1.) Quick reminder for north-easterners!

This weekend, join me at SPX in Bethesda, Maryland…as it will probably be my only east-coast trip for a while! I’ll be givin’ out free sketches and high-fives, as well as signing and selling books and original strips! (…which reminds me: I’ve received e-mails from a few folks asking that I bring this or that original. If you’re hoping to pick up your favorite…make sure you e-mail me so I bring it along!)

2.) Heard Paul Anka on the radio, today, singing “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. It was actually really, really, really good. You go, Paul Anka.

3.) I hope you don’t mind the supersized Sheldon strips that have been runnin’ lately. I’ve been giving myself the luxury of space, when the pacing needs it, and I’ve been enjoying it. I hope you have, too!

4.) I had two readers e-mail me today telling me they just finished reading through the entire Sheldon archives, which is always fun to hear. If you have down time at work or between classes, here are three ways to dive into the 2,000 Sheldon strips!

5.) That’s right, I said 2,000! In just 9 days! Woo-hoo!

Do you remember, a good while back, our contest for the “Funniest Pug Picture”? We had a lot of really funny pics submitted, but this little guy ending up winning…

The winning dog was named “Pudgie”. Here’s a shot of him when he’s not relaxin’ in his alligator bed:

Well, as you remember, the contest winner got a free copy of The Good, The Bad & The Pugly, aaaaand a personalized drawing of their pug.

Colleen G., the Sheldonista who won the contest, told me that Pudgie loves to chew on his little binky, so that’s how I drew him up. Check it out, I’m kinda proud of how it came out…

So, Colleen, look for your inked drawing and book in the mail! Hope you like it!

Big news, east-coast Sheldonistas!

Next week, I’ll be appearing at Maryland’s SPX, the very cool comics show that brings together over 400 cartoonists and creators in a super intimate setting. I’ve never been, but apparently it’s awesome, and I’m jazzed as heck to be goin’.

This will be the only east-coast appearance for me this year…and may be my last one until Fall 2008. So if you were hoping for a personalized sketch drawn in Eastern Standard Time…THIS IS YOUR CHANCE.

I’ll be there for both days of the show: giving out free sketches, signing and selling books & original art, aaaaaand giving out 2007 Commemorative SPX High Fives (while supplies last).

All Sheldon original strips will be selling for $25 off — so if you have a favorite strip you’re dyin’ to get, this is a good time. (Just make sure you e-mail me to ensure I bring your fave with me.)

The show runs Friday, Oct. 12 (2PM – 8PM), and Saturday, Oct. 13 (10AM – 7PM), and you can find me at the “Blank Label Comics” booth in the program…exhibiting next to Kris Straub, Brad “Wigwam” Guigar, Howard Tayler, and David Willis. Check the SPX site for more details!

(Also: what are people from Maryland called? “Marylanders”…? “Marylandians”…? “Marylandalucians”…?)

Reacting to the recent Dune/Coffee strips, Sheldonista Jen R. reminded me of this awesome pic:

Ah, internet, how awesome and strangeare thy ways!

In the fun-backslash-awesome-news department, I’m happy to announce a new book project that I’ll be involved in….

Kris Straub, Scott Kurtz, Brad Guigar and I — the four guys behind the weekly Comics How-To Podcast “Webcomics Weekly” — will be teaming up to author a new book from Image Comics, “How To Make Webcomics”.

The book will be a how-to for the next generation of cartoonists workin’ on the web: the artistic tips, business guidelines, and creative approaches that web-based cartoonists (young and old) can use to make their aspirations come alive.

Look for it in January!

If Tuesday’s strip doesn’t ring a bell for you, then you haven’t read Frank Herbert’s “Dune”.

Ah, Dune! What randomly wonderful Sheldon strips you have inspired!

The Daily Telegraph, the fourth-largest (fifth-largest?) newspaper in the UK, recommended Sheldon in their “pick of the webcomics”.

They listed out 9 webcomics you should check out, and there sits Sheldon.

Thanks, Daily Telegraph! I now apologize for never having read you when I lived in the UK! Except for those times when I would totally forget to buy a paper on my morning Tube-ride …and would then have to read you over some guy’s shoulder! Let’s totally be friends now!

Flaco’s done some pretty rad stuff in his short life.

Gone to space? Check. Was head writer for “CSI: Cleveland Nights”? Check. Went skydiving? Check.

But even I was surprised to see the little guy makin’ his way in the world financially.

But check it out! He’s got his first New York Pizzeria, based on photo evidence supplied by Sheldonista Jacob K.:

Cartoonists are *never* spotted in public, so this story is a rare and wonderful tale to tell.

On Tuesday, for the first time, I was recognized in public by Sheldon readers.

It’s one of the quirks of being a cartoonist: you can be Gary Trudeau or Jim Davis or Bill Amend — and have millions and millions of readers — and no one knows who the heck you are. (Point-of-fact: tons of folks think Brooke McEldowney, the cartoonist behind “9 Chickweed Lane”, is a woman.)

Anyway, my wife and I were in Las Vegas these past few days on business for her work, and one afternoon I ducked away from the noisier parts of town looking for a quiet place to draw. (She and I aren’t particularly huge “Vegas” fans. I find it to be a pretty depressing place — which I’m sure is not the intended goal!) Anyway, I ducked out and found a big, quiet Barnes & Noble, ordered a giganto coffee, and got to work cartoonin’.

About 45 minutes in, I heard that very surreal phrase, “Excuse me, are you Dave Kellett?” …and looked up to find two very kind Sheldon readers staring down at me. Once I got over the initial shock of A.) being spotted, B.) being spotted in a Barnes & Noble, and C.) being spotted in a Barnes & Noble in Las Vegas…I invited them both to sit down and chat.

Turns out they’re brother and sister, are both Sheldon readers, and Gerhard is a cartoonist himself! He creates the wonderfully-drawn adventure The Far Reaches. So we ended up not only talking about Sheldon, but about comics in general, which was great fun.

So the moral of the story is this: if you want meaningful vacation moments in Vegas, you’ve got to leave The Strip, drive about 8 miles to the single bookstore in the city, and meet new people over a nice cuppa joe.

“Vegas: Come for the Endless Shrimp Cocktail, Stay for the Good Conversations.”