New Feature On This Page!

Tuesday November 29, 2005 • Howard Tayler

We're doing something new for this week's auction. The artwork has little or nothing to do with Schlock Mercenary, other than the fact that I created it. See, from time to time I like to draw dragons...

This particular dragon crept out of my brain and onto the page while I was in Boise earlier this month. The crew there agreed that it was "better out than in," and chuckled at the irony of my choice of colors for the urine stream: Copic Sketch YG07, "Acid Green."

New Feature On This Page!

Yesterday afternoon I did something I've put off doing for a long, long time. I created a list of the sites I visit when *I* need a laugh. You can find it in the left column below the BlogAds (which, by the way, I'm allowed to encourage you to click on -- more on that in a moment). Note please that not all of these sites are G-rated. Some of them feature profanity and obscenity in their dialog, and some feature artwork that is, from time to time, not "work-safe." Where appropriate I've marked those particular links with an asterisk, so naturally you'll be tempting fate and reading them while at work.

Frankly, you probably read most of these while at work ANYWAY.

"Why," you might ask, "is [insert your favorite web feature] not listed here?" I get a lot of requests for linkage, and a lot of recommendations for things I should be reading, and while I do make an effort to check them all out in my copious free time (chortle) I'm only linking here to stuff that I actually read myself, for pleasure, when nobody is paying me, scratching my back, or otherwise enticing me to post the link. You might say that these links all come, therefore, with the Howard Tayler Seal of Approval, but by saying that you'd automatically be casting aspersions on the phrase "Seal of Approval" by associating it with my questionable tastes. After all, I'm the guy writing a comic strip about an ambulatory crap-heap, and trying to sell you a picture of a dragon urinating on a fire hydrant.

Now... about these "BlogAds"

Two weeks ago I signed up to be a publisher with BlogAds. Their system is interesting, in that they allow advertisers to search for publishers based on niches in which they blog, or niches in which their readers fit.

The most popular classifications are the political ones. Well, I'm a fiscally conservative, socially centrist, religiously active white male with libertarian leanings... but my blog here doesn't usually reflect that. After all, I know full well that the world would not be a better place if it conformed to my particular set of governmental tastes. You, my readers, hearken from all over the english-speaking world, including places where english is only spoken in restaurants by obnoxious American tourists and their increasingly less-tolerant waiters. I can't think of many advertisers in the Blogosphere who think that is a narrow, targeted demographic.

Still, from time to time people WILL advertise with me. The current BlogAds on the left are from N'Toonz (okay, I'm running that one myself -- you NEED a handmade Schlock Mercenary figurine for Christmas) and a blog called "Sundries." I checked out Sundries myself, and while the writer confesses to standing a little left of center, the recent entry on "critters" was as apolitical as you can get. It also made me very happy I don't live in Florida anymore. I remember the first time I saw an albino cockroach...

My point being, while it's in bad form for me to encourage you to click on things just to click on them, BlogAds are not priced per click, so you can surf on over to Sundries without stinging the advertiser should you find it's not to your liking. And N'Toonz, too, for that matter. Hopefully we'll see other interesting advertisers in that slot in coming weeks and months, and rest assured, I'll vet them myself before approving their ad to run on my page.

Oooh! I Almost Forgot!

This Friday the 2000th Schlock Mercenary strip airs. I didn't do anything special in the strip itself (well, ALL my strips are special, but you know what I mean) so I decided I need to celebrate the milestone in another way. I'll be hanging out at Dragon's Keep all afternoon Friday for the "2000" event, and then helping out with their Toys for Tots drive on Saturday afternoon for the "2001" event. If you're in the area, you're welcome to stop by. I'll be doing inked Schlock Mercenary character sketches in exchange for any toy donation on Saturday... now's your chance.