ow, it's not common that I respond when I hear friends kick me in the ass about updating this site. However, when the site's been on a substantial hiatus and someone IM's me with a merry, "WHAT THE HELL, GET TO WORK," well, I'm all ears!

A lot of the hits to my site involve random searches through various search engines, so I didn't think very much of it. However, once in a while (not rare, but not very common), I'll get a hit from someone who's linked me in their blog. Someone actually described LIPP as a blog at one point as well.

Yeah, I guess it could be considered to be a blog. It fits the criteria. I rant or rave about certain things, or bitch about how a certain game sucks, or how a certain person sucks. Add in a few emo lyrics, and you've got all the necessary components for an angsty high school teenager's notebook.

But, I don't know any emo lyrics. I don't even really listen to anything that could be considered remotely emo -- save a few A Perfect Circle songs.

I guess I'll let the bitching commence. I believe my old computer (an eMachines from way back in the day) is about to enter its Golden Kilobyte. I've already had to remove its hard drive and fix it up to the new computer in order to get its file system back up and running.

Unfortunately, the old machine is the system I use to update LIPP.

Figures. Just as I get an even better LIPP format up and running, Beatrice decides she's going to go south and start knocking on God's IT gate.

There's really no closure to this leg of bitching, because there's really nothing I can do about it. The drive's kind of whiny, the computer's fans are audibly wheezing at intermittent intervals.

So, before the entire thing craps out, I thought I'd get what may very well be the last update on this old piece of crap computer up and onto the INTER-NETS.

It took me six years to comfortably embrace thought-bubbles. I sort of scoffed at having them overlay pictures, because I was used to having many of the ways the characters interacted expressed in body movement or position -- since their little bastard faces are always smiling. How could I make enough room for more stuff in the pictures?

The format I've been using is quite similar to another figure-oriented comic, known as Alien Loves Predator (which I highly recommend you click through). While being a regular reader to ALP, I thought, "You know, bubbles would make things remarkably easier in LIPP. This guy seems to do it without much of a problem at all."

Still I remained edgy. How would I place them? Were there specific formats? What if a joke is lost because I didn't format something properly?

Then, I realized I've got one advantage over a great many other web comics out there: I can resize and reposition any picture I've taken to make room for any sort of dialogue. So, I decided to do a little reformatting and give it a try.

I also had a little bit of practice with Refugees From Planet Cartridge. Duh.

Anyway, reformatting was more work than I'd realized, and I'm glad I realized it as I was doing it. Otherwise, I probably would've never got up off my lazy ass and given it a try.

I have yet to implement the archives, because there's some redesigning I have to do in there. Hopefully, while doped up on various cold medications, I haven't missed any -- oh crap. I've got some file renaming to do.

( Fifteen minutes later, I avoid my own personal Y2K. )

Finally, you'll notice I've added a few links to the ever-growing population of nifty graphics to the right. I've started the practice of linking folks who, through some way or another, contribute more than just a trickle of hits to my beloved past-time of bullshittery.

Thanks, my homeys.