Questions for Shasta, comment for Dan

I can't post comments on other people's websites (or my own) from work because my computer has a firewall for "chat" ...

So this is just a pair of questions for Shasta dealing with her website:

1) Ok, so what is the Maya? (She mentioned this both on her website and in a comment on mine.)
2) The poem, Masquerade, is magnificent. Who wrote it?

* Dan: So you're saying my king's pawn can't move like that!? I've been playing chess wrong my whole life...
Kidding. It's funny that you should mention it because when I sat down to my first game at the tournament, I was playing white and my opponent was playing black. I asked her, "Do you want to start?" (i.e. the game) and she responded, "I think white starts." I didn't correct her misconception. I figured it would be better for her to underestimate my mad-cap chess skills.