MY BLOG HAS MOVED

You can find me blogging daily at this link now.
http://nowiswowtoo.blogspot.com

See you there.

Tide in, Tide out

The sea comes in and goes out again.
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Dear All,

Since January 8, 2005 when I started this blog, I have enjoyed the daily process. As my 'Creative Portal', it served as a space within which I was easily able to express and project elements of myself and my work - albeit drops in the ocean of 'me'.

Over this time I connected with many great people who entered the Now is Wow 'Portal'. Some came and went, some came and stayed. Some I never met in person, some I did - forming special connections.

Today's post will be Now is Wow's last post. I was sitting here wondering what to say about that ... wondering how to close this blog off without sounding too abrupt, too long winded or too whatever-else-would-not-say-it-adequately. In life's typical way, a few minutes ago, a symbol came along to assist me and to affirm everything. I had paused on my 'wondering what to say and how to say it' and went upstairs to get some water. There was a green bird (green tanager I think it's called) - one of my favourite birds - trapped in the kitchen, pressed against the closed window. (Thankfully Jasper wasn't about!) I went to it and, although it agitated a bit as I got closer, it did not seem terrified, as many birds usually are when this happens. I opened the window, said "There you go" and she flew away over the grass.

That story says it all.

I will leave Now is Wow up as an archive. Anyone coming to it will see this page and will be able to explore all that has gone before via the links in the sidebar. Those interested in following up on certain projects which are to be completed can read more about that here.

I thank all of you who, in a variety of ways, were a part of this online journey/experience. I wish each of you the best in your lives and in every endeavour. While this blog may be 'no more', one Truth remains eternally unchanged for every one of us: Now will always be Wow.

Love, Elspeth

Tutorial: How to leave comments

The Dream Tree will be one of these - only bigger (a sapling)

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I just got off the phone with a friend who told me he wanted to leave a comment on The Dream Tree post but did not want to sign up for a Google account. He is not the first person who has told me they want to leave a comment but, for reasons like that or just not understanding how to, they did not.

Lately I've encountered quite a few people saying this, so I'll explain. It's very simple.
1. Click on the 'Comments' link at the bottom of the post
2. A blank box will appear saying 'Leave your comment'
3. Once you have written your comment, type the letters you see below (e.g. qwszzd) into the blank space for 'Word Verification'. (This is to confirm that you are human)
4. Choose an identity. Here is where people get confused. In order to leave your comment you must click on one option.

(i) If you click on 'Anonymous', your comment will appear as being from Anonymous. (But sometimes people click on Anonymous and still sign their name at the end of the comment they wrote in the comment box.

(ii) If you already have a Google/Blogger account you use that option (e.g. I use that option)

(iii) Name/URL is for people who do not want to be anonymous. These people may or may not have a blog or website (URL). If they do have a web presence and they put the URL, their name will appear as a link to that site. If they just put their name only, it will not appear as a link.

(iv) Open ID is for Live Journal, etc. (as displayed in the drop down menu next to that option). So unless you are one of those, you don't have to worry about it.

Most people therefore will choose the Name/URL option.

Something is missing

These days blogging feels different. I'm not sure why. I love doing it every day, but something is missing and I don't quite know what it is.

Maybe I am feeling emptiness, after having been so intensely woven into The Dream House and Veronica's House. They had (have) a distinct purpose to them.

As much as I love blogging and don't consciously feel like stopping, it is beginning to feel 'dead'. Why am I blogging daily? What is its importance? What purpose does it serve? Who cares? If I stopped, what would change?

In a way, it's as if the blog is a little extension of me: a daily cyber canvas of general thoughts, feelings, ideas, projects ... life in a cyber nutshell, so to speak. So then ... if I took what I just wrote and replaced the word 'blogging' with 'living', what would that say?

These days living feels different. I'm not sure why. I love doing it every day, but something is missing and I don't quite know what it is ...

Meeting bloggers for the first time

(Update: ironically this week's Sunday Scribblings is 'Fellow Travelers')

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Today on her blog, one of Kikipotamus's meme answers was her post about the time we first met when I was in Toronto in May 2007. It made my heart feel warm and brought back such fond memories ... of not only a great six weeks in TO, but that great day of unfolding surprises and magic around every corner.

It is funny how in this modern age the internet is bringing together people who may never have met otherwise.

Yesterday I met the blogger Andreamuse for the first time. I think I first encountered her when she left a comment on my blog. She is a writer from Florida who had been seeking Trinidadian blogs because she and her husband were moving to Trinidad, where he would be lecturing at the University. What a small world. Last week when they moved here, the world got even smaller. Turns out she is living about fifteen minutes walk from me in St. Augustine! What are the odds of that?

I took her up to Mount St. Benedict, where we looked around for a while (the view, etc.) then sat under a cool tree eating snacks and chatting. It was great little interlude in my day ... not only because I was meeting her, but also because I was 'escaping' from writing a proposal which had me feeling agitated because I'm one of those I-wish-I-could-just-do-the-creative-part-and-let-someone-else-write-proposals-and-budgets kind of people.

Had to cut short the session on the Mount with Andreamuse to go to my appointment for a wellness massage (birthday gift voucher given to me by my parents last October). But we will meet again. Welcome to Trinidad, Andrea. I hope you find inspiration.

The date: 8th January 2001

Just a few days ago I realised that I had missed an important and life-changing date. The 8th of January 2008 marks 7 years since I miraculously woke up and stopped smoking and drinking alcohol and coffee. Never looked back and never got cravings. I believe it was yoga that did it.

Jan 8th 2005 is the day I started this blog ... partly out of curiosity and partly out of doing something to celebrate my miraculous anniversary. So I am now entering my 4th year of blogging!

Jan 8th 2005 on this blog.

Jan 8th 2007 - celebrating my anniversary of two things.

This week's Sunday Scribblings is "The Date"

Until further notice ... use telepathy

My footsteps, Toco
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Dear All,

I will be taking a break from technology for an indefinite period of time. Satya, my laptop, is currently being diagnosed (an unexpected ailment). Thankfully her hard drive is intact but the exact nature of the problem is not yet clear. Please send her good vibes as the experts examine and work on her.

In her absence I don't think I will be going to internet cafes, etc. to update my blog, check e-mail, etc. I've already told my clients and my friends who e-mail me regularly that if they need me they should call me or use telepathy.

With my home phone also not working and TSTT nowhere in sight, my only form of man-made communication is the cellular phone. And even that ... lately some people are calling and not getting through - and when they leave voice mail messages, I am getting them a day or two later, if at all. So, unless you are telepathic, reaching me may not be as easy as it usually is.

I see this as the Universe's way of telling me to not depend on man-made forms of communication for now and to use the time to tune in more deeply and regularly to communication with my Self and the Divine. This must all be a part of the Universe's 2008 plan to get me to trust it more.

While I enjoy blogging daily and will miss it, being without technology can be freeing and enlightening. It is interesting to note what we focus on, return to and rediscover when we go 'back to nature'.

Not sure exactly when I will be back but I will be.

Take care and enjoy your experiences.

Elspeth

Change of scene

Took a spontaneous jaunt today to Rituals with Makeda who is here from NY gracing us once again with her presence for a few months. We of course brought our laptops, Satya and June ... and are here drinking lattes, eating muffins, doing work and using the free wifi.

Demain, mon examens finale de français. Je dois étudier!

Just

Just popping in to mention that all is well, but I have not been feeling particularly bloggy over the past few days.

Just like my birthday (7 Oct) was wonderful in many ways ... but it is beyond words and pictures ... so I did not take any photos and won't try to recount it in words.

Just now I am leaving to go down Point Fortin to speak with a woman, for the contracted project I am about to begin now (video project on children infected/affected by HIV/AIDs). This project was supposed to have started since June (!!!), but nothing before its time I suppose ...

Just realised ...

I've been so absorbed that I've forgotten about the blog.

First post from my Mac

Hooray! This is my first post using my sparkling new Mac laptop. It's the first laptop I've ever owned as well as the first Mac I've ever owned. I used to use Macs when working in advertising (in the office), but other than that, it's been PC.

So far ... the Mac (yet to be named) was quick and easy to set up. I'll need to explore ... and I'm sure I will have questions as I adjust to the newness.

I was unpacking it at a friend's house and we were oohing and aahing at every stage. Even the packaging is exciting and well designed.

Exciting! Cute, clean,sleek, lightweight!

I can't see myself becoming one of the smug Mac people though ... and I will still use and appreciate Firefly (my PC) for certain things.

The only thing that has me puzzled is the Blogger interface which now is not showing many of the things that it shows on a PC. Hmmm ... I will have to investigate. Does anyone reading this happen to use Blogger on a Mac? If yes, do you know what I mean and can you explain how to display all the controls?

'New' isn't always better

I am one who, if I have a favourite pair of shoes, will wear them until the day they fall off my foot - no matter how many new pairs I buy in that time. I will also wear a favourite shirt or jersey until it becomes threadbare ... and a favourite pair of jeans until my knees cut through them (somehow the right knee always cuts through first - as seen in the below photo) ...



Not that I don't like new things. Some new things are lovely. This new Blogger however is just wonky! It's one example of a new thing that I definitely do not think is better than the old! One minute it's one way (similar to old Blogger but with a few differences) and next minute it's another way. I don't know if any other 'new Blogger' people are noticing this.

When I first switched to new Blogger (having no other option but to do so since one day I suddenly could not sign and there was a message telling me I had to switch to sign in), there were the regular 'old Blogger' things in the toolbar (above where you write a post) ... like the buttons to put your text centrally, to the left or right. So I thought "Oh, new Blogger has the same things as old Blogger now."

As of yesterday, however, those controls are suddenly not there. The controls for changing the colour of text, etc are not there. There is no way of changing font, so I am now typing this post in some kind of default font that looks like a small courier font. These are all the controls that exist: bold, itallics, insert link, insert blockquote, check spelling, insert image.

When I inserted the above image using a Photobucket link (as I usually do) I had no way of putting it in the centre as I normally would have. It feels imbalanced over on the left side of the page.

Hmmm. Oh well. I might as well look at this (hopefully) 'temporary technical difficulty' as a sign for me to 'let go of control' today ... and just let things be as they are ...