Friday, February 11, 2011

A Not-So-Live Journal

Some time ago I remember a glitch causing this blog to be suspended because a program routine with an overactive hypothalamus thought I might be peddling spam. That got resolved in jig time (thanks Blogger!) but still left me with the idea that a back-up blog might not be such a bad idea. So I started a duplicate blog at Live Journal.

I kept both blogs going side by side despite the fact that I found Live Journal to be somewhat obtuse and less user-friendly than Blogger. But after a while, I decided that I no longer needed to pay Live Journal for the account. It was pretty inexpensive at about $20 per year, but I could do everything here that I wanted to do there for free. So why bother paying for an account when free accounts were available?

So I dropped back to "Basic" account status at LJ.

Today, I went to see when I last posted to the LJ blog with the intention of bringing it up to date. Guess what? I got a screen with a goat's face staring back at me that read "PURGED ACCOUNT."

Well, I don't recall doing that. I'm not sure why I have disappeared. And it's not just my journal that went away, it's my entire account.

Not saying I didn't do it, but if I did, it isn't what I meant to do. In any case, It's been far too long to do anything about it now, so the Live Journal copy of this blog is history.

So be it!

A Flea in my Ear

Ok, last December I expressed doubts about going to the Flea this year. Well, I reconsidered and so did Stormy. It's going to be odd this time around, though.

We are going as humans.

There will be no organized pony activities at the Flea, which is a shame, but Mistress could not commit this year and alternatives did not work out. I didn't feel comfortable or capable of organizing anything - and after all, ponies aren't the organizers most of the time. So there really is no pony reason to travel the six or seven hours to get to Providence.

Well, except for the chance to spend some quality time with Stormy. That's incentive enough.

I'm also going to meet up with my pony pal Clover and his Good Wife (no accident on the caps there). We had some fun last year and are looking forward to having more this time around.

So yes, we will be going to the Flea. No, we are not planning on doing any pony activity. We may actually get a chance to attend a class or two, which is something ponies don't often get to do. That could be an eye opener. Well, at least it could open something...

We won't be staying at the Westin, which is the host hotel for the Flea. We just can't afford it at $150 per night. That may be a price break, but it breaks my bank. We have had a REALLY tough winter up this way and it isn't over yet. Not by a long shot. I take a risk every time I pull out of the driveway. That would be the driveway that is currently costing me about $60 a week to keep clear and has pretty much shredded a set of tires that are not yet a year and a half old.

Nest year...studded snow tires. I hope.

The Flea will not be a bore, however. Stormy and I are playing things by ear, but we will see a lot of friends. And in an expression of the hope that springs eternal, we are still packing our tack. We don't expect to use it, but when you're a devoted pony, it becomes a part of who you are. To leave your tack at home is to leave an important part of yourself behind. Neither of us can bring ourselves to do that.

Besides, Mistress did say She might be in on Sunday to see Foxy Davis. Apparently he has a pair of custom gloves for Her to pick up. I didn't ask what those gloves were, but I hope to find out. It's unlikely that we will play pony on Sunday, but the option is open however remote.

That's pony hope. I'll let you know how things go.