LibWorm.com provides a librarian RSS filtering service. Over 1500 RSS librarian sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest headlines from journals and sites in the Humor category. http://www.libworm.com/rss/index.php/Humor/7/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:30:02 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20090106 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:18:02 +0100 690341 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1273 Sometime on Sunday we started having trouble receiving emails. If you emailed us since then and haven't gotten a response, your mail might be lost. Please try again! Computers are hard. Posted by Bill on 1/6/2009 10:30:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:04:02 +0100 690229 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1274 Our readers are making good use of the new full-text search of our archive, with dozens of searches every day. We're logging the search terms (but nothing else - we don't know who's asking for what) and at some point I'll build a little widget to show the most popular searches. As a reminder, searching is on the sidebar of the Archive page. Posted by Bill on 1/6/2009 11:50:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:04:02 +0100 690228 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20090105 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:54:02 +0100 689814 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1272 Our first sponsor of the new year was our first sponsor ever, Macmillan. Our buddy Talia, Director of Library Marketing, would like you to know that It's Raining Authors at ALA Midwinter. Click on through to see a full schedule of Macmillan authors in Denver later this month! Posted by Bill on 1/5/2009 10:44:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:54:02 +0100 689813 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20090104 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:30:02 +0100 689583 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1269 Thanks to Ralph Bingham for sending the link to this picture of an item found in his library's book drop. I think it should be the movie poster for Marley & Me. Posted by Gene on 1/3/2009 9:29:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Sat, 03 Jan 2009 19:48:02 +0100 689419 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1270 Our thanks to this week's sponsor, HarperCollins Publishers. Remember to RSVP for their Spring 2009 title presentation at ALA Midwinter 2009. Posted by Bill on 1/3/2009 12:02:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Sat, 03 Jan 2009 19:48:02 +0100 689418 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1271 In the spirit of our new searchable archive, I have updated the list of Unshelved Book Clubs and put a new link on the archive page. Enjoy! Posted by Bill on 1/3/2009 12:20:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Sat, 03 Jan 2009 19:48:02 +0100 689417 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20090103 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sat, 03 Jan 2009 09:20:02 +0100 689339 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20090102 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 02 Jan 2009 22:52:01 +0100 689209 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20090101 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:42:02 +0100 688977 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081231 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:48:05 +0100 688842 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1267 Jim in Indianapolis forwarded us this New York Times article on the interesting things people use as bookmarks (or at least leave in books). It reminded him of our Bacon as Bookmark strip, a phenomenon about which we talk in more depth when we speak at conferences and staff days. Posted by Bill on 12/31/2008 11:39:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:48:05 +0100 688841 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1268 Here's another New York Times article on a common Unshelved topic - service animals. P.S. Did I say how much I love our new searchable archive? Posted by Bill on 12/31/2008 12:00:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:48:05 +0100 688840 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1266 In case you're the sort of person who cares about this kind of thing, today is not only the last day of the year, but also the last day to order a set of Unshelved books and qualify for a free set of Unshelved bumper stickers. Our books rock. Posted by Bill on 12/31/2008 10:09:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:34:02 +0100 688797 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081230 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:52:02 +0100 688659 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1265 Starting next year we are trying something new with our sponsorship program. We are reserving several weeks throughout the year for "One Book A Day". Each day for a week, Monday through Sunday, will be devoted to a different book. We think this will create a lot of excitement and interest among our readership of 45,000 librarians and other book nerds. And while our regular weekly sponsorships are aimed at publisher and other companies, this one is designed to be affordable to individual authors seeking to break into the library market. If this is something you're interested in, please email me for more information. Posted by Bill on 12/30/2008 1:23:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:38:02 +0100 688574 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1264 I just approved the 2520th and final transcription from our Archive. Search away! Thanks again to everyone who took the time to type in a comic strip. Posted by Bill on 12/29/2008 1:35:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:42:02 +0100 688316 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1259 Our sponsor this week is Early Word, Nora Rawlinson's blog devoted to advance information about books, books, and more books. New since the last time we told you about them is "EarlyWord Kids" for childrens and YA books. Posted by Bill on 12/21/2008 10:19:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:00:02 +0100 688202 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081228 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:00:02 +0100 688201 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1262 Thanks again to this week's sponsor, Nora Rawlinson's Early Word, devoted to giving you advance information about books, books, and more books. Also, books. Posted by Bill on 12/28/2008 9:45:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:00:02 +0100 688200 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1263 Unshelved is made possible this week in part by HarperCollins Publishers. They're putting on a presentation of their Spring 2009 titles at ALA Midwinter 2009. I'm told they will be serving treats and giving away tote bags. Find out more and RSVP here. Posted by Bill on 12/28/2008 10:37:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:00:02 +0100 688199 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081229 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:00:02 +0100 688198 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081227 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:20:01 +0100 687958 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081226 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 26 Dec 2008 23:24:02 +0100 687774 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081224 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:46:09 +0100 687490 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1261 What a lovely Christmas present! Several hundred of you, working in parallel, have painstakingly transcribed over 2400 Unshelved comic strips. There are only a few left (you can find a partial list here). In fact you've done so many that I haven't been able to keep up - I still have several hundred to edit and approve. But clearly we have critical mass to make search useful, so I'm turning it on as of today. Just go to our archive and you'll find a handy dandy little search box on the sidebar (known bug: typing search text and pressing ENTER doesn't work on all browsers. Workaround: type search text, press TAB and then press ENTER). It's quite illustrative to find out how often a comic about a library ends up being about coffee. So many of you entered transcriptions that we can't thank you all by name. But we would like to send special thanks to Alexander Wei, who single-handedly transcribed hundreds and hundreds of strips. We're going to send him the framed print of his choice - now it'll be easy to find! Posted by Bill on 12/24/2008 12:05:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:46:09 +0100 687489 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081225 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:46:09 +0100 687488 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1260 Jana has informed me that our last shipment of the year will go out tomorrow afternoon. Anything received after Tuesday Noon PST will go out in early January due to the imminent vacation of said Jana. Posted by Bill on 12/22/2008 10:07:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:36:02 +0100 687142 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081223 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:36:02 +0100 687141 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1260 Jana has informed me that our last shipment of the year will go out tomorrow afternoon. Anything received after Tuesday Noon PST will go out in early January due to the imminent vacation of said Jana. Posted by Bill on 12/22/2008 10:07:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:30:02 +0100 686719 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1259 Our sponsor this week is Early Word, Nora Rawlinson's blog devoted to advance information about books, books, and more books. New since the last time we told you about them is "EarlyWord Kids" for childrens and YA books. Posted by Bill on 12/21/2008 10:19:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:02:02 +0100 686607 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081222 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:02:02 +0100 686606 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081221 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:34:01 +0100 686518 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1258 Thanks to this week's sponsor, Workman Publishing, publisher of 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before you Die by Tom Moon. Remember to email Michael Rockliff to ask for your free listener's group guide! Posted by Bill on 12/21/2008 11:06:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:34:01 +0100 686517 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081220 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sat, 20 Dec 2008 08:14:16 +0100 686216 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081219 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:08:04 +0100 685953 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1256 Just so you know, we're still shipping orders out from the Unshelved store. I can't guarantee they'll get to their destination by December 24th, but everything is going by Priority Mail and we'll do our best! Posted by Bill on 12/18/2008 8:30:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:48:02 +0100 685486 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1257 Unshelved readers are awesome - in less than two days you have already transcribed over 1100 comic strips! And I am awesome because I have personally edited and approved each one. Let's try to get the rest knocked off by the end of the week so I can put the Search functionality on the site and the games can begin (I personally want to know how many strips feature the word "coffee"). Some style guides and tips for you: Book Clubs look like this: The Unshelved Book Club presents "Title" by Author [[describe the scene here]] Dewey: First line of book description here. Next line. next line. [[In the library]] Dewey: You'll love it! Merv: I doubt it. Some ongoing character names: Cathy is Dewey's girlfriend, Sanjay is Merv's friend who is being homeschooled, Computer Victim is the totally bald, well, computer victim. Fred is the partially bald hapless patron, Grandma is Dewey's grandma, and Angry Lady is the always-irate female patron with only one eye showing at a time. There's also a Little Old Lady in the flowered dress and a stature-challenged Little Old Man in a suit and hat. Some of you are putting in complete scene descriptions. I appreciate the attention to detail, but it's not necessary. We all appreciate the work you're putting in. It will benefit everyone who uses Unshelved for many years to come! Posted by Bill on 12/18/2008 4:07:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:48:02 +0100 685460 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1256 Just so you know, we're still shipping orders out from the Unshelved store. I can't guarantee they'll get to their destination by December 24th, but everything is going by Priority Mail and we'll do our best! Posted by Bill on 12/18/2008 8:30:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:55:03 +0100 685279 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081218 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:04:17 +0100 685153 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081217 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:22:01 +0100 684846 http://libetiquette.blogspot.com/2008/12/phd-getting-your.html There are only two reasons a librarian should get a Ph.D:You are bored with being a librarianYou have some serious insecurities to overcome (Source: A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette) Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:20:00 +0100 684395 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1255 About six years ago I spent a long week implementing just the coolest possible way to index the Unshelved archive. It had full text, lists of characters, tagging, you name it. We got so far as entering in about six months worth of strips, before I soured on my overly-complex approach. Since then Gene has bugged me, and I'm not exaggerating here, every time he's seen me, to implement some kind of search. Any kind. He didn't care. So I am finally keeping that promise by doing what I should have done years ago. I implemented OhNoRobot's simple and easy webcomic search engine. It took like ten minutes. I am truly lame. Now it's your turn, librarians. We have nearly seven years worth of archives, almost 2500 strips in all, that need transcription. It's easy. Just go to the archive, choose a strip (clicking the "random" button is a good way to start) and, if there's a "transcribe this comic" button, click it. Then follow the directions. Once we have reached critical mass of transcribed strips, which I hope will be by end of year, I will implement the search function on our site. In the meantime you can try it out here. P.S. Here's what a transcription of today's strip looks like. Note the use of mixed case not UPPER CASE. Each speaker is labeled. And provide description to set the scene and where necessary to tell the joke. Pretend you're reading the strip aloud. [[Mel and Dewey are walking together.]] Mel: When someone says you're the best, it's polite to disagree. Dewey: *Was* I the best? Mel: Yes. Dewey: I believe acknowledging the truth benefits us all. Mel [[stopped]]: This isn't how this conversation was supposed to go. Dewey [[walking on]]: That's not my fault. Posted by Bill on 12/16/2008 11:52:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:26:01 +0100 684341 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081216 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Tue, 16 Dec 2008 08:43:04 +0100 684230 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081215 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:37:06 +0100 683967 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1254 Today we welcome a new sponsor, Workman Publishing, publisher of 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before you Die by Tom Moon. It's great for a book club, or I guess it would be called a listener's group. In fact, you can get a free listener's group guide by emailing our friend Michael Rockliff. Posted by Bill on 12/15/2008 11:32:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:37:06 +0100 683962 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081214 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 14 Dec 2008 09:36:02 +0100 683575 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1252 Our thanks to this week's sponsor Dark Horse Comics, publisher of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight: Wolves at the Gate (Adobe Reader required). You'll believe a girl can, you know, stake scary monsters. Posted by Bill on 12/13/2008 9:20:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:59:02 +0100 683550 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1253 Every year on Gene's birthday I deign to draw a comic about poop. This year he asked me to do a book talk about his favorite books on the subject. Sigh. Posted by Bill on 12/13/2008 9:22:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:59:02 +0100 683549 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1252 Our thanks to this week's sponsor Dark Horse Comics, publisher of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight: Wolves at the Gate (Adobe Reader required). You'll believe a girl can, you know, stake scary monsters. Posted by Bill on 12/13/2008 9:20:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 14 Dec 2008 04:22:02 +0100 683531 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081213 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sat, 13 Dec 2008 07:26:02 +0100 683254 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081212 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:54:02 +0100 682851 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1250 Those of you who get our email delivery or read Unshleved on our website know that we offer a fun and useful service, in tandem with Shelf Awareness, where publishers let you know about late-breaking books that didn't make it into their catalogs. Folks email us all the time to let us know much they appreciate it. But it's not part of our regular RSS feed, so if you're a right-thinking RSS user, know that you can also access Drop-In Titles by RSS feed. Posted by Bill on 12/11/2008 9:22:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:49:02 +0100 682635 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1251 One final reminder that December 15th is the last date we feel confident that you can order Unshelved goods and still have them delivered by December 24. P.S. Our storage unit burstingly full of newly-reprinted Volumes 2, 3, and 4 would like to suggest that you buy a set of Unshelved books. Remember that you'll get not only a great price and free shipping to the U.S., but until the end of the year we'll throw in a set of three Unshelved bumper stickers. Posted by Bill on 12/11/2008 9:32:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:49:02 +0100 682634 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081211 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:21:02 +0100 682455 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081210 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:48:02 +0100 681927 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081209 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:15:02 +0100 681521 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081208 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 08 Dec 2008 07:05:01 +0100 681109 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1248 This time every December my family takes a short vacation in the mountains to play in the snow. Well this year there is no snow (though there is some rain scheduled) but we're still going. While I'm gone we're going to run one of my favorite Unshelved sequences from a few years back. Enjoy! Posted by Bill on 12/7/2008 7:40:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:23:02 +0100 680929 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1249 It's a sign of just how big a fanboy I am that hosting a Buffy the Vampire Slayer sponsorship makes me feel a little like Joss Whedon and I are best friends. 'Cause you know, we totally are. Anyway, longtime Unshelved readers know that I am a huge fan of all the great man's work, beginning with Buffy. It went off the air a few years back, but Joss decided to continue the series in comic book form. He even called it Season 8. The third volume Wolves at the Gate (Adobe Reader required) is out now. It features Buffy in a team-up with Dracula, written by Buffy scribe Drew Goddard (along with an interlude written by Joss). Gene and I both read it the other day and agreed that the dialog really popped in a way that made us jealous and bitter. You'll love it. Posted by Bill on 12/7/2008 7:47:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:23:02 +0100 680928 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081207 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:32:02 +0100 680882 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1247 Our thanks to this week's sponsor Wyndham Vacation Ownership for helping making Unshelved possible this week. Don't forget to order their free DVD. Posted by Bill on 12/6/2008 11:43:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:04:02 +0100 680719 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081206 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sat, 06 Dec 2008 07:56:02 +0100 680557 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1246 Our friend Shannon, who probably doesn't know that she's one of inspirations for the character of Tamara, wrote: We made a very simple Unshelved display here at my library. Your comic books, plus your Sunday recommendations, are flying off the display! We hear again and again that Unshelved Book Club displays are a great way to put books into the hands of kids. A reminder, if you need one, that you're welcome to print them out and use them in this way. Posted by Bill on 12/5/2008 1:20:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:28:02 +0100 680308 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1245 Most of my blog posts for the last couple of months have been about the stuff we sell, and rightly so, because that's how we support the strip. But I thought I'd change gears and suggest some gifts that we don't sell. And I'm going to start with some favorite products from some of our web cartoonist friends: From Sheldon's Dave Kellett, the Lucky Duck shirt is a favorite of my wife's. Any aspiring cartoonists should get How To Make Webcomics. And don't miss the latest Sheldon collection, Nerds On Parade, just out. From Wondermark's Dave Malki! there's the Bibliophibian shirt, hysterical greeting cards and his beautiful collection Beards of our Forefathers, easily one of the most handsome comic strip collections I've ever seen. From Girls Without Slingshots' Danielle Corsetto some delightfully off-color Valentine's Day cards would make great stocking stuffers for the right person. Kris Straub draws three, count 'em, three webcomics but it's his simplest, Chainsawsuit, that always makes me laugh. Schlock Mercenary's Howard Taylor sells these great Warning Signs, perfect for your office. Chris Yates sells Poop signs. I also like his slugs. PVP's Scott Kurtz brings us the I Beat Tetris t-shirt. Goats' Jon Rosenberg sells a gazillion great t-shirts, but I'm thinking of getting which part of "ninja" don't you understnad? for my son. indigo kelleigh draw some astonishingly beautiful comics. His 8-bit Tarot are the coolest Tarot cards I've ever seen, not that I've seen that many. Diesel Sweeties' Rich Stevens also makes awesome shirts. Bacon Toaster and Galactus are two recent favorites. There are more great comics and more great products out there, but these are the ones that inspire me right now. Posted by Bill on 12/5/2008 10:09:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:51:02 +0100 680281 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081205 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:22:02 +0100 680141 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081204 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:54:02 +0100 679897 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1243 I'm not at all surprised to find out that Unshelved is not funny. But I guess you could help change that. There's the essence of a good idea in here, but the problem is that all the dedicated readers of a given comic strip, i.e. the ones who find it funniest, will never go to this site. They'll just keep reading their favorites as normal. But I'm still entertained by the whole thing. Posted by Bill on 12/4/2008 10:06:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:17:02 +0100 679856 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1244 Of course everything we write in Unshelved is quotable, but the punchline of this Book Club strip was the Quote Of The Day here and at Google. Posted by Bill on 12/4/2008 10:40:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:17:02 +0100 679855 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1242 Things are bustling in the Unshelved Store and Jana and I have created these helpful notes to make your holiday purchasing trouble-free. This is probably the last week you can pay by check and be absolutely sure your order will arrive by Christmas. That's because we wait to ship your order until we receive your check. If you order before December 15th your order is guaranteed to arrive by Christmas, assuming you (a) pay by credit card and (b) are sending to a U.S. address. International delivery is less reliable and we can't make any promises. Obviously sooner is better in all cases. With one exception we now have everything in stock that we're going to get before Christmas. That means when we're out of a size, we're out of that size. So if there's a particular something you must have, order it now before we run out. The one exception is Large Men's Bibliovore shirts - there are more on the way. Here is a complete list of current promotions: Free shipping on orders over $40 (U.S. only) Buy any two shirts, save $3 Buy any print, save $10 on each subsequent print Get a set of any six Unshelved books for $70 and we'll throw in a set of three Unshelved bumper stickers Posted by Bill on 12/3/2008 10:59:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:43:02 +0100 679412 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081203 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:15:05 +0100 679274 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1241 That's the advice I always give, so for once I'm going to take it. We're pretty passive when it comes to doing talks. People invite us, and if it makes sense financially and schedule-wise then we go. But there are places and/or dates that would nestle nicely with existing traavel, and we'd look up on such invitations with great favor indeed. Here's a partial list: New York/New England in mid March 2009. I'm planning on attending a small comics event Mar 20-22 in Northampton, MA, followed or preceded by a business trip to NYC. I'd be thrilled to do some sort of event in either of those places around that time. Hawaii, anytime. Nuff said. Houston, end of March 2009. I'll be in town for TLA Apr 1-3. I could easily come a few days early. South Florida, early November 2009. I'm hoping to come for Miami Book Fair 2009, and again I could come a few days early. Email me for more information. Posted by Bill on 12/2/2008 4:57:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:24:06 +0100 679117 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081202 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:10:03 +0100 679045 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1240 You may have noticed that this week's sponsor, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, is a little off the beaten path for us. When we first started taking sponsorships Gene and I agreed that we'd make sure to keep them relevant to our readers. So when our friend and overly-talented fellow cartoonist Georgia contacted us on behalf of her employer, we were skeptical. But then she explained that Wyndham looks for professionals who are careful how they spent their money on such things as vacations. And we had to agree that that sounded like our readers. So this week we invite you to order their free DVD explaining just how vacation ownership works, and find out if it's a good choice for you. Because Georgia is usually right. Posted by Bill on 12/2/2008 10:50:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:10:03 +0100 679040 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1239 It was a year ago today that I started work as a full-time cartoonist. Read on if you're interested how it's going. First and most importantly, I have regained some semblance of a life. When I was working two jobs my family got left out more often than not. Now I work a regular 40 hour work week, and things are better. It's true that I spent quite a lot of time on the road this year, but when I'm home I'm much more available. It helps that I work at home and my kids are home schooled. Financially it was a leap of faith to go full-time in 2008. I had no idea if we could make enough money to pay my bills. And the answer is, not quite. I closed the gap by doing a programming contract at the beginning of the year. I hope I won't have to do so again next year, but the state of the economy is obviously a little foreboding. Don't get me started on health insurance. I had high hopes for what I could accomplish with 40 full hours a week, hopes I have not fully achieved. Partly I wasn't being realistic. It's not like I was going from 0 to 40. I was really going from about 25 to 40, and so there wasn't that much extra time to spend. But my biggest struggle has been with myself. In the early days I was fantastically productive, but I hit a few mental roadblocks. I went through one month where I could hardly drag myself out of bed. I seem to have righted myself, but it's still a challenge to focus on the most important stuff. Aside from my increased level of sanity, the big advantages of working full-time were as follows: Sponsorships. It's good money but it requires a lot of time. I've gone on several sales trips to New York, where most of our customers are located. And I spend a significant part of each week chiming in on campaign purpose, design, and copy so that each sponsorship is most relevant to our readers. Travel. I have a personal opinion that, aside from the comic strips, personal contact is the engine that drives our business. ... Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:37:02 +0100 678548 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1238 Hey, if you're ordering good from our store for delivery outside the U.S., and you want them to arrive before Christmas, we're advising you that you should do so by tomorrow, Tuesday December 2nd. In this futuristic world it shouldn't take three weeks to deliver packages, but around this time of year sometimes it does. We'll still ship after that, but your probability of getting them on time will start to decrease the longer you wait. Posted by Bill on 12/1/2008 9:41:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:00:02 +0100 678523 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081201 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:32:02 +0100 678416 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1237 A reminder that our weeklong Free Shipping offer (U.S. only) ends midnight on Tuesday. It applies to everything we sell, large and small. We're also throwing in a set of our fabulous bumper stickers when you buy a set of our fabulous books. Posted by Bill on 11/30/2008 6:53:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:18:02 +0100 678285 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081130 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 30 Nov 2008 07:59:02 +0100 678144 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081129 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:17:02 +0100 677925 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1236 Our thanks to this week's sponsor Radical Comics, publisher of Caliber: First Canon of Justice and Hercules: The Thracian Wars (requires Adobe Reader), now in fancy hardcover versions perfect for libraries. Posted by Bill on 11/28/2008 12:28:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:27:02 +0100 677887 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081128 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:50:08 +0100 677882 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081127 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 27 Nov 2008 07:49:02 +0100 677405 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081126 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:21:02 +0100 677155 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1235 As our way of participating in the Black Friday Spendathon, we're offering free shipping within the U.S. for everything in our store from today until midnight Tuesday, December 2nd. We're also throwing in a set of our three bumper stickers when you buy a set of Unshelved books. It's a great time to buy gifts for your friends, family, staff, and, of course, yourself. After books, right now our most popular items are the Library College line - the hoodie, shirts, and hat. I am a particular fan of the women's fitted shirt - it's a very dark navy blue, almost black, and a very soft fabric. I doesn't fit me very well but I can appreciate it from afar. Right behind them in popularity is our Choose Books t-shirt. Put it on and you can almost hear George Michael singing "Careless Whisper" or, starting next week, "Last Christmas." And our Contains Printed Matter messenger bag continues to sell out at a rapid clip. We're down to our last few dozen. And of course there's the rest of the store. We've stocked up on your favorites - Read Irresponsibly, Bibliovore, Book Club, Will Work For Books, What Happens in the Library/Storytime..., Reader's Advisory, library schooled, Frequently Asked Questions, My Safeword is "Ow!", and What Would Dewey Do. And we even have a few sizes, while supplies last, of Pimp My Bookcart, Guess What I'm Reading, Library Raid, Contains Printed Matter, and Unshelved.com Book Club. Remember that if you're shopping for the kids in your life, our women's fitted shirts are perfect for the little ones. My five-year-old daughter wears a small, and my almost-eight-year-old son wears a medium. Posted by Bill on 11/26/2008 9:32:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:44:02 +0100 677120 http://libetiquette.blogspot.com/2008/11/doubt-giving-benefit-of.html Always assume that patrons are using your library computers for legitimate, academic reasons. It is not uncommon for students to research...autobiographical communication perspectives in Facebook user profilesthe effects of high bandwidth speed on illegal file sharinga "how they do it" demonstration on student plagiarismfeminism and gender identity in pornographic depictions of big beautiful womena participative ethnographic study of librarians' hostility towards cell phones, loud iPod ear buds, and unapproved beverage containers (Source: A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette) Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:12:00 +0100 677285 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081125 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:02:02 +0100 676866 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1234 Last week we returned home from Miami, the last stop of a record year of travel for me. Gene and Jana joined me more often than not, but as Unshelved's only full-time employee I bore the brunt of our travel calendar, spending almost three months of the year in one hotel room or another, speaking and/or exhibiting at library, book, and comic conferences all around the country. You'd think I'd never leave home again, but the truth is I rather enjoy travel. So while we may moderate things a bit next year, the Unshelved road show will go on. And so we're happy to announce two more 2009 appearances: We'll be exhibiting April 1-3 in Houston at the Texas Library Association annual conference, and we'll be speaking October 12 in Baltimore at the Enoch Pratt Free Library staff day. P.S. I have now taken down the voluminous list of our 2008 appearances off our home page. It's time to move forward, after all. Posted by Bill on 11/25/2008 12:19:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:48:01 +0100 676696 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081124 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:38:02 +0100 676276 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1233 We welcome our returning sponsor, Radical Comics (requires Adobe Reader), publisher of Caliber: First Canon of Justice and Hercules: The Thracian Wars, now in fancy hardcover versions perfect for libraries. I hung out some with the Radical folks at the Miami Book Fair earlier this month and they are good folk. More importantly, they gave me a copy of Caliber and I read it on the airplane home. I truly enjoyed it. There's a bit of a fad of retelling the Arthurian legend in different settings, but that's because it's a good story. This one, cleverly set in the old West, really succeeds. The plot moves along with plenty of action, the writing is crisp and the painted art is just gorgeous. I don't gush about every book sponsored on our site, but this one is worth some gushing. Posted by Bill on 11/24/2008 11:26:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:38:02 +0100 676275 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081123 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:27:02 +0100 676023 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1232 Our thanks to this week's sponsor Yen Press, publisher of World of Quest by Jason Kruse. Volume 2 of which comes out any minute now. It's just about the perfect comic for a seven year-old boy. Well, my seven year-old boy, anyway. Your mileage may vary. Posted by Bill on 11/23/2008 7:57:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:27:02 +0100 676022 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081122 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:26:01 +0100 675559 http://librarycartoons.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-got-off-to-bit-of-false-start-few.html I got off to a bit of a false start a few weeks ago...saying I was back to posting cartoons on a regular basis. Side tracked with some other things recently, I've fallen behind once again.With the holidays coming up and no new finalized material ready, I've resorted to posting a cartoon that I included with the booklet I sold a while back. It was one of the "never before seen" cartoons...so for the those that own it and have already seen this, my apologies. For those that didn't order a copy, hope you like it. I'll get back to work soon...really.Happy holidays! :) (Source: turn the page) Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:14:00 +0100 675541 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1231 As promised, the hoodie and hat are in the house. The hoodie is probably my favorite bit of Unshelved clothing to date, and the embroidery on the hat is nice and tight. Posted by Bill on 11/21/2008 10:25:00 AM (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:21:02 +0100 675320 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081121 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:53:02 +0100 675129 http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=1230 For those of you who ordered any our Library College line (hoodie, men's and women's shirts, hat), we owe you an apology. Everything got delayed. Jana is just picking them up today at the printer, and will be shipping them out late this week or early next week. We appreciate your patience. And if you're not patient, we certainly don't blame you. Posted by Bill on 11/20/2008 3:29:00 PM (Source: Unshelved) Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:02:02 +0100 674927 http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20081120 archive | primer | blog | purchase print | send to a friend (Source: Unshelved) Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:25:02 +0100 674875