Yes, it’s that time of year again… the time when Greg and Liz pack up the covered wagon and make their nomadic trek to a new home. One of these days we really just need to invest in a good Yurt and make it easy on ourselves. Though I don’t know if broadband is widely accessible in a Yurt. Hmm.

ANYHOW, since this week is going to be freaking PACKED with us… well, packing… I figured it’d be best to make my life a little easier by putting out the call for guest comics! You guys are always extremely clever, and in the past, I’ve really dug the comics you guys have sent in. I just know that I’m ALREADY going to be going out of my mind this week… may as well try to salvage at least some small part of my sanity by removing the need to work on the strip.

Not to worry, though… I’ll be back again next week (unless something goes catastrophically wrong, that is) so no worries there. Anyhow, all guest comics should be e-mailed to gregdean@gmail.com, and should be 530 px wide. (no height restriction) Funny is also generally preferred. Oh! And don’t forget to give yourself credit at the bottom! Muy importante!

Also, real quick – pictures of the cats have been posted in the forums if you wanted to have a look-see. We’ve got some interest, but we really need to find homes for these guys! Halp!

So I kinda wrestled with this a little bit, but I think I’ve figured out the best way to handle this whole dilly-o.

See, here at Real Life, for the past 4 years, round about this time, things start getting tight for us – not to mention that we’ve had to cover a couple of surprise moves now. So we started an annual Christmas Card drive to help raise some funds to enable us to get our sorry asses where we needed to be.

Only… this year, we’ve got the RLSG now. It’s a great way for readers to get bonus content, but it pretty much fills the “additional income” hole we usually hit, and has kind of made the drive unnecessary. (Well, not ENTIRELY unnecessary… we’re planning to move next week and don’t have the funds we need to reserve the truck, etc… but we’ll manage)

The thing is, I like doing the Christmas Cards. It’s fun. And it gives you guys something back in the process, something from me. And hell – maybe this’ll be the year I finally get them to you BEFORE Christmas! It could happen! Don’t laugh!

Anyway, what I worked out is this… Anyone who is subscribed to the $15/month RLSG subscription will automatically get a Christmas Card. Period. No need to send anything additional, no need for some crazy donation drive… just sign up for the RLSG and you’ll get a card in the mail sometime in mid-December. I’ll even sign it to you.

If you want a card but don’t feel like signing up for the RLSG… no worries. Because in addition to helping support my sorry butt, I’d really like to encourage you guys to support a charity this year. That said, I’ve chosen to support Child’s Play this holiday season. Mike and Jerry have set up a great charity, and it would make me feel REALLY good if we as a group of readers were able to send some much-needed money their way. That said, I need some way of tracking donations so I can send out the cards.

SO, from now until December 10th, anyone who sends a $15 donation using our little “not hungry, just broke” button at the top of the page there will receive a Christmas Card in the mail (REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR ADDRESS!) and 100% of the donated funds will be used to purchase items for the Oakland Children’s Hospital from their Child’s Play Wish List in the name of “The Readers of Real Life Comics”. I thought about just sending a check, but I thought this was the best way to ensure the kids at the OCH are getting these items directly. You CAN send less than $15 towards this, of course… I’ll be putting any donations received towards Child’s Play… you just only get a card if the donation is over $15.

Anyway, that’s just my thought on the matter. Two ways of getting a Christmas Card this year, and no need for some kind of multi-tiered drive. Thanks again, Lifers!