blogs

I'm considering consolidating both of my blogs into one.

I realized this morning that this blog has many posts that are directly or indirectly about a (my?) path to enlightenment. The poems, the links to articles about the brain, my interest in health, the mind, yoga, spirit, love...

My new blog is a journal of my commitment to sit in meditation for 30 minutes every day for a year.

I could combine these two blogs into one. Perhaps call it Enlightenment Arts, Sciences, and Practices... or something like that.

Going through this blog and deciding which posts to save, and how to label them, and then actually copying or exporting them is a big job.

I am hoping for a snow day to work on that.

So...expect changes!

2009 blog posts

i look at my postings for 2009. started off strong in january and february, but since then, i've posted 2-5 times per month. i have not been a very good blogger in 2009.

part of that is my crazy job. i work at a texas state legislative agency, and when the legislature is in session (jan-may of odd-numbered years), it gets crazy, with periods of high pressure and overtime and being around a lot of people who are also stressed. it throws me off balance.

to cope, i hunker down with the goal of maintaining as much equanimity and compassion as i can. i listen to my bodymind and its needs for rest, relaxation, solitude, upliftment, renewal, funny movies, in my time off work. i can't make plans due to the unpredictable nature of the session's demands, so i tend to be more socially isolated during sessions. and i neglect my blog.

after sessions, it takes awhile to feel rebalanced. i'm not sure how long, actually. months. at least all summer for sure.

the other part of not being a very good blogger in 2009 is that i haven't really had a focus. i've just posted what i like and want to share, cottoning to the whole idea of blogging for selfish motives. if i post my favorite poems, interesting articles, dreams, and so forth, then i can find them again easily on my own blog. if post something that you, the reader, connect with, yay! and if you read my blog over time, you might get a sense of what i value and therefore a sense of me. hi there!

however, i myself tend not to look back, except at the end of the year, which is a relatively new habit in my 56 spins around the sun. i've realized that writing on my blog or in my journal or taking notes at a lecture or workshop is actually a way of putting a kinesthetic anchor on an experience, since writing is a physical act. (by the way, my journal is totally longhand.) it helps me know that "i like this" and can find it again if i wish to do so. i rarely look back at what i've written, except for practical reasons--to find phone numbers, email addresses, the name of a book or poem... besides that, the other motivation for blogging is feeling the satisfaction of sharing something that in my opinion is just wonderful. my tastes are often not mainstream, my joys are often experiences stumbled upon, the people who came up with these jewels in the first place are often vastly underappreciated.

so what is a blog good for? i'd say, reaching people with a common interest, sharing what's going on with those i know and don't have a chance to catch up with, serving as sort of a mirror (hazy at best) of my life. but i haven't really had a goal, like julie powell did in her blog, julie and julia, where she spent a year cooking her way through mastering the art of french cooking, now a major motion picture starring the goddess meryl streep!

in 2009, according to the monthly blog analytics statements i signed up for, the most blog visits i received was 126, and the least was 74. that's respectable and heartening to know. and...are you ready for it?...the months with the most visits were the months with the most posts. that's very clear! post often, and more people find and read you.

there's a bunch of other data like page views, pages viewed per visit, "bounce rate" (whatever that is), minutes spent viewing, and new visitors. but the above correlation is the one that counts.

soon this blog will change. it will have a focus in 2010. i intend to post as close to daily as i can. and i will still post the great poems and interesting articles i come across. stay tuned.

blog posts now available on Facebook

if you are one of my Facebook friends, you can now read my blog posts on Facebook. they will appear as notes. there's a delay after posting on Blogspot before they appear on Facebook.

you can also continue reading posts here. good for those who wish to be anonymous or who don't want to get into Facebook. surprisingly, i have several friends like that. they think it's going to be really demanding. you can put as much or as little as you want into it. and, like lots of stuff online, Facebook can be a time suck, for sure.

i plan to delete the poems i post on Blogspot from my Facebook notes. i save a lot of poems to my blog because i can easily find my favorite poems in one place. it's like an archive. i'm just not sure about posting them on Facebook. not everyone has a taste for poetry, or my taste in poetry.

Facebook friends, if you like poetry, check out my blog and let me know if we share the same taste.

yoga journal and sally kempton

i just added yoga journal to my list of favorite links (scroll down to view), and you can click the title of this post to go to yoga journal's website as well.

i subscribe to their emails about yoga--they come from the tabs on the home page--practice, wisdom, health, lifestyle. you can also look up poses on the site.

i get the paper magazine at home and hang onto old issues for their practice sequences and other goodies. i tapeflag articles to refer to later.

i particularly enjoy reading sally kempton's articles, mostly under the wisdom tab. i just love, love, love her groundedness in communicating about a subject in which there is so much misconception and woo-woo. she rings true.

plus i dreamed i was turning into an angel after reading her wisdom on prayer.

today i was inspired to add YJ to my blog links and post about it because of one sentence about meditation techniques: "Perhaps the most important thing to remember about any practice is to keep looking for its subtle essence."

this quote is from an article called "points of entry" by swami durgananda under the practice tab.

after i read it, i found out that sally kempton IS swami durgananda! that's her monastic name. and... she's written a book, the heart of meditation: pathways to a deeper experience.

here's a little about it: The book presents principles and practices for opening gateways to the inner world. It offers detailed guidance through the subtle terrain of meditation, and practical methods for living from the heart while integrating spiritual insight with daily life.

i'm going to order it! she's brilliant and a fabulous communicator.

blog analytics for november 2008

there were 142 visits from 76 unique visitors to my blog in november, the most i've ever had! 48.6% were new visits. there were 240 pageviews, doubling october's pageviews.

125 were from the US, with others from the UK, canada, ireland, germany, ukraine, australia, and the netherlands.

wed., nov. 26 was a big day, with 18 visits, the most ever.

i feel happy that more folks are checking out my blog!

blog analytics for october and september

according to the report, in october 2008, i had 58 visits (excluding myself) and 33 unique visitors, 120 page views, 2.07 pages viewed on average per visit, average time on site 3 minutes 15 seconds, 44.83% new visits.

52 visits were from the US, with single visits from turkey, slovenia, ireland, greece, portugal, and spain.

not bad, considering i was in maui for two weeks and not posting.

in september, when i posted a lot on the 12 states of attention and gave a talk about them, i had 113 visits and 55 unique visitors, 244 page views, 2.16 pages viewed per visit, 5:13 average length per visit, and 42.48 new visits.

in september, there were 109 visitors from the US, 2 from canada, and 1 each from vietnam and israel.

thank you, thank you, thank you for visiting my blog! i feel happy that i'm reaching people!

maui slideshow available below

new feature on blogger. scroll down to view. if you click or double-click the photo, blogger goes to picasa, where you can view the slideshow full size.

here's a link to katie and keith's maui photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/katieraver/Maui2008#

here's a link to tom and bobbi's photos: http://www.nlpoptions.com/awakening_the_rainbow_dream/

here's a link to miki's photos. one is a short movie! http://picasaweb.google.com/mikifarrin

vee's photos are on facebook. you have to join, then look up virginia brodie. vee is a superb photographer! you'll really enjoy these.

i'll post links to other maui photos as i receive them.

twittering and tweeting

i joined twitter a few weeks ago. you get 140 characters to post your response to the question, "What are you doing?"

you can follow people, and people can follow you, and you have control over this.

you get little slices of daily life and of essence from folks you like.

click the title of this post to go to my twitter page. follow me, if you wish!

twitter

okay, i'm on twitter! only it keeps crashing safari as soon as i open it.

does anyone know what's up with that?

note to visitors

just want to add something to my previous note. i set this blog up for public viewing, but when i run google analytics on it, it doesn't tell me who views it, just how many unique visitors there are.

so i don't know who is viewing it unless you either tell me or leave a comment. your privacy is maintained.

i don't mind if you want to read stuff on my blog and not tell me or leave a comment. sometimes i read other people's blogs and they don't know. sometimes i leave comments--but usually not.

the internet is pretty amazing, or maybe i should say the blogosphere. a lot of people put big chunks of their lives out there into the ether for public consumption. it's a little scary, but so far, it's been cool, revealing my taste in poetry, my dreams, events in my life, my opinions and practices, photos, family stories, etc.

and if you make comments that are irrelevant (like someone did just now, 3 times), i'll probably just delete them. i'm not interested in advertising.

hi, visitors! welcome to my blog!

oooh, this is exciting! i just ran google analytics on this blog, and so far in the last 30 days, i've had 39 unique visitors. this is up from 26 unique visitors in early march.

for april 15-may 15, 56% of unique visitors were returning readers, and 44% were new.

readership is growing slowly, and i'm fine with that.

average time on site was 3 minutes, 11 seconds. not bad, not bad!

thanks, readers! if you wish, you may leave comments. or not! you're all welcome to read and see if this is for you.

in memory of John Slatin

My friend John Slatin died this week. He wasn't a really close friend, but he was someone I liked a lot. I met him and his wife Anna Carroll through Body Choir, the freeform dance community I participated in for years and still have many social connections with.

Link to his obituary: http://www.legacy.com/statesman/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=106462227

John had leukemia for the last few years and underwent a lot of medical care. I mean, really a lot, including chemo, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. After that, he and Anna lived in isolation for 100 days in Houston. It takes a lot of valour, and he and Anna had it.

John was a man who became blind as an adult. He had a guide dog, Dillon, who has cancer too. I imagine Dillon will follow John to the other side, and that they will have each other as companions in the afterlife. That vision gives me comfort.

I liked John for his adventurousness. Imagine a blind man dancing in a crowded room! Or performing in a choreographed dance at the Kennedy Center. Or becoming blind as an adult and using his UT faculty position to advocate for making the web accessible to those with disabilities. He never seemed to feel sorry for himself--he just adjusted.

John also published a blog for a while, called The Leukemia Letters, that chronicled his journey, and that Anna and others close to him posted on when he was unable. He was a good writer; I enjoyed reading it from time to time. Click the title of this post to go there.

I also liked John's sweet nature and his intelligence. I wish I had known him better.

blog analytics

I occasionally run Google Analytics to see how many people visit this blog. Since February 11, when I first got it set up right, I've had 77 visits, 235 pageviews, 3.05 pages viewed per visit on average, the average visitor stays 6 minutes and 19 seconds, and 33.77% are new visits, out of 26 unique visitors overall.

The rest of the information is stuff I don't understand. Maybe I need to take a class in blogging. Or something.

I did get a request from a prospective advertiser. It was an advertiser that I didn't feel repulsed by, too. I said I wasn't ready for advertising yet and thanked them for considering me.

How do you readers feel about seeing ads on this blog? Would it be annoying, or would that be selling out? Let's hear from you.

blog readability

I just used the Blog Readability Test on this blog. Turns out this blog is "college (postgrad)" reading level. I searched for a description of how they figured that but couldn't find anything.

They gave me HTML code to place this icon on my blog:

If this blog is not at [insert your reading level here], then you're probably in the wrong place!

Seriously, I'm seeking feedback from you, readers, as to whether this blog is too much high-brow intellectual snobbery to enjoy reading, and if I should dumb this li'l ol' blog down. Let the comments roll!