Today I learned that I shouldn’t mention broad, almost rhetorical desires to watch an episode of a particular show…

Because 900 people will then e-mail you digital copies of said show, or links to digital copies of said show, or offer to mail you CD/DVDs with copies of said show.

My apologies.

It really, really wasn’t my intent to have everyone send me that last episode. Now that I know it’s available at the iTunes store, I think I can swing the $2 to pay for it. But the lesson I learned is, Sheldon readers are pretty darn nice…and will respond with kindness at even a slight request for help.

So thank you for that! It’s good to know that if a nerd is in need, fellow nerds will rise to the occassion.

This is so infuriating.

About once a week, in casual conversation, a friend will bring up Battlestar Galactica. I love that show to no end, and will talk about it for an unhealthy amount of time, given the chance.

But somehow, through an accident of bad planning — and even worse Tivo management — I completely missed that season ender.

I assume that Sci-Fi ran that puppy 15 times, like they usually do…but somehow, I missed ’em all.

So every time conversation steers towards that last episode, I have to be the guy in the room that goes “LA LA LA LA…ALL IS WELL…JUST A DUDE WITH HIS HANDS OVER HIS EARS…LA LA LA…NUTHIN’ UNUSUAL HERE.” And it bums me out.

I want my nerdly life back! I want to be able to waste otherwise productive hours blathering on and on about an imaginary world! I want to see that episode, dang it!

This past week was one of the happiest of my creative life.

Taking this play to the New York stage — and hanging out in NYC all week with a funny and far-more-talented-than-I group of actors — was something I’m going to hold on to for a long, long time. To put it mildly, actors are fun to hang out with. You laugh a lot, hanging out with actors. Far more so than cartoonists. Just by way of comparison: actors are extroverted to the extreme, whereas most cartoonists are so shy, they end up marrying the first person that smooches them. Which, in some cases, means their mail carrier.

In any case, the play was absolutely exhilirating, and I was stoked to have so many Sheldon readers come out to see the show — including a pair who flew all the way from Washington, DC! Thankfully, everyone had glowing praise about the show — which is something you don’t take for granted in the capital of US theater. So a huge thank you to the Sheldonistas for comin’ out!

….and one final tidbit of news from New York trip:

The final tweaks were maade to the next Sheldon book, which means it’s zooming off to the printers sometime in the next few days. The book is looking really good, and will include the Coffee Cup Lid Challenge, an expanded version of the Flaco-to-Space Saturday Storyline, every single strip drawn since the last book…and will even include some strips we couldn’t fit in the last book. It’s gonna be awesome.

(Look for more news on the book in the next Sheldon newsletter!)

As a cartoonist, it’s always interesting to read someone else’s take on Sheldon. Sometimes you want to hug your critic…and sometimes you want to throw pan-seared tofu cubes at them, for getting their write-up so wrong.

I thought this write-up largely got it right about the form and format of Sheldon (from The Webcomicker):

Some comics never let their characters change or grow. And for a lot of strips, that’s just fine. If you’re doing a gag-a-day, or some light-hearted romp, you can have your characters stay pretty static. And it is possible to create well-rounded, interesting, complex characters that your audience connects with and have them be completely static characters. Sheldon is a good example of this. There’s a lot to the character of Sheldon. He’s a genius, and a huge nerd, and struggles with not having “real” parents (although not too much, it is a humor strip, after all). He’s kind-hearted and generous, and also struggles with awkwardness and occasional feelings of inadequacy. He’s a fully-developed character you can relate to. But he’s definitely static. The Sheldon you see in today’s strip is pretty much the same Sheldon we had at the beginning of the comic. And should the strip continue for twenty more years, it’ll still probably be pretty much the same Sheldon at that time, too. And for a light-hearted humor strip, it works.

My apologies that Friday’s strip went up a little late. Being on the road sometimes means the site is inaccessible until I can get back to a computer…and that was the case here. I’ve fixed the update hiccup for the next few days, so we should be good to go from here on out.

And on a separate note, a huge thanks to all the Sheldon readers who have come out to see the play in New York. We’ve sold out the first two nights, and the crowds seem to be digging the show. If you’re interested in catching a show, you can pick up tickets here.

My wife and I flew out to New York on American Airlines…which was the first time in about five years I’ve flown with them.

For those that fly with AA often, you’ll probably know this AA pre-flight routine far better than I…but forgive me if I share it.

The average pre-flight announcements on the average carrier go something like this: 1.) “We’re now ready to start boarding. Passengers with disabilities or small children can start boarding….” 2.) “We’re now ready to start boarding our first-class passengers…” 3.) “We’re now ready to take all the other cattle…”

But American Airlines had this weird litany of classes, ranks, affilitions and sub-affiliations that they used when announcing who could board. And they all seemed to revolve around colors. “OK, hi, welcome to flight 249 to JFK Airport. We’re now boarding our OneWorld passengers, as well as our First Class, Premium, Silver, Platinum, Sapphire, Ruby, Titanium, Blue Steel and Diamonique members first…”

And on and on these lists of colors and classes went, lasting for a good (I kid you not) 30 seconds. To the point where my wife and I started making up additional classes they should use:

“At this time we’re boarding our Sapphire and Ruby members, as well as anyone chewing Watermelon Hubba Bubba, anyone who’s beaten Pokemon Gold or Silver, 45-year old pear-shaped women wearing yellow sweaters, tan men named “Tony”, and anyone of Scottish descent whose clan can lay claim to one of the following tartans (…at which point the stewardess would hold up various swatches of Scottish plaid).”

American Airlines: Boarding passengers by weird, seemingly random color schemes since 1998.

Alas, if you haven’t read The Lord of the Rings, Sunday’s joke will be leave you staring blank-faced at the screen. But if you have — pow! zam! That’s the kind of cutting edge nerd humor we serve up around here. Pow! Ents jokes! Bam!

Next week: jokes about the Riders of Rohan! Pow!

Sidenote thought for Tolkien fans: Do milk jugs in the Entwood feature “HAVE YOU SEEN ME?” pictures of the Entwives?

The always funny Ryan North tipped me off to a documentary that I’m now very interested to see: Helvectica.

After working for 8 years in consumer packaging, I developed sort of an odd interest in typography — and this looks right up my alley.

Graphic Designers! Nerd party at my house when this baby comes out on DVD!

In the meantime, it looks like it’s worth checking out at your local arthouse cinema….

Starting Monday, all US Postal rates go up across most categories: domestic shipping, international shipping, book shipping, etc…

But before they do, I wanted offer up one last chance to get some great Sheldon Stuff at the old postal rate. So here’s what we’re gonna do: all orders received by 8PM PST on Saturday will ship out under the older, cheaper postal rate.

And to add even more encouragement towards taking the plunge before rates go up…we’re throwing in an impromptu sale as well! From now until 8PM Saturday, all original art is $15 off. (Just click on the blue text “Buy Today’s Original Art” under your favorite strip).

So head on over to the Sheldon Store.

Special note: I’d particularly recommend purchases for international Sheldon readers…as the international shipping rate will bump up by 2 to 3 dollars, in some cases.

Don’t ask me why, but I’ve been thinking about old-growth sequoias for the last few days.

A decade back, I had the chance to wander a mile into a sequoia grove, and it took my breath away. They’re beautiful, massive trees, and almost completely block out direct sunlight to the forest floor. Walking among them, it feels like you’re stepping into another world.

But it’s that complete lack of sunlight (at lower quarters) that’s raised a question in my mind…and despite some research, I can’t find the answer.

Here it is: For giant trees like these, I would imagine that the treetop photosynthesis is pretty critical. Packed (comparatively) close together, these giants must compete with one another for sunlight as they reach heights of over 300 feet. And since the average sequoia grove allows very light sunlight toward a tree’s base, any extra photosynthesis that the tree can squeeze in must be invaluable..

But let’s suppose that, halfway up a sequoia, a patch of sunlight consistently hits the tree’s trunk for 20 years. No sunlight hits the trunk above or below that spot for 50 feet…but right here…in this one spot…through some accident of placement…sunlight strikes.

Does a tree have a trigger response to that sunlight, such that it will branch out in response? Or is tree branching completely dictated by a set of fixed, geometric rules…and is unwavering? Keep in mind, I’m not talking about a branch bending or leafing toward the light once it’s already started growing: I’m talking about the tree creating a new branch in reaction to light’s presence.

The sign of a good education is the ability to research fields unknown to you. But in this case, my literature/art/propaganda background is failing me miserably.

Is there an aboriculturalist or arborist in the house? I’d love to share the answer with everyone, if you’d like to e-mail me or post in the Sheldon forum.