TODAY'S NEWS: Well, here we are, Labor Day, 2010! Five years ago, the first episode of this webcomic spewed forth onto the Web. I'm grateful to all of you who have found this comic and have been reading it ever since! Knowing that people are enjoying my work is truly a gift. Thank you!

I'm particularly grateful that you've stuck with it through my challenges over the past year. I wish I could say that those are all behind me, but I'm not sure that's the case. During the past four weeks, I've had three trips to the Emergency Room, one of which resulted in surgery, two (and possibly three) struvite kidney stones, multiple medical appointments and a barrage of tests. The best thing I can say about all of this is that if I have an underlying metabolic issue (which could be the cause of my problems for the past year or so), we may be able to identify and correct it. I am cautiously optimistic.

And I'm sure you're wondering, what does this mean for YOU? The good news is that I will continue to produce the comic and Newsletter. I'd hoped to return to my regular schedule, but coming off a week of forced inactivity and pain meds, I'm not nearly as prepared for that as I'd hoped. For now, comics will be published when available, perhaps one or two per week. I plan on resuming the weekly Newsletter, but I'm not sure if I'll release my second book of columns this year, or if it will have to wait until 2011.

In short, "Ask Dr. Eldritch," goes on! Thanks again for your continuing support as we head into another year of webcomicry and the Web's Best Uncommon-Sense Advice!