TEST FOOTAGE: GAGADANCE 2013

 I admit it, I'm a bit of a ham. I posted this on FB a few hours ago. (Actually posted it on Gaga's FB wall. She'll never see it though.) At first the song didn't reach out and 'grab' me, like, say "Poker Face" or "Telephone" but last night I was boogieing to the YouTube vid and decided to videotape my "performance." Here is what I posted on YouTube: 

"I usually don't like to present the process, preferring to present complete MikeVideos, with full credit sequences, special effects, in high resolution. I was just fooling around last night. This isn't choreographed in any way. The sound is coming out of the computer speakers. It's at a low resolution. I was doing something else with photos at the time and didn't adjust the lighting correctly. But you never know. I'm 60, and could die at any moment. So thought I'd at least put this out for the requisite 27 or so views from my Facebook Friends and fellow Xangan buds. Gaga herself would possibly say that art should have no limits. So here is a limited beginning to my possible APPLAUSE dance video, with no limits. THIS IS COPYRIGHTED MUSIC." 

 I'll post it here too. What the hell. I even made an "mikepop" self portrait. It's below. (I'm a "scary" little monster.)

Posted: August 18, 2013 7:04 PM

If somebody paid me for it, I could probably call myself a "professional blogger". From my beginnings as a webmaster, way way, way back during the last decade of the last century, I have always "timestamped" each paragraph I posted online. I started 'internetting' late in life. I'm 60 as I write this latest in a long long line of blog entries, and the first words I ever posted to the internet, when I was 46 years old, were the words contained in a poem I wrote to celebrate the occasion. It was called "bornagain".

Many of the countless essays I've essayed over the decades online propose that our "online lives" are essentially our legacies (or could and possibly should be). I cringe when a site on which I've meticulously laid out a virtual roadmap of my existence goes dark, because I have to dredge up those files and post them somewhere else. Since my first website began to light a personal beacon in cyberspace, I've nearly written my complete autobiography (and it's a long one, like this post is going to be). I've "published" serial "blognovels". I've posted hundreds of poems. (thousands if you count the ones I transcribed from the "pre internet age")

During this time I've made lots of supposed "friends." Some I've met. A few I've loved. (And I've had sex with at least one, but I'm not telling.) As I age, and as the internet ages with me, it seems like younger generations don't create the "divide" we did back in the late 90s. (or earlier, if you're old enough to have had a home computer and "social networked" on the hypertext based internet which existed before the web in 1989.) To someone who has grown up with digital connections and online friends lists, there may be no difference between someone with whom one skypes daily and someone with whom one shares a walk to school in real life. With homeschooling becoming more widespread, and with universities establishing 'online' schools, there may even be a school of thought which supposes that interacting IRL may someday be moot.

This is the story of the strangest relationship I have had on the Xanga blogging service, where my sporadic blog finally ended up in 2004. We begin in May of 2009 with a chatboard post. I'd just celebrated my 56th birthday, and my 5th Xangaversary was coming up at the end of the month. I rarely "used" the chatboard, sort of a cross between an Instant messenger and an email client. Xanga was experimenting with so many things back then in an attempt to stop users from migrating to MySpace that there seemed to be a quite nervous atmosphere around the blogsite, and lots of stuff would appear, disappear, reappear, and generally bamboozle both newbies and longtime bloggers like myself.

"Hey Mike, I am glad to have you on my friends list. I saw you over on TheBigShowBlog where you were commenting on "dropping like flies." I am trying to build up a very intelligent readership for my Xanga which I have only been blogging for about a week, and you looked like a great person to touch base with.

By the way, I have always thought that bald men are the sexiest of all." QueenLoonatic (not her real username)

In those days, I was known for my long letter/comments which I littered among the posts in the Xangasphere. The message from QueenLoonatic intrigued me. She appealed to my intelligence, offered gratitude, asked for assistance, and sort of flirted for good measure. The message pushed a few of my buttons, and I visited her fledgeling blogsite, dropped a few comments, and began what at first seemed like a healthy, friendly, internet relationship.

In time, we were not only visiting each other, but private messaging as well. I make a point not to "do chat". However, our interplay on the Xanga message service was quite vibrant, and became personal. She asked for adivce on a number of topics, always stoked my ego and fanned the flames of my boiling desires. She flirted shamelessly, both in messages and in her blog entries. We talked about depression, and opened up to each other. She would mention me in her blogposts, and I would reciprocate. We seemed to be good online buds. We were both in the same age group. She posted photos of herself, both older and recent. As do I. She kind of reminded me of my old girlfriend Pat, a gal I attempted to "save" when in a real life relationship back in the 90s, and with whom I was hopelessly in love (but which relationship, as I've written, became sort of a living hell till it finally ended). Queen and Pat even looked alike somewhat. I probably transfered a lot of my feelings for Pat to QueenLoonatic, and possibly should have seen the similarities as triggers, but I naively kept up appearances, and for a year or so, I actually thought perhaps QueenLoonatic and I may someday become an "item" and she might become one of those rare "online personalities" who would eventually show up in my real life.

She lived a few states away from me, but blogged about plans to move to Southern California. I was pretty excited at this prospect. We messaged about meeting each other.

By 2011, I wasn't blogging as regularly as I was in the years previously. I would go on long hiatuses. When I "met" QueenLoonatic I'd just purchased my home, and had just received my hip revision surgery, so blogging was low on my list of pursuits. However, I would sometimes "come back" to Xanga in a creative whirlwind, and create posts which would appeal to the community at large. I was constantly jesting with Dan over at TheTheologiansCafe, the most popular blog on Xanga, and I was friends and correspondents with many of the "Xangalebrites" of the day. It was a comment I lefr on a post on the popular TheBigShow's blog from which QueenLoonatic began her correspondence with me.

Both mine and The Queen's posts were at opposite ends of the blogging spectrum as far as content, but she and I both shared one particular blogging trait. Our entries were long. Both of us could ramble. Some of her early comments on my blog entries would even state that she didn't read the whole thing. I posted, and still do post entries which dovetail with my other internet endeavors, usually of a creative nature. I also blog my memoirs. Queen would post long rambling entries containing humorous images she got from around the internet, interspersed with "commentary". We would joke about whose blog entries were longer. While I never concentrated on getting on "Top Blogs" all the time, because of my many hiatuses, the Queen seemed to be obsessed with this particular accolade. If I got a "Top Blog" entry, she loved it when her next post would become "Top Blog". Both of us liked to knock TheTheologiansCafe down a few pegs, as he was Top Dog of Top Blogs, and remained so until he left Xanga recently.

After coming back from a hiatus, I'd find the Queen's entries to be a staple on Top Blogs. She finally accomplished what she wanted to do from the beginning, "build up a very intelligent readership" for her Xanga blog. While it might be argued that there are degrees of intelligence, she covered all the bases. Like a lot of Xangalebrities, she could brag about a friends list numbering hundreds if not thousands of users. Lots of bloggers respected her, and read her posts religiously. She never lacked for content. She was quite witty, very opinionated, and seemed willing to share much of her life.

I should have seen some clues that all might not be completely right with this particular blogger, and that I may be setting myself up for a fall emotionally by being her friend. However, as the clues appeared, I may have just ignored them, as I also do in the real world when interacting with people. I tend to overlook faults, and concentrate on the positive aspects of humanity.

Two interesting things happened during 2011. One time I clicked her username from a comment she'd left me, and was blocked from her site. This sort of came out of the blue. I messaged her. She claimed to be ignorant of the process. We caromed back and forth, but I couldn't "see" her site. She'd still leave me comments, but without being able to leave comments, I feet sort of "blogemasculated" and told her in a message that a block could only come from her computer. She claimed that she had been hacked. Then she "confided" to me that an old boyfriend of hers had been staying over and got jealous when he saw our messages. He had blocked me. After a while I was allowed back into her site, and things proceeded as usual.

At about the same time, a new blogger appeared in the Xangasphere. He claimed to be homeless, with sporadic access to computers. He called himself OuthouseDog (not his real username.) As with most of my internet relationships, he first visited my blog, left a comment, and asked to be my friend. We kept up correspondence, and I read touching stories of an old relationship in which he was involved. He had a daughter, who blogged on Xanga as well. During those times when I was "active" on the service, I counted both QueenLoonatic and OuthouseDog as trusted friends. Sometimes the Queen would post a popular entry which would draw ire from others in the Xangasphere. During 2011 and early 2012, the core bloggers in the "Top Blogs" arena became like warring tribes. The "cliques" or "gangs" (not used derogatorily) of blogging friends in 2008-2010 became more like real "gangs" using words instead of bullets to make their points, and the years of the "comment wars" began on the front page of Xanga. TheTheologiansCafe's blog usually started these small skirmishes with some offhand "question" about a "topic du jour". Bloggers like QueenLoonatic would "weigh in" with an opinion. Others who shared her views would support her. Others would disagree, sometimes in not too freindly a manner. By far, the Queen was not the only one who participated in these "wars" but she was, at the time, possibly the most popular "Top blogger" behind TheTheologiansCafe.

QueenLoonatic sometimes seemed to play both sides of the fence on some issues, although I am only surmising this, and not accusing said blogger of being anything except upfront and righteous in her opinions and viewpoints. Xanga's top blogs page was a bubbling cauldron of controversy, and the Queen liked to stir the pot. She would make and break friendships like they were simply kindling for her fires. When I would visit her, I sometimes had to go through five or six highly opinionated entries before I could find one on which I feld some common ground on which to comment. This blogger who told me she didn't know how to "block" or "unblock" somebody on the service was soon blocking and unblocking like crazy.

After one hiatus, I returned to find QueenLoonatic and OuthouseDog claiming they were married. I was confused at this revelation. Perhaps they only recently found each other online and got into a relationship? Seems like they'd been married for years. They had a loving relationship. Now we can be whomever we want to be on the internet. At one time, there were dozens of "Miley Cyrus" blogs on Xanga when that celebrity first became famous. I had once surmised that the Queen was an outgoing vibrant, A-plus personality like me from the way she blogged. She messaged me that she was really quite shy, and intimidated "in real life". But the internet afforded her a "place" where she could overcome these fears. She flirted with me for years, and had even floated the possibility we would meet someday. It sort of flummoxed me that she was in a longtime relationship, her partner also blogged on Xanga, and never talked about her as a partner, and was similarly among my friends list. Could he have been the "old boyfriend" who had blocked me? Could the Queen herself have done so because of something I wrote, or some perceived emotion she received because of something she saw or some comment she read?

Who can tell. I messaged her questioning why she never told me she was married. Her answer: "You didn't ask."

In early 2012, another longtime Xanga friend of mine began to get popular in the "top blogs" page, and developed a following. I'd always perceived this person as a bit of a wallflower, not too social, like my roommate at the time, Joel (Cancerboy). Where Joel never used the internet, and seemed afraid of computers, GameBoy (not his real username) seemed to enjoy computing, was a bit of a geek, wrote prose and poetry, and was similarly opinionated, and his Xangexperience afforded him the opportunity to sort of come out of his shell. I think QueenLoonatic was much the same socially. I never could track a bead on OuthouseDog.

GameBoy's confidence bloomed. He attended Xanga Meetups IRL and began to become more of an "active" member of the overall "top blogs" community. I really wasn't that active by this time. I always declare "my time" on Xanga was when I was heavily involved in participatory blogrings, like Featured Grownups, in 2005-2007. GameBoy decided to "call out" the Queen as someone who was two faced, played groups of Xangans against each other, and who would just block anyone with whom she disagreed. In time, as with all Xangacontroversies, two distinct "camps" appeared. And the war was fought in plain sight on the front page of Xanga.

Both GameBoy and QueenLoonatic (and her husband OuthouseDog) regularly committed Xangacide, or just created new blogs alongside their existing ones, and each had a number of different similar usernames and blogs over the years. I never understood why bloggers do this. I guess I do from a sociological standpoint, but for me, blogs are our legacies, and it's best to just have the one, on which you can trace your digital life the longer you blog. That's why I've decided to pay for the privilege of blogging on Xanga, at least as long as it survives. (I still feel it's a ghost town now. That's why I'm writing this particular entry right now. I would NEVER have written this a year or so ago, right after QueenLoonatic disappeared for the last time, but I'm getting ahead of my story.)

For some, blogs are merely a platform on which to stage quarrels and spiteful wars. Some bloggers seem to 'get off' on this.

After a while, GameBoy and QueenLoonatic came as close to "beating each other up" online as I guess you can in cyberspace. As GameBoy's confidence increased, the Queen lost some of the sheen from her crown, and she began to exhibit the classic psychiatirc traits of a paranoid schizophrenic. When I first found her "real name" buried deep in one of the profile pages of her blog, and would begin my popular comment/letters by addressing her as such, she would tell me not to do so, as she didn't want anyone to know here real "identity." This sounded strange coming from someone who regularly blogged photos of herself, and who mentioned the towns in which she lived. Also another blogger always addressed her by her "real name" and she thought nothing about it. I granted her wish, until such time as she would mention her own name on her blogposts. QueenLoonatic had a "selective memory" (again a similarity she shared with my ex girlfriend Pat). Reality for her was what she perceived it to be at any given time. If that reality changed drastically over the next ten minutes, so be it. If you wanted to be encircled in her orbit, you played by her rules. Even if they didn't make sense to a sensible person.

QueenLoonatic soon became obsessed about reading her name online, and this stoked GameBoy's ploy to "take her down." This was possibly the low point of Xanga, in my experience here, and my story of my strangest Xanga relationship is nearly over, as is QueenLoonatic's reign on top blogs. She committed Xangacide for the last time in mid 2012. She had a rollercoaster of a three year ride on the blogging service.

The saddest exchange I think I ever saw on Xanga or on the internet in general was a comment exchange on a pulse between GameBoy and QueenLoonatic. GameBoy found out the Queen's personal information, and announced it on Xanga, since in her somewhat paranoid state, all she could think of in her waning days as a blogger was that everybody on the service was out to get her, and used her real name. GameBoy would just write her name, and she would tell him to stop. In a surrealistic display of over 300 comments between the two seemingly normal adults, it must have lasted for literally hours., amounting to a digital version of those old childhood taunts, where two kids disagree or otherwise keep stating "Did too" "Did not" ad infinitum.

I kept off QueenLoonatic's blogsite. I made sure I didn't add any fuel to their quarrel. I've always attempted to be reasonable in my dealings with Xangans, and have boasted that I don't get involved in what was always called "Xanga Drama". I never liked soap operas on TV either. However, knowing two individuals who are tumbling from one comment section to another (kind of like the end of the Mel Brooks picture "Blazing Saddles" where the cast of the movie go from one soundstage to another, disturbing the other movies being made on the lot.) can get tedious, if each expects their "friends" to side with them in the ongoing war. I refused. I cautioned each of them, as I have cautioned others when similar comment bouts end up in the comments section of my own blog entries, that after three times, I'll just begin deleting the strings which don't have anything to do with my post, and eventually I will block the blogger.

I never had to block QueenLoonatic. In fact, even after finding out she was married, and even when she was getting involved in Xanga drama, I was still hopefully surmising that i might visit her in the real world. I believe GameBoy still has an active blog. He really only goaded the poor girl, and wouldn't let up calling her by her real name. She threatened to sue him, to sue Xanga, to sue anyone on whose blog her name ended up. She enlisted other friends in her efforts. I received emails from them asking me to remove comments GameBoy had left, etc. It got to be a big mess. I really feared for QueenLoonatic's mental health. I wish her and OuthouseDog well. They both left Xanga eventually. And I've attempted to find out if she ever found a "home" on the internet again. Subsequent searches have proved fruitless.

A relationship with QueenLoonatic is not the kind of relationship one soon forgets. I'll never forget her as she "was" when I first "met" her. A seemingly like minded "intelligent" person who desired exposure and friendship. She found both. But I think perhaps her skin wasn't as thick as the skins of some of we longtime bloggers, and her fall was deliriously painful to watch. Perhaps she should have done things differently, but perhaps she lacked the social skills inherent in blogging. Who knows? I don't think I'll ever find out.

I've had dozens of strange relationships on the internet, and on Xanga in particular. This one stands out as the strangest. Here's to you, my QueenLoonatic, wherever you are. I hope you are in a much better place, and have found peace, and aren't as bothered by the bullying you suffered, and may have even instigated because of your "blogging style."

(NOTE: I've changed the names of all bloggers mentioned except for TheTheologiansCafe. I'm leaving out the final chapter of this story, as it were, but will append it here as a sort of postscript. Right before the Queen commited Xangacide with her last remaining site, it has been said that she may have created another site. About the time she and GameBoy were really throwing the digital fisticuffs, I wrote one of my uplifting posts titled "What is Xanga: We are all Xanga" and borrowed snippets from the life of a recently deceased Xangan. I received a disparaging and frightfully negative comment (which usually never happens to me) accusing me of all sorts of terrible manipulative things. It REALLY upset me. GameBoy proposed that the comment came from QueenLoonatic in another quise. Logic still tells me it wasn't her. I never remember showing her any ire or ill tidings. I try to be reasonable to most folks, and don't like to burn bridges, either in real or online life. It may have been her, and if it were, she must have been laughing at me through our whole friendship, if she felt the way she did in her final comment. I made an attempt to visit the site, as I always do, to return a comment, but was blocked from the site. Sigh. MFN/ppf)

In my News and Notes column for August, I intimated that I would be taking a day trip up the coast to photograph the vintage steam trains and landscapes afforded a trip to the Roaring Camp Railroad in Santa Cruz this weekend. Well, California is a pretty big place. It's been about 35 years since I was in Santa Cruz, and I didn't realize till planning the trip on Google maps, that it wasn't close to Santa Barbara, but closer to San Francisco. Not a day trip at all. In the meantime, perhaps with the "trains" theme still fresh, I made a short detour up to San Marino, a quick 30 miles up the 110 freeway, to visit one of my all time favorite SoCal museums, The Henry E. Huntington Library, Art Galleries, and Botanical Gardens. Usually referred to as "The Huntington Library" or simply, "The Huntington." The museum is a mix of art, flora, and although mostly closed for renovation this time out, the Library contains many old and rare books. Mr. Huntington was a railroad magnate, and owned the famous "Red Car" trolley system in So Cal. Huntington Beach is named after him, and was a planned community he designed in the early teens. He also at one time owned the downtown L.A. "Yellow Car" streetcar system. His uncle owned the Southern Pacific railway.

Huntington was an avid art collector, and the Huntington Library, nestled in the town of San Marino, an upscale suburb of Pasadena, was once his home. Well, the Library itself is a separate building. But the main Art Gallery, which was closed for renovation last time I visited in 2005, was his residence. Here is a view of the north "sculpture garden" lawn to the side of the art gallery.

There were lots of photographers gathered around these flowers, and when I got up close, I noticed they were all attempting to get shots of the hummingbirds, who were having a bit of an early lunch. I snapped away, hoping for the best.

This is the main library building. The statues to the right and the left of the entrance (on the right) and the exit (on the left) were wrapped, and the only place open was a small gallery on the left. The Library building houses some rare manuscripts, books, and Illuminated Bibles from the days before printing. Sadly, I didn't get to see them, since they were in the part of the building closed for renovating. However, I've seen them on past trips to this special place. A full set of about 400 photos I took yesterday can be found on my Flickr Gallery folder, Huntington Library 8.10.13 HERE.  (And I'd like to mention, even though I've had my Flickr Gallery up for over a year, only recently have I made an effort to upload the many photos I once had on my old Webshots site to Flickr. I now have almost 8500 photos in over 30 themed folders!  (That last sentence is a link to the sets page. Check it out sometime. And if you're on Flickr, add me to your contacts, and I'll reciprocate!)

Here's Apollo, as the text on the wrapping states, awaiting his revival when the Library building reopens!

This would have been the main entrance to the residence. It's now the north "side" of the Art Gallery, and the statue garden stretches behind me. You can see one of those hummingbird photographers to the right middle. The entrance to the Art Gallery is on the left. There are more gardens on the right. The Huntington has quite a mix of sights for the visitor. It was free the first time I went to see the place, in the early 70s, on a high school field trip. It does cost $20.00 for an adult admission during the week, and $23.00 on weekends, but it's worth it. I was there about a half hour after opening. (10:30am) and stayed till about an hour before closing (4:30pm) on Saturday.

This is the statue at the entrance to the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries which display American art, from the founding of the country, up to and including Andy Warhol! I'm lying down on my back, prompting one visitor to remark, "You'll get your pants dirty" to get this shot looking up to the skylight.

This statue, titled "The Council of War" is about two feet tall. Honest Abe consults with his cabinet.

A striking statue of a Roman war criminal with beams of light streaming in from the top of the gallery space. The piece is about 10 feet tall and is called "Zenobia in Chains" by Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, sculpted in 1859.

An open area rimmed by large windows provides the backdrop for this statue, sitting atop a pedestal. Other statues are themed for "morning" "daytime" and "night". 

I've got over 30 photos on this PhotoPost, and I'm missing some of the places I visited on the grounds just to save space and time. (As mentioned, as usual, I have the whole shebang on Flickr, and if you select "slideshow" it's almost as if you're walking around with me. (Flickr slideshows are possibly the best on any photo sharing site on the internet IMHO.) This is the walkway around the rose garden. 

And here are some blooms.

I'm on a diet, and I'm trying to save money, so I didn't expect to eat on the grounds. But I got hungry around lunchtime, so took the opportunity to sample a grilled chicken sandwich and a beer before going to "Japan" and "China". Parking is free at the Huntington. The lunch was $9.95. Not bad, really, for this pretty large sandwich. I had a beer, but you can opt for different beverages, for a range of prices.

Although a lot smaller than the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Garden at the Huntington is a quiet, peaceful place to stop and take a breather. There is a full Japanese house displayed at the top of the hill, and this wooden bridge spans the koi pond.

 Another view of the koi pond at the Japanese Gardens.

 I was really thrilled to see the excavation for the Chinese Gardens last time I visited the Huntington in 2005. This 4 acre (and not finished yet) Chinese garden ( Liu Fang Yuan, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance) is the largest Chinese garden outside of the country of China itself. I had to exercise a great deal of patience in order to get some of my signature "unpeopled" photos, since there were lots of tourists and visitors on the grounds of the museum. 

 I could have stayed here at the Chinese Garden for the rest of the day. It was quite peaceful and extraordinarily beautiful. China is among the countries I plan on visiting sometime after retirement ("only" seven years away!) But in the meantime, there is quite a feel of the "mother country" here at the Huntington Library. Since this is a relatively new area, I spent a lot of time wandering about, as I'd never seen it before. 

 Peaceful, quiet, reflective.

 The  "Bridge of the Joy of Fish" looking east. 

 An artistic rock sculpture, which looks amazingly like a seahorse. I didn't notice that when I snapped this photo, and can't find evidence whether this was planned, or is just my imagination!

 The Library usually houses the Gutenberg Bible, one of only 48 examples of one of the very first printed books in the 15th century. It's temporarily in the main gallery of the Art Gallery building.

 Here is Pinkie. It's a portrait painted in 1794 by Thomas Lawrence and is part of the permanent collection of art, located in the main gallery in the Art Gallery building, which used to be Mr. Huntington's home.

 Pinkie, (above) and this painting, Blue Boy,a 1770 oil by Sir Thomas Gainsborough are possibly the most famous paintinga in the Huntington's collection. It's rare in SoCal for a museum to allow photography. (It's rare anywhere for a museum to allow photography inside the galleries.) As long as you don't use flash, the Huntington does allow you to take photos. I had the camera on ISO setting (low light without flash) but didn't experiment too much, and these indoor shots didn't come out as clear as I'd hoped. 

 Diana is about ready to leap off her pedestal and go "hunting" down the hall on the 2nd floor of the Art Gallery.

 Well, hope you're not tired yet. I could have (and possibly should have) spread this series over two or perhaps three PhotoPosts, but I'm on a roll, as it were. The cactus filled Desert Garden is one of 14 themed gardens on the site. It's one of my favorites. These golden barrel cactus are roughly 75 years old, and were grown from seed right on the grounds. Huntington bought the property in 1903 and planned all the gardens for personal enjoyment decades before the public ever set foot here. 

 Inside the Desert Garden conservatory. (which was closed the last two times I visited.)

 Lots of interesting specimens in the Desert Garden Conservatory.

 These interesting plants, called Welwitschia, come from Africa, and only have two leaves, which keep on going like the energizer bunny as the plant grows.

 I'm in electrical engineering, and found it quite humorous that I couldn't escape my job even during the weekend at the museum, which has over 400 antique light bulbs.

 This is the "Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory" greenhouse, which has areas containing plants and flowers found in rainforests and bogs, is relatively "new" to the grounds. First time it was open on one of my visits was last time, in 2005.

 Exotic specimens in the Conservatory greenhouse.

 Outside the greenhouse is a children's area, but which also has lots of interesting things for the adult to look at and ponder.

Hope you had a nice visit "with me" to the Huntington Library, Art Galleries, and Botanical Gardens. I've been posting informative and hopefully entertaining PhotoPosts for nearly a decade here on Xanga, and I'm not finished yet. I don't know how many people are left here. (The "top blogs" page has 8 entries, sigh, and among them are titles like "Transitional Update", "Free Blogs for Displaced Xangans", "Xanga 2.0: What to Expect.") I don't know what to expect with readership anymore. So I'm just going to continue posting what I've always posted here on good ol Xanga. High quality blogposts of a creative, uplifting, and artistic nature.

Enjoy.  EDIT: 08-12-13 5:15am pdt: Say what you will. It's STILL incredibly wonderful for me, as a photographer, blogger, and just being me, to wake up and find my latest PhotoPost entry is at the top of "Top Blogs". Thank you to everyone who has commented and recommended this post, and as usual, I will make visits to your blogs and check out your latest posts as soon as possible. I said I didn't really know what to expect when I posted this, and I was very happy indeed, and any expectations have been met and superseded! Thanks again to my readers/viewers. I've always been the type of creative to be inspired to be even more creative with positive feedback! MFN/ppf

HEALTH, WEIGHT, EXERCISE: 

Although in actuality, I'm doing quite well, I got disgusted at my fluctuating weight amounts. Over the July 4th holiday, drunk in celebration over a small bonus we received at work, I think I deliberately spilled some of my drink on the digital display of the scale in my guest bathroom, frying the electronics. I tossed the device, and haven't purchased a new one.

However, without the constant "need" to check my weight (sometimes two or three times a day) I'm actually losing more of it. Can't tell you how much, and I don't care, but my belly is a lot smaller, and people are noticing. Below is the first of my "profiles" I'm taking to give me a chronicle of this latest weight loss. All I hve to do is get rid of the "spare tire" and my new abs will show through the fat.

I had to delay my weight training right as I was about to increase weight amounts last weekend, because I'm feeling a bit of pain in my left arm. On Saturday I finished my training, and was a bit sore, but that's to be expected. I make sure I don't overdo it, and then I went down to the pool, ostensibly to soak in the hot tub. I just couldn't be at the pool, however, without swimming a few laps, and exercising on the chrome access bars leading to the pool. The soreness increased, and the next morning, I was hardly able to lift my tea cup. Weird to think I was lifting 15 pound dumbbells and a 50 pound barbell in two sets of 15 repetitions just the day before. I've been taking it easy since, not sure if the pain was returning nerve damage or muscle fatigue. It's now Wednesday morning, and the pain is largely subsided. I won't be working out again till Friday, if the pain decreases completely, and I won't increase weight amounts until I'm sure this doesn't happen again. Here's some "before" and "after" photos taken about a year apart. Can you see the difference I can feel?

I've reduced my diet to a bowl of ramen noodles and a sandwich and a half plus a banana at lunch. Dinner is a (largish) salad. I can feel my upper body bulk, and now I actually get "hungry" at mealtimes. If I feel like breakfast (on weekends, usually) I'll have a bowl of oatmeal. I post "instagram" like photos of my salad concoctions on Facebook, where they are pretty popular. The only meat I'm eating (besides thin deli cuts of turkey for the sandwiches.) is fish, usually on Sundays. I've always liked to cook, and am begining to become a pretty good one.

It's time for an eye examination, and that will happen within the next couple of months. I looked around on the internet to see if I could find anywhere selling the black plastic hornrim frames I used to wear (I call them "Buddy Holly glasses") I'm quite tired of aviator frames, and the "glass" area seems to get smaller every time I get a subscription changed. Well, wonder of wonders, those old black frames are "back". They call them 'geek chic' on the LensCrafters website. I'm gonna go for an entirely new look. Might even shave the beard again. And perhaps even the mustache.

WEALTH:

I got a raise last week. (Only 4%, but anything helps) My credit card consolidation loan is down to under 7 grand (from an amount close to 40 grand borrowed back in 2008) I'm in the process of refinancing my car, attempting to lower the rate from 4.5% (currently) to 2.99% (which is what the flyer for rategenius.com advertised) Hope to hear from my loan officer with good news today.Things are looking up, and the light at the end of the debt tunnel has never shone so bright! (I've already begun making vacation plans (a two week Danube River cruise) and home improvements (a screened in porch for my "weight room", and a fence between my home and the loud neighbors), possibly a 65" HDTV upgrade on Black Friday this year too!) I just have to make sure I don't acquire any more debt, and only purchase things with my own money!

XANGA AND THE INTERNET: 

Xanga didn't close down. I didn't think it would. I already weighed in (my Voice of Reason column below) on my thoughts. I did pay for a subscription upgrade, and will continue blogging here. I am also in the process of upgrading my personal website. I've only done a couple of weekends on new pages, but the front page is much more streamlined. I can't use my old Dreamweaver program to edit my old pages, but I can code HTML,so I'm updating and fixing the code on the older pages. Check it out at www.allthingsmike.com

Back when Webshots closed down, I think I was more upset than even when Xanga announced it's possible shutdown. I've constantly bragged about my rating as #6 of over 16,000 users posting photos of California. I switched to Flickr last year, but never really concentrated on adding photos and themed folders as I did on Webshots. I'm doing that now, and at last count, have nearly 8000 photos posted in 27 folders. I'm trying to average two or three folder uploads a night, and I'm adding tags for SEO. I'm also going to create folders with my "best of" photos. I'm adding links to my allthingsmike site to the Xanga photoposts. Next week I am planning on going to Santa Cruz and take a train ride up into the redwood forests in an open car. Should make for some great nature photos.

I've revived my old "ElectricPoetry" group on Facebook. I really like their group structure. Anyone who reads me who writes poetry and has a Facebook account is invited to join. It's a closed group right now, with a little over 50 members. But I'll add you if you message me or let me know you're interested either on FB or in comments here on Xanga.

Someone recently told me they really missed the old blogrings (as do I). That only fuels my fire. I may post an Internet Island entry sometime soon. Just have to find the proper subject. 

I guess that's it for now. I'm a bit irked that Xanga is still quite buggy, and at a time when I'm doing lots of upgrading and creative endeavors on the internet, the site is so slow and hardly works at times. I understand that is going to change at the end of August, and I'm looking forward to the "new Xanga" as a platform for my ever increasing "electronic experiment in art" online.

August 07, 2013 7:06 AM

RUMORS OF XANGA'S DEMISE GREATLY EXAGGERATED!

XANGA SURVIVES, LOWERS FUNDRAISING PRICE TO 50K, ADDS MONTH, ONLY $1408.00 TO GO

I knew this would happen. Either this or what Xanga claimed would happen on the fundraising site. (A "hard deadline" which if not met, would mean the whole shebang goes bye bye. I just couldn't see the site just "disappear" so close to the "goal". But that's what Xanga "promised". It didn't seem fair, for some reason.) 

Here are links to both the Crowdhoster site and the Xanga Team blog. Last night I "wandered the halls" of Xanga, saying goodbye. Dropping lots of longish comments, and trading contact information. I couldn't sleep. I'm an old man, I'm glad my emotions didn't cause my heart to stop beating. My bipolarity almost drove me to depression. I tried to focus on "the good times" as we always do in times of grief and stress concerning unknown situations.

I've tried (as usual) to inject a reasonable attitude during the possible "fall of Xanga". I've neither been a "cheerleader" nor a "naysayer" during this mess. And it has been a mess for the "average Xangan". 

Bottom line (now that we can all breathe a bit easier.) The $48.00 a year subscription price is fair for what is being offered. During the past month, I've checked out most every blogging/website hosting platform on the web. Cheap is cheap. Free doesn't exist. (Blogger is free, f'rinstance, but you have to link all your images from someplace else.) The "free internet" died long ago. I'm still somewhat upset that as a "lifetime" premium Xangan, I still had (have) to pay a subscription fee, but I can squeeze it in. I've asked the Xanga Gods if there will be a way for me to embed my Xanga on my wix (or other hosting service) site. 

Free wordpress sucks if you design websites. Can't even add your own header image. But $99.00 a year for their subscription is too pricey for me.

Face it: $48.00/yr is too pricey for me, but Xanga is offering more than WP for a paid wordpress blog, and the "community aspect" will still be "here". It was so neat (yes, still use that word) to see the "top blogs" for the most part contained heartfelt messages from longtime bloggers like me. 

I am upset at some things. Frankly, "my" Xanga (2005-2006, when blogrings like Featured Grownups introduced me to most of my "readers" and most of the blogs I read) is long gone. Hopefully, the Xanga of 2011-2013, with lots of trolls and "comment wars" will disappear too, because most of the trolls blogged for free.

But on the other hand, I hope there will be a "free" blog platform offered in the future. I'm trying to think of Xanga 2.0 as a "start up" instead of a failed MySpace campaign to "update" the service. 

I'm glad my photo archives will still be available on the Xanga servers. I haven't been able to download the 4GB file. (Thats a LOT of self designed custom images and photos, folks)

I have been waiting for a more solid "answer" from Xanga prior to pledging. I haven't been happy with their "non responsive" attitude. (Or should I say "lack of any attitude". If not for Joel(@edlives) and his daily fundraising updates, I (and many Xangans) would be completely in the dark.

When I listen to the voice of reason, it tells me everything will be all right. I don't have to worry for the moment what I'm "going to do with my blog."  I'm most probably gong to make my pledge today. Xanga has the best thing going for me, and I already "live here" and have a pretty big investment in time, archived material, a massive cross indexed tag system, and emotional connections. 

Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool

I was quite bummed over some computer problems which were hampering my creative process. It's not easy when you still have a 2008 era puter running Windows XP which has had to have it's hard drive wiped clean and Windows reinstalled, then find that a lot of the Windows 98 programs for which you had installed patches to get them to run on XP, as so out of date that those patches are no longer available.

I've got my Picture Publisher running again with no problems, and my Vegas video editing program has been reinstalled, although the Sonic Forge music program can't seem to be able to be downloaded.

There is a new computer on my horizon, but until then, I'm hobbling along on my old one. And I've been inspired to create. Here is some composite artwork I've recently created for the rotating banner on my new ElectricPoetry Group on Facebook and also a stab at making some of those humorous "ecards" which seem to be so popular on the internet. 

This one trumpets my latest internet movie, which can be viewed in the entry below. (hint hint.)

Th,th,that's all folks. For now, anyway. I'm recreating my entire website on wix as an experiment. HERE is the original, frozen forever in time in 2010, when I lost the Dreamweaver program I used to create it. And HERE are selected pages from the new site, created in HTML5 from last Friday night till Sunday morning. I always claimed I could create a "website in a weekend'. MFN/ppf

Posted: July 23, 2013 6:58 PM

I spend the weekend creating my first Internet Movie in six months! "Cloudscaping Too" a "sequel" to the 2008 internet movie "Cloudscaping". In up to full 1080p HD, 4min. 30sec. long. 

I planned this particular video last summer and first announced my intent to make the vid in August 2012. The title card above was presented in a blogpost on Oct. 12, 2012. As with the first 'Cloudscaping' video, this one is simply 'a series of images of clouds, set to music.' The music I used is an electronic piece titled "Moon in the Water" by Dent, who blogged on Xanga as @relic47. I don't think he blogs here anymore. I supply a link to his website in the video credits.

I always compare finishing a MikeVideo to giving birth. These little movies are my babies, and this one joins almost 100 others which I display on my YouTube channel. Most of the images were taken between 2010 and 2013. Preliminary editing began before my ongoing computer troubles. The last problem seems to have been fixed, so editing was pretty much nonstop from Friday evening until last night, when I finally hit the "render" button on my Sony Vegas video editing program.

There are three "moon segments" included in this video. The footage at the end, with wispy clouds hovering over the moonscape, was shot with the camera mounted on a tripod. The footage under the credit sequence was shot handheld and zoomed, and the present video camera I use does not have image stabilization. So I spent a good deal of time, almost adjusting the image frame by frame to a grid, in order to eliminate the shake. It's still there, but not as pronounced as it came out of the camera. It took a good six hours time to "edit" these few seconds of video under the credit sequence.

Enjoy. 

A Gallery of My Xanga Profile Pictures. 2004-2013

(An updated version of an entry originally posted on 6/6/08.) Some Xangans have had the same profile pic since they joined. Some update regularly. I think perhaps I'm the only Xangan who created a "gallery" of "rotating" profile pictures in the weeks right after I joined the service, with the express purpose of using different pix for different themed posts. 

Invariably someone will notice one of the many different profile pics I might insert into a new entry and tell me that they "love the new profile". I've created over 75 sometimes quite creative profile pics since I put this blog online on Memorial Day 2004. Originally, the idea was that each entry would have a "themed" profile pic from whatever age I was writing from that viewpoint. For example, if an entry was about my high school days, the profile pic on that entry would be of me in high school. The first profiles had the ubiquitous dreamcatcher as a "frame" into which the photo was inserted. There were three "motifs" in the beginning, which morphed into the themed blog headers, for which the profiles used the same background. The dreamcatcher is sometimes hidden, but it was (usually) always there up until a few years ago. Shortly after I posted the first "gallery" I created the morph which appears in the upper left hand corner of the blog.

These images are arranged (mostly) from the most current to the oldest. There were a few I did not include because they were either never used or were similar to another one already here in the "gallery". As I did in 2008 I'd like to challenge anyone reading this to do the same kind of entry on your blog, including profile pics you have either used or created. My profile name: baldmike2004 is just one of the many "dated" versions of my "baldmike" profile name I've used on websites since I first went online back in the late 90s.  (This should be Top Blog, don't ya think?)

The Nearly Lost Weekend in the Middle of the Week:

A 4th of July Almost Horror Story Without Much Fireworks

A few days before the Independence Day holiday I joked to a coworker after she mentioned my nearly incessant yawning that it had been a long day, and I was in fact suffering from a bit of insomnia for a couple of nights previous which sometimes caused me to get sleepy late the next workday.

"I guess I gotta start drinking again.." I mused, to great amusement.

Well, we had our 4th of July party and barbecue at work on the afternoon of the 3rd. We celebrated the life of our recently departed CEO, laughing and reminising. I kept bypassing the myriad salads, snacks, and heaping piles of hot dogs and hamburgers, making an attempt to have a feast yet not to stuff myself too bad. We do have alcohol at the Christmas parties, and our controller joked that somebody forgot the beer. When we left, we were each given a small bonus. So since I had some extra cash in my pocket, I stopped by the market on the way home. It was only Wednesday, but I felt like partying. My joke about "starting drinking again" made to my coworker notwithstanding, I was full and hearty, and felt like warming myself with some spirits. Now I usually drink only on Friday nights. I've blogged about this, and even showed the drink I usually mix in my last Mike's Video Blog. I usually drink what I call "Mike's Energy Bombers", Monster M-80 mixed with fruit nectar, a little rum, lots of ice, and blended till it's a smoothie. Tastes great. Doesn't get me too drunk, is not all that filling, and it keeps me alert and a bit high. On the shelf next to the rum at the Food4Less I spied a 1.7liter bottle of "Captain Morgan's Long Island Iced Tea" (on sale for $15.98 too!) The drink was pre mixed. "I think I'll drink a bit of THIS in celebration" I convinced myself. I poured myself a nice tall "iced tea" when I got home. By the next afternoon, I had experienced one of those "Lost Weekends" (somewhat like the old Billy Wilder movie starring Ray Milland). I didn't experience "The Hangover" however, which is a good thing. (Was that a monkey?)

I was once a notorious drunk whom my friends didn't like to take out to bars. After sloshing away 7 or 8 beers, I would start drinking 'boilermakers' with Jack Daniels chasers. In my youth, I also used to "chug pitchers" for the next round at our Saturday night Shakey's Pizza parties. I liked to drink. I liked to socialize. Frankly, I liked to get drunk. But I sometimes (usually) drank too much, and I would black out. (Not "pass out" although that too sometimes occurred.) and do and say things I never remembered the next day. It's a wonder I got home some nights. I've written blog entries about my nights in the drunk tank, etc. etc. etc. I stopped drinking alcohol cold turkey at two separate points in my lifetime, one for a five year period, and another for four years. I like to think I 'drink responsibly' at present, and do not drive, nor get myself in a position where I would need to do so when imbibing.

The bottle of Long Island Iced Tea was 17 percent alcohol by volume. Not only was there rum, but gin, vodka, and tequila. When I bagged the bottle at the market, an old geezer in line after me said "I'll join you in a drink!" (He didn't look like he was joking either.) "Sorry, I'm driving." I chortled, "But look, you don't even need to waste time mixing anymore..."

Before I ramble on, let me assure you nothing went horribly wrong. I didn't black out. I didn't wake from a two day bender with blood on my hands, wet clothing, or a splitting headache. I didn't get tattooed. I didn't go smashing light poles with a hammer thinking there were eyes in them like that time when I was tripping on LSD in the 70s. I didn't get "social" and go out to a bar. All that happened is I drank most of the whole bottle, went to bed, and began drinking again the next afternoon.

I spilled some of the drink at one time on my scale and fried the electronics. I spilled some on the kitchen floor. I mopped everything up. I may have hurt my shoulder when I (fell down? bumped into a doorway? still don't recall.) I didn't destroy anything. I didn't make an ass out myself. But I did go on Facebook and Xanga and "drunk post" which I don't usually do. (I said "usually") I embarrassed myself only in knowing that I let the alcohol manage me instead of the other way around. Knowing that people make mistakes, and that I've made plenty in the past, made me a bit aware that I could have done something for which I may have had to regret. In my youth, I wouldn't have cared. "If I don't remember it happening, it must not have happened..." was one of my old sayings.

That evening the lamp in my 2008 Mitsubishi big screen TV went out. (I knew this was going to happen.It was past time for it to happen, and I should have added the bulb with my last service before the 5 year contract expired.) "I need a new TV" I proclaimed to nobody in particular as I poured myself a drink the next afternoon. My alcohol fueled reasoning was not to be trusted as receiving a bonus (and word that a wage increase might happen as well in the near future) and drinking a 17% alcohol filled cocktail (hey I didn't mix it!) energized me to go searching for a "deal" on a new 65" 3D TV on the internet. (like I did back last "Black Friday" when I bought so many blu ray collectible movies at great prices.)

Now I NEED a new computer. I don't NEED a 65" monster TV (Want one, yeah. need one, no way, not at this time.) Let me tell ya, I shopped, ogled, picked out, and actually got the wheels turning by clicking the little button on amazon.com that sends an order to the "shopping cart." I purchased a Samsung bigscreen online, and if only for the fact that I didn't have a high enough ceiling on my credit amount (and knowing amazon, it's a wonder they didn't just automatically raise it) I would be accepting delivery of the monster (It was a thousand dollars off!) this coming Wednesday.

The total for the alleged "purchase" came to just under three grand. That would have plunged me pretty deep into debt again. My "debt ceiling" which has been pretty low I can almost touch it lately would have skyrocketed to the stratosphere. I don't have room for the TV. I'd have to rearrange furniture. When the little popup on amazon.com asked if I wanted to "share" my purchase on Facebook, I did so, with a great flourish.

As my "high" faded along with the rest of the day, and before any 4th of July fireworks began to stream across the sky, I got an email notice telling me my purchase couldn't be followed through, because I didn't have enough credit on my amazon card. Soberly, I immediately signed on to the site, cancelled the purchase, (plus the purchase of $336.00 for a five year warranty.) I searched for, and found the bulb I needed for the DLP TV and made that purchase instead, for $109.00. The bulb will be here by Wednesday, the fateful day, when, if I had had enough of a credit limit with amazon.com, I would have seen a big truck drive in front of my house containing not just any 65" 3D Samsung TV, but the top of their line. (It was ON SALE, I'm tellin ya!)

In time, possibly before the end of the year, I will definitely look into making a purchase for a larger monitor than the one I currently use. I'm expecting the increased brightness made possible by the new OEM lamp is going to make it seem as if the picture is "better" than it has been lately, owing to the old lamp losing it's lustre before it blew, as it were.

I'd position a larger (but remarkably slimmer, almost "hang on the wall slimmer") monitor along the far wall of the living room. I'd arrange seating along the two walls adjacent to the monitor. In the center of the room, about 8 to 10 feet from the monitor would be my "command chair". I could reasonably put a sofa, a loveseat, and another chair around the perimeter, along with the lazy boy I'd use as the command chair. This would allow for 5 or 6 pretty good views besides mine. The "new TV" would be shipped with four pairs of 3D glasses, and I already have 2 pair. That means I could have "movie nights" with 6 people for 3D films. Possibly up to 10 people (stools in back of the "command chair perhaps) for non 3D movies. 

In my unreasonable drunken stupor prior to coming to my senses (On FB I posted "It was a great dream, but I woke up!" in a comment to the "drunk post" containing the TV specs.) I did bring out the measuring tape, and realized I could very well rearrange my furniture, and set up a pretty neat viewing space in my current home. I could have "Mike's Movie Nights" at the park, putting up an advertisement on the clubhouse bulletin board with only as many "slips" with my phone number as I need for any given viewing. If I wanted 5 viewers for a 3D movie, for instance, I'd "advertise" with only five slips, and the first five neighbors who responded would become charter members of my "club." Each week I could offer a new film, including old Betty Boop and Looney Tunes cartoons, and short subjects consisting of my very own MikeVideo Internet Movies. I'd have a kitty for payment for snacks. The movie would be free. But I could conceivably make a little profit on popcorn and candy. After all, that's were real theater managers make their money anyway.

"Back in the Day" I may have gotten so inebriated that I'd find paint scratches on the car, damage to apartment walls, broken mirrors and ripped posters. Damp stinky clothing. I even got beat up a few times, and over my "drunk story history" have "lost" my spectacles numerous times.

This past "nearly lost weekend" in the middle of the week, I got drunk again. So drunk I nearly bought a 3000 dollar television monitor online. Thank the Lord I learned my lesson before I actually accepted delivery of the dang thing. I would have enjoyed it, that's for sure, and I will at whatever future time I do indulge in this purchase. However, I wouldn't have enjoyed seeing skyrocketing minimum payments on my amazon card (on which I'm supposed to be paying the total every month so it's always at zero.) 

Ask anyone. I do like my iced tea.

But from now on it won't be brewed in Long Island. No matter how sweet it tastes!

(This was going to be News and Notes for July, but got too long...so N&N will appear here with it's regular mix of health, wealth, and welfare notes in the near future. Soberly written too! MFN/ppf)

 CHECK OUT THE VIDEO specs FOR THE Samsung UN65F7100 65" smart TV MONITOR!

Just sayin.