Linkage

Right now the links section of Sentient 39 has as many pages as the comics section and, frankly, more content. It has less content, however, than I wanted. Especially in the webcomics section.

I use three criteria(s?) for linking to a webcomic –

A. Would I’d read it myself?

B. Has it been running for at least a year?

C. Is it done by someone I know?

Criteria C applies regardless of A or B. One looks out for one’s friends.

Criteria B is flexible. If the work is being done by someone who has already demonstrated that they can do a long running project then I’ll probably link to a new project of theirs regardless of the youth of that project.

Criteria A is the one is keeping me from adding many webcomics. The key ingredient here is the “read” part. In order to determine if I would read a comic I need to read it to begin with. The time I’ve got available to do that is pretty limited. So first I have to find a strip. Not too hard, there are thousands of them out there. The first strip I find has to attract me enough to read another.

Since my attention span drops to fruit fly level when I’m surfing that first strip has to either –

1. Be visually appealling

2. Be well written

Number 1 almost automatically cuts out the sites that don’t display art on their front page. I might have patience enough to look around a bit to see if there’s something appealing on the site, especially if I came there from a site I liked, but chances are slim. They get slimmer if the site is ugly and poorly designed. There has to be something attractive to keep me going. It doesn’t take much. Three month old apologies for not updating more frequently won’t do it. Show me the strip. Apologize later.

So obviously it’s harder for a strip to demonstrate Number 2 without demonstrating Number 1 first. I do read strips that have an art style that I don’t like. Most strips on the web are crudely drawn. Many well drawn, long running strips started out looking pretty bad. I don’t summarily discount a strip if my reaction to the art is, “yuck.”

I’ll give any strip one read. Even if the art is pixilated stick figures. If it’s half way competent I’ll read another page/strip. Whether or not I read a third depends on whether that second strip is also competent. I’m not expecting much. I know that most webcomics are done by amateurs in their spare time. From what is said in much of the author’s commentaries many of the strips are done by college students. I’m basically reading the net equivalents of the minicomics I traded back in the day.

One of the difficulties I have with strips on the Modern Tales sites is that, for most of them, without subscribing, I don’t get enough of a sustained read. That makes it harder for me to recommend any individual strip. Many of the strips I read I read in chunks. I’ll go to the site every few weeks and read a bunch of strips all at once. Can’t do that at the pay sites without subscribing.

I subscribed to Girlamatic because I wanted to support Jenn Manley Lee and Dicebox. I know her. Criteria C. It’s a bonus that Dicebox is well written and brilliantly illustrated. It’s a double bonus to get The Stiff and Bite Me. There are strips on other Modern Tales sites that look good but I’m less comfortable linking to because I haven’t read them. I can’t say, “I know it’s just a sample page. Trust me. It’s good. Think about subscribing.” Beyond Girlamatic, I don’t have much to say. I haven’t read enough.

Given the way I spend my money, I’m unlikely to subscribe to more MT sites. I like to own things. I have little disposable income once I’ve paid for the necessities of food and shelter so I try to be cautious about what else I spend my money on. I like it to be tangible. Books. Videos. DVDs. CDs. Mostly books. I can read a book by candlelight if the electricity goes down. That other stuff just becomes chunks of plastic when the modern world hits a speed bump.

Which isn’t to say I think the MT sites should be free. I hope they succeed. I’ll subscribe when my income improves. I’m just tangenting on why I don’t have more individual strips listed from MT sites. Access and time.

Where was I? Ah yes –

Is the strip well written?

Can the author spell? (Bad art and bad spelling will send me away before I take the time to find out whether the story is brilliant.)

Is it funny? (If it’s supposed to be.)

Is it compelling? (If there is a story being told.)

Thousands of webcomics. It takes time to search them. So there aren’t as many links as I’d like. It will take me a while to add more. It has to be one of my lower priorities.

Fourteen Days

Got the basic bed put together for Aged Mother. I still need to touch up the paint job on her dresser. Later this week I’ll hang curtains.

But first. Coffee. Coffee always comes first.

Testing. Please Ignore

Yes, the links pages at Sentient 39 are a mess. I’m doing some readjustments over there. Just ignore them for a few days. Thank you.

Fifteen and Counting

Nizzibet and I plan to spend this afternoon setting up the room for Aged Mother. The biggest projects will be putting together the bed and painting the dresser.

I doubt if A.M. would have a problem with dresser as it is – missmatched handles and a couple of unfinished paint jobs. Certainly she’s had years of hand-me-down furniture. But we’ve got some cheerful paint left over from doing the living room a few years back and it shouldn’t be any trouble to give the dresser a once over.

Sixteen Days Left

Yesterday was Bosses’ Day, one of those Hallmark holidays. Fortunately I like my boss so I didn’t mind saying nice things about him on the greeting card.

After work I talked to a New Accounts person at my bank. He confirmed that it would be best to wait until Aged Mother is here to do any more banking wrangles. Even though my bank has branches in other states they can’t really trade funds around that easily. We’ll just have to set her up with an account when she gets here and then transfer her direct deposits and savings over the course of the next month. We’ll be able to walk A.M. through all that and then track everything by phone or internet.

Finished the art for the ad that The Black Seal will be running in The Book of Dark Wisdom. Probably got two dozen illustrations (for magazine and website) to go before I’m done with my work on issue three. Sleep is for humans.

Seventeen to Aged Mother

Picked up a box spring to go with the mattress we’ve already got. It doesn’t match. Not a problem though; we can just switch it out with the box spring that we’re using on our bed. It’s the original b.s. that goes with the mattress for Aged Mother. The box spring that goes with the mattress we sleep on wouldn’t fit down the stairs so we jury (jerry?) rigged a b.s. and foam combo.

D.I. was out of single bedframes. Not a problem either. They gave us a sheet of plywood and we’ve got cinderblocks in the garage. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve hacked together furniture. It’s a skill I learned from A.M.

Picked up a reading lamp, end table, mattress pad, sheets and a blanket. Also got a few sweaters for A.M. to layer on when when it gets cold. A.M. would probably say that wasn’t necessary so I probably won’t tell her until she gets here. Better safe than sorry.

Eighteen To Go

Picking up more furniture tonight. Also supposed to pick up extra clothes. Shopping for my mother? What size is little old lady?

Will stick with coats and sweaters I think.

Nineteen To Go

Last night Nizzibet and I went and picked up a television that TwoM had in storage. We figure that with Aged Mother here we’ll want to spend more time at home. That means less movies at the theatre and more watching videos/DVDs in the living room. I don’t think that we’ll be getting cable back. The only show we thought we watch this season was Angel and since we’ve missed the first few episodes now we’re planning to just catch up when it comes out on DVD in a few years. And Aged Mother hasn’t watched TV in quite a while herself.

Twenty Days and Counting

Aged Mother will be arriving on November 2nd. Esteemed Brother will be flying up with her on Sunday and returning to the Bay Area the next day.

If I didn’t have a life I’d pick up a bottle Cuervo Gold and a pack of clove cigarettes on my way home. Then I’d alternate sitting on the porch smoking with sitting in the basement writing, drinking the whole time. Ideally it would rain.

I love my life. And I miss the days when I didn’t have one. Viva Los Gemini!