Dear Xangans,
I have relocated to WordPress and I really like it!! It has so many of the features that I missed from Xanga 1.0 that Xanga 2.0 never made happen. You can follow (friend), comment, reply, LIKE, share and more. The security options are wonderful - you can make your blog Private (only you can see your posts), Public (anyone can see), or protected (where you have to approve the person and provide them a password to view - passwords are sent by email). There are lots of themes (I picked a basic one to just get started). Several people have been using emoji in their comments so I know it can be done - I haven't figured out how just yet. You can embed media, insert pictures and link things (and can designate if it opens in a new page or not!). What makes it so much like the old xanga is that I get an email every time someone comments, likes my post, or makes a post if I'm following them! There isn't a "Front Page" but my "Reader" page shows me all the posts of people I'm following and also suggests "Top" blogs and "Featured" posts! I'm really very excited about it - and it is FREE!!

Please come visit me at https://murisopsis.wordpress.com

I will try to visit xanga every now and again.

Until then Love and Peace!
murisopsis

So I've made the switch. I'm going to be moving to WordPress. Yep. I packed up all my stuff and now I'm settling in at my new address. For any of you who want to visit (and I do want you to all come for a visit) my address is https://murisopsis.wordpress.com

I managed to copy all my posts and save them to my external hard drive on my computer. It has taken me 4 days of steady copy/paste to get it all done. The only thing left to do is to is figure out the navigation of WordPress. It has so many more features than xanga. But I'm a semi-tech savvy kind of gal and I've got this. If I can figure out photoshop I can deal with this new blog!

Crystalline posed these questions and being a conscientious blogger I can't let a survey pass me by...

1. Where else do you blog (so we can find you and continue the friendship if/when Xanga stops)? No where yet but I'm trying to get a WordPress site up and running...

2. What would you order if you went into a McDonald's?  A Starbucks? At McDonald's I would get a McDouble plain and a yogurt parfait. If I haven't "shot my calorie wad" I'd get either a small french fry or ice cream in a cup - no toppings.

3.Do you still own a VCR? Yes I do and I know how to use it as well. We have so many really great old movies on VHS that I hope the VCR lasts a good long time!

4. Have you ever drawn with sidewalk chalk? Yup. Not recently but I have a bucket of chalk in the garage waiting for inspiration.

5. Do you prefer palm trees, Maple trees, or white birch trees? Hmm. I'm a practical sort and would have to say the Maple. They are colorful in the fall, shady in the summer, and the provider of sap for syrup in the winter...

6.  Do you have (or ever have had) a celebrity crush? I guess it would count as a celebrity crush - I thought Jimmy Stewart was sooo handsome. Of course it was a big let down to discover that he was older than my grandparents... Same for that heart breaker Donald O'Connor. I would swoon for him. You can keep Gene Kelly.

7. Does your bed have a top sheet, or just a bottom sheet? I have a fitted sheet on the bottom and a top sheet as well. I'm cultured and civilized. Besides it get's cold here and I need all the warmth in layers I can get. I've never understood how people can sleep without the top sheet - don't you get fuzz under your toe nails?

8. How often do you get your haircut? Depends. I usually go every 3 to 6 months. Sometimes closer to 3 months in the summer and more like 6 months in the winter. It is that trying to keep warm thing again.

9. If you had to sit and wait for an hour in an empty room with just a couch, a coffee table, and one of the following old toys, which would you choose? (No phone, iPad, books or paper) You can choose A Slinky, a Rubics cube, or Silly Putty. Ha! If there was a couch I wouldn't need any toys. It is hard to play with a toy while napping!

10. What color is the vehicle you drive the most? Summer Blue is the official color. It is a sort of aqua/turquoise color with a metallic sheen.

11. Have you heard anything from/about Frank since he stopped posting on Xanga? (I hope his is ok, happily drinking Starbucks,and that he makes it back to Hawaii with his beloved wife again.) Nope. Not a word. I miss hearing about his "boring" life.

12. Do you paint your toenails? I've considered it but my toes are small and my toenails are smaller. Seems like a waste of time since I wear shoes and socks 9 months of the year...

It is once again time to renew my Xanga blogging subscription. I have loved Xanga. It has been nearly 10 years since my first post. When I started, it took me a couple months to get into the rhythm of blogging but once I got the hang of the workings of Xanga I was off and running. I would post a blog every single day. Then about 5 years ago I decided to take Sundays off. I still post 6 days a week. At first I thought that I'd run out of things to say. Ha! I have lots to say and still do. Once Xanga died and was resurrected as Xanga 2.0, it wasn't the same. There was a mass exodus of people and this once thriving blog platform became a ghost town. I stayed, mostly because there were still people here that I know and enjoy reading. The first renewal was rocky. Eugenia gave everyone 6 month extensions as they were trying to figure out a way to take the money for the now paid subscriptions. The next year was worse. I had to get a web address to sign up for PayPal and then it took 10 days for them to activate my blog. I was disgusted but thankful that I was once more able to post. My subscription runs out May 10th. I contacted Eugenia but there has been silence. So I've begun copying all my posts since my last save. I have 8 months worth to copy. I will probably have them saved to my computer by next Thursday. In the mean time I'm trying to figure out WordPress.  If I don't here from Eugenia in the next week I will let my Xanga subscription expire. It will be sad and I will no doubt have second thoughts but it is now up to the Xanga team. I thought that when they first restarted, the most important part of building Xanga to its former glory would be an easy way for old Xangans and new bloggers to activate a subscription. Seems to me they have set this venture up to fail.  I will be working to save my posts instead of writing new ones. Once I have a WordPress site I'll let everyone know where to find me... until then "Be excellent to each other."

Perhaps in another life I loved better
Other versions of me were freer
Even reckless with emotions
Tempting fate and taking chances
Rebellious and wanton in my actions
Yes a wild youth that dared to say yes

This is an acrostic poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a message. I thought this was a fitting end to National Poetry Month.

I am a very measured individual. I filter what I say and what I write. I am constrained. I am not free to write about certain topics - either because I've signed an agreement required by my employer or because I'm a private person, or because I don't want to cause controversy. I have labored under these restrictions for so long that I can't imagine speaking or writing without the self censorship. Every so often there is a "survey" on FB asking you to post your answers to questions. The most recent one asked, "What would you tell the 16 year old you if you could go back in time?" I read that and realized that there was nothing I could tell my younger self that I would have listened to. I think I must have been born 40.

Time
To till
Turn black dirt
Bury the seed
Fertilize for growth
Consult the stars for rain
Young plants push green through earth’s crust
Search for the sun reach for the light
Grow despite human interference
Thrive and bear fruit in the cycle of life

This is an etheree. The etheree is a syllabic form consisting of 10 lines. The first line is a single syllable and each consecutive line has an additional syllable resulting in the last line having 10 syllables. There is no requirement for rhyme.

Spring is truly here. That means that it is time to plant the garden. According to my coworker Mr. Fudd, the sweet peas should be planted the Monday after Easter and the lettuce and spinach as soon as there are 3 consecutive days with temperatures in the 50s. He has already tilled and has started planting. He will put his tomatoes in on the Saturday before Mother's day. He was telling me all about the various vegetable he is planting this year. Corn next to the house to try to keep the raccoons out of it, pole beans, peas, potatoes, spinach, kale, cabbage, cucumbers and zucchini. He is giving up on beets since his area is infested with some insect that burrows into the beets rendering them worthless. Same for the carrots. Sparky is going to plant tomatoes and squash and zucchini in the raised bed. I will again get a couple basil plants and maybe some parsley. Sparky reworked the area along the south side off the house and is going to plant beans and peas in that spot. It seems to me that the fussing doesn't really do anything. I think he'd have better luck with the "benign neglect" approach to gardening. That is provide a little water if it doesn't rain and shoo the varmints away and then leave the plants alone. Seems to work well for the farmer's fields...

He holds my hand
Tightly for security and balance
Refuses to let go
No manner of coaxing convinces
That the world is safe
So he holds on

He totters on
My large palm cradles his hand
I note his improved balance
Persuade myself to let go
His cry melts my resolve and convinces
Me to hold on to keep him safe

I’ve padded corners to make it safe
Placed bumpers and cushions on
Every sharp spot my hand
Encounters trying to balance
My need for safety with his need to go
Places his mobility convinces

A little push convinces
And the fall happens yet he is safe
With a bounce when he lands on
The soft pillow I had at hand
I have to consider the life balance
Of his independence when I go

Work demands I go
His wave and smile convinces
Me that he will be safe
While I travel on
The ghost feeling of his hand
Casting me off balance

Home and work is a difficult balance
Every time I go
His kiss convinces
Me that he will be safe
While I work steadily holding on
To the moment I touch his tiny hand

Soon the balance will shift from hand to hand
I will stay at home and he will go on
And he will be the one that convinces me that I’m safe

This is a sestina. When I was first introduced to this form I tried it and found it to be difficult. Sandra encouraged me saying that it would get easier. I tried again and again. It never got easier. Here I am 10 years later and it is still not easy. The sestina is composed of 6 stanzas of 6 lines. The words that end each line in the first stanza are repeated in a different order at the end of each line in subsequent stanzas. The end is a tercet (3 lines) called an envoi where all the ending words are used 2 per line.

This is a little comment on the independence of children. My sons were quick to want to walk. Once they figured out how to walk they immediately pulled their hands out of mine. However they would constantly return to me just to make sure I was still there. They needed reassurance that their "safety net" was available. In the larger scheme of things I'm pretty sure that eventually I will need to hold their hands...

This is a Algirosphaera cucullata, a coccolith found in the North Atlantic Ocean. This is another revised piece to replace the one that was smashed following a tumble down the basement stairs. I think this one came out better than the first. Anyway it is glazed in Royal Blue with Shaner Clear on the center orb.

Pick up the pieces
Shattered glass is not mended
Careful you're not cut

This is a haiku because I'm being lazy. It is another tough week. I had hope to get lots of little tasks completed but the universe had other plans. So I'm spinning plates and hoping that nothing falls and breaks. I don't have time for a clean up in aisle ten...

I curse that chocolate rabbit
Each Easter he appears in my basket
In Lent I give up my candy habit
The rabbit will put me in a casket

Each Easter he appears in my basket
Dark and sweet but hollow
The rabbit will put me in a casket
I stuff my mouth and swallow

Dark and sweet but hollow
A rabbit temptation
I stuff my mouth and swallow
Experience sweet satiation

A rabbit temptation
I curse that chocolate rabbit
Experience sweet satiation
In Lent I give up my candy habit

This is a Pantoum. The Pantoum is a Malaysian form of interlocking 4 line stanzas. The stanzas are composed of a rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b. The 2nd and 4th lines of the first stanza become the 1st and 3rd lines of the next stanza and this pattern is repeated until the last stanza where the 2nd and 4th lines are the 1st and 3rd lines from the first stanza. Confused yet? It should become clear if you read the poem again and look for the repeated lines.

I love chocolate. I am also very frugal. The idea of paying $6.00 for a chocolate Easter bunny prevents me from indulging my chocolate addiction. However when the grocery story has all their Easter candy (what's left after the big post holiday sale) on super discount and I can get that $8.00 big rabbit for a paltry $2.00 I have a hard time passing it up. I was very good. I bought a bag of chocolate eggs (a whole pound bag) for $2.00 and passed on the 4 oz. bunny. I mean really. The shape does not make it taste any better. Besides I'll take Hershey chocolate eggs over Palmer chocolate bunnies any day!!

Garbage
D e s t r o y i n g
Earth

This is a Brevette poem. This form was created by Emily Romano and consists of 3 words. The first is a noun (the subject) followed by a verb that shows on going action by spacing the letters and ends with a noun as the object. That is it - there are no other rules for this form. Short and sweet thus the name Brevette!

Saturday was Earth Day. Sparky and I attended an event nearby to pick up trash. It wasn't just a cleanup but instead was a CITO event - that is Cache-In-Trash-Out. It is something geocachers have been doing for awhile now. You see geocaching takes you to places that are a bit off the beaten track but usually not so far out of the way that some litterbugs haven't already been there and left their mark. So on Saturday, armed with trash bags and work gloves (and walking sticks and GPS) we fanned out across a park and picked up trash. We found lots of stuff - A nearly full bottle of Jose Cuervo, a medical boot, car floor mat, cans and bottles, cigarette packages and butts, fast food wrappers, Starbucks cups, several dirty diapers, fishing line, and my favorite - a plastic bag of dog poo. We filled probably 30 trash bags. And then we had a potluck lunch before heading out to grab 4 new caches. This is a photo of our little group of cachers - GeoCats and EcoWarriors all rolled into one! The photo was taken by the nature writer for the SB Tribune... maybe we'll make it into the newspaper!