Then: my knee gave out, no reason given. It started to hurt when I drove, going up stairs, even standing for long periods of time. And being the stubborn idiot I am, I thought it would just go away if I stopped working out on it for a little while – especially so as not to exacerbate something potentially serious. That “little while” turned into an epic ten-month black hole of self-pity, eating terribly, and erasing all the hard work I’d done the year prior. When I finally realized last month that not one piece of my clothing fit  and that I was spending more than one night a week weeping into a pizza or pint of B&J’s about, ironically, how unhappy I was with my body, I finally went to the doctor to get my knee checked out. Then, I went to TJ Maxx and bought some ponchos…

Read the rest of my epic health adventure here on the A Healthy Balance blog, where I’ll be posting weekly!

And now, I have it in my clutches – as you may know, I’m a huge Tezuka fan, specifically for his work on Buddha. Can’t WAIT to break it open!

The book description:

Osamu Tezuka’s The Book of Human Insects is a dark and haunting story of a young woman who has plagiarized, blackmailed, stolen, and replicated the works of others in her quest for success and public adoration. As she climbs higher and higher – from acclaimed stage actress, to award-winning architect, and, finally, to the recipient of the Akutagawa Prize for Japan’s best new writer — Toshiko Tomura will stop at nothing, not even murder, to get what she wants.

The Book of Human Insects was originally serialized in the 1970s. But Tezuka’s disturbing, seductive vision of a world where only those willing to sell their souls to the masses can achieve their dreams, will resonate today more than ever. Contemporary culture is shaped by reality shows, tabloids, and gossip blogs. We have become obsessed with celebrity, and readily accept it as a substitute for true talent and any semblance of artistic integrity.

With his unerring skill at understanding the psychological and emotional underpinnings of behavior, Osamu Tezuka anticipated this cult of fame by forty years. In his wickedly entertaining tale – now available in English for the first time – he uses his sharpest scalpel to peel back the layers and reveal the essence of our humanity.

Illustration by HogBoy (http://moadesign.net)

It’s that elusive juggernaut of social networking called Facebook – a mystery to some, a second home to others (ahem, me) – but equally, ultimately, a fantastic platform for promotion.

Continued from my last Social Media for Comics article, 5 Tips for Promoting Your Comics on Twitter, here are a few tips on how best to use Facebook to promote your work and nurture your online relationships for biz betterment. Keep in mind that this is assuming you understand the bare bones of the site and how it works, but don’t really know some of the etiquette that comes along with using it for promotional endeavors.

5 Tips for Promoting on Facebook

1. Have a personal profile and a fan page – NOT a fan group.

“Groups” on Facebook used to be OK, way back in the good ol’ days before people couldn’t just add you into them at their whim, without your permission. They were invite-only. For me personally, it’s a huge source of contention and I immediately delete myself from those groups with a sudden distaste for whoever placed me in it. I shake my fist at you, groups!

This is in addition to your personal profile. I recommend keeping a public personal profile (you can always have another private page for just your close friends and family). This will allow you to accumulate fans and friends to invite to your fan page – notice how on the fan page it gives you the option to “Suggest to Friends” – this makes it easier to invite people with the click of a button. One personal page and one fan page will allow you to cover all the bases: a friendly face for your fans AND a place to promote your business.

I also recommend having at least one actual photo of yourself in your profile photos – people who only have artwork as their photos kind of creep me out, and minimizes the feeling of comfortable, personal interaction online (which is, in fact, possible!).

Here’s a fantastic step-by-step guide on “How to Build the Perfect Facebook Fan Page” on Techipedia.com.

2. Interact with your “friends” often to create relationships.

“Do unto others” works in this scenario (unless, you know, what you want others to do to you is unsanitary and/or illegal). Want people to pay attention to what you post? Make yourself noticed and interact with other people’s posts. Don’t hesitate to “like” a photo someone posts, comment on a funny/sad/stupid status update, provide brief advice to a posted conundrum. Take some time to scroll through your newsfeed to find posts you like from people you want to notice you. It’s kind of like saying, “Hey! I’m interested in what you’re saying. And, hey! I exist! Look at me!” Do this every day – and never, ever, EVER “poke” or post randomly on people’s pages, unless it’s to say “Happy Birthday” or a congratulations. Also, share articles your “friends” have written, funny pictures they found online, and give them credit on your own profile.

When your relationships seem appropriately nurtured, feel free to reach out to certain people (especially comics bloggers, no matter how small their audience) and private message them to offer them a sample of your work, or a link to your portfolio. Chances are they’ll be happy to take a look (as long as you’re not too pushy or creepy).

Unless you’re purposely keeping your news feed minimal, select “Most Recent” for your News Feed to make sure you receive ALL of your friends’ updates. Without doing that, you’ll only receive the updates of select people, minimizing your ability to expand your social network through interaction.

3. Don’t tag random people in your artwork and don’t post your work randomly on people’s pages.

If there’s nothing Facebookers hate more, it’s being tagged in photos that they’re not in. This includes promotional fliers, those inane photo montages of ‘top friends’, and anything else that can be categorized as “I’m not in this picture.”

Don’t tag people in your illustrations to get them to pay attention to them, and don’t litter people’s pages with uninvited posts of your work. This includes the, “Just stopping by to say Happy Wednesday!” with an attached illustration. They will automatically hate you.

4. Keep your status updates short, concise, of interest to your friends, and GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT.

Whether you want to believe it or not, the world is judging you. Write a novel in your status update, I’ll completely skip over reading it. Give me something I can skim in a second or two, and I’ll click through to that link you’re posting or that illustration you want me to check out. Don’t “LOL” (really. don’t.) or “OMG” unless you’re being ironic. If you have to use a dictionary, then for the love of all that is holy, use it.

As for content, in addition to posting your own stuff that you want people to see, post news and items of interest that will garner a response. For instance, most of my Facebook friends are comics geeks, and when I post something Batman-related, I’ll get 38 comments within the first hour – something about my favorite type of tea from Teavana, notsomuch. Share what you want, but be aware of what your “audience” is going to care most about.

5. “Friend” people who can benefit you. (GASP! DERP!)

Oh no, I said it! We’re all business here, people. It may seem obvious, but sometimes you need to take it a step further. You want reviews of your comic book or to get in front of the editor at a publishing company? Request their friendship. Do your research – find the names of editors or reviewers and search for them on Facebook. Request their friendship. And don’t harass them…ever. But interact with their posts occasionally without promoting anything.

And be aware and considerate – some people only use Facebook to connect with close family and friends. If the people you’re attempting to friend only have a couple hundred friends or less, or keep their profile pretty private, chances are they’re keeping their friends list down to people they actually know.

For some tips on using Twitter for promotion, click here for my article, Social Media for Comics: 5 Tips for Promoting Your Comics on Twitter.

Follow me on Twitter: @adrileya
Email me with queries: adri (dot) cowan (at) gmail (dot) com

Thankfully, I’m currently dating someone who understands what it means when something like, “in heat, am I” or “teehee! it’s just like playing Atari!” comes out of my mouth…but some of you ladies may not be so lucky. Here are a few scenarios where you can use your geekspeak knowledge to your advantage. Listen and learn, nerf herders.
 
Use Your Geekspeak to: Have a Private Laugh at Your Date’s Expense

Example:

Him: “So yeah, my job covers a lot of turf in toxicity lawuits; scoping out land, discussing fracking (hydraulic fracturing) issues…”

Me *spits out drink*: “Did you just say frakking issues?”
 
Use Your Geekspeak for: Rejection

Example:

Me: Thanks so much for the date…I would kiss you goodbye, but I have the same mutant powers as Rogue and I wouldn’t want to kill you!

Him: *blank stare*

Me: *walks away*
 
Use Your Geekspeak for: Talking Dirty

*pointing at ladyparts* Here’s the Death Star…you be Han Solo. Like the pew pew pew! Get it??
 
Use Your Geekspeak for: Picking Up Someone at the Bar

I really like those pants you’re wearing (then, include a spoken hashtag aside: #theywouldlookbetteronmyfaceimeanmyfloor).
 
Now I want to hear from YOU – post your Dating Geekspeak scenarios in the comments section below!

No...no, I didn't.

The “hot geek girl” debate is taking the interwebs by storm, spurred by a poorly-researched rant made by blogger Zooey Mae on The Synthesis, titled “Having Tits and Liking Spider-Man Isn’t Shocking Anymore” about one of the industry’s favorite geek girl bloggers, Jill Pantozzi. From there, a whirlwind of well-versed responses: on Newsarama by Jill herself; Bleeding Cool, The Beat by Heidi MacDonald, and others.

As someone who just this past weekend moderated a “Female Creators” panel at the Boston Comic Con, I heard a lot of this similar debate – not specifically about “hot” women, but women’s presence in the Nerdom in general (one audience member’s reaction here).

I’m glad the topic’s being discussed – I’m always psyched to see girls getting geek cred, and I love reading the comments spurned by these opinionated pieces. All this talk about the legitimacy of “hot nerdy girls” (how could hot girls really be nerds? are they just pretending, so as to get attention? etc, etc.) had me thinking, though – what about the guys?

Helloooo nurse!

Guys that are into comic books, toys, video games and other stereotypically geeky past-times have generally been dismissed as either socially inept, overweight, unattractive, and deserving of a good shove into a metal locker. But as I lurked the aisles of the Con this weekend, I had a most stunning realization – there were a LOT of good-looking, clean-looking dudes there. Guys I would even DATE (see: because I’m shallow; also see: and by date, I mean do).

Okay, so what about these weight bench-hitting, Star Wars t-shirt-wielding menfolk? Because geek culture is becoming more mainstream, are these hot dudes now springing for their true interests in public, plastic lightsabers flailing? Is this what’s going on with the “hot nerd chick” thing, too? Or are the hot nerd guys coming to the Con to pick up “hot nerd chicks”? So many questions. So much psychology. So much of “I don’t really care.”

Here’s one thing I DO care about: are geek guys throwing so much hate at these “hot nerd guys” the way women are at the “hot nerd girls”?

As Kate Cotler on Bleeding Cool wrote (and was quoted on The Beat, also), which is too good not to re-post: Being a geek girl is challenging: Not only do we have to contend with the fact that pop-culture tends to objectify and marginalize women, often reducing geek girls to being a pair of tits and an ass in a Sailor Moon or Catholic schoolgirl outfit – but, we have to also contend with girl-on-girl hate crimes such as this one… The competitive, bitchy, mean girl antics of those who aren’t secure enough in their own geeky glory to resist lashing out at those who are makes it twenty times harder for women to succeed in a male dominated culture.

I’m curious as to whether or not this type of discrimination happens in man-world, too – or if we women are just doomed by the overwhelming presence of estrogen. *starts weeping*

My favorite after-workout orders are the kale chips and their Yoda’s Jedi Power Smoothie, which I OBVIOUSLY first ordered for its name – but then became hooked. When I order it now, I’ve modified it to be more diet-friendly (I’m trying to keep below a certain number of calories) but the whole thing is super-healthy.

The best part? The smoothie is GREEN. Judge it by its color, do you? This smoothie’s ally is DELICIOUSNESS!

So, if you can’t make it to Rawbert’s Organic Garden and want to try out this sweet and fluffy high-protein, high-fiber smoothie, here’s the recipe to whip one up yourself…with The Force. Or, you know, your blender or Cuisinart-thingy.

Adri + Yoda’s Jedi Power Smoothie
(Modified from Rawbert’s Organic Garden in Beverly, MA’s recipe) 

Ingredients

1 medium banana (frozen preferable)

1- 1/2 cup berries of choice (Goji berries, strawberries, raspberries, etc.)

2 teaspoons agave nectar

1 teaspoon Spirulina or Spirulina Protein Powder (What’s Spirulina?)

1-2 tablespoons of sprouted buckwheat, wheat germ or flax seed

Water and ice to desired consistency

Directions

Blend in a blender, you dummy! (said in the voice of Dr. Steve Brule)