Land, ho!

Once I used this sailboat picture as an eensy-teensy icon to invite you to sail away to Essencia Island, and many of us left Book Buddies. Oprah seems now to have (almost) pushed Essencia Island off the map, and the folks trying to journey Around the World are floundering. I invite all of you book buddies to come here and recognize (for the first time) what Essencia Island is really like.

See the photo in the header? That little airplane is welcoming Book Buddies to the island. See the photo at the top of the sidebar? That's the path to and from the beach ... though YOU must decide whether the ocean is behind you or just over the top of the sand dune. And for you newbies? Boy, do we have a story to tell you about our earlier journeys as we get to know each other all over again!

As always, when we party on the island, something magical happens. Venues appear, just as we imagine them. The virtual food we share has no calories, so you may eat all you like. Maybe AuntyMame will once again arrive on a magic carpet, if she successfully dodges that red plane flying overhead. I remember the time she hit the side of the building with a loud thump as she came flying in!

In this new format (away from Oprah's limitations and rules) we may post links to show other places and invite each other to explore cyberspace. And all of you who have posting privileges (see list of contributors on the sidebar to the right) may also post photos and icons and anything you can figure out how to do. If anybuddy wants help, just ask me here (or email me) and I'll teach you what I have learned.

The settings have been programmed to tell me whenever there's a comment anywhere on this blog; sorry there's no way to have it notify everyone. I would have to send out emails to you myself. So if there's anything that you are NOT likely to notice (maybe because a year from now someone comments on these early posts), I will tell you about it in a NEW post ... AND ... oh, this is the good part ... I will be able to include a link to the comment, if it would be helpful.

I have been trying to notify former book buddies one by one, but that is proving to be slow and tedious. Tonight or tomorrow I will send out an invitation to all my book-loving friends, saying, "Come be a Book Buddy!" You will all be hidden in the BCC column so nobuddy else knows your name unless you share it here. You may use your real name ... or a screen name. The choice is entirely up to you. I believe all of you know I keep confidences and won't share what you choose to keep secret.

Okay, buddies, if you are able to post already, why don't you start the conversation. Tell us what you've been up to lately. Somebuddy set up tables and chairs so we can sit a spell and find out about each other. Some of you who have been invited may know only ME, but that's okay. I have invited people who are worth getting to know. Aha! I think I see the first arrivals. Welcome, welcome, welcome! Good, I'm not the only one bringing food and drinks. What do you have there?


Tell me, do you remember those camels? Unfortunately, Oprah cleaned house and threw out all our memories. Let's gather some of them again, here, and make wonderful NEW memories together.