Thank you! It's good to be back!

I just wanted to say a huge THANKS to everyone who's visited, posted comments, sent emails, and just been generally awesome!

I don't know what's "normal" or "good" for blogs, but I've had over 16,650 page views in the past week since I opened this site, a number that just leaves me stunned. I seriously had no idea that people even *remembered* me and my amateur attempts at artwork, let alone would still be interested!

I've also been amazed by the enthusiasm and kindness of other bloggers who've "plugged" my site, of their own accord, including artists, writers and bloggers I personally admire and enjoy, as well as - to my surprise - a lovely lady named Bonnie (who I've never met, spoken to or even visited, but who seems to be a *huge* spanking blog celebrity!) who very kindly linked to me totally out of the blue! That 33% of my visitors so far came from another blog (almost the same as from my old Yahoo Groups) is another reason to be grateful to you folks. I'm genuinely honored... thank you, all of you!

The fact that a couple have even asked me for design tips for *their* blogs is certainly an unexpected honor, too (when I opened, I was stressing out people would hate my "design" here, in fact!).

Reading everyone's comments this week has been a ton of fun, and really inspires me to continue this blog with new art, articles, and such. I am so happy - and relieved! - that people actually took the time to comment in such a fun and thoughtful manner; it really is inspiring for me to see folks engaging with my art and what I am trying to do here. Please know that I read *every* comment posted and email sent, and will be doing my best to reply to them (as needed) over the next few days, now that I'm "settled in" properly here.

As I said in my opening posts, I want this to be a place of discussion as well as to showcase my stuff; unlike some sites, there is no taboo against "grave digging" an old post here, folks! Anything and everything is fair game to post a thought on or continue discussing!

One thing I wanted to specifically single out was that I had no idea I'd get such a positive reaction to my little short story "The Wait", which I posted almost as an afterthought. I don't have the time to write much these days, but did it mostly as a bit of fun... so it was wonderful to hear it struck a chord with so many other people. Maybe I'll have to write more as well as making new art?!

Perhaps the best part of my "return", though, has been getting back in touch with so many old, long-lost friends. Just seeing those familiar names here welcoming me back really touched me in a way I can't describe, and getting in contact with so many of them again, some of whom I haven't spoken to in many years, made this whole undertaking worthwhile.

As I posted when I opened this blog, I was *very* nervous and hesitant about coming back into the public spotlight online again... the reaction (both publicly here and privately via email) has really convinced me that this was the right thing to do.

So, thanks again, everyone! Please keep the comments coming (and never think a post is "too old" to comment on).

Keep writing and discussing, and I'll keep posting stuff everyone can enjoy!

Cheers,

 Banjo