July Recap

What a month on the blog World Cup, farewells, music, and football. I never thought July would be better page view wise than April with the A to Z thing. I even picked up a few more followers, I welcome them and hope they enjoy their stay.

Saying goodbye to Yahoo! Contributor Network is sad news. Being a writer there was a roller coaster with the ups and downs. In my book the place was on an upswing and I actually liked writing there again and then boom! Some of the downs could be me, misinterpretations, and some things just simply sucked at times. All of it according to my own perception.  I liked the Associated Content years the best. The group of writers who befriended me had a bit to with it. Yahoo brought out great opportunities to see my writing on a bigger stage like Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Sports and the such. It opened doors.

The ups and downs don't matter now. It is all history. I am glad I was able to spotlight 10 other writers on my blog this month. Hopefully in the future I can spotlight others and just not the musicians, athletes, and celebrities. I don't know what the futures holds I just stumble into it one step at a time.

The World Cup just proved my picks in any sport a wise man should bet on the opposite team! I didn't watch as much as I wanted too. 

Johnny Winter's death reminded me of miss opportunities, the need to take advantage of them when you can. It also reminded me to appreciate the living legends out there while we can. Things end unexpectedly.

Thanks readers, visitors, and accidental clickers for making July special onward into August I go with the blog!

Seven Year Itch: Farewell to Yahoo! Contributor Network

Continuing on my series..Here is what going on Yahoo! Contributor Network..AKA Yahoo! Voices which used to be Associated Content and a site I have published my writing at for seven years will be calling it quits at the end of the month. So you can stop in and read my articles while they last here.

I signed up for Associated Content back on this date in 2007. My first article was a humble article about a baseball trade published on July 30, 2007.

My first non-sports article was a restaurant review of the Rib Room in Charles Town, West Virginia in August. Followed by an article on Health Care fraud an industry I was working in at the time.

In October I wrote my first political article about the Democratic Primary in New Hampshire.

In December of 2007 I wrote my first music article on what I thought were some of the better releases of that year. Regular readers of this blog might be surprised it took me 5 months to do that.

That is a look at some of my firsts. A lot changed over the course of seven years. Now looking at the end which is really just a new beginning.

Rev your Engines

I have enjoyed writing my spotlight series saying farewell to Yahoo! Contributor Network. So far I have been able to give shout outs to 10 different writers. Today I am going to self promote and highlight some of my auto racing articles I have written. You can check out the rest of my writing at the site here.

Ladies and Gentleman start your engines!

Joey Logano

Here is an article I wrote on Joey Logano at the time he was a 17 year old prodigy. Now at 24 he still has a bright NASCAR racing future in front of him.

Here he is winning...

Here he is in an interview from last year...

Six Moments at Indy

One of the last articles I wrote on the site was this one about Six Historic and Exciting Moments in Indy 500 History.

Here are highlights from this year's race..

Farewell to Yahoo Contributor Network! Spotlight on a pastor, a clinical social worker, and a scientist

Continuing on my series..Here is what going on Yahoo! Contributor Network..AKA Yahoo! Voices which used to be Associated Content and a site I have published my writing at for seven years will be calling it quits at the end of the month. So you can stop in and read my articles while they last here. Getting my shameless self promotion out of the way!  I will reflect my thoughts on this writing place going under in a later post.

This collection of writers sounds like a joke starting with a pastor, a social worker, and a scientist. However instead of a funny joke they are walking into the sunset after Yahoo! Voices closes.

Jack Wellman is a pastor who have enjoyed in reading over the years at YCN. I would consider him a friend. He always leaves positive and encouraging comments. His articles at times spoke to me. An example would be about his article on organ donors, which I have signed up to be. I have heard people use a Christian argument not to be one even though I personally thing it is good to be one. Then Jack wrote his thoughts which I enjoyed. I know he shares a passion for helping the homeless which is something we have in common as well. You can read his Yahoo!Voices articles while they last here.

David Reinstein is another writer I have enjoyed over the years. I've enjoyed his articles on guitars as a guitar collector and music fan myself. I have also enjoyed his poetry and unique perspectives. You can check out his YCN writings here.

Vincent Summer is an active member in the forums. His writing is mostly an eclectic collection of science based articles. I have enjoyed reading several of his animal articles. A variety f other articles of his have caught my attention from time to time. You can see if any of his articles interest you here.

Thanks for stopping bye come back soon!

Farewell to Yahoo Contributor Network! Spotlight on the Fun Groups

Continuing on my series..Here is what going on Yahoo! Contributor Network..AKA Yahoo! Voices which used to be Associated Content and a site I have published my writing at for seven years will be calling it quits at the end of the month. So you can stop in and read my articles while they last here. Getting my shameless self promotion out of the way!  I will reflect my thoughts on this writing place going under in a later post.

Sorry for the break had a lot going on this weekend, and it was a fun weekend. With that in mind I thought I would share some of the people and things which made my time at Associated Content, Yahoo fun!

The Pageview Gang!

We weren't the page view gang but when I first joined Associated Content I wound up in a group of fellow writers. We all agreed to look at 10 articles from each other. Some folks gave this some flack and with good reason. No it wasn't a great way to increase page views. It took up time. However, it was fun! It made my early days writing for associated content fun. I was encouraged to write more! I made cyber friends with other writers. It really made it easier for me and I thank that group. Ironically we even had our own Yahoo! Group. I looked for the group on Yahoo but it has vanished. If you were in the group stop bye.

John Gugie

John Gugie was in that group and became one of my first friends in this group. Sadly he became one of the first people who passed away that I knew. I wrote a tribute blog to him. I know others have passed away who wrote for Yahoo and Associated Content too.

Yahoo! Contributor Network - The Next Generation

This facebook group did motivate me to write more. They brought the fun factor back in for me. Like I said there were things from time to time I didn't like..the love/hate thing. So, I thank the founders Tavia Fuller Armstrong, Art Eddy and Rebecca Black. I linked to their Yahoo pages so you can visit their writings!

The Great Page View Race! 

Anyone remember the page view race with Han Van Meegerin? He did brighten the place up a bit!

 Thanks for dropping in! Please support all these writers and I will be back soon with another blog!

Farewell to Yahoo Contributor Network! Spotlight on The Helpers

Continuing what I started yesterday. Here is what going on Yahoo! Contributor Network..AKA Yahoo! Voices which used to be Associated Content and a site I have published my writing at for seven years will be calling it quits at the end of the month. So you can stop in and read my articles while they last here. Getting my shameless self promotion out of the way!  I will reflect my thoughts on this writing place going under in a later post. After read reading my last post a bit of my thoughts will be revealed in each of these posts first.

Marie Ann St. Jean

Marie Ann St. Jean new how to succeed at YCN. I call over 5 million page views with only 390 articles a success. What made her special in my mind was she was always willing to help. If you had a question in the forum threads she had an answer. Her answers might have rubbed some folks the wrong way. However her answers were truthful. In a place like YCN, where change happened it was nice to have someone to help.

You can check out her articles and learn more about this writer here. She is an expert on crafts, pets, and gardening to name a few.

Lyn Lomasi

I am sure many folks who wrote at Associated Content/YCN  had their favorite staff person. Mine is Lyn Lomasi. How many staff people anywhere would answer a facebook message in just a couple of minutes to answer a question about an issue? In my world not many but then there is Lyn! She always gave answers in the forum. A great communicator. She followed in the footsteps of some helpful people. However, in my opinion she was always able to bring it up a level.

Lyn was also a successful writer on the site (over 4.4 million page views). Perhaps being a writer on the site before she was staff gave her some empathy towards the site writers. She doesn't earn page view money since she is staff but you may enjoy checking out her articles. She has a lot of passions, talents outside of Yahoo as well. She is a great person! Unlike me who is losing a place for my hobby writing or at best some spare change Lyn Lomasi is losing her job.I hope things work for the best for her and I am glad I got to meet her.

Stayed tune, I plan to spotlight a few more!

Farewell to Yahoo Contributor Network: Spotlight on Don Rothra

Yahoo! Contributor Network..AKA Yahoo! Voices which used to be Associated Content and a site I have published my writing at for seven years will be calling it quits at the end of the month. So you can stop in and read my articles while they last here. Getting my shameless self promotion out of the way!  I will reflect my thoughts on this writing place going under in a later post.

Before the site goes down and before all the work is taken down I wanted to spotlight some other authors before it is too late. I should have done this earlier so it is already overdue. Though I have tried to spotlight others on this blog from time to time in a play it forward manner.

Today I am going to spotlight Don Rothra who wrote mainly poetry at Yahoo! Voices. He is especially skilled at creating limericks. You can check out his writing at YCN  here. I picked Don Rothra to spotlight because he kept the Poetry Lover's thread going on the site. The Poetry Lover's thread was favorite forum on the site. A place I went to share my poetry when I published a poem on the site. Don I think probably published more poems in a month than I published collectively in seven years on the site. The thread was a place I could go when I wasn't happy with things at the site and feel better. It was my sanctuary to get away from the bitching or stop me from complaining. So, I thank Don for keeping the thread going and also for sharing his poems!

Don Rothra is continuing to write poems at his blog at sixstring.blog.com. Don also plays guitar which makes him alright in my blog!

Stay tuned I am planning to spotlight a lot more writers this month as I say farewell to Yahoo Contributor Network

Heartsoulblood The Latest from Royal Southern Brotherhood

The Royal Southern Brotherhood are back with  their second studio release Heartsoulblood.

I raved about the album in my review here. I am adding extras here in my blog like the album teaser.
Below they perform "Rock and Roll" from the album live. (No it is not the Led Zeppelin song.)

Of course with a band made up of Devon Allman, Mike Zito, Cyril Neville, Yonrico Scott and Charlie Wooten your expectations would be high. I think they delivered well!

The above song was from their first album. Read my review, listen, enjoy and let me know what you think!

World Ocean Day: Poetry to Celebrate

Today was World Ocean Day. As a fisherman, beach lover, traveler, it is no secret how much I love the ocean.

Here is a poem I wrote a couple of years ago about the ocean, I hope you enjoy.

Here is the Atlantic Ocean...

Here is a tanka about the sea I wrote about a year ago about the sea and a sailor. There are characters of real and characters of folklore in the sea. This one is about The Siren.

This poem tells of the oceans rejuvenating power. Here is another tanka about how mankind falls short in caring for the ocean.

Remember the oceans and come back soon!

The Kentucky Derby

Who do you think is going to win the Kentucky Derby? My bet is some florist and Early Times will make out just fine. You will find out why I think that and learn a few things about the great horse race if you read my article Five Surprising Kentucky Derby Facts.

Didn't take me long to jump back into the shameless self promotion mode after the April A to Z Challenge ended. Don'y worry I don't write enough to do that to often!

Here is footage from Secretariat's 1973 Kentucky Derby win.

I always lie to add something new or different when I promote something I wrote. 40 years later from the above video we have this..

Just trying to get you ready for the big race, now let me find that Mint Julep recipe..

A to Z Challenge: National Poetry Month

Poetry is where my writing really began. I have gone back to it writing more. Perhaps full circle but it is different now. Plus I still explore other writing avenues. Anyway this month is National Poetry Month and I haven't embraced it.

The last poem I read...

I haven't shared someone elses work in a while. The last poem I read was by Bill Williams III on Yahoo! Voices  it is called "Friday at the Office." I enjoyed it and thought Bill caught the balancing act between work and family perfectly. I know I struggle with that balancing act!

Poems for Easter:

Senryu:

Easter treasures and lost meanings My mind finds the same theme on this one as the about Easter one.

The empty tomb  I really liked this one.

Celebrating the return

Senryu about Easter

Senryu about Passover

I tend to write more Senryu and haikus. Short, flowing like this post. I will be back on Saturday with a new post for the challenge. In the meantime I might write a poem or two to celebrate the Poetry month.

Spring Poetry

Thought I would search through some of my published poetry that I have done on the subject of Spring.

This one is a full open verse poem on Spring I hope you enjoy. Also on Yahoo Contributor Network here is a haiku called Sunshine's Warm Kiss. I even did a haiku about March Madness.

On Helium I published a poem called A Soft Spring Rain. I wrote this one about a year ago.Sometimes I experiment with styles here is a Tanka called Spring Wildflowers. Yet another free verse poem called Spring has Sprung. Here is a rather recent haiku I published called Groundhog's Early Spring. Haiku writing sames to be a place I find myself recently. I like how quick they can be created, how they often just role out onto the screen. 

I know I share a lot of my other articles, but I don't share my poetry as often. It is important to me since it is where I started as a writer.