First off, with a nod of thank you again to Chris Hastings of Dr. MicNinja, I wanted to welcome new readers. I do hope you’re enjoying the ride.

Thank you for the donations to Beth and my walk on Sept. 4th to benefit the Pig’s Peace Sanctuary. If you haven’t donated, you can still support our walk by either donating, or by bidding on a drawing I did of a pot bellied pig: Auction ends tonight, Wednesday, 5:00pm PST (every penny will go to the sanctuary). Help the piggies!

I spent the weekend at Chief Timothy campground, located on a small island in Snake River near Clarkston, WA. I thought I’d share some pictures I took with y’all.And lastly, a picture displaying my fondness for Macaroni and Cheese.

I went and saw “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” (above is a wash drawing of Scott and Ramona I did this weekend), and my basic summary is that it is everything that “Hot Tub Time Machine” wanted to be. HTTM was trying to be this gaudy romp through 80s and 90s culture, but it ended up being a somewhat pathetic parody of itself and was slow and painful to watch. Scott Pilgrim was new, it was exciting, and it was filled with nostalgia and an earnest love for it. I loved O’Malley’s books and felt the movie was an excellent adaptation of them (and I thought Kieran Culkin and Alison Pill were so perfectly cast (Wallace and Kim)).

Later in the weekend, Beth and I watched “The Extra Man” starring Kevin Kline. I found it a far less polished movie, and a lot of the writing was only carried by the strong acting of Kline and Paul Dano (John C. Reilly is a lovely actor, but I’m not sure I’m sold on him in this part). But it was sensitive and thought provoking.

Beth and I also watched 7Up, 14Up, and 21Up (we have more to go, they’re up to “49Up“), the British movies which follow a group of kids of different classes through their lives. Fascinating.

So, whereas Pilgrim was so lovely and entertaining, Extra Man left me thinking and re-examining life (7Up was just nicely odd and compelling). In my book it’s apples and oranges and, um, kiwi maybe. My weekend was a good fruit salad.

I also made butterscotch pudding, but it came out a tad bit gritty. No plumes of smoke though. I’ll continue at it.

Beth and I walked to the grocery yesterday, and found a blackberry bush — always a good feeling regardless my age.

I bought the ingredients to make butterscotch pudding while at the store, although I haven’t had a moment to make it. I did start playing with butterscotch candy late last week to get my head thinking about it, but I don’t think the candy thermometer was fully in the liquid, because at what read as a low temperature, it actually started billowing a dark acrid smoke, setting off the fire alarm.

Today it’s sunny again, and I’m off in a short while to my writing group. A good day and a good mood.

I spent a lovely day in Tacoma this past week (35 minutes south of Seattle). A strange city, which reminds me a bit of cities on the east coast (old buildings, lots of brick). Beth and I packed a picnic, walked a bit, sat by Puget Sound, walked through a greenhouse, got some vegan dinner, and walked some more.

The W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory

It got a bit chilly Saturday night, and so Beth and I rented Nausicaa and watched it in front of a fire, both of which are always a pleasure.

I’ve posted a page of what books I’ve been reading (which means: listening to them on audiobook), there is also a link up with my other personal links. I started the list in November of 2007, around when I started really getting into audiobooks. Honestly, I’m sure I forgot to put quite a few books in there. It doesn’t say anything about them or rate them or anything like that. Oh, and it doesn’t include comic books or graphic novels, not as a statement of value, but as a media. I don’t list movies either. But if you’re curious what i’ve been reading, there it is.

This has been a great week for comics for me. I finally got my hands on the new (and last) Scott Pilgrim, I finally finished reading the entire archive of Marooned, and I spent a lovely afternoon with Steve Gallacci and then re-read the first three issues of Albedo. All three were excellent reads.

I actually had the idea for this strip months ago, but I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. Finally, I just decided, what the hell, I want to do this gag. And I’m glad I did.

All remains the same in the world. I saw Inception for the second time (Matt’s birthday party) and it was still the same movie. Me and all the cartoonists I know are still following Wil Wheaton on Twitter. Kevin is still not sure what to do about anything. Mimi refuses to stay still for 5 seconds to receive the petting she so desperately wants.

I think I’d feel at a loss if much was out of place.

For about a second.

For the first time in my life, I submitted a short story  to a literary magazine. Fun-fun! (But, no expectations)

From all I heard about San Diego Comic Con, it was a blast this year. I hope I get to go next year, I’ve been wanting to. I hope everyone who went had a great time.

Evan Dahm just finished his comic Order of the Tales two weeks ago (the story of Koark, the last member of a society of storytellers), and not one to rest long, Evan’s new comic, Vattu begins today! Check it out as well as all his other great stories at rice-boy.com

And thanks to Xerexes at Comixpedia for the nice mention today!

For those who looked through the archive on Monday only to find all the strips “SOLD,” that was a glitch. Plenty are still for sale. My apologies.

And thank you for those who purchased! I’m glad that ball is rolling.

So they’re leaving Tornitus 6. Funny how for months I was planning that out, and then it took about 2 months to play it out. But I’m very happy, as well as excited for all that’s next.

If you want to read their visit to Tornitus 6 all together, it starts here in the archive, or read it via the TAGS here.

I haven’t had the time to keep up on news or anything the past couple weeks. Been writing short stories and spending time with friends. For some reason I’ve had suspense/horror audiobooks on rather than sci-fi. Then I suddenly switched over to Burroughs’s “Tarzan,” which is amazing, except on occasion when it gets too far into stereotypes. Having recently read “The Moon Maid” I am surprised how much he manages to rein himself in.

All is well in my world. I need some tea.

Strips are now priced at $80 (plus $6 s&h)

The majority of you (from my poll) said that the price of $120 was fair, but some asked for a lower price, and many said that in the current economy that they couldn’t afford $120. For that reason, and after much deliberation, FOR NOW, they are being sold at $80.

So, go. Peruse. Purchase. Follow the big blue square. There is also links to the original artwork so that you can see what you’re purchasing.

If not, I highly recommend donating, or linking to me from your favorite site.

Regarding today’s strip, if you feel at all lost, THIS LINK will bring you the the strip where Dimitri goes to Gahhrt’s bakery (and then meets her daughter), and immediately after Gahhrt’s bakery is the strip where Pierrot sees the Furryite Sandwich Shop. Or you can click on the Dimitri or Pierrot tags below.