Into the red, I'm goin' out of my head

Wow, is it really the last day of January already? I haven't even gotten used to writing "2007" yet.

I think I need to get a piano back into my life. I haven't had one since I moved into this apartment and now I'm really feeling it. Mind you, I do have an electric keyboard. But it's not the same. You really can't kick the crap out of a keyboard like you can with a real piano. And that just does not mesh well with the way I play. (Loudly.) I need an instrument that can withstand an atomic bomb blast.

Somehow, I doubt my building manager feels the same way!

Sam Logan

Meow

My forumers have pointed me in the direction of a really cool webcomic... Lackadaisy! The mix of real-world history with animal characters reminds me more than a bit of Don Rosa's work, although the art and writing themselves are not especially similar to his. The visuals are incredibly lush and expressive, and feature the kind of strong posing that you tend to get more often from animators than comic artists. And the story -- a 1920s prohibition romp told with, uh, cats -- is equally enjoyable.

As many of you know, my BA is in American history, and I am basically a huge nerd for comics that manage to touch on the subject without losing their pure entertainment value. Lackadaisy is one of those comics. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

In other news, I have been really actually responding to my emails for three whole days now! Can I make it to four? CAN I?

Sam Logan

You have 3450924834059 new messages

One of my new years resolutions for 2007 is to be better about responding to my emails. There was a time when I would respond to every single one! But at some point, it all became too much. I still read them all, sure, but I started putting off my responses. I kept telling myself that at some point, I'd go back and answer all the ones I'd put on hold.

But that was a long time ago, and now I have a stockpile of emails so old and so immense that there would be no point in even trying to reply to them all. And that makes me feel bad, because I love getting emails from readers, and I don't want to discourage that by ignoring them.

So, it's time for a fresh start. Really fresh. Today fresh. From this point on, I'm going to try to respond to ever email that seems like it needs a response. And I'm going to try to do this right away, every week, so that I can keep ahead of the onslaught and make sure I don't wind up with another pile too intimidating to deal with.

This is my resolution! I think I can go without breaking it for, oh, at least two weeks. I will do my best. Go team!

Sam Logan