If you're hoping to get it up before the new year, you've got an hour left, here in CST. :)



I'd like something warm and sunny.

Personally, I love Ryan's "blue period." But then, I live in a fairly warm part of the USA. Anyway, happy new year everyone! Let's hope next year will be better than this one. It won't be, but we can hope. (Hmmm, maybe I'm going through a blue period, too...) :)

I think I've been a member now since 97, can't believe its been 13 years! Keep up the good work Ryan!

I'm tired of the cold...

Just wanted to send B'day wishes to a fellow "09/11'er".

But especially congrats to Ronald. That is just great that his kids use art as inspiration and what not. <3 furthering education

New member checking in here - I was honoured to be the first one chosen. I've enjoyed Ryan's freebies for some years, and it is nice to be able to see the rest of them. Some while ago, I started following Ryan on Twitter, so I could find out when a new image had been posted in the free gallery, and that is how I found out about the contest.

Congratulations, winners! And thank you Walo and Ryan for your most generous gifts. Really, everyone who finds their way to Ryan's site and becomes a member is a winner. For the price of a pizza (more or less) we can wander among distant planets and Futterwacken on sandy beaches, all in the relative safety of our own minds. ;)



One more thing on the Facebook debate. I know I'm late on the draw here. I completely understand why people are reluctant to join FB. You do have to give up some privacy no matter how little you put in your profile. The way people can gather and package and sell data on us all is truly scary. But do any of you really want non-members to be able to post on Ryan's site? The member posts here are one of the things that make the site a friendly place to visit, since we all have incentive to listen to one another and be polite even when we disagree. What if non-members had had the ability to post during the Haiku unpleasantness some months back? Non-member friends of that other artist would have made the most horrendous mess on the site and made the whole thing 1000 times worse. Just sayin'. FB was perhaps not a perfect solution but way better than the alternative.

Well, personally, I'm extremely happy that Ryan hosted the giveaway on FaceBook. Otherwise, I'd not have been so dang happy right now. ;) Thanks again, Firestar and Ryan. I intend to enjoy my gift membership to the fullest. ! .

Congrats to all 10 of you. Ryan's work is absolutely phenomenal. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have over the past few years.



@Walo: I agree with you wholeheartedly as a lifetime member, I thought that since I've gotten a lot more out of Ryan's work than I've put in, it was time to pay up a little.

Oh, absolutely no question that it's Ryan's Place(tm), and he'll do things in whatever manner he sees fit. Doesn't mean we can't offer respectful opinions, though, at least until such time as he waves a stick and yells at us kids to "get off his damn lawn!" :-)

Ryan didn't give these memberships for "free", I paid for those(except the lifetime one). So don't worry about Ryan not getting "supported". I did it exactly for that very reason, I got a lifetime membership, and I felt like I wanted to support Ryan a little bit more and also give some people the chance to witness Ryan's art(2 birds with 1 stone). Also don't forget that each one of those "free" members is a potential "paid" member.

My feelings towards these "social networking fads" are the same, however, that being said.... I believe that this is Ryan's Place to as he sees fit. I do think that I would rather NOT support the contest for another reason.



This Site is worth the $'s that I spend every year. I like the things I see here. I Love Ryan's work and I pay for the right to have access to it cause it is just that.... Great Work!



Thank You and now we return to regular broadcasting.

That's why we like you, dude. :-) Thanks for listening!

Ryan, I do hope that for future contests or giveaways or whatever, you'll consider finding a way for non-Facebook users to participate. Persoanally, I intensely dislike Facebook (and MySpace and Twitter and most other forms of the "social networking" fad) for many reasons, and I see no reason to subject myself to it just to win a contest or get a few freebies. Judging by other comments here, I'm far from being the only one, so I'm just sayin'... :-)

I think that facebook cannot show more information about you than what you put in you profile. Like any social network, if you don't want anybody to know something, don't put it in your profile on the first place. ;)

Ryan,



Gee, your response on non-Facebook-members seems to say, "Tough noogies; if you won't give up your privacy and join the cult you're not worth my consideration." You might want to reconsider, or at least rephrase.

Lol, I would like to see you running out of time on that membership.

@ Betsey: thanks for the halo lol.

LOL - what a difference one little letter makes! I think it's safe to say none are immortal but more are immoral than would like to admit. ;)

You'll have to face your own immorality sometime. ;)



There's still time to turn to the light side of the force!

Immoral? I wouldn't admit that in public ;)

I am now Immoral!

Ryan. I love visiting DB.com, but i have to say... when i log in and see "Member Until December 3, 2109" it kind of creeps me out. LOL Would be be hard to just make it say lifetime member? It gives me the chills to see an expiration on my life when i log into my background site.

can't spell--or read!!!! I meant "WALO"!!!! Still deserves a halo though--and so do you!!!!

whoever "Halo"is--he/she deserves a halo!!!!

whoever "Halo"is--he/she deserves a halo!!!!

Ryan,



Not all of your fans use Facebook. I am one of those fans. As you are most likely aware, Facebook is in the middle of a user privacy quagmire. Many people are leaving Facebook due to this. Some of us never joined Facebook in the first place for similar and other reasons. Nevertheless, it seems that a fair contest would require that you provide some method of allowing your fans who do not wish to use Facebook to participate in your contest.



Thanks,

Matthew Miller