Third week, and no signs of stopping yet. Are you guys as surprised as I am? ;) (and don't worry! I've actually written out/thumbed scads more this week, and should be set for a while to come...)

Man oh man, so I'm not even back a week, and already I find myself filled with an uncontrollable >urge to draw guest strips for >someone...

I must be going insane!!!

(and thanks for your letters as they keep coming in, everyone! I honestly wasn't prepared for such a warm welcome back -- I kinda half-expected more of a pitchfork and torches "Where the Hell have you been, you bastard!!?!" kinda thing!)

(Umm... not that I'm asking for that?)

Okay, I can't seem to stop drawing and writing right now (I've finished two more, sketched out another two, and plotted out yet another one since Tuesday!), so I'm going to step out on a limb and get myself back to a thrice-weekly update schedule, to see how well that goes.

No guarantees that it will stay like that forever, or that you'll be getting full- page updates each time... but for now, my old passion for doodling is back, and I feel happier than I have in a loooooooong while. (not including my Meaghan-related happiness, of course)

And thanks to those who have already written me to cheer my return. I have to admit that I didn't think anyone would notice for a good, long time that I had snuck back! You guys are like Hawks, or owls, no...ninjas! No! Ninja owls!!

Happy birthday to me... I guess I should give out presents hobbit-style or something, huh? Or maybe just start uploading my comic again?

So yeah, it's been over a year, and yet here I am again. I could regale you with tales of why I went away, but suffice it to say that it was all for the greater good -- I have a kickass job now, an actual house (with my best friend as my upstairs tenant... how cool is THAT? I mean, we got our X-Boxes System-linked on the first day so we can play Couples Halo, and walkie-talkies so we can trash-talk each other during play!), and a life with the most incredimable lady-person anyone could ever hope to meet...

Yeah, my life, she is good again, and settling down in a way that is starting to allow me a bit of free time... and free time has got me reading my old Doonesbury comics again... and reading old Doonesbury has *always* gotten my tooning juices flowing...and, well...

...here we are.

I've already got five new full-page comics finished (the first ones are more doodly/sketchy, but they are getting better with each panel, I think... I've been outta practise!), and I'm definitely in the groove for now.

I'm not going to set a breakneck pace at the moment, since I'm still working 50-hour weeks (but stress-free weeks!), so expect an average of two comics per week for a while. I'll do my best to keep up, but I ask you to be patient with me. This comic, as much as I love it (and I do so love it), is still first and foremost nothing more than a fun hobby. I've never expected anything from it, and never worried about "where it was going". Because of that, there may be some times where I produce less comics, and times where I produce more. I am not trying to be a professional comicker, by any means.

That said, I really and truly do want to thank all those of you who have sent me friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) letters asking me where I was and if I was ever going to start up the comic again. Some of you even started trying to reach me through my darling wife in the hopes that she would be better at peer-pressuring me! :)

I tried to respond to as many of you as I could, and I know there are some that never got a reply from me, and I apologize for that -- it wasn't intentional, but just that I wasn't checking my email for months at a time sometimes, and some letters got lost in the cracks... but all of your letter were truly appreciated, and if anything, they did help in rekindling my desire to comic again.

I may have no desire to be a "popular" comic, but I certainly love that there are indeed a few others out there who enjoy my odd sense of humour, my weird sense of story, and my non-traditional sense of art...

And I hope that you folks will continue to enjoy my little attempts at putting words and pictures together for a little while longer.

So... happy birthday to me, and I hope you all enjoy my present!