QUICK NOTE! If you've ordered a shirt in the past 3 weeks or so, all my shirts are still wandering through the postal system, en route back from San Diego. I havn't forgotten about you, I just don't have the inventory at the moment. I'll post here as soon as they show up.

And yes, I'm a little nervous at the fact that they're still not back yet :(

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Been sick as a dog since Sunday morning, so the new strip is still a panel and a half short of being up.

To tide you over, I did a bit of what I guess you could call fan art in San Diego. Some guy was coming around with a theme sketchbook, and I do love theme sketchbooks. I won't tell you what the theme was, you'll have to figure it out yourself.

I've done these before, and most of the time they never hit the web. However in this case I had a feeling the same would not be true.

"My hands, my delicious hands!"

A few words about the state of the comic.

So I've done a lot of thinking lately as to the future of this comic, and the future of my making comics in general. And I've decided that I'm just not happy with the idea of continuing RP for another six months just so I can have enough strips to fill an arbitrary number of pages in a book. I don't have any stories planned, and frankly my interest level is just about at zero. Meanwhile, I cannot get mind mind off Stone Clouds, and putting it off is really nagging at me.

So I finally decided that it's silly for me to keep churning out pages of material I'm not fully invested in, especially when there's another project I'm chomping to get to, and have been for years. So this past week I've sat down and fully scripted out the last 4 pages of this webcomic city storyline. After that, I'm gonna take a break. This won't be the end of RP, but it's close enough not to terribly matter. I only have a couple pages in mind for the transition to Stone Clouds, and I can put them up at a later date.

I realize this goes against what I've been saying for some time, and it's gonna dissapoint a number of people. And I'm truly sorry if anyone feels I'm letting them down. But this is something I really just have to do.

Part of the reason for this shift is due to me taking stock of my personal life as well. I realized the other night that I haven't sat down and watched a movie at home in a very long time. At best I'll wander over while Steve's watching something, and catch a few minutes here and there in between stretches of drawing. I watched a copy of The Shawshank Redemption the other night, that's been sitting unopened on my shelf for two years. Not that I want to be lazy and sit around watching movies, but I've turned my days off into minutes and hours. I always have "stuff to do" on the comic, and I really need to find a happy medium between art and life. As Steve can attest, my collection of toys and various assorted crap is also in dire need of being sold on Ebay. I have three closets of crap that I really do not need in my life anymore, and I've also got a credit card debt bigger than my yearly income as a result. It's time I took control of the crap in my life.

Also, in just under a month, I'll be turning 32. I would very much like to clean things up before the next time that happens. 33 is my lucky number, and if I can get my finances under control and my dream project underway by that time, I think I'll be in a very content place. Life doesn't have to be perfect, but I'd like to feel a little more in control.

Stone Clouds will still debut sometime next year, but I'm not yet sure exactly when. Definately before Convention season, as I plan to have the first chapter in print for Connecticon and San Diego. But specific dates are as yet undetermined.

I'll also not be coloring these last four pages anytime soon. I'm really tired of that task, and this last one just aggravates me. I'll color them before they get printed, but I have no idea when that's gonna be, so no promises.

Thanks go to everyone who's given me advice both recently and in the past, even if it doesn't seem like I always take it, I do listen. Know that once this is done I'll do my best to make my next project all that I hope it can be, and with luck some of you might even enjoy it ;)

I'll be finishing the colors in due time.

I'm back from San Diego, and it was amazing as always. I'd like to thank the Dayfree guys for letting me share their booth this year. That would be Sam Logan, master of the self-healing pizza, whose girlfriend Claire put us all to shame with her drawerin' skills. Ashton, who helped out with a last minute hotel room in an overbooked town. Madsen and Christian, who STILL have a certain story to hear. Scott and Kent, the cosplayer magnets. And Jeph "This is how you wear a bra" Jacques, whole girlfriend Cristi is a merchandise-wrangler extraordinaire.

I was lucky enough to be introduced to the most surreal bar in existence, that night filled with a who's who list of webcomic legends. I listened there to Jon Rosenburg tell the tale of it's influence on the world of Goats, and witnessed the most amazing bartender ever, before I succumbed to extreme lack of sleep.

I got to talk to a number of incredible people, and some of those discussions have caused me to re-evaluate some things about the comic. More on that in due time. Once again, Jerry Holkins is always a fascinating person to talk to, even if briefly. Phil Foglio continues to amaze and inspire, and I really do need to catch his hosting of the masquerade one of these years. And Kris Straub, who has spent this past year crafting a hell of a comic, and I think is more popular than he knows. I heard "Yeah, yeah Starslip" a lot more than once during the con.

There was a lot more, as there always is, but a lot of it is just a blur. These things pass by so quickly that so much of it becomes more feeling than memory. I'm already excited about next year, and the plan for now is to hit Connecticon as well. I feel a bit bad about not doing that this year, as it sounds like it's back on track after last years mishaps.

So here's to the year ahead, it will be fun.