The Goddess of All*

Generating traffic

My animal news blog animalphiles is finally getting the tiniest amount of traffic. I've sent e-mail to friends, family, zoos, conservations groups, etc, and I still have tons more to send.

Tracking down the proper media contacts for some of these organizations is very labor intensive. I did get some criticism of the name today on a pet forum I post to regularly. A couple of folks said the name is too reminiscent of the word pedophiles. I never even *thought* of that when I was choosing a name. I always think of -philes as a positive suffix - you know, anglophiles, bibliophiles, that kind of thing.

I'll be taking a couple of days off from it while I go to Tunica to play poker this weekend. I'll probably go through serious withdrawals.

Getting easier

I put together another photo album and got everything linked up the way I wanted it with a little less eyestrain and brow-furrowing.  I wanted to get a photographic record of my Zuni fetish collection - and putting together the photo album helped me get reconnected to why I started the collection in the first place.

These carvings are not just pretty to look at, they are wonderful to hold. Perfectly palm-sized. Feeling the edges and inlays is a great tactile experience.

I'm something of a completist (I have every Buffy and Angel ever made) - and this exercise reminded me how many fetishes I need to have complete "directional" sets.  Each direction (NSEW, up and down) has an animal and color associated with it. 

They go counterclockwise in seniority and power. North is a yellow mountain lion (which I have), West is a blue coyote (got it), South is a red bobcat, East is a white wolf, up is a rainbow hued eagle and down is a black mole (check).  This is considered a "hunting" set.  A "healing" set substitutes a blue bear (done) for West and a red badger for South  (also done). I have some shopping to do.

Feeling cross-eyed

What I'm learning as I feel my way around blog design and configuration is how little I know about it.  Thank goodness for Typepad's extensive library. They just label it Help.. but for me it's more like HELP!!!

I haven't done a whole heck of a lot on this particular page because I've spent my day setting up a second blog -  animalphiles - which I suspect will become the chief focus of my efforts.  It will combine my journalistic experience with my love of animals.  It's my hope that someday people will actually visit the blog and send me submissions and make comments.

The goddess blog will be more a diary of my personal journey and a place to opine on various topics that aren't specifically related to animals in the news.

One thing is clear - both blogs will be very, very simple in design and configuration for a while - just so my brain doesn't explode.

Baby steps

Even a goddess has to move slowly when delving into something new.  I have grand ideas for this site - and choose the domain name because I like to imagine myself standing here at the creation of this new corner of cyberspace with a enormous welcome sign for animal lovers, poker players, art enthusiasts, avid readers, writers of fact and fiction (and anyone else who can contribute compelling dialogue and great images.)

My very ambitious plans include eventually having a virtual art gallery and poet's corner, a meta-filter type compilation and photoblog of animal-related news from around the world, heated discussions on poker and other competitive outlets, and anything else you folks might suggest.

So - thus ends post number 1.  I've got to get busy putting this thing together.