way, look forward to it! But I'll kindly remind you here in the Blog Girl section. :)

nov.22.07

Hello, Columbus!

I nearly forgot to mention that I'll be in Columbus Ohio for the Mid-Ohio Con this weekend. Hope to see y'all there and happy T-day!

nov.23.07

Slightly delayed update.

Thought I'd give myself a bit of a break and shade in the comic tomorrow morning before I leave for Columbus. Thanks for your patience!

Speaking of Columbus, I've decided to do commissions on greeting cards for those people who would like to give a custom-made card to someone special for Christmas. Do your holiday shopping while you're at the convention this weekend! :)

nov.28.07

GWS print collection!

I'm not sure I've even mentioned it beyond my Twitter posts, but I've been working very very hard on putting together the first GWS BOOK in time for Christmas, and the interiors are COMPLETELY finished as of last night. I'm finishing the cover today, and after that we just have to wait for Lulu.com to process it, and it'll be immediately available to you guys!

I just thought I'd let you know why I've been so quiet lately. That, and if your Christmas list includes any fellow GWS readers, drinkers, gossips, or people who like to talk about sex a lot, you may want to hold off a week until these books are up for sale. :)

nov.29.07

December week-long break & donations.

I'm heading out to visit family for the weekend, so here are Thursday and Friday's comics!

If you've been following the donations graph above, you've probably noticed that I only update it once a week or so. It's a hand-done thing that doesn't automatically update when you donate.

I hadn't really noticed that the donations drive has finally caught up to itself, and technically I didn't make enough to cover my bills for November (woops!). Regardless, I wanted to finish up the month.

However, I am going to take next week off to finish the GWS Volume One book, and to wait until the donations are back up to a solid enough level that I feel I can keep doing this full-time. Since I'm taking a week off, I've dropped December's goal amount by 25% so that you're not paying for more than you get! :)

I hope you don't view this as "punishment" - I just need to be realistic about how I'm making a living. I'm so grateful to those of you who have donated this year - you're really making my dream come true.

I should also point out that the donations gifts/incentives have simply not happened. When I did the first prize drawing, I only heard back from three of the six winners, and I simply gave up. Everyone who has donated $20+ and $50+ is listed and organized, it's simply a matter of picking a date to do all of the drawings and really focusing on them. I'm thinking it would be easier for all of us if I did this at the beginning of January. There will be way more artwork and gifts to choose from then!

As for those of you who have felt shafted because you haven't been recieving a monthly GWS wallpaper, you'll be paid back in January as well, and then for the rest of the year. Instead of just getting one monthly wallpaper for each month you donate, ALL 2007 donators (including those who donate in December) will recieve all 12 of the 2008 monthly wallpapers next year, regardless of whether you donate each month or not. :) I hope that will make it up to you.

As you can tell, I have a lot on my plate for 2008 (heh, that rhymed). I hope everything I work towards next year will make up for the rough start I got off to this year!

And as one last note, you should be able to have your GWS Volume One books in your hands before Christmas if you order them as soon as they're available... which should be the end of next week! As soon as the cover is finished and I learn how to make a PDF of all the pages (WHA??!!), it'll be in Lulu.com's hands. Obviously, you'll hear about the book the moment it's available.

Check back next week for little daily photos or sketches (there will be something to keep your interest every day) and remember that Sunday the 9th marks the first Sunday color strips!