I did not see that coming.

What made me happy today? I did not see that coming. (See what I did there? No? Keep on reading, I'll explain!)
Many months ago I wrote this blog about one of my all-time favorite webcomics. Dominic Deegan, the grumpy seer, created by Michael Terracciano (aka Mookie).
On May 24th of this year, after 11 (!) years, Dominic Deegan ended. Michael started working alongside Garth Graham to create the wonderful Star Power. A few weeks back, I started re-reading Dominic Deegan, and I was thinking about how glad I am it's still online and how sad I'd be if it goes online.
Now, somewhere, someone must have heard this, because a bit later (Nov. 25th) Michael announced that he'd be releasing the first parts of Dominic Deegan as an omnibus. And on December 2nd, it was finally time to pre-order. Which, of course, I did that same morning. Du-uh.
But what I didn't see coming was that I'd get a very nice thank you email from Michael with a picture of Sparky (Dominic's alliteration loving, smart-ass, 'death from above' cat). That made my whole day! Plus, the 'I did not see that coming' is referring to the fact that Dominic is a seer, and that the email it came from is scrymail.
If you love Dominic Deegan, head on over to the store and pre-order your copy at a special price (until Dec 31st, after that the price will go up)! If you don't know Dominic Deegan, head on over and check it out. It's amazing!

Webcomic Wednesday 4

What made me happy today? Webcomic Wednesday 4!
This time, it's lunarbaboon. Lunarbaboon is a cute comic, usually about the struggles of raising a child, married life and everything involved. The description says 'A half man/half moon monkey trying to make sense of it all.'
Lunarbaboon is the type of comic that will make you react differently to each new one. Some are touching, others make you laugh, others provide you with new insights or make you go 'huh'. There doesn't seem to be a fixed updating schedule for this one, but Facebook and Twitter will alert you to a new comic.
It's also one of those comics I love to check out when I'm feeling sad or down. It never fails to make me happy!

What if?

What made me happy today? What if?
It's Tuesday, and that means there's a new 'what if? xkcd'! I've mentioned xkcd before, it's one of my favorite webcomics.
In 'what if?' xkcd answers a reader's science-related question. Spoiler alert: they often end in catastrophy.
Looking for some extra laughs while reading this webcomic? Hover your mouse over the images, you'll get a little bit of extra text.
Enjoy reading!

Webcomic Wednesday 3

What made me happy today? Webcomic Wednesday 3!
Today, I have another webcomic for you. Dominic Deegan's Michael Terracciano has teamed up with Garth Graham to create the wonderful Star Power webcomic. Michael writes the dialogues, and Garth draws the whole thing.
Why do I love this comic so much? Well, it takes place in space. That means aliens! I love space, and aliens! And pretty views :-) The main character is an awesome female scientist, called Danica. There's lot's of witty conversations between the characters, and some puns. Of course there are puns, Michael is in charge of the dialogue. And if you're familiar with Dominic Deegan, you should know that puns are to be expected from him ;-)
Star Power is still relatively new, the third chapter just got started. And it looks like it's going to be an exiting one! So head on over and have a look! Star Power updated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
I hope you like it!

Goodbye and hello

What made me happy today? Goodbye Dominic Deegan and hello Star Power! (warning: if you have not fully read Dominic Deegan, you might not want to read on, this post contains spoilers!)
A few months ago I posted about one of my favorite webcomics: . Today, after eleven years and three thousand comics, the series came to an end. And yes, I cried...
It's going to be strange without my daily Dominic fix. But I am so happy that it ended with Dominic alive! I really feared that Mookie (aka Michael Terracciano) would let Dominic die. But nope, he let him and Luna and Spark live happily ever after :-) But of course, it would not be Mookie if he didn't add sort of a cliffhanger in his last comic. There's this mysterious voice saying 'Dad! Come inside! Uncle Gregory just arrived!' to Dominic, but no mention as to who is saying this. Now, from old comics I know that Dominic and Luna were unable to have children of their own, so either they adopted or they did magically conceive. Any way, I'm happy for them, because they would make great parents.
It makes me kind of sad that the comic has ended, but I'm also happy it ended the way it did. And Michael, I don't know if you're reading this, but I just want to say: thank you! Thank you for all these years of Dominic Deegan; for the amazing journey it has been; for all the lame puns; for the drama, love, sadness, happiness and all those other emotions; for the epic 'death from above' and all those other memories / catchphrases I'll never forget. Thank you for creating such amazing characters, like Dominic, Luna, Spark, Quilt, Bort, Gregory, Stunt and Bumper, Dominic's parents... Well, all of them. Thank you for, in a way, helping me through some hard times in my life through Dominic Deegan! Thank you for not letting Dominic die! And most of all: thank you for everything!
But, as always in life: when a door closes, a window opens. Michael Terracciano has teamed up with Garth Graham to create 'Star Power', whick looks great and I'll definitely be following closely.
So this is a bit of a mixed feelings post: I'm sad that Dominic Deegan ended, but I'm happy Mookie got to end it like he wanted to and that he has a new project. But most of all I'm happy about all the memories I have about Dominic and friends, and their adventures.
And what better way to end this post than with Mookie's usual words? Rock on and geek out!

Combo!

What made me happy today? A combination of two of my favorite things!
A long time ago I posted about xkcd, one of my favorite webcomics. On several occasions I have mentioned being a bit (okay, understatement) of a space aficionado.
In yesterday's blog I posted a link to Chris Hadfield's Space Oddity music video. And what do I see today?
What-if xkcd wonders if Space Oddity is the most expensive music video ever! I'm not telling you the answer, head on over and see for yourself.
This definitely made my whole day :-)

So long and thanks

What made me happy today? So long and thanks for all the metal!
Jeff Hanneman died. Don't get me wrong, this definitely does not make me happy. At all. As a matter of fact, it makes me kind of sad. He was only 49...
But what made me (kind of) happy was the lovely comic Jeph Jacques did, in tribute to the untimely death of one of the founding members of Slayer. And of course, for those of you who read Questionable Content, it had to end on a total 'Hanners' note.
Jeff will be missed, but at least his music is still around. So Jeff, wherever you are now: rock on!

Webcomic Wednesday 2

What made me happy today? Dominic Deegan has gone full-scale epic!
Dominic Deegan: Oracle For Hire is a webcomic created and written by Michael 'Mookie' Terracciano. (DD FB page)
Months ago a friends gave me the link to this webcomic. I was having a hard time dealing with a lot of stuff and in some way Dominic Deegan allowed me to escape from it all for a bit. But that's not the only reason I like it.
It has puns, oh so many puns; epicness; magic; love; betrayal; so many different races and places; family; a multitude of jokes; the occasional dash of sadness and so much more. I'm not going to tell you too much about it, just go and check it out for yourself.
Sad thing is: this comic has been going for ten (!) years, and will end somewhere in May this year. That means that the wrap-up of the story is starting. And boy, oh boy, is it epic! Every morning I check and see what happens next, and it just gets more amazing each day. I can't wait to see how it will all end! Too bad the comic only updates on weekdays, especially because Michael has a tendency to end the week with a cliffhanger.
One suggestion: if you decide to check it out: start from the beginning (here) so you don't miss anything!
So long story short: you should totally check out Dominic Deegan! I love it, it has helped me through some rough times! So thank you, Michael Terracciano for creating this wonderful webcomic, I can't wait to see your next project :-)

Webcomic Wednesday

What made me happy today? The new xkcd!
xkcd is most likely the webcomic I've been reading the longest. It started in September 2005 and if memory serves, I started reading xkcd somewhere at the end of 2007. The comic's tagline describes it as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language". Randall Munroe is the brains behind it and I have to say, he is doing a hell of a job. Mind you, this is a comic without an actual storyline, it's just something different each time. Also, xkcd is not an acronym but just four letters.
Over the years, xkcd has become my little oasis of funny geeky moments during the week. I absolutely love xkcd, and it's too bad it only updates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And I keep going back for more, because some of the comics are so darn relatable, while others are downright funny.
Lucky for me, about half a year ago, Randall started doing 'xkcd: what if' every Tuesday, in which he answers a reader's hypotetical question with physics.

Want to check it out?
- xkcd: http://xkcd.com/
- xkcd: what if?: http://what-if.xkcd.com/
- the one that even made it into the Belgian newspapers because it was so huge: http://xkcd.com/1110/
-my all-time favorite (science! romance! squee!): http://xkcd.com/162/

Take a look, I hope you enjoy it!