Being social.

I was one of those many folks complaining loudly about the changes to Facebook this week. I'd not had much sleep the night before after traveling to and from Philly for The Erotic Literary Salon. I was in no shape on Wednesday morning to figure out what the hell they'd done. But now, with some sleep, and probably way too much time spent on the site, I think I've figured a few things out and actually find myself liking some of the new features.

The thing I like the most is that it is now easier to make lists of folks for sharing purposes. I'd tried before, but there was no easy way. But now I have an "erotica blog folks" list so that I can share these blog posts as well as posts from other folks that I've wanted to share, but didn't think my kids or old co-workers of my husband would care to see. That I found, was putting a serious damper on my Erobintica activities. And yeah, I know that I could have customized each post, but that's too much work! Easier to just not hit "share."

So, today I'm able to write this and share it. And I went in and checked something so that the buttons to share these posts (on Facebook or Twitter, etc.) show up. Gee. Duh. Did I think about that before? Nooooooooo.

Later today I hope to post about how the ELS reading went. But I must do some "real" work first.

Reading at The Erotic Literary Salon tonight!

Last November I read at The Erotic Literary Salon (I wrote about it here) in Philadelphia. Tonight I'm reading there again, but accompanied by a couple of the women who are in a poetry performance troupe with me. Though one is not doing poetry, but rather reading a wonderful story she penned years ago. This will be the first time she'll get to read it for an audience.

Erotic work is funny that way. So many people like it, and so many people read it, and so many people write it, but places to share that work are few and far between. Susana Mayer is doing something about that.

I'll post about it, maybe even with pix, when I get back and things slow down a bit (yeah, right

Do I revive this blog?

Since April ended, I have only written eight (8!) blog posts here. The reasons are numerous. And now I've gotten out of the habit of writing posts. And that makes it harder to pick it up again. And I've wondered whether that means that this blog's days are past. And that makes me sad. And sort of angry.

Why angry? Because I let this happen. I could point to this and that and the other in order to fix blame. But it simply comes down to this. I did not make room in my days to sit down and blog. And this wasn't always consciously. I'd have "write blog post" on my to-do list, but would always find some excuse to skip over it. Eight posts in four and a half months. And two of those months there was only one post!

Had this blog become unimportant to me? No, not at all. I take pride in the nickname Erobintica. I've made some very good friends through this blog. I've taken steps that I never would have without it. But I still have such a long ways to go.

This year is a year of transitions for me. Notice the word "smooth" is missing from that sentence. The way does not seem to be paved. I could make some four-wheeling comment here, but I won't. But I do need to keep moving.

For a bit, I pondered just closing up shop and dropping out of sight. I'd found that I was afraid to write what I wanted to write because... I want people to like me and it occurred to me that if I wrote as honestly as I wanted to needed to, that I could/would alienate not only strangers and acquaintances alike, but even the very people I love (and who love me). Yeah, wanting to be "liked" can be a huge hindrance. Limiting. Inhibiting. Paralyzing. I'm not sure I'm strong enough to say "fuck it all I don't care what anybody thinks!" Not sure I want to be though. Caring is what makes me me.

I honestly don't know what I'll be like in this next stage of my life.

So, possibly against better judgement, I've decided to revive this blog. I'm going to try to not let my low stats get to me. I'll try not to let a lack of comments get to me. I've always had a terrible case of no comment = negative reaction. Just ask the folks closest to me. Ha! It would be so nice to get a little bit of self-esteem before I'm history.

I have no idea what this revived blog will look like. I probably won't change how it looks right now. That's partly because I know that changing things always screws something up and I'm so fucking particular that I would waste inordinate spans of time trying to fix some mess-up in an innocuous post from 2 years ago that nobody reads! Also, I like the way my blog looks. Even though it's one of those black-background themes that so many people don't seem to like (hard on the eyes, pretentious, what-have-you).

So, welcome to my "new" blog. Erobintica.