Let’s have a KiKi.

We had contests with prizes from our sponsors Atomic Books and Dupenny.  I don’t know if you know this, but Atomic Books has been our sponsor for four years, which is almost from the very beginning.  This was their last session sponsoring Dr. Sketchy’s and I just wanted to say it’s been an honor working with them, not only because they’re amazing people, but because we consider it a feather in our cap to be sponsored by what, in our opinion, might very well be the best indie bookstore in the country.  If you haven’t visited them yet (they’re on the corner of Falls Rd and the Avenue in Hampden), you should.  It’s like a toy store for grown-ups and is about as addictive as heroin.

Dupenny was a new sponsor for this session, and donated a snazzy burlesque-themed plate for us to give away as a prize.  They design and produce exquisite wallpaper, beautiful homewares and fine ceramics with a refreshing twist.  You should check them out.  I think we’re going to get some coffee mugs. 🙂

This was also our last Saturday session for the foreseeable future.  For most of our 4 1/2 years of doing Sketchy’s, we’ve traditionally had our sessions on Monday evening, the thinking being that there weren’t many other events to compete with and folks were often free.  Over the years, a lot of interest was expressed in doing a Saturday afternoon session, so we gave it a shot for a few months.  Unfortunately, the attendance just wasn’t as good as Monday with all the various interesting things going on in Baltimore on a Saturday afternoon, like, umm, hangovers and whatnot.  Not only that, but Sketchy’s take so much time to set up and take down, that in the end, it basically equated to everyone involved only getting one day off that week, which made pastimes like going to the bookie, finding misplaced cars from Friday’s late night shenanigans, and hunting rabid nutria along backstreets of Fells with .357’s and a bottle of Jack EXTREMELY difficult.

Not impossible, but difficult.

Also, no more Saturday sessions unless there’s a special event going on that calls for it.  We’re also reducing our sessions to once a month in 2013, versus the previous twice a month format.  An individual session requires a lot of work on the front and backends to put on, to the point where we were finding it impossible to find time to improve things.  Basically, our time was going to keeping the machine running with nothing to spare to make each individual session better and better.  Plus, Alexis & I are getting married this year, and we need time to plan that monster out. 🙂

So, no more Saturdays, and only once a month from here on out, unless something special comes along (it always does).