[Team Artail] Current Status, Future Plans, and Donations!

[mrartemis@comcast.net]

It's been a while since I've sent a message out to this list, so I 
figured I'd give you all some info on upcoming things for the site, as 
well as include a plea for donations at the end. :)

First of all, many of you may have noticed that recently the oekaki was 
updated to Wax Poteto, which added the ShiPainter applet for drawing, a 
user list to the chat, and some other small changes, mostly on the admin 
end.  Also the oekaki has over 2,200 registered members now!

In other news, the main art archive on the site will be getting an 
entirely new script soon.  Ice-Wolf (a friend of mine) is writing it, 
and it's going to make TA function somewhat like DeviantArt, but with a 
few changes.  More details as that draws nearer.  I'm hoping to be able 
to have it online by the end of this month, but we'll see how that 
goes.  Regardless, it is in the works. :)

On the Sonic X screenshot front, I'm sorry, I haven't had a chance to 
work on any new ones at all.  Seems I'm always getting caught up in 
other things!  I'm sure I'll get more done eventually, so just have 
patience.  Still no news of a Japanese DVD release for episodes 53-78...

Now the important part (to me anyway!).  I'm starting to ask for 
donations again.  But this time I'm not asking for large amounts from a 
few people who can afford it, I'm asking that anyone who can send even 
one dollar each month, please do so!  And to make it even easier, you 
can even send cash in the mail.  Stuff a dollar bill in an envelope and 
mail it to me if that's all you can do.  Every little bit helps!  If 150 
people each donate $1 a month, that'll cover TA's server bill!  (Or 30 
people each sending $5!)  So far about 20 people have said they would 
try to contribute at least a dollar each month.  If you'd like to send 
even more, you certainly may.  Anyway, I have a separate mailing list 
for donation info that will be sent out each month. If you want to get 
on that, just reply to this with your email address and I'll add you to 
it.  It doesn't obligate you to send money, though.  I'll be posting the 
amount of money coming in each month on the site and what it's being 
spent on, so everyone knows what's going on.

If you'd like to be one of the kind souls who donates even just one 
dollar, you can either send it by cash in an envelope (conceal it by 
wrapping paper around it, please!) to:

Michael Reyes
4506 Sparrow Ct
Woodbridge, VA 22193-1851
USA

Or if you'd rather donate by PayPal, you can send it to 
mrartemis at comcast.net or use the PayPal donation link on the top right 
of the front page of the site!  Remember PayPal takes a percentage of 
money I receive though, so you'd have to send something more like $1.50 
in order for me to keep $1.  But feel free to send any amount, of 
course.  Every little bit helps!

If you do send a donation, be sure to let me know what name you want 
listed with it, or if you want it to be anonymous.  For the list to be 
kept on the site. :)

I dunno what else to say.  It's surprising that with a user base of 
thousands, only 20 people can spare a minimum of a dollar each month to 
support the site.  Maybe once the future plans become a reality, people 
will be more willing to donate...!

Hopefully I'll be able to make the site much better soon, so you'll all 
enjoy it even more.

Artie~
http://www.teamartail.com