Dear Friends, Happy Fool’s Day!

Four Jewish ladies are playing Bridge.
Betty sighs and says, “Oy…”
Freda nods, sighs, and says, “Oy vey!”
Kitty says, “Oy veys meer!”
Charlotte chimes in: “Enough talk about the children already. Let’s get back to the game.”

Happy April Fool’s Day!

I even considered approving it and letting it through. If the post it was on had been more appropriate I might have, with the links stripped out of course.

Thanks for the laugh “Miriam”.

There is another…

I decided to do something to prevent that loss. I’ve set up a forum on www.BloggingEmbers.com/forum/. (I’m setting up a redirect to Blogging-Embers.com so it doesn’t look so smooshed.) I decided to use /forum so there would be room for additions that the bloggers might want at some later date. Things like a job board, network listings or a section of blogger classified ads.

I hope that my friends from 451 will sign up, though I would understand if they decided against it. I also hope to make some new friends. Blogging Embers is open to all bloggers, not just the refugees from closed blogging networks.

That includes people who are new to blogging. I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that I learned a lot from talking to people, especially other bloggers. I’ve learned more than I could have possibly learned on my own. A forum like this is priceless. That’s why I can’t let it go without at least trying to hold things together.

If you have a blog, or if you’re just thinking about starting one, please join. If you have a friend with a blog, please let them know about the board.

Thank you.

Technorati Tags: Announcement, Blogging, Forum, Blogging Embers, Blogging-Embers.com, Blogs, Bloggers, Blog Networks

Good Times

I enjoyed my time at 451 Press. Sure there was some stress and things got weird from time to time, but most of it was good. I learned a lot from writing Anime Fans Online. I did some stuff I wouldn’t have tried otherwise, and I’m better for it.

Why I’m going to miss the most is the community. The forum was a good place to go to ask questions of other writers. Technical issues, writing or just shooting the breeze, there was usually someone there to discuss things with.

Sure, there were rough times and disagreements too. The furor when the pay model changed, mostly because of new requirements for getting paid. The sporadic communication from the higher ups. Even the spammy looking site templates were a regular target of derision from inside and out. Getting through all that made me feel like 451 was going to be around for a long time. Even if I parted ways with them, it would still be there.

Shutting Down

The forums are closed and the bloggers are being removed from the sites. I noticed that my name is missing from the by-line on Anime Fans Online now. It’s probably only a matter of time before sites start closing altogether.

Time to move on.

I still have projects of my own to work on. FanaticSpace.com is moving along. I have a few other sites waiting in different states of preparation. I’ll be able to devote more time to them now.

Goodbye 451 Press. No matter what others may think, I’ll miss you.

Technorati Tags: Blogging, 451 Press, Anime Fans Online, AnimeFansOnline.com, FanaticSpace.com

Might be NSFW.

On the back of the package there’s this…

What could I possibly add to that?

Never Read Penny Arcade Before Blogging
 

I should take my own advice. It was innocent, I swear. I’d intended to write up a simple post about the work I was putting into the new layout on FanaticSpace. One detour to Penny Arcade later and you have prose so purple that it speeds past the visible spectrum and becomes ultra-violet. 

Please don’t misunderstand, it was intentional. I’d decided to try my hand at the sort of ornamental rambling that is done so well on PA. Looking back I suppose that’s like saying “That thar Louis tha XIV furniture sore is purdy, I think I’ll make some. Hey, what’s a xiv?”, after which there is the unfortunate, yet inevitable, incident with a table saw. It takes practice to learn the skills required to craft something of that caliber.

It was fun though. Because of the joy I derived from trying to intentionally write something flowery enough to compare to the Tycho Brahe Botanical Word Garden, I’d like to ask you to try it too. The idea is easy enough. Take a simple post, one that could be done in about a paragraph, and try to stretch it out by using inordinately descriptive language. If you’re unsure of how to go about it, just read a few posts at Penny Arcade.

A lot of the blogs on the art of blogging, the meta-blogs, advise people to keep things simple. Short bits of text and easy to understand word choices. This is the opposite. Stretch your mind and your vocabulary and go crazy.

I’m sure you’ll have as much fun as I did.

If you decide to do this please leave a ping, a trackback or a comment here. I’d love to see the posts.

Why do I confront the primitive human intellect with this statement? Could it be an attempt to shake the foundations of the Internet with an idea so jarring that even those poor souls imprisoned by LiveJournal may be forced to acknowledge that this is so? Alas, this is not the case at hand.

I’ve been busy. I’ve been toiling at tweakery.

Obviously I can’t spare even a moment to post in a personal blog when attempting to tame such a hell-beast. The powerful forces channeled and sculpted into multitudes of delicate crenellations which can strike down the unwary with their awe-inspiring beauty cannot be taken lightly. To do so would only hasten the inevitable arrival of oblivion’s sweet embrace.

As much as I have longed for that peaceful touch in the past, I must continue with my labors.