new problems & old friends - or the other way around: trippin' around the blog block...

I've been bopping around Blogland just a bit. It's a village, a community, where my login is a free pass. Unfortunately, my first stop was my own, where I slammed against a wall: I AGAIN had trouble posting a picture -- tried a few from different sources. It's happened before: won't post or wouldn't stick. Either way, a squashed orange outline box was the sole evidence of the attempt. I did a search on an html tag imbedded in what was supposed to be a picture: 'deselect blogger image gracefully'. Huh? Is that a clue from a virus that 'gracefully' (ha!) attacks pics? Curiously, a search in blogger help didn't turn up any such phrase. At last, this morning, a pic of an orange dress stayed put. But I'm still puzzled.

I've been craving an elegantly beautiful template for my other blog and found a lovely garden-themed one on a Blogspot link. Even successfully installed it. However, it also hit a wall as I discovered that the flowering vines on the template obscured (obliterated?) any and all of the necessary maintenance and navigation buttons a blog should have...including the 'dashboard' one I needed in order to get rid of said new malfunctioning template. Interesting complication there. Luckily, I had a second tab open to the same blog...earlier version...which I then went into to re-select the original old boring template I still want to climb out of.

From there, journeying took a refreshing turn outward. When I had googled the mysterious 'deselecting' pharase, I found a link to a lovely blog which is now on my friend's list. And, yes, she had a squashed outline box at the top of the first post, right where a pic was supposed to expand it and have its being. I see she has since repaired it. A conversation on religion caught my eye here, as well as her photos.

And, speaking of religion: Lately, I've been a nearly invisible observer on some Seabury Divinity School students' bloggings. (A marvelous post by Anglicamp on the Virginia Tech tragedy was irresistible and so I left a comment). I find them a refreshing, sweet, transparent and deep group. Within this close-knit blog community, I happened upon a certain familiar name. And, when Fr. C reminded me we have an old friend going to school there, I read him more deeply and realized it is our 'C': a former piano student (I in my late 20's then, he in his late teen's) . I was a bridesmaid and reader at his wedding in Oregon (I'm honored to be doing that again for a former student -- which says mounds about her imagination and generosity as I'm 30+ years older than said bride). For now, I enjoy being incognito...but, then, with blogging...you never can be sure of that.

Delightfully, an email from Jane Ellen then arrived in my inbox. I first e-met her perhaps 4 or 5 years ago while surfing for a 'Nativitas' CD (Kansas City Chorale -- fabulous group). She had extolled the beauty of it on her janeellen.com website, but bemoaned apparent unavailability. I shared with her a successful result in my search, and she mentioned me with gratitude in her writings from the heart as doing such. She's a magnificent human being -- and a composer. Her college project 'Dancing in Deep Heaven' is based on the writing of C.S. Lewis; I wish we would include it on our concert series at St. John's. She now has a blog, which is every bit as charming as I've found her website and email updates to be. A surprise here: a bit of an out-of-character stretch as she's also part of a cricket-blogging group! Versatile, I'd say. She lives a rare and beautiful life. Any and all of her links are worth checking out. (Currently, of particular note: neil gaiman who leaves me 3 degrees separated from a professor's death.)

Currently on her blog (whose layout I covet: Is WordPress a classier product?), I was drawn to a post entitled 'old friends', where she writes about a visit from a former piano student of hers and his wife and 2 children. A sweet tribute to the expanse of time and how relationships are enriched as we traverse it together or apart. I felt the comforting proximity of not-so-many degrees of separation between piano teachers and students.

From Jane's site, I link-hopped and got a bit far from home (it's always good to drop some breadcrumbs along the way - I often cannot find quite the same way back...). I picked up some new friends and and comfortingly found a familiar link that brought me full circle: Iced Mocha, a familiar name from Miz Minka's list.

It's good to be home.