chirp... chirp... chirp...

Those are the crickets on my end of the blog. Yeah, it's been a while... and, yeah, the last cartoon was a repeat... (here's my original Moron post for that cartoon). I swear, though, it's not my fault! Honest... I ran out of gas. I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!!

The AAEC 50th anniversary convention was outstanding. Shook hands with a hero of mine, Helen Thomas, and a guy who ain't gonna be president, Dennis Kucinich. Heard Dana Priest speak during lunch at the Washington Post, and listened to Mark Shields repeatedly praise the courage of Ronald Reagan, which made me want to barf up the crab cakes or whatever the hell we were eating at that meal. Most importantly, though, I feel like I gained a new appreciation for my chosen profession, which I hope will be evident in the growth of my work in the near future. I also gained a broader understanding of the challenges that we face as a group, which are formidable.

Also, our CWA booksigning crowd at the downtown D.C. Borders kicked serious ass. Mikhaela points to an attendee who scanned his autograph page and put it online.

Thanks a bunch to Warren, Matt, and Jim & Karen for giving me places to rest my head last week.

Here are some more upcoming events:

• July 26-29 @ 10am - 7pm | San Diego: Cartoonists with Attitude at San Diego Comic-Con Ted Rall, Keith Knight, Shannon Wheeler and more! (San Diego Convention Center)

• July 27-28 | San Diego: Shannon Wheeler's Too Much Coffee Man Opera Wheeler reprises his hit comic opera for the San Diego Comic-Con crowd. Fri. July 27 at 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.; Sat. July 28 at 2 p.m. and 11 p.m. Evening shows $20, day shows free to Comic-Con attendees.

• September 28 @ 7 pm | Boston: Cartoon Signing and Slideshow with Mikhaela Reid and Masheka Wood (exact location TBA)

• September 29-30 | Portland, OR: Stumptown Comics Fest featuring Ted Rall, Shannon Wheeler, Matt Bors, Stephanie McMillan, Ben Smith and more! (Lloyd Center Doubletree)

• October 12-13 | Bethesda, MD: SPX Ted Rall, Mikhaela Reid, Masheka Wood, Brian McFadden, Jen Sorensen, Stephanie McMillan, August Pollak, and more!