Mad Macedonian

I survived Blog Paws!

I had a fun and educational time at Blog Paws, last week I meet many new people, and finally met many people I’ve only known online.

There was a lot to see and do, and I also spent a wonderful couple of hours with my friend Amanda Socci, the Creative Idea Gal, and her adorable little daughter.

I’ve spent the past few days organizing all that I brought home, and will spend some time connecting with those I traded cards with.

I have also written my first impressions in the aftermath of the conference.

An Exciting, Busy, Weekend Ahead

A lot has been going on around here lately, most of it over at The Opinionated Pussycat

My health is doing fine, follow-up eye checks have made the docs happy and while there are 2 laser treatments to come, I am now in the care of a doc at MD Anderson Melanoma & Skin Center for tests and observation for the next 5 years.

Creatively a lot is going on with my cat blogging.

As Nikita, I am in the midst of participating in “A Short Story a Day in May” with 31 straight 100 word cat stories.

A 100 Word Cat Story 9: Aubrey

I am also about to attend the Blog Paws Pet Blogging and Social Media Conference, in Tysons Corner, Va.

I will be taking my camera and my laptop and will see about blogging and tweeting from the event: My Preview

 

The Blogs of Kiril Kundurazieff:

1. Mad Macedonian

2. The Opinionated Pussycat

3. SMFCB: A 365 Day Project

Visiting Old Town Spring, Having Lunch With a Friend

April 15, 2013: A day that will live in infamy, for Boston, and America, began on a wonderful, exciting, note and while my friend and I were later as riveted and horrified by the images we saw when we got home, that evening, as the rest of America, I want to share images that, I hope, will bring a smile to your face.

I started out from my home, early that morning, taking a bus downtown, then another to a transit center near a freeway and the road that runs next to it.

It was down that lonely road that I road my bike 5 miles to old town Spring, to treat a fellow cat blogger, and longtime friend, to lunch.

 

I wanted to do something besides sit around the house 3 days before the first of my eye cancer surgeries and so called her up the week before to invite her out for our historic meeting.

Marilynn Smith and I have known each other for several years but, until I moved here to Houston, had never met in person.

We rectified that when I treated her to lunch in her hometown

Writeacher’s thoughts

http://writeacher.blogspot.com/

Momma Grace & Company cat blog

http://graceandkittens.blogspot.com/

Got Wings? Channeling Victor Hugo

There is a statue of a girl in front of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, here in Houston. Her hand is out-stretched and there is a hummingbird resting on her finger  (Photo taken the day before the first of my two eye cancer surgeries, 4/17/13)

The poem which is inscribed on it is by Victor Hugo:

Be like the bird, who
Halting in his flight
On limb too slight
Feels it give way beneath him
Yet sings
Knowing he has wings."

 

Surgeries Over, I Return to Action!

The surgeries are complete and I’ve been home since the evening of the 24th

I wish to thank all those who have stopped by all 3 of my blogs to read and comment on scheduled posts, posted on my FB, and emailed while I was gone.

I toast you, and thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Your support and encouragement means everything to me.

In the short-term my vision is improving, I am taking 2 types of eye drops, several times a day, and have a pair of follow-up appointments before I head off to the Blog Paws Pet Blogging and Social Media Convention in Tysons Corner, Va., in May (16th-18th).

Going forward there are also questions related to income, housing and career hopes and plans that I will be exploring and answering but, for now, I am going to those appointments and to Blog Paws.

I am, as the above photo gives a hint, also not staying holed up in the apartment and am returning to blogging; I have a cycling story to share, from before my first surgery, plus a visit to historic old town Spring that occurred the day of the tragic Boston Marathon massacre.

I will be reading 3 short books, on social media for writers, that I’ve had on my shelves for a while, next month, as part of my Blog Paws adventure prep.

Mad Macedonian a Sight With Sore Eye

On the morning of April 18th I headed off to my Brachy Eye Cancer plaque insertion surgery, at MD Anderson, with a postive attitude my creative muses (in "Flat Cat" form) and these words, from Your Best Life Begins Each Morning Daily Devotionals by Joel Osteen, in tow:

April 17th: Dare to be happy with who you are this morning and who God made you to be.

April 18th: God has given us all different gifts, talents, and personalities on purpose.  Be an original. Dare to be different; be secure in who God made you to be and then go out and be the best that you can be. If you run that race and be the best that you can be, then you can feel good about yourself.

Medical Update: Bring it on, Baby! Surgery in 2 Weeks!

As regular readers of my medical adventures know, I've got a small to medium cancerous tumor (malignant melanoma) in my right eye and had to wait until I'd lived in Texas 6 months before I could qualify for the financial assistance needed to get treated by MD Anderson Cancer Center for this condition.

Events have moved quickly since March 20th; all sorts of blood tests, MRI’s, ultrasounds and cat scans. Then, yesterday, I came in for a re-measurement, so they can order the plaque and a chat with the Doc who will do the job.

I learned that I have been scheduled for surgery, well actually, a pair 5 days apart.

I go in April 18th, for the insertion surgery, the removal surgery is the 23rd and a post-op follow-up is the 24th.

My, How Things Have Changed in a Year!

Musings of a Mad Houstonian on April Fool's Day.

Kicking off the Wordsmith Studio 1 yr. Anniversay Celebration!

Last April Fool’s day Robert Lee Brewer, author, writer,
editor at Writer's Digest, poet laureate of the blogosphere, and blogger extraordinaire, set forth a challenge for budding, and experienced writers
alike. He believes that one of the most important tools for a writer trying to find success in today's media environment is a strong platform. He wanted to help create a supportive framework that helps writers challenge themselves.
 
The Wordsmith community of writers that sprang up after that month would make him proud, I think.
 
For all sorts of reasons, tied mostly to my personal life, I’ve sadly not been a very active member of the group, yet I have somehow managed to do so much since then.
 
I couldn’t have done it without the encouragement and support friends and,
especially, another person who went through the challenge, my “Drill Sergeant”
Amanda Socci, The Creative Idea Gal.
 
I still considered my pet blogging that of a “hobbyist”, a year ago, but since then my outlook has changed.

I am more than a guy who has a decade long history of cat blogging; I am a writer, a real honest to God writer. I have more than 4500 blog posts, from 4 kinds of blogs (2 still active); Poetry, stories, humor, opinion, travelogues, reviews, journalism, and more.
 
With little feedback to show for all that I have written, I have no real idea how many people have read my material and what they think of most of it, but I have not let that little detail keep me from producing, and reaching out to share what I have done.

Unemployed since Sept. 2010 and, after recovering from a broken ankle, I decided last summer that a move from California to Texas, to start fresh,
personally, job-wise, and creatively, was the thing to do, and have been in Houston since September.

Attending Blog Paws Social Media Conference for the 1st time!

Good morning, from deep in the heart of Texas and Harris County, home of the 4th largest city in America and, not just a highly respected artist, acting and music community, but one of writers and poets as well.

As readers familiar with this blog and its predecessor know, my name is Kiril Kundurazieff, and I am a 53 yr. old writer and blogger, with a love for cats. I have been blogging since 2002, and moved my cat blogging to its own blog on Jan. 1, 2010. It is a fascinating, fun-filled and educational place where I write personifying my two cats, Mr. Nikita and Elvira Mistress of Felinity, who rule the roost.

Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat

http://www.opinionatedpussycat.com

Turning New Pages in my Life as I Celebrate Birthday 53

"Lift up your head. Create a fresh new vision for your life. There are greater victories in your future than you have experienced in your past."

Joel Osteen - Every Day A Friday

Today I turn 53 years old, and I have a lot on my plate.

I have a new update on my medical situation, a direct follow-up to what I discussed after the appointments last week.

http://www.madmacedonian.com/2013/03/medical-update-when-life-throws-a-rock-in-your-direction.html