(before people ask - the Capture the Bear posters are 18 x 24, full color, and on good paper w/ aqueous coating (to protect the surface). If you want to frame them, this is a pretty standard size. - piro)

If there is one thing i've heard over and over again from people who run popular websites it's this - no matter what you do, there will always be those who complain about it. Frankly, if you know anything about human nature, you understand that this is a given.

As anyone who regularly reads these rants will know, i spend a goodly amount of time whining and apologizing for any irregularities in the comic schedule. I know it irritates many of you, but it is just part of my nature, so you're gonna have to live with it. ^_^ The most common email i get regarding this is 'stop appolgizing all the time, its irritating'. Yea, you're probably right - so i've been keeping the complaing to a minimum recently. If a delay comes up, i keep it short and as free of PiroDrama as possible. I think most of you get the idea that if there are delays, there really isnt anything i can do about em, and i try to avoid them.

Wouldn't ya know it, but now i am getting emails demanding explanations about whats wrong, why is the comic delayed, etc etc. I can't win, can i? Jeeze people, make up your minds. ^^;;

As most of you know, i spent last friday thru Sunday at A-kon 13, an anime/sci-fi con in Dallas. I remained in Dallas until tuesday to attend Rodney and Ruby's wedding monday night. I managed to miss my plane tuesday morning so i didn't get back here till early afternoon, at which point i went straight back to the office to jump back into the fray so that we could meet my monday deadline. It's not as bad as it sounds - we should make the deadline without too much difficulty ^_^

A-kon was a lot of fun. I spent most of the con at my art table drawing as much as i could for people. At previous cons i always felt bad that i was giving people these really crappy scribbles with my signature on them (i'm not a big fan of 'autographs' - to me, they don't really mean anything), so this time i decided that i'd try to draw something worthwile for everyone who asked.

I'll have to bring more index cards next time - i went thru an entire stack of 100 cards, plus an awful lot of paper. Crazy? perhaps, but it was fun. I like to draw, and there was more than enough variety (i remember drawing one of yuki in perkigoth regalia) that it was fun. After seven hours of this on friday, i just kept waiting for the crowd around the table to thin out... but for some reason it never did. Spooky.

Thanks to everyone who came by, and i'm sorry that it may have been a long wait to get a drawing - after all, it does take a few minutes to do a decent drawing, and since it wasnt an 'official' signing thing, i felt i could take a reasonable amount of time with each drawing. Hope you all enjoy em.

I think the panel went pretty well. This time we had a big enough room (i think we had around 500 people in there) and i don't think we bored people too much (not too many people got up and left durring the panel). We did go over by 45 min or so (that was Ukyo's fault). Of course, it would of been nice if the lights didn't keep going out. Sitting in total darkness on a stage in front of 500 people is an interesting experience to say the least. I think they were trying to tell us something. Also, sorry if you couldn't hear me - i'm just gonna buy a bullhorn to take with me from con to con - the sound reinforcement at these things is never good enough.

One thing i decided after this 'question and answer' session, which is all the Megatokyo panels ever seem to be, is that for Otakon 2002 i wanna try something different. I'm thinking that we might organize something a little more... special... for Otakon. Not just a panel, but more of a presentation, of sorts. I'm working on some ideas right now, but i'll let you know the details as they become more solidified. I'm working with the Otakon folks right now to make sure that we have what we need availible. Lets just say that it might even involve making some cosplay outfits...

After the panel, I went back and spent as much time as i could at the art table again - I hope that everyone who wanted a sketch got one. I did my best to cover everyone (i even ended up leaving a sketch for someone to pick up later that evening - glad to hear that you did indeed find it). Later that evening I ended up spending the latter part of the evening playing a Kanon fighting game with Natsuki, Young, Jon and Aaron - heh, talk about a fun wind down from a long day. Some fellow came around with a list of parties at the con, and for some reason our room was on the list. Uguuu~~~ well, he was nice enough to take it off the list. It had been too long of a day to deal with crowds of people knocking on the door lookin for booze ^^;;

Sunday was also unsusually busy, but i was able to spend a good part of it sitting on the floor in the main hall just chattering with people. One thing i've figured out about why anime cons are so popular these days is that its really a social event - its a chance for people who spend all year hanging out with online friends a chance to meet up in real life - a sort of a mixing of your netspace and lifespace existances ('cyberspace' is overused and i dislike the term 'meatspace' because is a too derogatory (there's nothin wrong with real life) - so i'm going to use the terms 'netspace' and 'lifespace'). Cons are where you let the two worlds mingle a little.

As for the update for monday, i suppose a little explanation is in order. I'm not sure if Ian is talking to me anymore. ^^;;; First, i send hundreds of people off to flood his email box, then he busts his ass to get the comic done for friday, only to discover that i really wanted it for monday. (communication error on my part) Then, sunday night, i finally see the comic and realize that i *really* had to change something (there's a more thurough explanation in the 'story discussion' forums if you are interested in why i changed it ^^;;). Anyways, to do all this i was sitting on the floor of the empty convention hall plugged into the phone line we had secured for me to use durring the con itself (i was too busy drawing durring most of the con to use it). It was a goofy experience, really. I had to post Ian's comic because i knew if i didn't he'd get more email. ^^;;; I'm terrified to visit Mac Hall to see what he and Matt think of me right now...

Monday was spent, of course, getting ready for Rodney and Ruby's wedding. I'd like to officially congratulate Rodney and Ruby, and offer my best wishes for the future. The wedding went off without a hitch, and it was a lot of fun. I even had a chance to chat with Scott Kurtz for a while, and we all had the ability to fire off small explosives at the happy couple. Gotta love fireworks. :)

When i got home tuesday night i realized that i was dead in the water. A guy can only do so much. My plan was to finish some scripts for the week, do some drawing (i even brought my scanner with me to texas) and finish up a comic for wednesday on tuesday night. Considering that not a single drawing i did all weekend i kept for myself, and i really didn't spend any time working on scripts, i had to admit it to myself - i was burned out.

There is another thing too. For the past two months i have not spent enough time with Seraphim. After work, i've been spending all my time in my office drawing, writing, working on all the extra stuff that is gonna keep MT alive over the next few years... it's been a very intense couple of months. My chair in the living room has had several bags of fabric sitting on it for weeks. We haven't even sat down to watch an evening of TV together for ages.

that's not right. One of my faults is that when i get absorbed and focused on things, i tend to forget about the little things. Seraphim is the most wonderful and forgiving gal in the world, but - spending four days away from home really made me think about things. My lifespace is pretty good. So is my netspace life. Last year Seraphim and i took a weeklong vacation, remember? (hint - we got lost in the woods) We aren't doing that this year because we are so busy.

So i decided - ok, i need to take a break from MT for a while. I'll just do some DPD stuff for a week. Catch up, do some quality writing on the scripts instead of rushing them. Give myself some breathing room for my deadline at work. Do some free drawing. Spend some time with Seraphim.

And I'm not gonna appologize to anyone about it.