I own one from when I moved here from Washington, plus several more that either were here when we bought that house, or that we found. I love them, even though I maybe find each one once a week (expansive property).
I googled Half-Life 2 to look for some forums where I could read peoples opinions (because I like to do that after I beat games for some reason), and I thought that these forums seemed full of cool people, so I joined myself. Ever since, I've really enjoyed my time here :).
I'm the same as you. I've always really appreciated drawing/art, but I've never really done any myself. I recently decided I'd like to start practicing and become good.
I found this handy page: http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm He has some tips about reference sketching and "study...
I thought to inquire about your signature... if you know that your boot is, in fact, lodged in my ass, why do you need to ask me if I've seen it (which I obviously couldn't)?