Why Wait For The President To Tell Us The Economy Is Okay. Let’s Start Shopping Now.

It was not too many decades ago when the naïve mindset of our country, and most countries, was that the President was “the good daddy who taught us right from wrong; fiscally, morally, and behaviorally. Here’s some news.

The President is not our Daddy; and, if anything we are his. Many who have not worked within the confines of the Washington D.C. Beltway (I did for over a decade in media covering Capital Hill, The White House, the first Gulf War, etc), might not understand, the President of the United States is your employee.

The Office Of The Presidency is not a very glamorous job. In fact there are only two main descriptions within it. a. Keep our citizenry safe and b. balance the budget. Though of course it is more ideal if our president keeps his zipper up while performing his duties, or not be inebriated and choking on pretzels while his two dogs look on, as long as he gets the job done, he has done what we elected him to do.

You see, he/she works for us, not vice versa. If we find ourselves in a “photo-op” with the president, it is he who should be excited, not us, as he gets to take a picture with his boss (one of us). So why wait for the President to tell us the economy is okay. We know it is not okay as long as we are throwing billions of dollars into a war in which we do not belong. So be it. One day, we pray, he may come to his senses and start bringing them home as he promised every day as he campaigned for the job.

Meantime, we the small businesspersons of America must continue doing commerce so our clients and customers will have products to purchase. Yes, they may be merchandise that costs less than they normally would, but that is fine. Just the very act of making a purchase, clicking a mouse, charging it on your debit or credit card (or Paypal), shows the rest of the country that it is okay to still buy goods. We do not have to wait for the president to tell us “things are going to be okay”. He is not our daddy. We love shopping for our friends and family, and no economy is going to change that, even if it is merely a card or a mouse pad or a hoodie, we’ve made a purchase, created jobs, and made someone else very happy.

Please don’t wait for one of your employees (the President) to tell you “everything is okay, lets start spending”; do it on your own, maybe he’ll get the picture, and know we are not waiting for him to tell us. After all, we are the boss.

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Rick London is a freelance writer, entrepreneur, cartoonist and owner of estores such as ShoesThatAmuse.com the worlds only famous love quote shoes and The Rick London Collection, a collection of thousands of his award-winning offbeat cartoons on tees, mugs, aprons, and many other gifts and collectibles. His over 4500 award-winning Google #1 ranked  odd cartoons can be found here.

$500 Gift Certificate Contest For “Most Friendly Twitter” From Cartoonist Rick London

My Jewish Dentist

TOP GOOGLE OFFBEAT CARTOONIST AND  E-GIFT SHOP OWNER OF LONDONS TIMES CARTOONS & GIFTS  OFFERING $500 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO LUCKY TWITTER WHO CAN PUT HIM AT THE VERY TOP (OF TWITTER)  (If he doesn’t go to “The Twitter Top” he’s still giving a $250 gift certificate to the one who retweets him most)

Dateline: Hot Springs,Ar. March 11, 2009:   Cartoonist E-entreneur Rick London announced today his firm, Rick London Group, LLC., is offering a $500 gift certificate to his award-wining top-ranked offbeat cartoon funny gift stores, if Twitters will put him at the top of Twitter. Making it “to the top” simply means having the most followers. (His user name is “ricklondon”) on Twitter.

London is the founder of Google’s #1 ranked offbeat cartoon, Londons Times.

London’s six award-winning Internet stores feature over 165,000 gift items such as coffee mugs, T-shirts, gourmet coffee gift baskets (his own line of farm-fresh coffee beans with cartoon mugs and coasters, teddy bears, maternity wear, magnets, buttons, jogging suits, caps, aprons, hoodies, shoes, wall and desk clocks, and much more more.

London is also the designer of (Shoes That Amuse) women’s casual sneakers with famous love quotations and graphics of the famous person who penned them, featured recently in USA Today and AP Wire which will also be included in the contest. London adds, “But not to worry, even if I don’t make it to the top, (Obama is there now), so we are also giving a $100 certificate for the most ‘retweets’.

So I really don’t have to be at the top for other Twitters to win. Simply following me and retweeting, and one can still win a $250 gift certificate, easily, without even a drawing. Second most retweets #50 gift certificate.

We simply count the retweets of each Twitter member at the end of the contest. A re-tweet is when another blogger at Twitter copies and pastes your tweet with an “RT” in front of it which stands for “retweet”,  giving the original blogger credit for the post, and, sharing it with , often a whole separate network of followers.

London will allow 120 days for the contest to end, and a name to be drawn at random on his birthday which is July 16th, when the winner will be announced, and paid on August 1 via Paypal or check (winners choice). London plans to print his page of followers, cut the names into squares, place them in a box, and draw one.

London adds, “In addition, we plan to issue a press release, if the winner wishes, including his/her name and web address to the wire services for yet more value to the prizes. Londons says, “There also will be a second prize winner, of a $250 gift certificate. In addition, a $50 second prize for the second most “retweets”.

The gift certificates will be good at all of London’s stores. He founded Londons Times on March 22, 1997, and it has grown to be one of the most visible sites on the Internet, and Google’s #1 ranked offbeat cartoon and gifts since 2005.

He will also add an extra $25 bonus gift certificate if the winner has visited his main superstore site and signs up for his monthly newsletter. His stores include Rick London Special Editions Top-selling funny gifts Rick

LondonWear rare line of funny rock star memorabilia and other novelty gifts

Rick London Collection Huge variety of best-selling funny gift ideas

Londons Times Superstore Londons largest funny gift store and exclusively sells world’s only gourmet coffee cartoon gift basket (Londons Own Line).

Rick London Organics (organic cotton tees) bearing his top-selling cartoon images. Shoes That Amuse (World’s Only Famous Love Quotation Shoes) These are not cartoon products but women’s casual shoes he designs. For more information: contact: info@londonstimes.us

A Londons Times Cartoon

A Londons Times Cartoon

Intenet Cartoonist Rick London’s Life Saved By 2 Different Dogs 2 Different Times

The year was 1994 and I was still relatively new to southern California. I had sold my business in Washington D.C and moved to Los Angeles to try my hand at screen-writing. Not much was

shaking for me for the first few years. Except the ground. I settled in Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley area. I can clearly remember being awakened about five a.m by my golden retriever puppy Otis who was barking wildly. Otis slept on the bed with me but he had hopped down onto the floor to begin his ranting. This was no ordinary bark but I took him outside anyway into the back yard which met an alley. Otis kept barking and was clearly agitated but did not relieve himself. I rubbed my eyes and looked around and there was dozens (if not more) cats walking around in circles in the alley. I had never seen this before. They were clearly not acting the way I normally see a cat act, but it was as if they were trying to escape something. Otis’ barks continued loudly.

The next thing I knew I was thrown to the ground which was rumbling. It felt as if I was in the center of a volcano minus the heat. Then I heard loud crashing sounds. My home and a few others on the block had caved in. Part of the roof was at ground level and the rest was hanging in various places. It no longer resembled a roof, and shingles were strewn everywhere. The wall had caved in where my bedroom used to be and a giant ceiling beam lay across the bed where I had just been sleeping not more than 10 minutes earlier. The ground continued to shake and more structures were falling apart. Otis had quit barking but the cats continued in their circle. (I since read that before the tragic Indonesian Tsunami, most of the animals in the region climbed to the top of a mountain before it even developed and saved their own lives, so I guess it was no coincidence of what I saw in L.A.).

I was unable to get inside of my home for a few days. The ground continued to shake on and

off for another few weeks. I had lost everything. I was okay about the furniture, as those things

can be replaced, but family albums, memorabilia that dated back to kindergarten, childhood videos,

college and travel collectibles were never to be found again. So I rented an apartment, which was not easy, as they were being filled rapidly. The apartment would not allow animals, so first I had to find a good home for the dog who had just saved my life. Fortunately, from an emotional standpoint, as much as I hated to lose this wonderful animal, he was not one with which I had a lot of memories, since I was away from home so often and he was still a puppy.

I called the insurance company but the wait would be long. Then my mother called from Mississippi to alert me she had contracted an incurable form of cancer. She needed me there. I left, and did not resolve any of my valuables. But I will always remember the beautiful blond golden retriever puppy who saved my life, sensed the coming danger, and alerted me. I would definitely not be here writing had it not been for Otis.

Being back home in southern Mississippi after being gone for so long was hard on me. I had worked around the country and was very different from my childhood friends who had never left home. It proved difficult to form friendship bonds because of lack of similar interests, hence not a lot of conversation. So I focused on taking care of mom and a sales job I took at a local television station.

Mom died in 1996. I was devastated and was becoming very depressed. Some college friends from near Boston, in Newburyport invited me to stay with them for a week. I did. They kept me my spirits up with movies, dinners etc. One of the movies was with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt “As Good As It Gets” in which a dried up writer (played by Nicholson) has his life changed by taking care of a neighbor’s (Greg Kinnear’s) dog, learning unconditional love.

After the movie, I realized that the character played by Nicholson could have easily been me.

I had been a writer for twenty years (as far back as fourth grade, writing everything from sit-coms

to movies, to short stories to, finally cartoons. I had wanted to start an offbeat cartoon project similar to The Far Side, but was too drained and depressed to launch it, plus, I was too depressed to work, and

just sat at home for months and watched the news (which led to more depression).

Finally I got out and started volunteering at the local university equestrian center, cleaning out barns and feeding horses. One very stormy day, with tornadoes in the vicinity, a pack of three dogs showed up. I fell in love with one immediately, who looked just like Benji, but he was a bit scared of people. He obviously had been abused and/or hit by a vehicle and his hair was one big mat. His coloration was superb, and his soulful eyes showed he wanted love, and had a lot to give. They begged for help. I could tell this one was a survivor. We left food and water out for him every night since he did not want human interaction, and he would eat and drink a little and slept in the barn with the horses.

He barked Thunder, hence his name “Thor, Dog Of Thunder”.

My vet friend said she would take him home and revive him which might take a month or so, if I would adopt him, otherwise, he was ready to be put down. I was not in a good space, I felt to take care of an animal, but I agreed. Little did I know that one day, that animal would take care of me. She shaved his mats, put him on drips, and cared for him in her home night after night.

Almost a month later, he was socialized, loved to be petted, ride in the car, go everywhere with me, lay by my side, and even sleep in my bed. He was housebroken. Though still scared of Thunder and loud noises, it wasn’t long before I realize this was not just a pet, but a gift from God. He knew my every mood. I was working from home, and like magic, creating my cartoons. He stayed right by my side, always smiling. If I called his name, he would wag his tail, come over to me, I would lean down, and he would kiss my face and keep smiling. The look seemed to say, “Keep doing what you are doing Rick, one day you will see. It will happen for you.” I felt this was all my imagination, but I continued my daily rituals with Thor. He could be very playful and manipulative. When he was in the mood to play, he would let me know that just a kiss was not enough. He wanted me on the floor with him to play, roll around with him, or play with any of his favorite toys. I always obliged. Oddly enough, the longer I had Thor, the more productive I became.

As the months went by, and finally the years, I noticed my cartoon venture had grown rather large.

Publishers began asking to buy rights to use them for magazines, newsletters, brochures,
websites and other promotions.

 

Out of the blue, emails were coming in asking me for my autograph. “Why?, I thought. What have I done.” Thor continued to smile as if he knew. It was what he had done. He was slowly helping me regain my creativity and spirit by offering me something I had never had…unconditional love. When my mood was down, he automatically came to me full of kisses, and would jump on the bed and sleep with me, right by my head on my pillow if I really felt bad. He knew when I felt good, his smile would return and he would lead me to my computer, as if he knew, that was where I was going to “make it”.

I followed Thor’s direction. He rarely left my side.

The vet estimated Thor was about eight years old when I found him by his teeth. Four years later, he developed some sort of disease that made him act catatonic and simply stare at walls. He would not even respond to his name or eat much. I rushed him to the vet who made an immediate diagnosis: “juvenile seizures” and that he would have to be put on barbiturates daily (and other medicines) and would live a short, and not a very good quality of life, and to prepare to put him down soon.

I immediately got on the Internet and started researching. I finally found a controversial
veterinarian surgeon in Australia named Dr. Ian Billinghurst, who had written several books on what is known as the b.a.r.f diet (bones and raw foods) and I researched more about it. There was not much science behind it, but the theory made good sense, in that a dog’s digestive system had not evolved that much from when they were still wolves, just as a cat’s had not since they were lions (the diet allegedly works for both). This would be the first time I had ever tried something so dramatic with no science behind it. The first month was terrible. Though Thor devoured the food, his elimination was very discolored, a lot of diarrhea and vomiting, and lethargy.

One day I woke up and he had jumped on the bed next to me. He was ready to play and play a lot.

We played for hours on the floor. He was not only his old self again, he was a brand new dog. His

elimination was working properly again. He quit vomiting. When he was ready to eat, he led me to the fridge. He ate only raw fruits, vegetables, meat and bones. He was now turning 13 and walking five miles a day with me. This would continue until he was eighteen, and it would be done so without one illness nor vet bill. I stopped his vaccinations, and started giving him homeopathic nos odes and for heart worm protection, walnut hull tinctures. He thrived. He remained the happiest, healthiest most energetic dog I had ever owned, much less seen in my life He was so special that shop owners came outside just to talk to “Thor” when I took him on his long walks. They simply could not believe a dog that old could walk so far, without being out of breath, and have such a love of people.

Thor continued to prod me to work hard. He even stood by me through 3.5 years of college. I went back at age 45 after a major heart attack. Friends who kept him for me when I was in the hospital told me he simply laid in the corner with his head on his front paws. He was almost totally inactive except to go outside to do his business. When I came home, he was happy again, but actually sensed I was unable for awhile to get on the floor to play so he jumped up on the bed to be with me while I recovered. Never bothering me if I was too tired, but just being there for me.

By the time Thor turned twenty, he started developing minor heart problems so I put him on

some special herbs that I also took and still take, including samento, cayenne, hawthorn berry, and several others. This kept his disease minor but he was still unable to take the long walks. Finally,

about a year later, it reached another stage which was more serious. Thor finally passed away

on the floor, in my arms, at age 22 about four months ago.

The vet told me he did not want to be put down, though I was prepared and even asked him to. He advised me that Thor had made too many comebacks, and to give one last try, a “flushing out” as his kidneys were failing since I was now having to give him heart meds.

They gave me morphine to administer to him every four hours. I lay on the floor with him as he could no longer jump on the bed. I set the alarm clock for every four hours, and put the pill down Thor’s throat. He showed no signs of pain, and the vet advised me what he had was not painful; that heart ailments and such do not manifest in animals the way they do humans; they simply grow tired

and numb; and, to be sure, the morphine would prevent any pain in case the liver had damage.

I took Thor home from the vet, still thinking putting him down would have been more humane, but, since I’d seen him come back so many times before, this was worth a try.

I gave him his morphine around the clock and stayed on the floor right by his side stroking his back which he seemed to appreciate I fell asleep about 3am the next morning after giving him, what would be his last dose. When I woke up, Thor was not breathing, yet he still had a smile on his face. I could feel the tears building in my eyes. “I kissed him, and told him I loved him very much, and how much he had done for me.” The dog that a vet begged to rescue, ended up rescuing me.

I wrapped him in a blanked and had built a small coffin out of a wooden box. I dug a hole

on a mountain in the backyard of my building in Hot Springs, Ar where Thor’s body lay today.

I had a tombstone there and wrote the epitaph, “Thor, The Most Wonderful Animal That Ever Lived Lay Here Rest In Peace”.

Thor is out of any pain (he may have experienced), and is in a better place. I get relief knowing that.

I try to think back to all the good times I had with this amazing animal. They cannot be described in words. Even my local pristine corporate bank, down the street, Bank Of America of all places, not only wanted, but demanded that I bring Thor in at every visit. No matter where I went, everyone wanted Thor there too. He was that special.

I even had a wonderful girlfriend not long ago for several years named “Rosy” who had a fear of dogs due to having been attacked by one in her youth. I had talked about “Thor” to her. She lived far away, but we visited often. She came one day, and met Thor (when he was about twenty one) and he loved her immediately, rubbing against her leg, demanding to be petted by her. This only surprised me a little, as I know that dogs have a 6^th sense of person’s fear and sometimes bark or attack. But she was not scared of Thor in the least and bent down and hugged and petted him. They were immediate friends. This was a good sign, as, though Thor loved almost everyone, if someone came even close to me that he did not have a good feeling about, he would bark nonstop. I believe Thor sensed that Rosy knew how to practice unconditional love, felt it, and responded to it. This was in our apartment, his space, where he could be very territorial with people and other animals, but he accepted her immediately, and vice versa. And her dog fear had been an acute one, and for good reason. It was now gone.

Some days go by and I think of his final months which were difficult for me. There was no more playing together. It was taking care of a geriatric animal, using the same skills I had learned taking care of my dying mom; something that was my responsibility, something I knew I would never regret doing,

but not something that is necessarily easy or fun.

Looking back it was rewarding. I was able to do everything I could for both the person who gave me life (my mom) and the dog who eventually taught me how to live and give unconditional love.

These are things that I can assure you money cannot buy, and they are worth so much more than money, they are not even in the same league. People with money are a dime a dozen (no pun intended); people who practice unconditional love are like finding a needle in a haystack. Thanks to my long-time friend “Thor”, I am becoming one of those needles. Otherwise, it would have never happened. I will miss you, “Babydog” (that was one of his many nicknames that he loved to hear), and remember you the rest of my life.

 

RICK LONDON GROUP MOVING CARTOON EMPIRE TO SANTA FE, N.M

Cartoonist/entrepreneur Rick London announced today from his Los Angeles HQ

that he is  moving his Londons Times Cartoons business to Santa Fe, N.M.

London said, “Before people start asking ‘why’, it is for a myriad of reasons.

One is, it is more conducive to the type of creativity that we do.  Yes, Los Angeles is

a terrific town for creative projects, but it is an ‘industry town’ and a very busy one at

that. And the industry is movies and television.  We are in the cartoon and cartoon merchandising business.  We enjoy the creation process and like being in a non-hectic environment without the brutal deadlines (most of which we’ve
already met), to complete our projects.”

London started his cartoon empire in an abandoned Mississippi warehouse in 1997, with no backing after his mom died and he lost his job in sales.

He had no idea where it would go, but felt it was something to do until he landed another job.

Little to his surprise it would take on a life of its own and eventually become the largest and most visited offbeat cartoon site on the Internet, and highest-ranked of its kind by Alexa.com.

London has also managed to launch 11 e-stores featuring items such as hoodies, clocks, t-shirts, aprons, Christmas ornaments, mouse pads, framed tiles, pen holders, and many other gifts and collectibles, even the world’s first line of cartoon gourmet coffee gift baskets at his main Londons Times Superstore.   In all, his stores feature over 100,000 items bearing his cartoon images. And he started the whole project with $300, a book called “Internet For Dummies” a phone line with dial-up Internet,  a free sub-domain, and a used clone computer. That was a decade ago.  It remains a private entity with no other backers and partners. London says he kept it that way to keep prices down on

people wanting publishing rights and for discounted gift prices which remain.

Real History Of St. Valentines Day & Why We Give Gifts & Cards

As early as the fourth century B.C., the Romans engaged in an annual young man’s rite to passage to the God Lupercus. The names of the teenage women were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men; thus, a man was assigned a woman companion for the duration of the year, after which another lottery was staged. After eight hundred years of this cruel practice, the early church fathers sought to end this practice… They found an answer in Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred some two hundred years earlier.

Ancient Rome is riddled with strange ceremonies and traditions, especially toward the end of its reign as a mighty empire. In fact, the way young men and women learned love was from a lottery. Once a year, in a ceremony, a teenage boy picked a girl’s name out of a box (all the teenage girls in the village names were in the box). She was his for a year. She was at his command. And sometimes it was not a pretty thing to witness. It would be another 800 years before the church put an end to this practice.

The event turned out to be a celebration of a good man, a priest and bishop named Valentine who lived near Rome in the mid to late second century. During this time Emporer Claudius 11 had outlawed marriage as he felt it made his soldiers weak, and he needed the strongest men available. After all, Rome was crumbling.

After witnessing the horrors of young lovers being torn apart for wanting to be married, Valentine held secret ceremonies and married them anyway. He was soon caught by Claudius’ army. Claudius tried to convert him to the Roman way of thinking but Valentine held firm to his Christian beliefs and was executed.

Valentine’s execution date was February 24th, 270.

During Valentine’s prison sentence, he came in contact with his jailer, Asterius who had a blind daughter. Asterius requested him to heal his daughter. Through his faith he miraculously restored the sight of Asterius’ daughter. Just before his execution, he asked for a pen and paper from his jailer, and signed a farewell message to her “From Your Valentine,” a phrase that has endured eternity.

Valentine was later named a Patron Saint, and spiritual overseer of an annual festival. The festival involved young Romans offering women they admired, and wished to court, handwritten greetings of affection on February 14. The greeting cards acquired St. Valentine’s namesake and still has it.

Valentine’s day grew in popularity along with Christianity, and is now celebrated all over the world, celebrated by almost all faiths. One of the earliest Valentine’s cards was sent in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. It is now showcased at the British Museum.

I only found out the origins of Valentine’s Day today, and found it quite interesting. So what I decided to do was add a “Sex, Love, & Relationship” section to my main gift shop, and mark everything down up to 80% just through Valentine’s day, just to make the Patron Saint proud. It can include a gift card and the customer does not have to sign it “From Your Valentine” but can if he/she wishes.

Beethoven Added To MirthGirthBirth.Com

Cartoonist Rick London, founder of Londons Times Cartoons has done it again. Utilizing his cartoon images, he creates products such as maternity wear, baby clothes, and even coffee mugs for mom and dad and matching dog sweaters. This time, he’s added one of his classics “Beethoven” to the mix. It shows a large beet (vegetable) with human features and a face that wickedly resembles Ludwig Von Beethoven at a piano. MirthGirthBirth claims to be the only line of maternity and infants/kids casual clothing, and even tshirts and hoodies for young kids, that helps predict your baby’s career choice (with a little help from the parents It can be found at www.mirthgirthbirth.com

New Cartoon Maternity Wear Predicts Baby’s Profession

Cartoonist e-tailer Rick London, founder of Londons Times Cartoons has done it again. This time with a new Internet store www.mirthgirthbirth.com which he says not only brings laughter but predicts the baby’s professional future (of course a little bit with the parent’s help). The store sells high quality full length maternity tees, toddler/infant wear and teddy bear gifts, all bearing a profession-related Londons Times Cartoons in such categories as future lawyer, future psychiatrist, future scientist, future, veterinarian, and others, each with a hilarious cartoon depicting that profession. London’s award-winning designs have lured over 9 million visitors to his main cartoon website since 2005 and he launched the venture in 1997. This makes Londons Times Cartoons one of the most visited humor sites on the Internet.

London says, “I have to admit it. I’m a baby-boomer. My peers are all having kids or even grandkids, and they are more prone to laughter than the generation before us. Why not combine the two, maternity and laughter, and make it something fun rather than a ‘labor’ (no pun intended).”