I had a Sheldon reader e-mail me today, asking “which Kaiser” I meant in Thursday’s strip. Let’s be honest: When it comes to dopey facial hair, most any Kaiser offers a solid choice. It was almost a prerequisite for getting the job. But for my money, you can’t beat the ridiculous, ridiculous chops on Wilhelm I.

Not a lot of ladies swooning when this dude walks in with his sails unfurled on both cheeks.

In the forums, a reader asked if there was a Sheldon-group in Facebook. There is, but I’ll be honest: Since their redesign, I don’t know how to find anything in Facebook anymore. I’m like a 90-year old in there: There’s all these strange buttons and links and noises and wolves and I wander around scared.

Anyway, Sheldon forum-goer “zoster_i” kindly set us up with the link, and it is thus.

Actually, that’s a fib. This is me at the Wondermark book launch party: They had a pretty sweet dress-up photo booth.

Wondermark, for the uninitiated, is created by fellow Los Angeleno cartoonist David Malki, and brilliantly uses Victorian-era illustrations in a Monty Pythonesque mashup with modern-day themes. It’s pretty awesome.

Anyhoo, Dave’s second book just launched, and I couldn’t recommend it more. It’s beautifully hard-bound, beautifullly printed, and beautifully funny. (Bam: What a turn of phrase, right there.)

Also: Let’s not discuss it at great length, but check out the quadruple (quintuple?) chins I was able to generate.

If you’re not a cartooning buff, you may not have heard of early 20th-Century cartoonist Winsor McCay. But to every cartoonist from Charles Schulz to Walt Disney to yours truly, he’s held up as one of the true, pioneering greats of his (or any) time. His strips “Little Nemo” and “Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend” are among the most gorgeous, fantastical creations you’ll ever see. Spend 10 minutes with a Google Image search: You’ll see what I mean.

His hometown held a “Winsor McCay Day” yesterday…and in honor of that I thought I’d share another one of the hallmark works he was known for pioneering: Animation. (Each one of these 4,000+ panels, keep in mind, were drawn by him and hand-colored by him.)

Sheldon reader Susan H. of Ashford, England sent me this awesome link: Awkward Family Photos. Enjoy it with much enjoyment, my friends.

Those of you who follow Twitter know I’ve jumped back into oil painting, after ten years away from it. And I thought I’d offer up this painting to someone who might like it: It’s the first-ever Sheldon-themed painting!

Painted in oils on a 12″ x 12″ canvas, this first one is a Flaco portrait, showing everyone’s favorite lizard in full-on, super-excited “Squee”-mode. And what wall couldn’t benefit from a little extra “squee”? We’ve tested it in 6 or 7 rooms, and it turns out that yeah, totally, *any* wall could benefit from it. 🙂

Ready for framing, this painting is also edged in red, in case you prefer frameless wall-hangings.

Will be packed safe within protective paper, sealed plastic, and cushioning…and will be shipped via U.S. Priority Mail or International Priority Mail.

The proud owner can request a personalized inscription on the back, should they choose.

If you’d like to see a larger shot of it, click HERE. And if you’d like to throw your name in the hat for it, click HERE.

The punchline to Saturday’s strip generated a *lot* of e-mail, mostly from librarians, so I thought I’d whip it into a free wallpaper for everyone.

Just click on your monitor’s resolution, below, to copy the correctly-sized image. [Not sure which screen resolution your computer uses?  Click here for the instant answer!]

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I’m getting a lot of e-mails from GMail users, saying they’re not getting their daily Sheldon-by-Email delivery in their inbox.

For some reason, GMail’s filters are handling Sheldon like spam. (Boo, GMail!) To fix that, just do this:

Go into your GMail account, click on “Contacts” (should be on the lower-left side of the screen), and add this e-mail address as one of your “new” contacts:

[email protected]

Even Google can be lame, sometimes…but this should fix it.

You’ve boarded your plane, you’ve found your seat, and you’re waiting for everyone else to board. Awesome.

You look out the window, down at all the utility vehicles drivin’ around the plane, and that’s where things get weird:

These trucks aren’t just modified Fords and Chevys: They’re weird, squished, alternate-universe permutations of normal road vehicles. Ain’t nobody at an airport driving anything approximating a “car” or a “truck”: These are vehicles that look like they should be drivin’ around the town of Stumpyville. Like they should be driven by Gimli, son of Gloin.

The dwarves fled the fires of Smaug, my friends, and are now baggage handlers.

YOU CAN NOT UNLEARN THIS FACT.

We’re about to change the way we do shirts in the Sheldon store, and so right now…all existing shirts are going on clearance sale price with FREE shipping in the U.S! (Europe/Aussies/Canadians: Take heart — you still get the clearance price!)

To snag your shirt, head on over to Ye Olde Sheldonne Storre, established 1643.