I thought I’d share a few pictures from the big ol’ book launch party the other night. And I’ll try to do a little running narrative as I do it…

So! Let’s begin! The night was held at the very swanky Crescent Lounge. And as you walk up to it, you see it’s sort of an indoor-outdoor configuration. As folks were walking up, they were greeted by big ol’ fat Arthurs on signs scattered about:

When you walk inside, you could saddle up and order the Arthur-colored (pineapple) drink, “The Fat Duck”:

“The Fat Duck” was a free drink for all, courtesy of our sponsors, Ocean Vodka. Tara, in the black, was the kind Ocean Vodka employee on hand for the night. A high-five to Tara and the Ocean folks for making the night awesome!

So, the lounge has this sort of multi-level thing going on in the inside, so I was signing up in this big, open-walled room where I could chat with folks from a couple different angles while I sketched:

Here, let me show you some different angles on that room. The Crescent set up a nice, long, white, leather, couch-y thing for folks to sit on while they waited for their sketch:

Looking around the lounge, it was really awesome to see folks reading their books and talking…

Moreso than in years past, we had a lot of families come out, which was awesome. This first family was especially awesome. Young Ryan and Lindsey were awesome fans of the strip, and — I KID YOU NOT — Ryan knew more Sheldon trivia then I did. He stumped me like four times on FACTS FROM MY OWN STRIP. So, going forward, I nominate Ryan to edit the Sheldon Wikipedia page. 🙂

Aaaand my family came up from San Diego, which was especially awesome!

Oo, oo, I gotta tell you about this. So, do you remember when I blogged about the special, knitted “Glornak” that someone had made? Well, that someone was Christine, seen here, who showed up with her Glornak… as a gift! Needless to say, Christine was competing with Ryan in the “Coolest Sheldonista of the Night” Contest.

Oh, speaking of contests, we actually had one where you could win books ‘n stickers ‘n posters ‘n shirts and stuff. One part of the contest was to see who could draw the best character from the strip. I have to tell you, these were hilarious. If I have time, I’ll scan ’em all in and share ’em with you.

But, as you can see from my face, here, not all of the drawings were, ahem, “Michelangelo-quality”. But we still ended up giving out a lot of great prizes.

The night overall could not have gone better. Thank you to everyone who made the trip out, from points near and far! Thank you for making it a truly joy-filled night! And I hope you enjoy your books!

We’ll have photos up tomorrow, but in the meantime, I wanted to thank everyone who came out to the book launch party and made the evening so spectacularly fun. Some folks drove in from as far away as San Diego and Santa Barbara, some folks brought gifts (pictures tomorrow!), and everyone just made the night fantastic. So thank you! If only every night could be so joy-filled!

Next week, the new “Living Dangerously” book will available in the Sheldon Store…but before that happens, first crack at the Artist Editions will go to Sheldon Newsletter Subscribers and Twitter followers on Monday.

The Artist Editions, as you know, are stamped, hand-numbered, autographed, and feature an awesome character sketch inside your cover.

Only 300 of ’em are made for this book, and they tend to go pretty quick. So if you think you might be interested, check out the newsletter or Twitter for the secret link to snag one!

It’s time, my friends, for the o-fficial book launch party for “Living Dangerously (With Saturated Fats)”. On August 9th, from 7-10 PM, at the very cool Crescent Lounge in Beverly Hills, it’s a big ol’ gathering of Sheldonistas in one spot. It’s free and open to all Sheldon readers, family and friends…so come on out!

Here’s what’s in store:

– Free themed drink called “The Fat Duck”, courtesy of our sponsor, Ocean Vodka!

– Free sketches made-to-order in your book!

– Special prizes of Sheldon books & more!

– And of course, free high-fives flowing like the River Jordan.

The Crescent Lounge is located at 403 N. Crescent Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 — (310) 247-0505. Here is their site, and here’s a Google Map you can use for directions. The Crescent is this awesome, indoor-outdoor lounge with double-sided fireplaces and lots of places to stretch out and chat. Here’s an exterior shot of it. Come on out!

This’ll be fun:

The Ohio State Cartoon Library & Museum has asked me to donate a piece of Sheldon original art to their (huge) collection of American cartoon art.

That’s cool in and of itself…but here’s what I was thinking: Rather than *me* just picking a strip, let’s open it up to suggestions, and see which one strip *you* think should be preserved for posterity! The strip that best represents what “Sheldon” is.

Here are the limitations:

1.) The original art must still be available in the physical archives. (You’ll know it’s “gone” if it says “Purchased” directly under the strip).

and…

2.) That’s it. #1 was the only limitation.

So feel free to suggest your favorite strip in the comments below!

1.) Today’s Sunday strip was wonderfully colored by our Sheldon intern, Cari. She gave it such a great golden, Autumn feel, didn’t she? Group high-five to Cari, everyone!

2.) Sheldonista A.R. informs me that there is actually a name for the eye-boogers that form during the night: “Haw”. I don’t have a suitably sized Oxford English Dictionary next to me, but the professors among us can perhaps look it up and give us the exact definition in the comments, below.

3.) Sheldon reader Andria S writes in with this:

I happen to teach Physics at a community college, and one of the most useful tools I teach is the Order of Magnitude calculation, also called a back of the envelope calculation. If you’re unfamiliar with this, it’s a way to get a rough estimate of any calculate-able quantity just by making some reasonable estimates to start. Regarding your eye crud strip on August 2, 2009, I made what I feel are reasonable estimates that a bit of eye crud is a small cube with sides of 1mm; that you either get crud every night of your life in only one eye, or else in both eyes but every other night of your life; and that you live 80 years. These estimates get you around 6 teaspoons (2 tablespoons) of crud in a human life time, and I could easily see getting 1 teaspoon instead with slightly different input guesses.

So Sheldon got it right – though on a test I’d dock him points for not showing his work. 😉 .

Coming out of Comic-Con, there are lots of upcoming appearances to share with you. Let’s review:

LOS ANGELES, AUG 9th: This is the big book launch party for “Living Dangerously (With Saturated Fats)”. Here’s the earlier announcement with directions, times, etc.

BALTIMORE, OCT 10-11th: I’ll be back for a second year in Baltimore
…but this time as a Harvey Award nominee!

LOS ANGELES, NOV 15th: I’ll be lecturing about comics at the prestigious Hammer Museum of Art. More info as we get closer!

CALGARY, APR 24-25, 2010: Big news, Canada: It’s my first show north of the border! Do you remember when I asked Sheldonistas which international show I should attend in 2010? Well, as a result of Sheldon readers contacting the show, I’m now invited as a special guest of the Calgary Comic Expo in 2010! WARM UP THE HUGS, CANADA. And for all you folks in Toronto saying I should come to *that* show: Know that it’s up to you! E-mail the organizers of the Toronto Comicon and suggest they have me as a guest: If they invite me, I’ll be up there in a heartbeat.

In the meantime, here I come, Calgary!

What happens when a cat owner captures his piano-playing cat on video, then composes an orchestral work around the cat?

My friends, the result is “Catcerto”. You will believe a cat can play as well as Philip Glass.

(Sidenote: My favorite part is when the cat rolls her head into it. Awesomeness.)

First things first: THANK YOU to everyone who came out to San Diego Comic-Con. It was a fantastic five days of laughter and sketches and high-fives and good times. To be able to get out there and meet you all at conventions means a lot to me. I will admit it: The kind words you share about the strip at conventions…? I carry those with me all through the year. So thank you for that!

Thanks also to the three or four English Sheldonistas who brought me Hobnobs cookies from the UK. I and my expanding waistline thank you…they were amazing.

We gave out all the free Dilly Duck prints by Thursday morning and sold out of all the “Pugs” and “Living Dangerously” books we brought (and almost all of the “Nerds on Parade” books as well). Surprisingly, to mostly new readers. Thank you to everyone who dragged their friends/cousins/office mates over to the booth to introduce them to the strip. That means a lot.

This year, I was in a corner booth in a fantastic location, and it seems like everyone found us pretty easily. I shared the booth with my co-authors and friends Kris Straub and Brad Guigar. I laugh all weekend with these two, and miss them greatly when the convention ends. They are two of the most naturally funny guys you could ever want to meet. If you’re not familiar with their work, do yourself a favor and check them out.

On another note: If you took any photos at SDCC of your Sheldon sketch, your high-five, etc., please e-mail ’em to me! Cap’n Forgetful forgot to take pics, and I’d love to show folks how the show went. Thanks!

Oh, and one last thing: The new Sheldon book will be going on sale after the Book Launch party on August 9th. More news on both of those later in the week!

Reminder: I’ll be at BOOTH #1228 for all five days of San Diego Comic-Con! Here’s a snapshot of what you’ll find:

– The new book, “Living Dangerously”!

– The con-exclusive print, “Anatomy of a Pug”!

– Original Art for $25 smackers off the normal price!

– FREE “Dilly Duck” prints for the first 100 folks!

– FREE sketches for everyone!

– FREE Official Commemorative 2009 San Diego Comic-Con High Fives! (Limit two per person.)

I’ve put together a one-page, printable “Guide to San Diego Comic-Con” for folks coming to the show. Grab the printable image by clicking HERE.