1000 Cartoons

This week, Hope n' Change Cartoons hit (and passed) cartoon number one thousand. Hardly an earthshaking event, but an accomplishment of sorts...and a good opportunity for me to break with the political routine and talk about the strip and the website.

There are a few features that readers (particularly new ones) should be aware of. In the top left corner of the page, there's a graphic that says "Click here to meet our cast of characters." Do so, and you'll meet some of the oddball regulars who turn up in these cartoons, and a little bit of backstory about them.

Scroll further down that left sidebar and you'll see a search box which allows you to check the archive of all 1000 cartoons. It's a fun and interesting way to track various issues through time - or a way to refresh your memory about events of the past three years.

Regarding the cartoons themselves, you can always click on them to get a much bigger view (twice the size, in fact). And as always, readers are encouraged to link to the cartoons or copy them onto their own websites, Facebook pages, or whatever else as long as they're not altered, and are not being sold. There are little icons at the bottom of each day's commentary to make it easier for you to share.

Readers should also be aware that at the bottom of each cartoon/commentary, there is a little link showing how many comments have been received. Click it, and you can not only read those comments but join in the freewheeling conversations. If you're not reading the comments, you're missing out on a significant amount of Hope n' Change fun!

Speaking of cartoons and fun, I encourage everyone to visit my other cartoon website over at Johnny Optimism. The cartoon - about a seriously but vaguely sick boy and his dog - is very dark, very funny, and (in a very odd way) intended to help all of us cope with life's challenges. Johnny's blog is a politics-free zone; he suffers enough without politicians getting involved.

Finally, on the milestone of 1000 cartoons, I want to thank all of you readers who regularly visit (and those who, just for fun, have become official "followers"). I don't create this cartoon for money - I do it because I have passionate opinions about our country and our future, and humor is the tool I was given to work with. And seeing the readership numbers helps me feel like I'm not wasting my time, or just muttering to myself like someone with brain impairment. The support I've gotten from you means the world to me, and I'm humbly appreciative.

My goal in creating Hope n' Change Cartoons, besides venting, is to help other conservatives laugh (even if it's a painful laugh all too frequently). Because if we're laughing, we're not beaten - and we're making the other guys really nervous. By lightening our political worries, it is my hope that we can remain fresh for the fight and make a real difference - especially in what I've christened this "Happy NO Year" in which we finally tell Obama and his fellow travelers "NO!" to what they want to do to this great nation.

Again, thank you for visiting, please spread the word among your friends about this site, and very best wishes for 2012!
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