Monday, February 15, 2010

Happy Year of the Tiger!

For the second year running, the Lunar New Year feels a lot more like a fresh start to me than the, uh, Solar kind. Holiday hassles are a distant memory (the one with the hearts and smooches is not much of a hassle for me), days are getting long enough to have a little elbow room in them, and this whole Way Early Spring thing we've been having in the Pacific Northwest, though it will doubtless have some negative consequences, is really just awfully pleasant.

I put on my beautiful new orange socks and went for a walk on Mt. Tabor today, where I kept running into the same batch of skateboarding teens over and over again. Round another corner, there they'd be, all scruffy and ebullient, scrambling up the hillside or yelling at each other over the rasp of their wheels. It was kind of like my walk in the park had a limited extras budget and so they had to keep using the same people over and over.

My pockets were empty, so I picked a wildflower to leave at the hidden shrine (perhaps you know about the hidden shrine at Tabor? It's appropriate to leave an offering of some sort there, though to whom you are offering is, I think, up to the giver. You can also take something, if you like). There was a baby's shoe there and some pretty stones, but it wasn't as cluttered as usual. I think someone has been tending it. Maybe everybody tends it.

On the way out I crossed paths with my neighbor, the self-designated neighborhood watchman. I quizzed him about his former career as an undertaker while he walked me home. (Apparently the economic downturn has really hit the funeral industry hard. I had no idea.) He also told me about the people who used to live in my house over the years. Seems one of those people was the self-designated neighborhood watchman, years ago; he would sit and look out my front window all day long, just keeping an eye on things. I am grateful for people like that.

In other news, I am apparently one of Blogger's Problem Children, because I insist on hosting my blog on my own webspace instead of at Blogspot, and they don't want me to do that anymore. I'm not super excited about compromising with a redirect URL, as they suggest, so I'm wondering if this is the time to make that switch to WordPress I keep thinking about (you know, so I can gripe about a different service!). I still have a lot more research to do on this, but if you have any input on the usefulness and/or limitations of WordPress, I'd love to hear it.

4 comments:

aaron said...

wordpress is pretty great. super easy to set up, and tons of plug ins. i set up the nemesis site pretty quickly, not counting the silly theme and all the tweaking i did on that.

Ike Graul said...

I use google apps to host my blog. I skimmed the google announcement, um that's all I have to say about that. Anyway, google apps is hooked on phonics for me, but it might not be what you are looking for, and it is for sure the same grass in which you currently post (in comparison to that greener wordpress grass.)

evannichols said...

Happy New Tiger Year!

I don't know much about WordPress, but I've considered installing it on my evannichols.com site. If I decide to do that and actually get around to doing it, I'd happily share what I think about the experience.

It's good to see you posting!

Anonymous said...

I like Wordpress, but I wish I could use wordpress.org software on thelandlockedsailor.com. But I can't host at GoDaddy on my Mac! So irritating... so for now I'm stuck with the limitations of Wordpress.com, including being unable to edit CSS & not being allowed to run ads (including my own!) I've actually been thinking about switching to Blogger! :)