Farewell WAKEUP...Welcome Mandala Reflections!

As I wrote in my last post, I am turning over a new leaf and starting a new blog! I have not yet decided how I will handle the remains of WAKEUP...but I am okay with leaving it be on its own in cyberspace for awhile. Seems as though this site recently has been getting world attention due to the word "horus," which I used in a random post long ago. If any faraway visitors are reading this note and care to comment why they are looking up "horus" so often recently, I am very curious to know what I'm missing! I also owe you an apology, because I know that this website likely lacked the information you were looking for.

So, without further ado, here is the drafty draft of my newer and hopefully improved website, Mandala Reflections.

A few thoughts on the site so far:

1) The name is not as catchy as this one (in my opinion), but the framework the Mandala provides for discussion and blogging about the topics I'm passionate about was too perfect to pass up. I could eventually change the name, but for now I think it's a great placeholder. To learn more about why I had to include the mandala, check out the About tab. It's brief, but hopefully as I have more time to develop this blog, I can expand this section a bit more to help clarify.

2) Unfortunately, I did not have time to design it like I wanted to and have not been able to put it together perfectly. In other words, it's a work in progress--aren't we all. Hopefully this piece will develop more in the next few months.

3) I love that the birth of this blog was on October 31, Halloween. My first post will explain further why this "new beginning" and the "death" of WAKEUP are fitting to this ancient season's holiday.

Thank you always for stopping by, and I hope to see you at Mandala Reflections. I have not figured out how the following system works on Wordpress yet, but if you know, I hope you follow me :)

Much love!

Social Networking Comes to Life: Meetup

Today I was clicking around online, looking for a writers' group in St. Paul and wound up on this website called Meetup. Based out of New York, this company improves social networking by providing a site that aims to connect people in real life.

I guess Meetup started in 2001 and this year some serious changes occurred to their formatting. Many veteran users are frustrated, but from my newbie, rose-colored lenses perspective, I am excited about this find, because I think it offers another opportunity for me to connect with cool happenings in my community.

All you need to do to find a meetup group is enter your location and the kind of meeting you want to find, whether it be for a book club or a Russian Martial Arts group (yes--this is a real group that exists in NC with 58 members and counting). The possibilities are endless, and if you can't find a meetup group, then you can create one.

On their homepage, you can see the recent RSVPs to meetup, and it's impressive. Every second there are people across the world meeting up. This website's purpose is to help local groups organize, and it seems to be effective. I look forward to trying it. In this day and age when people feel so disconnected, I find Meetup to be a creative way to integrate our reliance on computer applications with our desire to build relationships with people.

If you are interested in being part of the Meetup team, and already live in NY or would like to, looks like they are currently hiring for a variety of positions.

For more information about Meetup, take a look at their blog or follow them on Twitter: @Meetup.