The other thing I re-discovered was Google analytics. Josh installed that for me ages ago and I hadn’t checked it since. As it turns out, my Mum is not the only one reading this stuff. (Hi everybody!) I was genuinely shocked and delighted to see the numbers and all the different countries people are coming from! So much fun. (I know, I’m a total tourist.) Truthfully, at the moment I find myself with a touch of stage fright, but in that fun-excited kind of way.

It’s been suggested that I get serious about advertising and I have been looking at Project Wonderful and a few other ad sites, but I’m reluctant to jump in. Which is funny because I always thought that the minute I had a good idea I’d sell out faster than you can say “Garfield”.

I really like doing the comics, I like learning about building my site, I like the social interaction and the community, it’s a hobby for me. I have a goal to get a nice thick book together, but I’m really afraid of turning this into “work”. I draw for a living and frankly, that can really take the fun out of it, sometimes to the point of discouragement. This is what I do to get away from deadlines and pressure and just have something to remember why I love drawing. It doesn’t have to be perfect, (frequently isn’t) and I like that, I like that it evolves, it’s very freeing. I like to keep a schedule for discipline sake, but if I miss a deadline, nobody’s yelling. And sometimes I have to miss deadlines for work, or life-stuff. If I have advertisers, there’s a real obligation to someone else…Which is not to say obligation to readers isn’t valuable, it absolutely is, but when there’s money involved, that’s a whole other beast.

Lots to think about but it’s looking more and more like fish-or-cut-bait time.

Excuses aside, I got the left sidebar all spiffed up. I’m pretty pleased about that.  New links banner and some space between my super-talented friends link icons.  Check them out, if you get a chance, they are awesome people.  Also, a new header under links for “Appearances”. Ta-Daaah!  My buddy Brian and I will be sketching it up at Toronto Fan Expo again this August and we will also be doing the kid’s comics talk at the Toronto Public Library as part of their Keep Toronto Reading program in April. We did that one last year too, it was a great time.  We’re hoping to get back to SPX again in the fall, but that will depend on the budget so we’ll have to see, but if you’re around please say hello, always great to meet new people.

The next big hurtle for the site will be to figure out how to get some ad space sold.  I’m looking at Project Wonderful and a couple of other ad-generators, but I have to admit, I’m particular about content.  I want to keep this a PG site and some of those ads can get a little racy.  Must do more reading but if anyone has any helpful hints, please drop me an email, I can use all the advice I can get.

Also, I don’t think I mentioned it yet but thanks to my super awesome readers we got our Facebook vanity URL!  We are http://www.facebook.com/Promisescomic.  That is probably WAY more exciting to me than it should be, but having the bump was a lot of fun.  I think we’re up to 43 friends as I’m writing this.  As I’ve said, more friends are always welcome and feel free to comment or drop a recipe to the alternative kitchen.  Thanks again for joining up. You guys are a lot of fun.

So link up friends, readers, countrymen!  It’s a small but really attractive  little community.  Honestly, we’re probably the best looking people on the entire Internet.  HOT!  You’ll fit right in.  We have a nice little Alternative Kitchen started on the discussion boards, some convention photos, links, it’s a work in progress but the more people the more involvement, so welcome!

For the purposes of this post, Boxing Day is also about what to do with all the left-overs. Personally, I’m a big fan of the turkey sandwich. Especially on left-over dinner rolls with butter, mayo, left-over cranberry sauce, salt, pepper and Havarti if there is any in the house. Delicious, but not my best choice if I’m getting back on my healthy-habits bandwagon.

There’s been a lot of writing in praise of soups in the last couple of years. (Sorry chowder-lovers but we’re talking clear broth and veggie-bases here.) The big benefit of soup-meals to dieters is the amount of water in a nice steamy bowl. Generally speaking, food that contains a lot of water and fiber will help you feel fuller without calorie-loading. It’s also one of the great things about leafy, veggie salads. But it’s winter and it’s cold so who really wants to curl up with a salad?

If you make your own broth, kudos to you! The more you make yourself the better you can control what goes into your body, also it smells awesome in the house while it’s simmering. If you’re not a broth-maker, there are some really nice ones in the grocery stores, but do yourself a favour and look for the low-sodium version of whatever brand you like. I was shocked to see how much salt goes into a plain old fat-free chicken broth and there is no sense in taking in all that extra water if you’re only going to retain it!

Once you have your broth of choice you can load up the pot with just about any combination of meat and veg to your personal taste. I tried out the Turkey Soup With Egg Noodles and Vegetables recipe on foodnetwork.com after Thanksgiving and it’s a really nice one. This weekend, I found two more fantastic looking turkey soup recipes in my inbox that I will post to the Alternative Kitchen discussion board on the Promises Facebook page. Thanks so much to Kathy and Cathy for emailing those! (Do you two know each other or is that a coincidence?)

As I’ve mentioned before, please feel free to share your ideas on the discussion board, or email me, (jules@promisescomic.com)  and I’ll pass them along.  I’m always happy hearing from you!

I finally updated the “About” page.  It’s not deep but it’s better than it was and I think, gives a nice little intro to the comic.

The other big announcement is the new Facebook page.  A bunch of my friends have been on me to build one of these things for ages, so Ta-Daaa! There are a bunch of convention photos up there, and some basic tweets.  I’m learning about the apps and such that I can add, so go!  Link, add, fan, friend, comment whatever you do on Facebook.  I think it’ll be a fun way to interact.   I also enjoy the scrabble game if you’re feeling like challenging me.