Things Rank and Gross in Nature Possess it Merely...

Just for grins, I've added a widget that tracks my Alexa ranking; you can see it at the lower left.  As of this writing, I'm at 6,731,802, meaning that far from being a star of the internet, I'm ranked well below pretty much any furry message boards and sites for Star Trek slashfic. 
This is not an important number to me....I would rather a dozen important people (e.g. close friends, known associates and paying customers) read this blog on a regular basis than any million people give it three seconds worth of their attention, but I think this will be a fun little game to play, to see how low I can make that number go this year.  If anyone can make suggestions as to how to improve my ranking, please send them my way, and if they do not involve a massive outlay of cash or the sacrifice of a small animal, I'll take them into consideration.


In other news, who does NOT know about the situation in Haiti right now?  Take a country that's already been through a social, political and economic collapse, stir in the most powerful earthquake in 200 years and add a death toll to match many genocides, and you've got a recipe for disaster at its worst...and that's exactly what millions of people are living through right now.  Sometimes you've just got to set aside your political disagreements and realize that people need help. 
I'm not bragging when I say I've just made a donation to the Canadian Red Cross specifically for disaster relief in Haiti.  In lieu of actually being able to go and start cleaning up the mess myself, I can't think of a better way to help, and I strongly urge any reader to go and do the same.  You can go to the Canadian Red Cross donation page by clicking the Haitian crest below, or do a quick Google search for the Red Cross in your own country and make your donation there.  If you're like me, it's the best thing you'll do today.

Time to Pass the Hat!

These sketches are fun, but they're not paying the bills...yet. That's where you come in (I hope, I hope, I hope).
If you'll look to the right, you'll notice that I've added a Paypal Donate button to the blog. I'm not looking for something for nothing, but I'd I would like to start earning a few of your hard-earned shekels. The process is simple: Donate at least $10 or more via Paypal, provide me a snail mail address, and I'll send you an original 7x10 sketch done to your specifications. You want a Supergirl? Send me 10 bucks and it's done. You want Spider-Man? Donate. Done. You want the entire cast of the 1932 Zegfield Follies ice dancing in Central Park as Glenn Miller's Orchestra plays "In the Mood" with the accompaniment of a troupe of harp seals on souzaphone and glockenspiel? Well, I may have some trouble with that, but donate anyway...you never know.
All sketches will be inked on bond paper, unless you particularly want one done in pencil. Larger sketches can be requested in return for a larger donation (say, $25 for 11 x 17, for example...but I'm negotiable).
Buy one for yourself, buy one for a friend...heck, buy one for all your friends. I'll draw Donald Duck or Daredevil all day long as you're willing to pay for it. Be imaginative, be daring, and most of all...be generous.
If you would like to buy a sketch, but don't use PayPal, please send me an email, and we can work out the details.