Naked Pixels

Webcomic Wednesday: A Few of My Favorites

To help put you more in the mind of Wednesdays being webcomic days here, I have a short list of some of my favorite webcomics to share. I actually read a lot more than this, but I have most of them bookmarked and have to go back from time to time and read through the archives. There are a lot of great webcomics on the internet, and I could never keep up with all of them!

Digger by Ursula Vernon: This is an on-going story, rather than stand-alone strips, and a difficult one to describe. The tag line pretty much covers it: "A wombat. A dead god. A very peculiar epic." My favorite character all along has been Shadowchild, and I hope we see more of him soon!

Looking for Group by Ryan Sohmer (writer) and Lar deSouza (artist): A favorite among many World of Warcraft fans, and for obvious reasons if you're familiar with WoW. Still, the story stands on it's own. There's no reason you'd have to be a WoW fan to enjoy the comic, although being a fan of the fantasy genre would certainly help. I dare anyone to say they aren't tempted to hug Richard now and again!

Complex Actions by Talthos (writer) and Silkspinner (artist): This one is definitely for gamers! It really is more about gamers than the games, though, and not in a way that makes gamers look much different from anyone else. The way a gamer starts seeing game elements everywhere after a while isn't all that different from when I was sewing and started thinking, "I wonder what quilt that could go in," every time I looked at a piece of fabric. That includes bedsheets and people's clothes. And the frustration over waiting for a game's release can be very similar to waiting for the release of a book or movie. These are regular people... who play video games. And the comic is both well-written and beautifully drawn.

And finally...

xkcd by Randall Munroe: Stick figures are awesome! Honestly, I can't imagine xkcd being drawn any other way by this point. This is very much a math and science geek comic. The alt-text on each one really completes things. I first read xkcd when my husband sent me this one:

(Just in case you ever wondered how geeks say, "I love you.")

Cyber Monday Geek Shopping! Teacher gift's, too!

There will be real posts with more meaningful content later this week! It almost happened today, but then I remembered everyone is sitting at home shopping. To help you with that, I've got two things for you... a sale code for free shipping on Zazzle, and I'm featuring today some of my designs that would be great for any geeks on your list this year! Some of them would also make great gifts for teachers. A math mug for a math teacher, perhaps?

This free shipping code from Zazzle is only good for Cyber Monday! Put in FREESHIP2DAY at check-out for free shipping on all orders! And don't forget that you can always check the coupons page to see what discounts Zazzle is offering.

Okay, geek gifts time! Some of these have picked up in sales recently, and it made me realize quite a few people may be buying for their favorite geeks, or possibly their favorite teachers. (Then again, they could just be buying for themselves. So tempting while holiday shopping!) If you don't have a geek to buy for... well, everyone should have at least one geek around... go find one! But until you find your geek, there are still plenty of other designs you can check out in my store.

You Don't Understand Math Mug by rosaamarilla
Make personalised mugs on Zazzle

This is also available on a shirt. The mug, though, makes a great gift for a teacher!

Scrodinger's Cat "Wanted" Poster by rosaamarilla
More posters at zazzle

There are several products with this design on them in my Math & Science line, and all of them have become more popular through the month of November. Makes a nice gift for a science teacher (especially a physics teacher), or your favorite science geek.

He Who Controls The Spice Magnet by rosaamarilla
fridge magnets online by zazzle

This one is for a sci-fi geek. There's a whole line of these for your favorite Dune fan. Because controlling the Universe has to start somewhere!

Happy shopping, everyone! I say doing it at home is the way to go... you stay comfortable, and you still get to enjoy the smiling faces and hugs when they unwrap the gifts.

Look what people are buying!

That is very much an exclaimation of delight! I know I've said this before, but I have seen a lot more sales from my Zazzle store since they made some changes, including browsing changes, back in September.

I'm still nowhere near pro-seller status, but I've paid attention to what quite a few of the pro-sellers do, and that amount of work would be a bit more than I can handle now. The main thing is that I'm working no harder at it now than I have for most of this year, yet my sales suddenly shot up. That makes me feel good. It gives me a little boost in how I feel about my work, since it would seem just not enough people were seeing it before... not that it wasn't good enough. And feeling better about my work encourages me to try new things with it in the future.

So what are people buying? Amazingly, someone finally bought the shirt no one seemed to understand. In fact, two someones did! And, while there have been orders for different things here and there, two designs have seemed to be rather popular in the past month.

"WANTED: Schrodinger's Cat" Mug by rosaamarilla
Browse other Schrodinger's cat Mugs

The mug has been popular... but the WANTED poster has been bought on a few other things, too! That makes me especially happy. That cat got me interested in physics.

Antique Love Letter Post Card by rosaamarilla
Browse more Antique Postcards

There are matching stamps for that one.

I'm very happy about it every time I get the "Your products have been purchased" email. That didn't even wear off when I got it five days in a row this month! And I keep seeing it pop up every few days in my inbox. It makes me happy because someone likes my work. I would do this even if no one liked it. It wouldn't be a priority on my daily "to do" list, and I wouldn't put it on Zazzle or much of anywhere else that people would see it, but my computer would just be full of things I'd make. It's still nice to know someone else likes it, though. :) Thanks for making my month a little brighter, folks!

Sold!

It's Friday, people are gearing up (or winding down, for some of us) for the weekend, and I have sales to be happy about. That also makes today a sort of "Customer Appreciation Day" around here. Thanks for taking the time to look at my work, and I'm very happy every time I make a sale. Zazzle actually seems to be a good alternative to malls and stores for a lot of people now... as long as you can wait a few days for an item to arrive... and there are tons of designs to choose from. I appreciate having mine chosen for purchase. :)

Today, I sold one of these shirts:

"WANTED: Schrodinger's Cat" Shirt by rosaamarilla
design your own t shirt online at zazzle

It's one of my favorite pieces, so I giggle with glee when there's a sale from it! Also available on several other items... check my Math and Science line.

Yesterday, someone bought two of this postcard:

Antique Love Letter Post Card by rosaamarilla
Make a personalized shirt on zazzle.com

If the postcards are being mailed, I hope the people who recieve them like them. :) Postcards can also be used in scrapbooks and things, though, so if they're being used for decorative purposes I'm very glad the person who bought them liked the design that much.

For anyone else who likes the design, but doesn't really need a postcard for anything, you can also buy that one as a mousepad, or on postage stamps.

Have a good weekend, and I hope the customers enjoy their purchases!

Spotlight On: Geek "Pi"rate Shirt by Detourdesignables

Pi Rate White by Detourdesignables
Design a personalized t-shirt on zazzle

I love this shirt! It is definitely in that list of "Things I Wish I Had Designed". And it's a good time to buy one, with Talk Like a Pirate Day coming at the end of the week. In fact, Zazzle is having a sale through Saturday where you can save $3.00 on T-shirts (any, not just pirate shirt) by using the code PIRATEDAYTEE.

I also got a giggle out of the "Pi ARRRRGGGHH! Squared" in the item description.

Spotlight On: You Don't Understand Math Mug

You Don't Understand Math Mug by rosaamarilla
Design personalized coffee mugs with zazzle

Also available as white text on a black shirt.

Like many people, I went to school in a system that fails to distinguish between mathematics and arithmetic. This led to many years of believing that I'm not good at math. It's not only not my strong suit, but a real weakness for me. Somehow, even though the concepts make sense, I just fail to "get" math.

Actually, it's arithmetic I'm not good at. Math is great!

I've learned that's true for a lot of people, and it doesn't mean they aren't smart. Some of the best mathematicians need help balancing their checkbook because they just don't do well with arithmetic. I'm enjoying learning more about math without beating myself up over my arithmetic failures. I love webcomics like xkcd, which I once would not have bothered to read because I would have assumed I wouldn't be able to understand the jokes.

A person who can explain (because they understand it, not just recite something from memory) why Schrödinger was not saying the cat would be alive and dead, but was commenting on what he saw as a practical application problem with the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, is not a dumb person. Not even if they have to count on their fingers to add numbers less than ten.

Learning to understand this about myself is what inspired me to create this mug and shirt. The text of the design lists a few facts about mathematics, followed by a quote from a mathematician who made major contributions to many fields, including working on the Manhattan Project:

πr², not round.

Imaginary numbers are real, but real numbers are not imaginary.

Quinquagintacentillion is a number, not an Aztec deity.

"In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them." -- Johann von Neumann