500

Yes, this strip is number 500. I've been posting Smith on GoComics Comic Sherpa site every Monday, Wednesday and Friday since 1st January 2010. It's been hard work but it's been worth it.

This would probably be the best time to announce my plans for the coming year. I need a rest and a bit of a recharge, so I'm planning to take a bit of a hiatus in the second half of the year. Don't Panic - Smith won't be disappearing, but I'm going to be changing it's format for a bit, and experimenting with the longer format of Sunday strips.

Smith will continue at its current frequency until the beginning of August. Then, starting on August 4, it will appear once a week on Sundays until January 2, 2014, when it will go back to it's three times a week schedule.

I'll be spending the time that buys me putting together some Smith E-publications ready for next Christmas. I'll also be trying to piece together a cohesive plot for a new Mike Pike adventure.

OK, I've written about it. Now I have to do it!

Money Spiders are tiny spiders. They're so small (no more that 2mm across, and frequently smaller) that they can travel great distances by ballooning - spinning a thread of spider silk and then letting the wind catch it. Occasionally you will find one in your hair, or, more likely, hanging from a thread just in front of your nose. This is taken to be a sign of good luck, as there was an old superstition that if a money spider was found running on you, it will have come to weave you a set of new clothes, meaning financial good fortune. No-one kills money spiders - you just let them run around your hand for a bit (for some reason, they prefer running uphill to down) and then brush them off so they can balloon somewhere else.