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Well, it’s been a long, long 12 months. And truthfully, I’ve had better. Stress, insomnia, lower-back pain and general ennui have made this one year worth remembering selectively.

But I’m finally starting to realize that drawing this strip may be the best thing for me. A fuzzy, little panacea.

So here we go again. If you’re willing to take the ride, I’m willing to whip the horsie (wooden, unfeeling horsie, of course).

And I have to mention that you nutjobs wrote me a lot of emails over the past year. And each one helped in its own little nutjob way. Thanks.

But seriously... you’re a bunch of freakin’ nutjobs. Go start a support group or something.

Don’t worry. I’ll spare you from a Valentine’s Day strip this year.

Well, it looks like I’ve officially been “snarked” (and I’m more of a man because of it). Thanks to Eric Burns for the extremely humbling entry. If you’re a fan of webcomics, go check out his site, Websnark, for very well-written and insightful commentary. (And thanks to Good Ol’ Dave Wright for pimping me).

I’m trying to decide whether to check out “The Gates” in Central Park tomorrow afternoon or wait till next week. I don’t know if I can handle the assault of lovey-dovey Valentine’s Day couples. But, dammit, I need a procrastination from the gym...

Well, I’m off to the Bay Area for work-related mischief. So, unfortunately, there’ll be only one new strip until I return early next week.

Now please hold off from emailing me with your sarcasm or paranoia. I promise you this won’t be another long-term hiatus. I swear it on my Mac Mini.

But, hey, you do get an extra-long stick figure strip. So... um... feel free to take your time with it...

Aha. Back from California. And you know what? The produce isn’t as good as I remember. Perhaps the strawberries and oranges are just out-of-season over there but, then again, what seasons?

Anyhow, I’m just glad to be back in the swing of things. Even if it does mean giving up sleep... all sleep... forever...

Well, kids, I’ve finally decided to impugn myself with the ultimate form of pressure: I’ve given notice at my day job and will soon be committing myself full-time to drawing.

Beginning April 4th, I’ll have no more excuses for missing deadlines, no more scapegoats for lame storylines or artwork. This is probably the dumbest thing I could ever do to myself.

But, hopefully we’ll all get a little something out of this, even if it’s just nicer crosshatching.

You know, I was totally oblivious to the fact that March 2nd marked the site’s 400th strip. At this rate, the 500th should land right around mid-October... the site’s 6th anniversary! Aha, see? I’ve been timing it all along.

Obviously, I don’t have anything to talk about this week. That’s because I’ve been swamped with work, which includes a playwriting class that has been kicking my tuckus. Let me tell you something... Shakespeare: that boy MUST have had help. At least a receptionist... or a metronome...

These past couple of weeks, I’ve been hopelessly addicted to a game on my phone called “Rally 1000”. It’s the electronic version of the old card game “Mille Bornes”. If you’ve got a Palm Pilot, do not download this. The computer opponent cheats. I’m sure of it.

It’s true. Every time it wins, a little window pops up that says “Ha ha! I won because I cheated! Play again?”

I encountered a few problems when the site unexpectedly changed servers last week. The poor “Skinny Panda by E-mail” service bore the brunt of it. Unfortunately, I don’t know when it’ll be fixed. And more unfortunately, I lost the entire list of people who were signed-up with the service. So, if you’re one of them, please hold tight. When the service is back up again, I’ll ask you to re-add your e-mail address to the list. Till then, I’m supremely sorry for the inconvenience.

Well, not the ideal start to the Red Sox season I was hoping for, but at least I don’t feel as tense as last year, where every game felt like life-or-death.

A big 8 lb., 5 oz. shout-out goes to my friends Shontus & Katrinus, who outputted an adorable bundle of baby last night. (And after 48 hours of labor, man, that kid owes them big-time.)

The problem with not working a normal nine-to-five schedule is it’s so dern tempting to stay awake into the weeny hours of the night. While the rest of the city’s off in dreamyland, you have all the time in the world to play Palm Pilot games, read new articles on the New York Times site and redeem your free pass to eat calorie-rich, late-night snack-crap.

But then, before you know it, it’s 8:00am and the construction workers arrive at the building behind your’s (as they’ve been doing for three years and counting) and get going with the sandblasting, the bucket-thumping, the bum-digging and the noisymaking.

So now, you’re screwed.

Way to go, Lestat.

So I’ve decided to finally buckle down and get cracking on making some Skinny Panda t-shirts. It’s been tricky because I’m looking for a way to print stylish, affordable and sweatshop-free shirts. If you’ve got any recommendations, especially in the NYC area, please drop me a line.

I also need to think-up a cool t-shirt design. Maybe I’ll print one that says “My friends went to AwesomeWorld and all they got me was this super-awesome t-shirt with a panda on the front and a tomato on the back!”

You might have noticed that the site’s undergone an “extreme makeover.” There’s a whole new backyard, an exercise room for Grandma and some liposuction around the code’s nether-regions.

I’M psyched because now that the site’s database-driven, it makes updating the strip a lot faster and more foolproof for me.

YOU’RE psyched because, well, you WANT me to be happy. It’s your PURPOSE IN LIFE...

No, seriously... I’ll be building-in more features as time goes on. For now, enjoy the revamped Past Episodes archive that’s easier to navigate and now allows you to view only Stick Figure Strips, if you so choose. There’s also a new Characters page which gives brief intros, along with recommended storylines that help answer questions such as “How did Flower lose his petal?”

While you’re clicking around, if you find any broken links or areas that need fixin’ or improvement, by all means, send me an e-mail. I’ll be very grateful. And very evil...

Hullo, peaches.

The Specials section has officially re-launched. You can find an updated Links page, F.A.Q. and some of my recent illustration work.

“B-b-b-but where’s the fan art section...?” you ask. Sheesh, okay, fine...

E-mail me your drawings, photos, sculptures, rag dolls, needlepoints — have at it! I’ll start posting them up next week. Don’t forget to include your name and the city or hamlet whereinwhich you reside.

What ends up getting posted on the site is subject to my discretion, of course. For example, corporate logos and insults towards your unrequited crushes are most likely no-no’s. Grade-school-level artwork, or even pre-school fingerpaintings, are most likely yes-yes’s.

The Fan Art section is now up and running. You can see the first submission from Dawa-Chan who drew an adorable, cape-clad panda who may, or may not, be about to kick Skinny Panda’s tuckus.

Lately, I’ve been utterly addicted to the radio show This American Life. If you enjoy listening to ridiculously interesting stories from everyday people, this is your oasis. You can listen to almost any episode for free on their site.

I’m sorry but it looks like no strip for Friday, May 20. I’m a sick, little boy. I’ve got some throat thing that’s killing me softly. But I’ll try to post something ASAP once I stop seeing swirlies in the air and in my toilet.

Alright, I’m feeling 90% better now. Thanks for all your well-wishes.

And because you were all so forgiving towards me for missing Friday’s strip, I’m giving you a super-sized, full-color dealie for today. Just don’t be expecting this all the time now. This one nearly cost me my sanity.

Hey, the Desktop Wallpaper’s back! Play dress-up with your monitor using wallpaper both by me and by a handful of readers from around the globo.

Oh, and FYI: Lorelai proposed to Luke on “Gilmore Girls.” You’re welcome.

Ugh. I’ve been so unproductive this past week. Just when I start to get the semblance of a routine going, I sabotage myself. This time it’s “The Return of the King” on PS2. It is truly a tragedy of mythical and epic proportions.

At least I have Carrie Underwood’s rendition of “Alone” by Heart to give me comfort. That voice combined with that blank, vapid stare... *ooohhh* it makes my deltoids shiver...

Whew! This week, I’ve been like a baby circus bear, riding the flaming website development unicycle around and around and around. And, lo, if you cast your mouse towards the center ring, you’ll find the following new features:

• RSS Feed – If you use an RSS reader, and you’re still on good terms with it, here’s a new way to receive new strips as soon as they’re available.
• News Archive – All of the homepage messages going back to the very beginning are back online. Follow Phil’s rise, fall and bucolic comeback.
• Printable Versions of Strips – Now with the little, grey button above, you can print nice, clean versions of your favorite strips without all of this cluttery, insipid crap getting in the way.

Another year, another hangover from the MoCCA Art Fest in NYC. My friend Rob trolled around with me at this comics extravaganza and ‘twas a great scene as always.

Proper shout-outs (do kids still do “shout-outs” these days?) must go to Ryan, Kean and Kazu, out promoting the fantastic Flight, Volume 2, Sam Brown of Exploding Dog, J. Jacques of Questionable Content and the venerable Philadelphia Cartoonist Society. Chatting with all of these supremely talented (and friendly!) people was... well, ego-crushing.

On the SP front, I’ve finally come around to reposting some of my old comic strips. Plus, Peter C. Hayward of Soap: The Webcomic was kind enough to create a Skinny Panda LiveJournal RSS Feed. And with this formidable weapon, I shall assimilate the entire LiveJournal race...

I finally bit the bullet and told my parents that I had quit my job to draw little cartoons full-time. It was a necessary act, though I felt like Frodo, thinking I’d emerge without a finger or two.

But, you know, they turned out to be very supportive (with some healthy skepticism, of course. Hell, I’M more skeptical than they are). My mother even suggested that I write for Dave Letterman for side money. Count me among the lucky ones.

Anyhow, we interrupt our moment of sappiness to bring you two sites you will enjoy... if you like your pandas more actiony (and, really, who doesn’t?) check out PandaXpress. The art and coloring is insane. And for those with more mature stomachs, Hoogerbrugge.com is brilliant, interactive Flash entertainment.

I had the opportunity to hang-out on a movie set for the first time as a potential extra last week. Sadly, my services weren’t utilized but I did finally get to see the filming process up-close. It’s really fascinating. Plus, I got to share airspace with Zoe Saldana who, I believe, must have hit every branch on her way down the Gorgeous Tree.

I’ve added a search field to the bottom of the Past Episodes page, so you can now, for example, search for all Robokitty strips or strips with a baseball theme. Note: it’s not comprehensive yet. I still have yet to transcribe about 75% of the strips but feel free to play around with it, if you wish.

I have a large, painful (and probably infected) pimple embedded deep in the center of my nose. It’s got me looking somewhere between Rudolph the Reindeer and J.P. Morgan.

I hope all of you readers in the U.S. are enjoying your holiday. And for those outside of the U.S., well, you probably get more vacation time than us anyway.

I’m finally (finally!) on a normal sleep schedule and I finally (laugh out loud!) went to the gym a few times. It is unbelievable how much of a difference it’s made to my health and my mood. Last week I was all ready to crawl into a corner. Now, I’m kissing myself in the mirror.

Hey, the results for the 2005 Web Cartoonists’ Choice Awards are in! Go on and take a break from that TPS report and stroll through the lists of nominees and winners. You’re almost guaranteed to find a new webcomic to add to your favorites.

And maybe — just maybe — you’ll find chocolate...

I’m in slow decay right now. My sleep schedule’s shifting back to nocturnal hours, I haven’t been to the gym in five days and I stuffed myself with alcohol for the first time in a month.

Perhaps I’m just being dramatic... but I’m feeling around and I can’t find my pancreas anywhere...

Hi, folks. Sorry about missing last Friday’s strip. I had this whole Stick Figure idea that fell apart. So, instead of posting crapola, I took the passive-aggressive approach and just twiddled my thumbs for 8 or 9 hours until Friday was over. Genius.

I’ve added two new links to friends’ sites you should check out: Fulltime Freakshow is a blog chock-full of meaty writing while Christina-Terry.com is a site chock-full of meaty visuals (sorry, nothing for your aural pleasure this week).

My brother and I are up in sunny Newton (aka “Snooton”), Massachusetts today as a result of our parents bribing us with Red Sox tickets. Let me tell you, Ozzie and Harriet’ve got nothing on those two.

But as much as I love Boston, I came to the realization that I find the women in New York City generally more attractive (at least this season). My brother’s girlfriend suggested that I might feel that way only because NYC women dress more scantily. Sounds reasonable to me. But now I fear I’ve become more lecherous with age. I could really use a hit of “Gilmore Girls” right now.

I can’t believe I strained my shoulder.

I can’t believe I strained my shoulder on the very first toss of a football.

I can’t believe I strained my shoulder on the very first toss of a mini Nerf® football.

I’m aware that perhaps too many of my news posts are me whining about my declining state of health. But since I have nothing else to report on right now, please allow me one more...

My gums are receding. It started with one tooth, where I have an exposed root that’s forced me to consolidate cold foods into the opposite side of my mouth. But now it’s all of them. I’m starting to look like I belong in a Tim Burton movie.

So, in sum, we’ve got the strained lower back, weak right knee, sore right shoulder, receding gums and insomnia. If you had to score that in baseball, it’d be a 1-2-9-8-insomnia.

I love the new Chewy Chips Ahoy! resealable packaging. You can see the little demo movie here. [UPDATE: Link gone. Awww.]

They should start making beds that way. Keep us fresh while we sleep.

Be sure to check out the Fan Art section and Samantha’s fantastic Penelope dolls! Penelope has never looked more dashing... or P.O.’d.

What about you, huh? Where’s your little contribution to the ongoing dialogue that is fan art? Draw your favorite character, concoct your own version of a Skinny Panda strip or bake a marshmallow pie with a Robokitty frosting! So much is possible! I’m going to throw up!

Somehow, I caught a cold over Labor Day (I know. I still can’t believe it myself.) so I apologize for the absence of new strips lately. I should be back in action on Friday, though, so please check back.

Till then, if you need an eye-candy fix, go check out my buddy Lawrence’s drawings and paintings. Especially if you like monkeys. Oh, that boy does like monkeys...

Sorry for posting Monday’s strip so late. I am completely off-rhythm these days. I’ve got to pull myself together before the Fall TV season’s back in full swing.

Hey, be sure to check out the Webcomic Hurricane Relief Telethon where a new strip will be posted every 20 minutes for 48 hours! You’ll find a lot of great stuff from a huge variety of cartoonists.

Well, last week was a significant lapse, for which I apologize. I’m inching my way back to normalcy, however, so you can now stop sending me your medication. I do appreciate the gesture.

Hey, the Webcomic Hurricane Relief Telethon has been extended! Skip on out there to find a slew of great strips, auctions, animations and more.

Sorry, folks. Same old excuses. But I’ve got a jump on next week already, so things are looking upwards!

And Big Papi is MVP.

Not exactly the end-of-season I was hoping for but, hey, the Red Sox are in the playoffs and I guess that’s all that really matters... to everyone... in the world... of baking...

The good news is: the comic strip Taking Up Space is up... up... and awaaaay into the stratosphere of comic fantastitude!

The bad news is: the Red Sox are down... down... and even more down...

...and down some more.

But the good news is: I learned a neato way to fold a t-shirt from Martha Stewart!

Ohmygod I'm going to kill myself now!

UPDATE! Dear, sweet, reader Amy was kind enough to provide a link to a video demonstration of the neato t-shirt folding technique: Check it out here!

The bad news is that Skinny Panda’s going to have to go on a 7-day hiatus. I’ll be running around like a maggot-in-sneakers all this week.

The good news is that this is all in preparation for my sketch comedy group’s premiere this Friday! If you live in New York City, or just need an excuse to be an annoying tourist, we would love to have you:

KRAKENMENTCH
Friday, October 21st @9pm.
The Improvolution! Theater
312 West 11th St. (at Hudson St.)
House opens @8:30pm.
$8/ticket. General Admission.

Thanks so much for indulging me and my side interests last week as the strip went on hiatus.

And thanks to everyone who came out for my sketch comedy group’s world premiere. For those who missed it, we’ll be performing again in NYC on Saturday, November 12 (details to come). So do try to cancel-out of that big Kahlua party and pencil-us-in, won’t you?

I spent three hours at my brother’s place watching highlights from the 2004 ALCS and World Series. I’d just flip around to the scoring plays.

*Sigh*... it’s officially all in the past now...

Check out the little map of Skinny Panda readers and feel free to add yourself. Seemed like a cute idea, so I went with it.

My sketch comedy group, Krakenmentch (translated: “Squid-Man”), is performing this Saturday in New York City. Squid you soon...

KRAKENMENTCH
Saturday, November 12th @6:30pm.
Chashama Theater
217 East 42nd Street (just east of 3rd)
House opens @6:00pm.
$5/ticket. General Admission.

After the Krakenmentch show, be sure to stick around for a typhoid fever of comedy featuring Centralia and The Modern Kids. If you haven’t seen Centralia yet, you must... for they are an improvised revelation. Note that tickets for the Centralia show must be purchased separately. Click here for full details.

Let me tell you, this Skinny Panda Reader Map thing is even more fun that I anticipated. I’m especially impressed that over 20% of you posted photos! It’s like I’m enjoying the yearbook of a fantasy high school where everyone signs and no one plays football.

The Onion had a sad-funny panda piece. Here you go.

After six years and thirty-five mental breakdowns, this Wednesday, Skinny Panda marks its 500th episode! Wooooooo!!!!!!

And to celebrate... I, um... well, I couldn’t think of anything.

But, hey, maybe you could suggest something in the brand new Skinny Panda Forums!

Nice segue, huh? You see, after reading all of your kind posts on the Skinny Panda Reader Map, I realized, “Hey, I’ve got the nicest readers in the world! Let’s let them meet and play and dance and frolic and... uh... type.” So there you go.

UPDATE: If you sent me a message using the email form at left and haven't received a reply, please resend your message. It looks like the form may have been broken all weekend, However, it appears to be working now. We apologize for the incontinence.

Howdy, children. I hope you had a nice holiday. And for all you non-U.S. readers who didn’t have to visit family for Thanksgiving... make sure you call them.

The inaugural week of the Skinny Panda Forums has produced lively discussions on lip balms, baby pandas and where the Crow Boys’ eyes are really located.

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite character, too... or you’ll be sorry when they get killed off...

UPDATE: Uh oh. It looks like the form at left was down over the weekend again (it's working again now). If you had sent me a message using the email form at left and haven't received a reply, please resend it. Sorry about that.

It is imperative that you visit the Skinny Panda Fan Art section and check out Bridgette’s amazing little statue of Skinny Panda. It’s ridiculously cute.

And, hey, where’s your drawing, collage or outdoor installation for the Skinny Panda Fan Art collection? I don’t care if you scribbled it on a napkin — I want to see it!

I know you’ve got the free time... I see you there reading comics...

Ugh... Phil sick... *cough* *cough* *gack*

Phil... stay home... play video games... *ack* *grooaan* *spit*

You... go read Skinny Panda forums... why Phil not post photos... vote for favorite character... *coughcough* *barf*

Hey, cookies.

And, hey, speaking of cookies, our friend, Cookie, has drawn a beautiful, epic, group portrait of the whole gang! Check it out in the Fan Art section.

And if you’ve got the stomach for ridiculously cute imagery (with only the slightest tinge of irony), scoot your little row of duckies over to Cute Overload.

Have many happy holidays, folks.

I hope you’re all having a fine holiday season so far. I, for one, am doing alright except that I’m sick AGAIN. Like, what the freakin’ heck is this crap?!?

Anyhoo, I thought this week might be a good time to remind y’all that Skinny Panda has an RSS feed. It’s really a fantastic and convenient way to receive the strip. You get all of the strips and all of the news and can handily flip back and forth among them. It is truly the cow’s meow.

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