First, Sam over at explodingdog has three very nice signed prints available for sale for $65 apiece through Thursday. Prints are usually $125, so this is a nice discount on three of the most popular designs. That, and it's nice to support artists before they're dead.

Second, all Inkblots alumni are invited to send track suggestions (and CD reviews) for our upcoming Soundtracks for Life 2002 DIY compilation CD and feature article. The notion here is to showcase music that has really shaped our last 12 months. It doesn't have to have been released in 2002 – if you just now discovered a Simon and Garfunkel song this year that's really taken on some personal significance, that's cool. The idea is to gather up music that you'll always associate with 2002, whether it was playing in an outdoor restaurant on the last walk you took with a friend before they moved away or if it's just a song that was on the radio while you were driving cross-country on vacation, whatever. Pick a track off a CD, write up a short paragraph that explains its import and, if you feel so inclined, pen a 500-750 word critique of the CD itself. Then email me and I'll put them all together. Then, we'll print up a track listing and a downloadable piece of cover art for our compilation, and readers can run down to their local record stores, acquire the albums and mix and burn their own CDs. Turnaround time on this project is kind of short, though – if everyone could get their submissions to me this week, that'd be great!

Third, as long-time readers are aware, I've been toying with the idea of adding a forum to Inkblots for a long time, to give people a public place to post feedback or their own work, or just a place for readers to talk with each other. I'm not sure that people would use it, though. What do you guys think? Please post your comments below. Thanks!