Lion and Magic Boy

Hi!

Hey, you know what week this is?

That’s right, it’s National Delurking Week! Still! I know this because Sheryl at Papernapkin un-hiatused herself for a split second to tell us this. Or maybe it was pre-planned, I don’t know. Anyway, enjoy your hiatus, Sheryl! Come back all tan and all.

And the rest of you, wait! Don’t leave, just because I wasn’t talking about you! Yeah — you there! I know you spend time during work hours reading this, would it kill you to post a comment once in awhile?

And you! Yeah, in the blue! Yeah, I’m talking to you! I know you’re new here, but drop me a line, would you? I know you’re here, because I’m the one with the obsessive finger on the stat counter, but let everybody else know you’re here too. M’kay?

Happy Friday, everybody! And when you come back here next time, if you’re very, very good, there might be pictures! New ones! That might be related to the Mysterious Box!

Hey everyone! Look! Somehow I landed this gig on Nerve.com’s new blog for hip and cool parents, Strollerderby, which is “updated more than twelve times daily by the wittiest parents in the blogosphere”! Go here and have a look, before they find out I’m not hip enough to join the likes of Dutch from Sweet Juniper, MetroDad, CityMama, and CrankMama, and of course our illustrious editor, Jay from The Zero Boss, to name just a few.

Seriously! Go now! Go!

Being naturally somewhat expressive and feeling that one of the many reasons I am here and writing like this is to share it with an admiring public, I’ve looked into, here and there, various ways in which people claim that blog traffic can be increased. Not that I’ve actually followed through with most, or that they’ve yet been successful, but my day will come (or it won’t), and still I can educate myself about What To Do.

One thing that made many suggestion lists was to list my blog on blog search sites. Ooh, I like that one! Easy, quick, just a few clicks and I’m there. Right?

But wait. They’re asking me to, well, define my blog.

Uh oh.

What am I?

Life blog? Okay. Yeah. Check.

Mommy blog? Ugh. Hate the title, but I guess so. I am a mom, after all, and I do mention the children. So…yeah. Check.

Down syndrome blog? Ooh, this is getting harder. I hate labels. Well, yes, Eric does have DS, but, does my blog? Hmm. I don’t know about this one. But I do talk about DS, so, well, check.

Spiritual blog? I have mentioned my “other” life, right? Where I’m a, uh, psychic? Sort of? I mean, it’s what I do. And it is who I am, part of it, so, well, okay. Check.

See my problem?

I’m “supposed” to have a niche. But I fit in so many places.

Too bad.

I’m not sure any of us fit in just one box or another.

So what the hell, I’ve decided to bring you more! of! everything!

With that in mind, here’s a little piece that came in tonight, just for you:

This is a momentous time. As the world awaits the repercussions of the execution of arguably one of the most reviled men in history, Saddam Hussein, it also is poised for peace. The prospect of peace across much of the world’s surface area is greater this day than it has been in 20 years. Indeed, then, it is a momentous time.

Some of you may have noted the astrological peculiarities of this time. This, indeed, is yet another reflection of the great changes in the offing for the race known in this place as human. This is a time of great manifestation. It has been said, and we concur, that you are the reality that you create. Why not, then, become a co-creator and make what it is you most love? Why not gain access to all the locked-away information gathered about your innermost self and all the lives you have had, will have, and are having; do you not want more than anything the connection that this would bring with all of your selves? And in so doing would bring also such a connection with all of humanity?

We have stated before, and we will say this again, that the reason for experiencing life as you know it on the physical plane is simply to have and to know relationships between yourself and other people. That’s it. There is no more. And that is enough, isn’t it? The manifestation of every known life circumstance, every possible relationship interaction, is what you have chosen to live and learn from. This, then, is your job, your reason for being.

Do, then, attempt amid the hustle and bustle of normal daily life, to hold within yourself the awareness that you are indeed here for a reason, a very great reason. Hold also, if you will, the expectation that there is indeed something “more” out there, something more in store.

We urge you, then, to breathe with the great possibilities that exist for not only your personal future but also for the future of your race. You are, indeed, poised at the very edge of something momentous. Remember this moment years hence when you can then look back and say, “I was there. I saw the changes.”

Go in peace.

Have a wonderful night.

P.S. You like this? Come back next Friday for more, or you can visit me on my website.

[tags]friday freebie, channeling, psychic[/tags]

I’m burnt, my friends. After about 40 days of non-stop posting, spending my waking hours thinking about cute or whimsical or humorous or poignant or god forbid interesting things to write about, I’m fresh out. Not even Maggie’s awesome book is going to save me now, because I’m just too tired.

I cleaned a virus from my computer today, ho hum, but the machine works a whole lot better now. I was wondering why it was taking two minutes for a page to load, and what about all those unfamiliar names in my address book?  Sorry if I’ve been sending you inadvertant, unwanted email. Oh, virus scan? What’s that? But I must say I love my new boyfriend Avast. You might like him too!  He is way cooler than my old guy Norton, who has obviously been lying to me lately.  Damn him.
Good night.

Hello, New Look!

Pardon the dust while some changes are being made. My friend Rebecca of The Quiet Storm is helping me doing all the work while I sit back and have a couple of Margaritas and helpfully point out things like “You missed a spot.” Thank you, Rebecca!

Feel free to comment.

I admit it. I suffer from Blog Envy.

I can’t tell you how many times, while gazing soulfully at my monitor as it reveals to me the brilliance of a plethora, no, more than a plethora, of multitudes of bloggy goodness haphazardly cascading around the interweb, I have felt Envy. And Lust In My Heart. I see the commentudinousness of these Brilliant Ones, and I think to myself: I Want That.

That, my friends, is Envy.

And as a result, I wished it for myself, that Somethingness that the Brilliant Ones have: site stats. It’s all in the site stats, baby!

Last Friday, I got my wish in a round about sort of way. As usual I was checking my site stats obsessively minding my own business, when it became clear that suddenly a WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE were visiting my site. WTF?? Like, 50 in an hour. Compared to my usual 10 per day, that’s a noticeable difference.

Naturally, some investigation was necessary. Oh, look, someone left me a comment! And, look, here’s the site everyone seems to be coming from, let’s check it out!

Oh. Wow. I see.

So, what happened is, a few weeks ago I left a comment on another blog that posted about something they objected to on yet another blog. My comment got picked up on still another site that found it interesting to discuss the first blog, and for a few moments or days, lots of people from the two derivative sites visited to see what the hoopla was about. So, hoopla over with, life went back to normal.

Until the purveyor of the first site got wind of my comment, and posted something about me on their site. Which apparently a LOT of people read. And now they’ve all come here to see this post.

At first I was elated: Wow! People reading my site!

And then I felt violated: how dare these people come and see my life (not like it’s a secret here or anything, but my readership was small yet loyal: Hi Columbia Maryland! Hi Ottawa! Hi Austria! Hi Germany! Hi AOL user somewhere in the middle! Hi Raleigh NC!) and crawl all over my pages??

But then I saw that some people stayed, and read more. It wasn’t just about the blood they might have come to see originally. They read because they were interested (or extremely bored, or accidentally left their browser on my site. I totally understand). One person even stayed on the site for 90 minutes and visited 82 pages! I’m not that interesting even to myself.

So now: Thank you, all of you, any of you, who might be reading this. For so many, a weblog is a venue to project creativity, to exercise some harmless exhibitionism or to engage in some self-therapy. It’s all that and more for me, and the fact that someone might actually find it even the teensiest bit interesting is somewhat gratifying. Or maybe weird, but we’re all a bit voyeuristic anymore, aren’t we? I know I am.

See you soon, I hope.

(Oh, no, does this sound too desperate? Can I give you something for reading my blog? Wait. That’s definitely desperate. Never mind. Oh, I know! I’ll be your best friend! Or…wait. Okay. Never mind.)

So when I joined this NaBlo thing, it was a happy little oddity, an incongruity. Post? Every DAY? Are you nuts?? Oh. Right. Okay, yeah, I can do that, why not? And I joined this merry little band of bloggers with the radical notion that (for one month anyway) Bloggers. Must. Post. On Weekends. (which always sort of bothered me with the heavyweights, you know, those blogs I stalk people actually READ, as if posting to a blog is actually like a JOB or something. Oh. Wait. It is for some. I hate love them. Anyway, what’s up with that? As if life suddenly stops on the weekend? A personal blog is a DIARY, people!)

But now, look what’s happened! Prizes! I love that they’re random and for participation, even though I wrote something once about how I feel about prizes handed out just for showing up. Still! Prizes! Yay!

And then hundreds, nay, thousands joined the march of protest against sporadic blogging, simultaneously clogging the bandwidth of thousands of servers! More yay!

And then came The Evil Randomizer. Which I actually love and think is fabulous because of course it gives you a new! random! new! blog to read, with every click! one who is united in this writing frenzy, so naturally we’re already all, like best friends! Already!

But now. Reviews. Bloggers have been recruited from some nefarious blogging review panel (and what exactly are their credentials, I’d like to know?) to read, to peruse, to assess, and to report (all alphabetically too, I might add, how very card-catalogish!). My reaction to this is, of course: shit. Shit. SHIT! Now I have to REWRITE EVERY POST, making them FUNNY DAMMIT, or inserting PATHOS! or something WORTHWHILE OR INTERESTING! All because I’M BEING GRADED! On my diary! (Okay, it’s a warped version of what my actual diary might be. whatever.) But still: Shit.

And I’ve seen the blog and the comments of the illustrious person who will be reading and reviewing MY blog, and hence my life.

Now I know that the linkage (and that’s what’s it’s come down to, isn’t it? linkage? site stats? get real, I know that’s what we’re all here after, we ARE a warped bunch, aren’t we? Oh. Maybe that’s just me in my egotistical brain-haze. Never mind then.) due the lucky few receiving mention in the report due to come out soon on the Letter L will never be mine. Sigh.

Once more, and with emphasis: shit.

Call me techno-challenged.

I downloaded, excuse me, uploaded, the cute little participant button, several of them in fact, from M. Kennedy’s NaBloPoMo post on Fussy of a few days ago.

But now I have no idea what to do with it, how to make it appear here, and worse yet, I DON’T KNOW WHERE IT IS.

Damn.

Worse yet, or not worse, great, but huh? Inexplicably (yet gratefully) I’ve already been added to her list of NaBloPoMo participants, even though I am only now posting a link. Hmm, “Participant”. Reminds me of getting an award just for showing up. What kind of award is that, I ask you? I wrote about that once….must post somewhere.

Anyway. Since reading that post, I decided to start RIGHT NOW!! Why wait for November? Why not just add extra, self-inflicted pressure to my life? Yay!
So. Even when hung over, I will blog. Even when too damn depressed to lift my finger to a keyboard let alone imagine anyone in their right mind who isn’t already suicidal will actually want to read this, I will blog. Even when Eric unplugs the computer cords or throws his shoes and other missiles off the balcony railing, I will blog. Even when I’d rather go to IKEA and shop, I will blog. Even when Serena comes crying downstairs telling me tearfully that Nathaniel said he brushes his teeth better than she does, I will blog. Even when Mickey yaks up the raw dog food we lovingly make by chopping and cuisinarting and steaming, and freeze and then sometimes accidentally let thaw a little too long on the counter, I will blog.

I’ll write about that, and even more.

Hell, I’d love to churn out a novel in the month of November, too. Who knows?

But this is a committment. Not that I have a public, a following, who is hanging on every word (I think there are six of you now, THANK YOU!!!!!), but a committment to myself. So there. Let’s look back at the end of the month and say to ourselves…

What the hell was that about?

or something like that.

Join me? C’mon, don’t I make it sound like fun?

I know how I want the site to look (and this isn’t it yet, but I finally figured out it’s the bones of the thing that matters and not the pretty stuff; pretty stuff can be tweaked, DUH), but it’s going to take time to get there. Bear with me.

Today has been a Blogging Milestone for me.

Eric had his own milestone recently, and in fact has been steadfastly honing his climbing abilities ever since, as well as his repertoire of falls, but today was my day.

I received my first Comment.

No, the one from my Dad doesn’t count, although it was a good comment. Still, it was from my Dad.

This one, the one I received today, shows that Someone is actually reading this. Well, you’re reading this, but I mean those Nameless Blog Reading People who populate the internet. You know.

I’m going to quote this comment (emphasis added) for your pleasure (and mine, because Suzy Q, you’re BRILLIANT!):

So I’m on my lunch hour, sitting here hitting the “next blog” button on my blogsite (is that a word?) when I came upon yours. After reading all the recent posts, I must say, you’re a very engaging writer. I’ve never read or heard anything that explained Down’s Syndrome as well as you just have in this one post. I definitely plan to check back often.

Suzy Q, did I say you’re brilliant? Well you are. AND you’re my New Best Friend. And when you check back? Bring a couple thousand of your friends, will you?

Note: I actually received a SECOND comment today after Suzy’s. Can you believe it?

blogging
hitting the big time