Thanks to your support (and your love of all things shirty-ninja...y... the figurine order has been finalized. They're being produced, and will be on their way here shortly. I'll keep you posted as to their arrival date.

However, it's possible that you may NEVER get them, because the world is clearly going to end soon. The reason? The unthinkable has happened - preorders for Book 2 have officially begun.

If, for some reason, the skies do not in fact fall upon us and the oceans manage to avoid being boiled away, you will find that Book 2 is in fact very, very real. And not only is it better than Book 1 by leaps and bounds, we're even doing a special run of 500 limited-edition hardcover copies which are signed, numbered, and stamped with our official Real Life Seal of Awesometicity. Those hardcover editions aren't simply case-bound, either... they've got a DUST JACKET. That's just fancy-pantsy right there.

The paperback edition ain't no slouch, though... the cover is a satin finish, a definitive upgrade over the easily-scuffed glossy cover of book one, and both editions of the book are printed in glorious, vibrant full-color on semigloss paper. It's just a beautiful book, and I'm excited that it's finally becoming a reality.

I'm still finishing up some of the commentary, and Hawk (Yes, THAT Hawk) has done a seriously awesome bit of cover art for me. However, we can't order the book until we get enough orders to cover the COST of the book order. This is gonna have to be a srs bsns type of order, so it's gonna take a bit, but we can get there. And this is gonna kick of a renewed dedication to books - I'm going to be aiming to release 2 per year - that should continue for many years to come. Get your copy of Book 2 preordered today - after all, the world may end tomorrow.

<p>On the subject of Wonderful...</p>

by sagus

Posted at 11:50 PM on Monday, January 5, 2009

So, take a gander up at that ad to the left of the comic. Yeah - that one that (currently) probably says "Your Ad Here". Well, that's not just one of our little ad sale things... it means what it says. As of today, Real Life is officially biting the bullet and switching to Project Wonderful.

You may have seen some PW ads below the comic from time to time - those were handled by the Blank Label collective, so they were showing up on any BL site. This baby is all Real Life. And it means what it says... if you've got something to advertise and you're the highest bidder - boom. Your ad is up.

Now, I want to take a moment to dissuade anyone from trying to show an ad that would fall under the category of "pornographic", or uses plain bad taste. I've got it set to where I need to approve advertisers the first time 'round, so if you just so happen to run a porn site, well... RL probably isn't the place for you. Don't get me wrong. Porn is awesome. But not on MY site. :)

So yes, Real Life has finally joined 2006. I know you all caught on to the PW revolution well ahead of us, but I'm old. I'm slow to adapt. :)

Office space

by sagus

Posted at 03:09 PM on Monday, January 5, 2009

Ladies and gentlemen... I am currently writing this post in a place that, to be honest, I never ever saw myself residing in again.

An office.

Specifically, a cubicle IN said office. The place where I now go to work. Yes, for all intents and purposes, I am now once more a part of the working class, and if there were such a thing as a drudgeon, that is what I'd be. It is, however, something of a funny story.

See, I've been telecommuting with Dave's Gourmet for pretty much the entire last year while I was in Texas. Yeah - I was at home all the time, and it gave me ample time to work on the comic, but the comic doesn't really pay the bills. Anyway, long story short, I was working from home, but last wednesday, I found out that there was basically no work left for me. Poof. My income dried up like that.

Never fear, though - I had a degree in the Culinary Arts! Except, see... one small thing. I might kill myself before I wind up working in a kitchen again. It's grueling work, the pay is shit, and the hours suck ass. I'd never see Liz, and I'd wind up having no social life. While my degree is nice and all, like many others out there in the world, I just don't ever really plan to use it anymore.

So, that pretty much leaves me with my only other fallback - graphic and web design. So I shotgunned some resumes, and believe it or not, I got a callback within HALF AN HOUR. Quick phone interview, and we set up an in-person interview for 10 AM the next day. (this was New Year's Eve) 2 hours later, I had a job. That's right - I was officially unemployed for a grand total of 18 hours.

And though I may not be excited to go back to work, it's kind of right up my alley. I spend ALL my time doing graphics and web design, which means I can actually study PHP, CSS and SQL and not get in trouble for it, and it's my first-ever salaried position. None of this dickering about hours. Small, quiet office, and I get more or less left to myself. I couldn't ask for more.

It remains to be seen if the office will wind up in the comic at any point, just 'cause I kinda gotta make sure my boss is cool with it, but at least I'll be able to have a roof over my head for the forseeable future, now. :)

NUVO - The Un-Liqueur.

by sagus

Posted at 12:12 AM on Friday, January 2, 2009

You may doubt my claims of it's pinkness. I have but one thing to say to that:

The only thing more pink than the liqueur is the website. My eyes bleed just lookin' at it. That said, the bottle is freaking AWESOME. You might not be able to tell from the picture, but it's a square-shaped bottle. It was cheap enough at the local wine store that we bought it on virtue of the packaging alone. (We're package designers at heart - it's kind of what we do.)

And it really does taste pink. It's described as a blend of premium vodka, french wine, and fruit nectars. I'd say that's about right. It's only 15% alcohol by volume, though, so I say it only BARELY squeaks by as a liqueur... some strong wines approach 15%. Save your taste buds and just drink a couple good beers instead. :)