March 13, 2013

• People Who Disappear From Xanga

  Have you ever made friends with Xangans who almost seemed like the friend next door, only for them to be there for a little while and to disappear?  I have had this happen in two instances, and I think it speaks more to our fragile society than anything which I did or said to them, but it makes one reluctant to take on a very communicative Xanga pal, and after they were disappearing, I wrote them letters to encourage their writing, for both were interested in the platform of Xanga to hone writing skills, and one even gave me an extremely wonderful review on my weblog.  I miss her especially, for she was such a genuine heart, but my letter went unanswered.

  I believe that I am a dinosaur when it comes to what friend means to others, for many people come to Xanga purely to accomplish getting some feed back or to latch on to a couple of favorites to follow and to try out material on.  I know that I cannot get back to the nearly 180 friends who subscribed to my site, so I endeavor to make this promise. That if you send me a private message, I will find the time to respond, and I mean that.  I hope that internet has not become the cocktail party joke, where you go and settle in with everyone who is your best new friend, and then when one leaves — It was all idle chit chat at best, and sometimes people who have not dealt with such social situations really get feelings hurt, but society is often the social set where one may find poster children for the glad hand, the immediate compliment, and if you find one person who is comfortable to sit down to have a drink and chat and let the smoozers smooze, then that is where you are apt to be comfortable.  I admire that in a person, the one who dares to break the mold and does not have their eyes darting back and forth to catch the next person they feel they should, “Chat up with,”  and we all know those people.  One I know is so horrible at it, that as she is speaking to you;  I mean it, she is looking over your head with shifting eyes back and forth — Checking out her next best plan, and I have known her for 36 years, and she is the same person I met all that time ago.  She is about my age, and her boyfriend left her;  Her husband died, and I feel sorrow that life has not been what she expected.  I could have introduced her to people along the way, but her persona was so offensive, that I would put away the thought.

  I think I have made a couple or more people on Xanga where we could meet up someday and enjoy the stories of our lives, but I want to know what you all think.  What kind of place is this; Is it competitive for attention?  Is it a writer’s place to practice their skills, or do you see it as more social???

  I used it to write a book, and I would have left, but people kept writing me, and right now, I seem to be drawing from the world, not just Americans, and I cannot answer what the upward tick is all about.  Am I about to launch, “Pinkhoneysuckle,”;  Oh yes I am, and I have a show on March 23rd in this Noe Valley and Dolores Hgts region of San Francisco where I live, so I knew what I was out to finish.  I did that, and now I have some special friends.  “Pinkhoneysuckle,” has not had big sales which happened as a result of Xanga, and I would warn writers to have a different plan for Marketing your book, but to just add:  Barbara Everett Heintz, “Pinkhoneysuckle,” Amazon, Kindle, Create Space, and to say yes that I have won two awards, the most meaningful being a first in Hollywood Book Festival 2012.  For those of you who find it offensive, I deeply apologize, for those who offer advice and love; I show as much thanks as humanly possible, and for those who have bought it, I simply Bless them and thank them with all of my heart.

  I have never said that you better get out and buy my book, and if you do not give me a good review; then the hell with you.  I just write a note at the end of my articles, for it seemed harmless enough.  Others even have store and their web sites are all about that endeavor, though they do post as well.  If I can order from a Xanga person something which I need, then I am going to check out the price, and I would choose to help a Xangan, just like choosing local markets, although our nearest Whole Foods has simply priced a lot of people out of there, for their is great wealth around here.  I am not against going up the hill to the local Safeway, for they are rather good also.  We all have a limit on what to spend.  We all have limits on what interest us.

  But, what are you looking for in a Xanga site?  I know why I got involved, and I know why I will stay on a little longer.

  My Blessings Be With All of You, and to the Catholics, Let us please pray for our church to come more in to the new world.  So I am praying for a pope who is a reformer, for it is time to bring the unwelcomed back to the table of plenty.

  Barbara Everett Heintz

   

   

  • 6:11 am
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