Ok, so that title makes a lot more sense when you hear the theme song from Welcome Back, Kotter in your head like I do (a little too frequently sometimes!)  But nonetheless it’s been ringing through as I get back into the swing of updating my own blog posts here on Ophelia’s Webb.

Don’t get me wrong…I don’t think I could have asked for a better anthology of posts on love than I got from the All You Need series.  And towards the end of February I really started to miss blogging.  But then March came and I stared at a blinking cursor, suddenly paralyzed by the idea of hitting publish.  Putting my OWN thoughts out to the world to read, writing tiny little pieces of internet manifesto for people to comment on, somehow keeping up the momentum and brilliance of my series and more importantly the other writers who contributed…all these things terrified me.

Photo Credit: Getty Images – Bavaria

But writing is kinda what I do, so I decided that it was time to push through and jump right back in.  Plus, I started getting really jealous reading all sorts of brilliant new posts in my Google Reader, Re-Tweets, and one of my favorite E-Books ever by Colin Wright.  And it was really getting taxing checking my TweetDeck every 3 minutes to avoid working.

Since there are many new readers round these parts, I figured I’d give everyone the low down on how stuff rolls out, how to connect with me OFF of Ophelia’s Webb, and other little goodies.

• New Posts come out here (on Ophelia’s Webb) on Tuesdays and Fridays.  Starting again in April every other week you can check out a newly profiled #BlogCrush to add new pretties to your Reader/Vibes/Etc.  Make sure you are subscribed to get all the new stuff.
• Most of my relationship adventures and love-dovey-mushy speak have moved off of Ophelia’s Webb to my relationship column on MaineToday.com, The Single Slice.  New articles hit there on Sundays and Thursdays.  You can check out the column here or just save yourself some time and effort and subscribe here.  Feel free to read and comment lots, it keeps me employed. 
• Any special content, like updates to the All You Need series, contests, etc will post on Mondays.
• To get a regular update of all the new posts, my brilliant status updates and photos of life in and around Greater Portland, Maine we should hook up on Facebook.
• Have stuff you’ve always wanted to ask me but maybe been a little too shy?  I signed up at Formspring so that you can do just that!
• I also still write for various websites, blogs, magazines, etc so make sure we are connected on Twitter so you can get those awesome bit.ly’s.

Most importantly, no matter where we connect, make sure to drop me a quick line to introduce yourself cause I love meeting new people!  Plus, that way I’ll know you aren’t a creeper.

Thanks for all the support throughout the All You Need series, there are still some great surprises that will be released in the upcoming weeks.  Hope my regular readers got as much out of all the amazing guest posts as I did, and I really appreciate you staying on.  Welcome to the new folks and enjoy the ride!

Every week I’ll be updating The Webb with a little ditty about my most recent blogcrush – a blog that I follow frequently and find inspiration, laughter and deep thoughts from. You know who they are, those bloggers that you’ve never even met but you feel a strange connection…you almost have a little crush on them? These are most definitely folks on my blog roll, and if you are reading and subscribing to The Webb they should be on yours, too.

I learned about this week’s #blogcrush when a post of hers was featured on the front page of Brazen Careerist last April.  The post, All My Friends Are Getting Married,  And I’m Just Getting Drunk, seriously made me LOL at my computer.  And not enough moves me to actually do thing in computer speak outside the screen, let alone type it.  But Jen Kucsak’s blog “The Dating Jungle” has always provided me at least a chuckle if not a full on laugh-out-loud giggle that makes people look at me like I’m a crazy person.

Jen is sorta like a Carrie Bradshaw-esque writer, bringing the shenanigans of her own life alive for the world to enjoy.  I gotta say, that’s one of the most endearing and entirely amusing things about her blog.  Reading through some of the stories, you feel like you are watching your favorite girl-powered comedy unfolding.  Laid off from her job as an associate producer at a pretty prestigious daytime talk show, Jen picked up and hauled on out to LALa-land (as my friend the musician who lives out there calls it) to pursue a career as a writer/executive producer/world-famous-star of what I’m sure will be a hilarious movie or sitcom based in part on her life*.  In the meantime, if I’m reading things correctly, she might be the Broom in the upcoming The Sorcerer’s Apprentice?!

I love the stride Jen seems to take her life in.  She has some of the strangest stuff happen to her (seriously, she has an entire tagged category called “Weird Shit That Only Happens To Me“) but her good nature and sense of humor overcome even the least funny of situations.  For a site originally intended to tell stories of her dating adventures, it has grown into so much more.  Anything that involves her well meaning Jewish New York City mother are pretty hilarious as well.  Regardless, I devour her new posts in my Reader, they are amazing!

So if you are looking for a hilarious blog about a “starving” screenwriter/actress/producer/hilarious New York City refugee and Hollywood trendsetter on a site where life & love are anything but ordinary, check out The Dating Jungle.

* Jen – When you write about this in your movie, could you please find some super hot actress to play my character?  I’m thinking Salma Hayek, even though I am the furthest from a gorgeous Latin woman that exists.  But you know, it could happen…in Maine…yeah…just find a pasty white Irish chick and we’ll call it a day.  *sigh*

Who is your #BlogCrush in the blogosphere? Make sure to update it on your blog on Tuesdays! Wanna learn how #BlogCrush works? Check out the guide.

We toss around the word love like it’s a dog toy drenched in puppy spit.  We love our family/friends/partners.  We love our jobs and careers.  We love ice cream.  It’s like we are dissecting the massive awesomeness that is truly loving something.  Breaking it down into tiny rational and tangible pieces so we can wrap our little human minds around the concept.

Love can be a terrifying thing.  It’s probably one of the emotions that we avoid the most in life.  We make excuses…say we are too scared, too independent and confident, too too too…and we hide away from this beautiful phenomenon.

Most of the time it is one of these things or the other.  FAR too often we miss out. Somehow we think that it is too fragile and perfect, that we will somehow break it if we get our hands on it.

In the past week some bloggers I admire a lot have posted this plea from a girl named Brandy.  I’ve never met Brandy.  Unfortunately I’ve never even read her blog before.  But given my Year of Love and more importantly, the raw beauty of this note, I had to share it with all of you as well.

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My name is Brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He’s a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He’s the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He’s the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He’s a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He’s made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He’s listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He’s recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He’s the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I’m overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren’t sure what’s happening. He’ll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what’s going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as ‘brandy’s hot awesome dude’). If you don’t pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven’t seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I’m throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn’t a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It’s just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores.  If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven’t already?

Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.

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Don’t miss your opportunities to let love in.  And to put love out to the world.  It’s amazing…and wonderful…and messy…and beautiful…and unbending (as Brandy so eloquently states)

Love is strong.  It can handle whatever you might throw at it.

Update: Hot Awesome Dude does, in fact, have myeloma.  Heartbreaking…

Photo Credit – Getty Images: Stone Collection (Photographer Laurence Monneret)