Happy New Year

Happy New Year Readers!

I've been in India for the last month and have been out of touch, so I thought I'd write and tie up loose ends.

Bicycling in India is a treat - especially because it makes riding in the United States seem so easy and pleasant. Actually, let me qualify that: bicycling in towns and cities in India is rough going; but once you're off the beaten path, it gets better. This is is fifth time I've been to India. This trip was the first with both children so we played it safe and stuck close to our home base in Goa. I bought a Hero Jet Gold (http://www.herocycles.com) and used it to do errands, go on day trips and for use as exercise on the beaches:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74396736@N00/sets/72157622979088443/

I didn't have the time or a reliable connection to keep in touch with readers or to maintain the comic while I was away. So I put the comic's publication on automatic pilot after a hellish six weeks of getting ahead on the dailies in October and November. This automation meant that the RSS feed suffered... Thank you for your patience with the RSS (or lack of it, really) while I was out of the country. I had no idea so many readers consumed the comic in their reader and never visited the yehudamoon.com site. I'll need to come up with a better solution next time.

Thanks also for putting up with the automatic publishing that went on - I know the listing of future comic titles in the drop down menu was an issue in early December.

Most of all, thank you for all your support. I'm looking forward to sifting through my e-mail and snail mail and replying to you and thanking you for subscription starts and donations and your kind words for the comic. With the rough story in December, I also appreciated hearing from folks who felt that the comic was too dark and who had criticisms about other aspects. I listen to those comments as much as the compliments and am glad that you share them with me and other readers.

One note: PayPal stopped delivering confirmation emails of your patronage around the 16th, but rest assured you will hear from me.

Finally, look for all new stories in 2010 in the comic. Yehuda finished 2009 in a poor way with the crash and broken arm, but he isn't down for the count; far from it. We've got a great year planned.

Sincerely,

Rick Smith and the Kickstand Cyclery

P.S. My resolutions for 2010? Draw better bicycles. Keep stories varied among all the characters. Automate the RSS feed. Put out another book. Stay a month ahead of schedule.