New Avatars at Forums

I've added 64 new avatars to the forums. If you are a member of the forum, you can view the new avatars by modifying your profile and using the drop-down menu for the avatar. If you are not a member, I encourage you to join today! (We have more avatars!) I am in the progress of collecting images and brainstorming some new templates, so be on the look out for new themes at the forum coming soon!

Whether or not you are a member of the forums, please be sure to stop by and add your input to the site poll and forum poll. The more votes we get the more progress I make! If you have any changes or additions you want to see, please share your opinion today!

And on a totally unrelated side note, I won Nanowrimo this year! Woohoo! That means more time for the site and forums for the month of December. ;)

Blessings,
Evy

Vote on Evy's Article, Bring Traffic to the Site!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday! This morning I received some awesome news. My HubPage article "Choosing a Religion in a World of Options" is one of six selected for this week's hubnuggets contest! By winning the contest, I will be recognized above other new freelance writers. More importantly, I will also receive considerably more traffic to my articles. More traffic to my articles means there will be more traffic to the site as well as the forums! I am really excited about this opportunity and am asking all of my friends, family, and supporters to take the time to cast their vote. You can vote in this week's contest at the Religion and Philosophy Topic page. Please vote today! Thank you for all of your support!

Blessings,
Evylyn Rose

New Polls at the Forums & A Message of Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! As I contemplate making changes to the site and forums, I find myself spending more time trying to determine what I should start on first than actually getting anything accomplished. As such, I set up a poll for site updates and another poll for forum updates. Be sure to check out the polls and add your two cents!

I am very grateful for all the site visitors and members of the forums over the years. You are the reason I keep Messages in the Moonlight running! I have always valued input (positive and negative) from everyone who has taken the time to share their thoughts with me. Messages in the Moonlight has continued to grow and mature thanks to all of you! I love you all. I hope to be a better webmaster/administrator/editor for you. May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with all the love, joy, and gratitude you deserve.

Love and Blessings,
Evy

New Random Rambling

I've added a new Random Rambling to the site. This short rant is on Wiccan perspectives on sex. Searches for information about Wicca and sex come up frequently. Although this rambling is very brief, I am hoping it answers the questions of those performing the searches. A very recent personal experience made me realize just how neglected this little tidbit of information is in Wicca 101. Any (especially an adult) who has studied Wicca for even just a few short months or years should be aware that sex is considered a sacred act in Wicca. Be sure to check out the new rambling and be sure to share your thoughts!

Blessings,
Evy

New HubPage Account

In the last post I mentioned that I started a HubPages account. Although I generally reserve this blog for the sole purpose of notifying you of updates to the site, forums, newsletter, and chat, I wanted to do a one-time posting here about the HubPages account as a sort of "shout-out" for myself.

For quite awhile I have been wanting to expand from being a voice in the Pagan community to entering into the field of interfaith relations. Personally, I believe that part of the problems we face involve celebrating differences to the exclusion of what connects us. Rather than building tolerance, it breeds segregation and prejudice. Instead, we should honor our difference while celebrating what we have in common. Unfortunately, there are just so many specifics in the world that no single person can take on every avenue and expect any level of success. So my focus is on matters of faith and religion.

To get myself started on this personal mission of mine, I need a platform. Messages in the Moonlight is my baby and I will not abandon it. However, I want to maintain it as it is (a place of learning and community for Wiccans and Pagans) rather than expand it to fit the new venture. The previous blog post explains how HubPages came into the picture and why I chose it over a few others I looked into. As time goes on the number and quality of my articles will continue to grow and mature. Please be sure to check out my articles for new thoughts and insights with the mission of promoting peace and love on the community level.

Blessings,
Evy

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Ads on the Site. Wait, what?

Okay, okay. I know that when Geocities shut down and I had to move everything over to a new server that I said I was going paid so I wouldn't have all those annoying ads. Well... I'm unemployed and I have to find any means of income, no matter how small, to ensure the cats and dogs stay fed and we have a roof over our heads in the event funds all run out. (The Four-Footed Ones will appreciate me greatly if I at least appear to be keeping the status quo for them.)

So in getting ahead on this just to be safe, I started looking for writing opportunities. I've been wanting to start getting my voice out there and had previously considered one of the oh-so-wonderful content-farm sites. So when I saw a listing for Hubpages and the possibility of gaining a little extra on the side from doing something I was already anticipating doing for free, I figured why not. Well, the way that Hubpages works is that the authors gained income, not on a per article-basis, but based upon the ads placed on and around the hubs. Websurfers come in and read your article, they click on a Google ad or other advertisement and the earnings from there translate into a paycheck for the author.

Well I got started on my Hubpage account today and even wrote my first hub about bigotry and religion. With this accomplished, I was ready to set up all those (minimal) money making accounts. What I found was that almost all of it required an AdSense account. Of course, I never bothered to get one for Messages in the Moonlight because, well, I had no intention of using ads. So I sign up for it with the Hubpage domain. Denied. Not enough content. Boo. So then I realized I could do the ads with Messages in the Moonlight. So I did. Partial Approval. Close-Enough-Yay!

So to be a good girl (and not just a content-farm-author-whore), I am putting ads up on the site. I am keeping them as little annoying as possible and only putting them up on certain pages. Over the coming months I'll probably play around with where they appear on the site, so bear with me! The income that is earned through ads clicked on the site will go towards the budget for Messages in the Moonlight to ensure I can keep my "internet baby," as I call her, alive. Once all is set up and going well (and contains more than just one lonely article) on my Hubpage, any income earned from links clicked on my article pages will go toward food and shelter for my fur-babies and me.

Blessings,
Evy