Since I seem to "talk about groups" here on this blog more often than on the AllThingsMike blog, which is proper, since the Poetry blog is always where I have listed the groups to which I belong (and talk about them), thought I would update "what's happening" these days concerning these wonderful, still free, methods of expression on the internet. I just joined a new group, PoetCircle, on Yahoo, and have "gone back" to an older group, run by Original Lufroloc (forgive me anyone "listening" but I will have to add the link to the O.L. group later, since I joined it from another "yahoo profile" and don't have the URL handy right now without signing out, signing in as another user, and then going to the my groups section as that user and finding the URL. Very time consuming, and then I'll forget the reason for this post as usual.
I just joined the first one this morning, and haven't posted there yet, as I'm soon off with my camera (exploits of which are detailed on the AllthingsMike blog. There, got that straight? No? Neither do I. Anyway.
Haven't written any new poetry since "Atocha" but I'm actually "planning" to write a reminiscence poem about Dan, a friend from Toronto, Canada, who battled lieukemia and won the battle, only to perish this past January because of complications arising from pneumonia. I didn't know about his death, until my roommate, who himself was just recently diagnosed with colon cancer, called Dan to tell him the news, and heard that Dan had passed away in January from his mother, who had recently lost her husband as well. Not too good news last weekend.
Back to groups. I've cancelled membership in a couple of "coffee klatch" groups, which simply do not interest me. I won't mention their links because I don't belong to them anymore, but I tried to "get involved" and couldn't keep up the pace. There's lots of "conversation" on these types of groups, but they aren't specific enough for me, and I don't feel good just posting poetry. On the other hand, they do fulfill a need for lonely and/or freindly people who like to "talk" to each other, sort of like "chat" which I've never liked either. I'd much rather people come to my website to "read me", and then email me personally if they want to have a "conversation". That this doesn't happen as much as I would like, and perhaps the "group experience" on coffee klatch type groups might drive people to my website, I usually find that this doesn't happen in the groups either, as the folks there are far too "busy" responding to the "conversations". Frankly, I just don't see how so many people can spend so much time on the computer. But for some, this is their creative outlet, and more power to them. Friendship is a wonderful thing, and interaction with humanity is why I put up my website. I even wanted a forum, sort of like my "internet island" idea, early in my involvement "online" but when I saw the amount of time I would need to spend in the endeavor, I decided that it was better just to try and maintain my own websites, when given the time, and not try to be a full fledged "member" of any online community.
Also, as I have mentioned in this blog many times in the past, I am a vocal individual with my own ideas and passions, and eventually I "upset" someone. I would rather post poems on the poetry groups than get involved in four or five way email conversations, when email exists if someone wants to write me personally.
(I actually feel rather badly about leaving one of these coffee klatch groups, but it grew too large too fast, and was starting to take too much of my time just attempting to read the posts, which must have taken the members hours to write. )
Can't let this post here end without mentioning the prolific and evocative writer Andrew F. O'Hara (the same Andy O'Hara who runs the Poetry and ShortStories 4 Daydreamers groups, which merit a mention here at least every other post or so (and are listed to the left in the links column) Andrew has published his first book, a colleciton of tales from the Sacramento Valley, called "The Swan". I purchased an "E-book" version of his first published work at www.1stbooks.com It is the first actual book I've read (albeit I'm reading it on the computer) in a very long while. It's a very good read, and I recommend it to any one reading this missive. The first story made me fill with the tears of mankind, and I actually had to compose myself and "rest" a while after I read it. Andy is a truly gifted writer, and I'm not saying this merely because he's one of my "internet friends".
Today is bound to be a beautiful day, and I'm gonna take some more pictures and post them on my Webshots gallery. I expect I will probably be "subscribing" to webshots, paying them thirty bucks a year, and posting most of my photos there, because I like the slideshow presentations better than on Yahoo (my current internet provider.)
As it is now 8am, and my battery has completely charged on the camera, this "poet" is going to turn into a "photographer" and go take some pictures.