Framed

Twins Restaurant & Lounge

My place mat @ Twins Restaurant & Lounge, 4353 W Ridge Rd, Erie PA.

Sharky's Café

My napkin @ Sharky's Café, 3960 Rt 30, Latrobe PA.

Juried Art Exhibit @ the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art

So I went and entered "Jeeraffe" in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Council for the Arts Annual Juried Art Exhibition. I (honestly) believed the juror would have a good laugh when he saw it, and maybe even call somebody else in the room so that person could have a laugh at me as well. And then he would toss my entry in the "rejected" pile and get on with his life.

But life doesn't always turn out that weird "normal" way, and that juror, in that little room, decided that, in spite of all the other legitimate paintings he had already tossed in the "rejected" pile (mine included), "Jeeraffe" was worthy of being included in his little show.

No, I'm not kidding.

I really don't think they understand the point of The Rots. I'm hoping this doesn't make them legitimate now; that would be the kiss of death.

The show's opening reception was November 29 at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Ligonier, and the picture up above here proves everything I just said. They even gave him his own wall with his own lighting! (My apologies to the lady who found her way into the photo.)

And, strangely, the words "cute" and "adorable" came up several times...

The show runs November 28 through February 14, and the SAMA Web site is the next thing you'll read: Link: http://www.sama-art.org/ex_ev/ligonier.htm

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

Dino's Sports Lounge

A little popcorn-napkin-straw paper sculpture @ Dino's Sports Lounge, 214 Rt 30 E, Latrobe PA.

Sharky's Café

My paper napkin ring @ Sharky's Café, 3960 Rt 30, Latrobe PA.

Ruthie's Diner

My place mat @ Ruthie's Diner, Rt 30 E, Ligonier, PA.

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

In Memory of Jason Bay

So if you're anywhere near Pittsburgh, and you're anywhere near a Pirates fan, you've probably heard that we've managed to screw up once again.

Xavier Nady wasn't enough. They went and traded Jason Bay.

I was watching a Pirates game two years ago (July 29, 2006, to be exact) when I drew this Rot in my sketchbook. Sorry about the quality; it was one of those sketchbooks with the naturally speckled, recycled paper. Jason Bay was playing, and inspired me to draw "Jasun."

I'm afraid the Pirates will have difficulty being contenders if they don't understand the point of "building" a team. But as a longtime Southwestern Pennsylvanianer and sports fan, I will gladly apologize in this very spot if they prove me wrong.

Trademark Part II

It's official! "The Rots" is a certified registered trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. So now, every time I use the name, I can put a registered trademark symbol after it:

The Rots®

Pretty cool, huh?

And hopefully, that might deter some evildoer who wants to steal the name for their own evildoer purposes.

Copyright stuff

Well, I just found out yesterday that the check I sent last December 3rd to the Copyright Office, along with a stack of greeting cards published in 2006, has finally been cashed. I hope that means the copyrights aren't far behind. I apologize for the wait, and hopefully those cards will be up for sale soon.

I'm also working on a complete overhaul of the merchandise available on CafePress, so here's your last chance to get the products and characters as they are currently available. I have many exciting new images which will replace the products currently listed, and I will be adding several new product choices. I'll also be working on a quarterly newsletter with Rotty news and info on the latest designs and products, and I'll post newsletter sign-up information here as soon as it becomes available.

2 Cats

My napkin @ 2 Cats, 130 Cottage St, Bar Harbor ME.

Jordan Pond House Restaurant

My guest evaluation survey at the Jordan Pond House Restaurant, Park Loop Road, Bar Harbor ME.

Jordan Pond House Restaurant

My napkin at the Jordan Pond House Restaurant, Park Loop Road, Bar Harbor ME.

The Thirsty Whale

My napkin @ The Thirsty Whale, 40 Cottage St, Bar Harbor ME.

Sharky's Café

My napkin @ Sharky's Café, 3960 Rt 30, Latrobe PA.

Smokin' Joe's

My napkin @ Smokin' Joe's, 2001 E Carson St, Pittsburgh PA.

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

Forwarded emails create SPAM

I know the people who think I would be interested in some email they've received aren't trying to cause problems when they forward it to me, but it turns out they are.

It's not so much in that they are forwarding, it's in the WAY they forward. This also includes any time an email is sent to everyone in an address book, even if it's not forwarded.

When you forward an email to a group of people and put the list of email addresses in the "TO:" section of the email, every one of the people on the list now has an entire listing of "live" email addresses. If one of the people on the list who received the email from you then forwards it to a group of people in their address book, suddenly a whole group of people--who you probably don't know--now has not only my email address and everyone else's on the list, but also YOURS.

With the speed of the Internet, my email address is now in countless boxes around the globe, and the odds of one of those boxes belonging to a spammer or someone who sells email addresses to spammers for cash are surprisingly good.

SO...

I don't want to stop you from forwarding me something you think I might find helpful. I'm not interested, however, in jokes, inspirations or petitions, and please don't put me on your list when you get an email saying, "Send this to 10 people...".

If you REALLY think there is something I should see, here's what I ask you to do:

• If it's a Web site, please copy and paste the Web site address in an email. Please don't forward the address once it has come from somebody else.
• If it's an email you've received, please copy and paste what it is you want me to see in a NEW email. Please don't forward the email as-is.
• Please don't put me in your address book and use my address in a forward to the group of people in there with me. I don't mind being in your address book itself; of course it's easier when you have an email address handy rather than having to type it in or even remember it. I would just rather not have my email address included in a group of email addresses that is going to get forwarded, and forwarded, and forwarded...
• Please don't include me in a bulk mailing to all your friends with everyone's address in the "TO:" section of the email, even if it's a brand new email that you started and isn't a forward.

Unfortunately, I don't have any kind of filter for my email that totally rejects anything that has been forwarded to me. I've blocked the word "Fwd" in both the body and subject of a message, but that hasn't worked. It only takes one person to get your address out there, and suddenly your BUSINESS email is inundated. That's what happened to mine.

I don't mind if you copy and paste this in an email, but please follow some Internet etiquette and don't send it to a group of people in your address book with everyone's email address listed in the "TO:" section.

And, please, stop forwarding me stuff.

Dino's Sports Lounge

My napkin @ Dino's Sports Lounge, 214 Rt 30 E, Latrobe PA.

Greeting cards

Still waiting to hear from the Copyright Office about the greeting cards. It's been about five months, and I finally got the postcard back saying they received the package, but they haven't cashed the check for the fee so far.

Sorry, but I only have two cards up on the site right now. As soon as I hear from D.C. I'll put all the cards up from 2006.

Waiting...

CAKE!

When I got home from NY, my honey had a cake waiting for me to celebrate a successful trip. I guess the lady who did the writing didn't ask.

Amtrak

My napkin on my train ride home, somewhere between New York, NY and Latrobe, PA.

Sarabeth's Kitchen

My napkin @ Sarabeth's Kitchen, 423 Amsterdam Ave, New York NY.

Aroma Espresso Bar

My place mat @ Aroma Espresso Bar, 145 Greene St, New York NY.

Amtrak

My napkin on my first Amtrak train ride, somewhere between Latrobe, PA and New York, NY. (Sorry about the blurriness--we must have been on a train or something.)

Max & Erma's

My napkin @ Max & Erma's, 5533 Walnut St, Pittsburgh PA.

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

Sharky's Café

My napkin @ Sharky's Café, 3960 Rt 30, Latrobe PA.

D's Six Pax and Dogz

A paper towel @ D's Six Pax and Dogs, 1118 S Braddock Ave, Pittsburgh PA.

And if eating there wasn't enough (they have vegetarian! Yay!), they went and hung up the last Rot. And not only that, they wrapped it in plastic first! Thanks, guys.

Hard Rock Café

My napkin @ the Hard Rock Café, 230 W Station Square Dr, Pittsburgh, PA.

Greeting cards

Posted two greeting cards for sale on my site. Yes, only two. Still waiting for paperwork to get through the Copyright office, but as soon as it does, there will be plenty more where that came from.

Thanks for your patience...

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA. (Sorry guys...First I spelled "grille" wrong--I see I've done that before--then the picture came out blurry. I'll try harder next time.)

Valentine's

Happy Valentine's.

D's Six Pax and Dogz

My napkin (actually, they use paper towels) @ D's Six Pax and Dogs, 1118 S Braddock Ave, Pittsburgh PA.

Highly recommended for their "Beer Cave." Not tellin' you what that is--you'll have to see it for yourself.

Smokin' Joe's

My napkin @ Smokin' Joe's, 2001 E Carson St, Pittsburgh PA.

Sharky's Café

My bar napkin @ Sharky's Café, 3960 Rt 30, Latrobe PA.

Leo's Pub & Grille

It's been a while, but I'm feeling a little more in the mood to Rot. So here you go...

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

Hiatus

Took a bit of a break from Rotting.

It's not that we haven't been eating out, I think I've just been burning out. I've been bringing my camera in case I get in the mood, but I end up not drawing anything. With all the time I spend working, you would think I'd be making enough to live off the interest.

Still no word yet on the trademark thing. My application hasn't been assigned an attorney yet, and I'm not really expecting anything for a few more months anyway, so no biggie.

Flash

I signed up for a Flash class this Spring at the local community college with the hopes that The Rots site can be done completely in it. I used Dreamweaver and HTML and JavaScript for my other two sites, but the way I see The Rots site coming together can only be done in Flash.

I've already bought the domain name (www.the-rots.com), but there isn't anything up yet. Once I put this site together and get it uploaded, that link is going to look pretty good.

That's the plan anyway.

Rots show

Well, The Rots show at DV8 in Greensburg, PA, is finished. Thanks to everybody who made it out and left the great comments in my book. In case you missed it, here's the image from the postcard.

I've started a catalog of all the things we had available at the show, and I'm hoping to have that available in a few months. In case you're wondering, here's a short list of some of the merchandise:

• t-shirts
• greeting cards
• note cards
• postcards
• bookmarks
• journals
• calendars

I'm still working on the logistics of printing and distribution, so I'm not sure how soon all this will get up and running. The sooner the better, I think!

Trademark

I took my biggest step in becoming legitimate today. I filled out a trademark application for "The Rots". A little scary, especially with the money involved. It would be nice to be sure this whole adventure is going to stick around for a while! But I did it, and now I just wait for the lawyers in D.C. to give me the "thumbs up" or feed me to the lions.

Either way, they keep the money!

Barnes & Noble

My napkin @ Barnes & Noble, 1099 E Pittsburgh St
Greensburg PA.

Barnes & Noble

My napkin @ Barnes & Noble, 1099 E Pittsburgh St
Greensburg PA.

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

Sharky's Café

My bar napkin @ Sharky's Café, 3960 Rt 30, Latrobe PA.

Ruthie's Diner

My place mat @ Ruthie's Diner, Rt 30 E, Ligonier, PA.

Leo's Pub & Grille

Paper towel @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

Sharky's Café

My bar napkin @ Sharky's Café, 3960 Rt 30, Latrobe PA.

River's Edge Cafe

My place mat @ River's Edge Cafe, 203 Yough St, Confluence, PA.

Brady's Restaurant

My place mat @ Brady's Restaurant, Rt 31, Acme PA.

The Hollow Tavern

My napkin @ The Hollow Tavern, Rt 30 E, Latrobe, PA.

Dino's Sports Lounge

My napkin @ Dino's Sports Lounge, 214 Rt 30 E, Latrobe PA.