Two Months on Steemit Report, Thanks, and Post-Index

Two months ago today I got access to Steemit, after a couple of days of waiting for confirmation of my registration. Two months later, where are we?
Well, let's start in the beginning. My long-time real-life friend @poet told me he wrote a blog-post about his game, and I wanted to take a look, and he said it's on his "blog," I asked whether it is on his site, which I'm familiar with, but he linked me to Steemit. After a couple of days I decided to make an account.

I'll be honest. I came to Steemit for the money. In terms of interaction or readership numbers, one can do much better elsewhere. But after being quite sick for 1.5 years and getting better only last October (and getting better since), I've run out of money, after I had to pay the latest tuition payment of my grad school. So I hopped onto Steemit, and hoped it'd allow me to not have literally no money once the payment went through.

And, it worked out. Much due to the help of @techslut, who has been my Steemit Patron since day 1, I actually am able to make some money here. No, not enough to quit my dayjob, and also not enough to actually give me an "honest wage" for the time I put into the posts I share here, or the quality of my writing, but it's enough for me to publish here the stuff I'll write anyway. And free money (it's not free, but that's a topic for this week's big post ;-) ), what's not to like?
But without said support, I likely wouldn't have actually stuck around. Again, I believe in being honest. So thank you Ilana for the support.

And then @techslut invited me to a Discord channel, the @isleofwrite's one. I am going to be honest again - I've been on Discord for over 1.5 years. Most Discord servers, whether Steemit-related or not, are terrible. Most of the writing on Steemit is, again, terrible. So I didn't have many hopes and expectations for the server when I joined it.

And yet, I love the Isle of Write. I want to make it clear - the Isle isn't more than the sum of its citizens, but is exactly the sum of its people. It is incredible because of all the people who engage there with honesty and kindness and patience.
Also, the Isle is not something I've never experienced before, but in about 20 years online, I've only come across a community like the Isle once before. So while it is not unique, it is extremely rare, and to be cherished. I spend a lot of time on the Isle, spreading the love I receive there. Because we could all use another home away from home. Another family of our choosing.
Heck, even if Steemit were to implode tomorrow, I'd still be on the Isle. You go there for the writing, for the critique, for the link-sharing, and you stay for the people, after you realize everything else comes far second.

Now, I'm not mentioning many users here, not because there aren't many users for me to thank, but because I have too many. Especially when it comes to the Isle, it is comprised of everyone there. And some people there I like quite a bit, and others do a lot to keep the place running. But one user I want to give thanks to in particular is @jrhughes. If I may not so humbly refer to myself as the long arm of the Isle, as the self-appointed lifeguard that steers people in the right direction and makes sure we all keep having fun (in an orderly fashion!), then sister-Jess is the beating heart of the Isle, and the one who created the environment I found welcoming enough to stay, and try to make it better via my meagre contributions.

There's one more thing, one more person, I have to mention here. Niish ( @mamadini). I met Niish in the comment section of this poem by @moeknows, about Haejin, which I helped him edit.
Somehow, I felt kinship to Niish, and we quickly hit it off. After not writing poetry since 2009, the flood-gates have opened, and Niish is the muse. The poetry is hers, and I am merely the one reflecting it into the world. The poem is shared with the world because she wills it, so if you like my poems, you should thank her. There are a couple of pieces we've decided to keep private for now.
But yes, I am very thankful I got to meet Niish. The changes wrought in me in the short time since have been substantial, and all for the better.
I love Niish, and while I am not "thankful to Steemit" for introducing us, I feel as if fortune had to give fate a hand in making this happen.

Thank you to everyone that had welcomed me here, made my style more pleasant, and supported me, by word or deed.

Now, some boring numbers, because people like them:
I wrote 47 posts (this will be the 48th).
I wrote 750 comments, and I pride myself on most of them being quite substantive.
I have 316 followers.
I have 98.053 Steem Power (and 200 delegated from Techslut), and have never powered up (because as mentioned, I actually need this money).
I moderate the aforementioned Isleofwrite and am a "Helper" on @ginabot's server (Minnow-power).

Index

Here is an index of all the posts I've made on the blockchain thus far.
Organized in the following order: Poetry/Prose, Fiction, Guy's Life, Analytics/Editorials, and Blockchain.
I know there are posts I'm way behind on replying to comments on, especially by a couple of users. I plan to get on top of it this week. As part of overcoming my long-term illness I slept 12-16 hours most days over the past two weeks.

Poetry/Prose:

Title	Description
Old Pieces	Ordered by original writing date.
Old and Bitter	A poem about old age and being left behind. References The Giant's Garden, 2002
Origami	Poetic prose, exploring the nature of change through the metaphor of origami. 2003
Ambition	This very short poem/poetic prose piece is full of references and imagery of betrayal and growth. 2003.
1:4	Somewhere between poetry and poetic prose, a thoughtful piece on Chinese philosophy. 2007.
Gabriel	The last piece of poetry I wrote in 2009, which described where I was at, at the time.
The New Pieces	Thank Niish.
She Is Coming with the Clouds	After Niish introduced me to her spoken word poems on Soundcloud, I wrote her a poem in the alliterative dark style she favours.
Return to The Garden	A declaration of love, and of shedding one's shell after too long. My longest poem by the time it was written, at over 250 words.
The Ring	Saw what I wrote about Return to The Garden and its 250 words? This love poem is over 700 words long, and also holds the distinction of being the first poem to be Curied. A surprisingly flowing read.
Burning the Veils	This poem is about seeing your loved one, as they are.
Poem of Protection - Words of Warding	Channeling the feelings I would feel if my love were to die, I write a poem as means of trying to make it not happen.
The Mute Poet	A concrete poem on the futility of being a poet.
And Also The Moon	This love poem employs the same structure as my favourite poem. A bit more sensual than most of my poems.
Acceptance	A poem about letting go of the hurts we pick up in life.
Three Days' Longing	A poem about missing one's loved one.
After the Flood	A continuation to Gabriel, this piece shows how my position in life has changed since.
Revolution	This poem is about the hardships of changing, and wanting to be seen, but only by some.
Poetry (A Poem)	A poem about what poets do, or what is done to them, in the name of art.
The Null Testament	This poem describes how you feel when your loved one is not there.
Scar Tissue	A poem about how our past, and past pains, do not let go of us so easily. This one was hard to write.

Fiction:

Title	Description
A Tired Old Cliche (Man with No Name Fiction)	Micro-fiction giving homage to westerns, especially the ones where Clint Eastwood portrayed The Man with No Name.
Silence (Man with No Name Fiction)	My second micro-fiction in the same vein as the one above.

Guy's Life:

Title	Description
Hello Everyone!	Self-introduction post. Some cat photos.
Meet Kippy, The Late Wild Hedgehog Who Lived in my Hedge	Photo and story of Kippy, a hedgehog who lived in my hedge for a few years.
5 Facts About Me - Expose Yourself	I shared 5 facts you probably did not know about me.
Three "That's So Guy!" Stories	Because I felt 5 facts were insufficient, I also shared stories showcasing my personality at different points in my life.
God Opened a Gmail Account by Pedro Grass - Translated Spoken Word Song	I translated and transliterated my favourite spoken word piece from Hebrew to English.

Analytics/Editorials:

Title	Description
Anime-related:
So You Want to Watch Anime? Here are Ten Shows to Help You Get Started	A list of ten anime series to help interested parties get started.
Shirobako – On Cynical Optimism	An editorial on Shirobako, and on becoming an adult, and on optimism in the adult life.
Nisekoi and The Nature of Harem Romantic Comedies	An editorial on harem RomComs in anime, and outside of it, and their structural beats.
Netoju no Susume - On Compersion and Virtual Identities	An editorial on the nature of love and virtual identities, also using the anime Netoju no Susume as a baseline.
When Stories Leave Us Behind – Empathy and The Narratives of Adaptations (In OreGairu)	This narrative is about media adaptations in general, OreGairu's in particular, and how they relate to empathy - to the work, and to other people who like it.
Mahouka Koukou / Irregular at Magic High School: An Ode to Meritocracy!	A post about meritocracy, versus what young adult fiction, especially in the anime-related sphere, tries to pander as meritocracy, and what the problems with the latter are. Also why Mahouka is a deeply problematic series, promoting actively harmful messages.
Geekulture:
Three Perfect Science-Fiction Books	Three sci-fi books I consider "perfect" and would recommend to everyone.
Guide: How to Not Be an Annoying Source Material Fan	How and why you should let people consuming media you love consume it without your "help".
Letting Go of Worldly Desires en Route to The Nuclear Throne	The Nuclear Throne is a hard game you cannot win. And you can use it to learn quite a bit about yourself.
“Git Gud” – You Don’t Want An Objective Review, You Want Your Opinion Parroted	I look at how fandoms react to reviews, and why most people who say they want "objective reviews" are lying.
Politics, Psychology, Misc:
Thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Peace Process	Thoughts from an Israeli on the Israeli-Palestinian peace-process, and why it's not progressing.
What Makes Social Networks the Worst Place to be While Depressed?	An editorial on open-loops, social networks, and depression.
Shitposting - The Defense Mechanism of Lonely Geeks (And Corporation Co-opting)	Wherein I analyze shitposting as a social phenomenon, and how corporations are play-acting shitposting as well.
Looking Xenophobia and Nationalism in the Face	A write-up on the way the world is going, and why acting as if the radicals who lost the elections don't matter is harmful for progress.
Reddit: An Attention-Based Economy	Where I analyze the way reddit works, and how attention is its real currency, and reward.

Blockchain:

Title	Description
The Steemit Farm	A meme on Steemit and The Animal Farm.
Explaining the Vote-Bot Abuse and @Grumpycat Ultimatum Situation	@grumpycat has dictated that upvote bots should not upvote posts older than 3.5 days. I explain why.
Steem Prices Rising And You - Not So Awesome (SBD, Steem, and Steemians' Wallets)	A look, mostly wrong, on why you may suffer from Steem prices rising. See the comments. I blame Steemit's obfuscated currency-models.
Steem-Backed Dollars - Could a Rise in Supply Lead to a Rising Price?	Conventional wisdom says an increase in supply leads to prices going down. I explore why it might not be the case for SBD.
Suggestion: Change the $ Sign Used to Display Rewards	I didn't submit this would-be utopian-io post correctly, sadly. But, the "$" figure you see in post rewards is neither USD or SBD, so I recommended it be changed.
Why You Should Pick the 50/50 Reward Split	I use math to explain why so long SBD is worth over $1 USD, you should take the 50-50 split. Also translated to Hebrew.

art and flair courtesy of @PegasusPhysics

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© Guy Shalev 2018.