From: nikki<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

Terry--'I am Shiva' Wow...I don't know what else to say...the pain and confusion radiating from your words...<BR>
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Mail me if you need to...<BR>
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NOTE:  It seems to run in cycles..this love thing....happiness, sadness, pain, bitter tears, regret, loneliness...I wonder if anyone ever finds a happy medium..
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From: Michael (quiet)<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

I'm too careless and unstable in email right now. What used to prevent me from saying things to strangers, fear, no longer does. I understand discretion more in the real world. I am easily functional. But I don't know the boundaries and I don't stay in them easily when I do. I'm not going to post or comment for a while. Please send whatever you want to say to [email-masked]. I'll only reply to direct correspondence for a while. Please know that I appreciate everything you are all trying to do. Good and bad. I hope to find time to get to everyone that I "know". And I love all your work and appreciate the fact that this board is here. Thanks.
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From: Galadrial<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

<BR>
<BR>
Good morning all...<BR>
<BR>
         The sun woke me today a little past six...happy Independence day to the fellow yanks---this is the day we celebrate kicking the Brits out of America, no offense intended. And it represents much about the human condition---and yes---love as well.It's difficult to kick free of the familiar---to boldly go foward, to carve a new life free of the supports---and the limitations of an old one.<BR>
<BR>
         How much is love---and how much is habit? How much is what we choose---versus what we have chosen when we failed to choose? I guess that's why I get a little touchy when I witness the young ones---whom I love dearly---when they don't quite get it.<BR>
<BR>
         So I offer free a small gift. Life is not a chinese dinner, with all the options clearly marked---you aren't going to get soup and an eggroll, one from column A and one from column b---and a fortune cookie to finish it all off. If you stall too long in your selections, they kick you out---and you're still hungry.<BR>
<BR>
         Sometimes you live your life by accident---and when you do have to make a choice---you freeze up...and just wait for something to happen, hoping for the best. But people are not oppossums...and roads around here are littered with the poor creatures who died trying to pretend that they already were dead...as a survival skill...<BR>
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         Okay---Auntie Gala is strange this morning...but she sends love to all the dear ones, and a hearty welcome to the newbies who may be venturing here for a first peek.<BR>
The blender is about love---romantic love---the fifth food group, so to speak...<BR>
<BR>
          Sparklers, roman candles and starbursts to you all...<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
                                      So says Gala <BR>

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From: nikki...still sleepy<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

Angel--What is Love?...Beautiful in it's simplicity...and really very true.<BR>
<BR>
(yes I'm going backwards)<BR>
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CwbyKnight--'A Song for Chris' is really very sweet...Wanda is very talented..and 'Never Sleep..Never Dream..'very vivid...and I'm sorry you are having the dreams...<BR>
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Gala--'Coming into My Own'Hon, you just get better, or something, every day!  I love it.  Especially the last part, which Ifeel every now and then.<BR>
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Well, that's about it from me lovebugs (yeah I always say that, and then I post three more times.  :)  )<BR>
<BR>
don't know when inspiration will strike me again.  <BR>
<BR>
later....nikki 
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From: nikki (see I told you so)<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

Hey Auntie Gala!  That's why I prefer to go to the all you can eat Chinese Buffet!!!  <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
skipping off before something is thrown at me.......
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From: terry<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

Gala~ 'Coming Into My Own' -What Nikki said I echo...your latest subs are of the highest order.<BR>
<BR>
Nikki~ 'Let Me Be' -mirrors my state of heart right now. Great images.<BR>
<BR>
t.
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From: smoldering<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

Gala:<BR>
<BR>
Again, I have enjoyed reading your works.  How to maintain passion, love, in a relationship = a question I have wrestled with many times.  As soon as I figure it out...<BR>
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Nikki -  I'm always impressed, thanks for making my trips to the Blender worthwhile...<BR>
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Kirk - congratulations.<BR>
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Other ones - the variety this site provides allows me to examine so many perspectives emotions can come from.<BR>
As I twist around with new love and terrible angst all at once, it refreshes me to see the words here.  Thanks everyone.
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Date: 2 July 2000<P>

gala-&gt; coming into my own... you have taleny, let me tell you, i love reading your work!<BR>
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kate-&gt;i identify with you well, but for me its hard to actually write about it, it takes a lot to be that stong, even if you think youre weak, you're stronger than you probably ever imagined.<BR>
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nikki!!!! what is with you haha, i always read you works and think maybe she cant top the last one, and you always prove me wrong! lol, well your great...i loved "let me be"....wow<BR>
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terry-&gt; walking...great stuff, but youre the one, yumm, i live for things like that...<BR>
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i feel horrible, when i sit and read everyones submissions, i grow speechless, all your masterpieces and i come up with words like "great" "wow"... haha, im not even sure if there are words to describe, i am just left in awe of all you.<BR>
<BR>
i always feel like writing takes inspiration, which im stuggling to grab ahold to at the moment, but try to never let yours go.<BR>
<BR>
dumplin<BR>
lydia
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From: Kirk, Blender-Keeper<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

July Blender Digest is here. Curious to see what people make of the ramble.<BR>
<BR>
I might be on the verge of updating the Blend-o-Matic as well...
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From: nikki<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

Terry--great pieces to start the month off with.  You are stronger than you think, my friend.<BR>
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Chris W.--'Caress my sullen heart'  not so pitiful as you think, quite touching, really<BR>
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Smouldering--A Trip Through..very well put together.
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From: nikki<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

Congratulations to all of the front pagers!<BR>
<BR>
And Kirk, as one who tries not to think too often of my own mortality, and one who also has no one deity to back me up, I appreciated your ramble this month.  Well, done!
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From: ZoE<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

KiRk- I was actually pretty suprized that you picked 'Shane" for the front page. I was actually wondering what you liked about it. Here's the story behind it:<BR>
Shane came into my life during a time where I was tampering with drugs and really I was a basketcase. He helped me out all the time, took care of me when I was too sick to get up. Really the best friend and lover there was. At one point he confronted me (something he raely did, he was a very withdrawn person.) He told me, I didn't love him like he loved me and I never had time to answer that and explain that he meant the world to me. He left never understanding. I went 2 years without seeing Shane and he popped up after I had my daughter and cleaned up. He was sitting closeby me in a coffee shop. I don't think he reckognized me. I wrote that poem on a napkin and slipped it to him. Then I left the coffee shop crying. I never saw him again.<BR>
That's the story behind Shane. I hope it lived up to your expectations :)<BR>
<BR>
-ZoE
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From: Kirk, Blender-Keeper<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

ZoE-<BR>
Well, I got something different out of it that you put into it.   For me it was a reminder not to get so deeply into the whole mortality thing that I don't enjoy what I have.  (Though I think some techniques of daytracking-- a mundane PalmPilot diary I started keeping, just a few sentences each day-- helps; it lets each day leave a footprint that I'll be able to review, and will help me live the idea that time past is not time lost, you shouldn't live in the past but you shouldn't treat it as a lost cause either.)
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From: kevin urenda<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

kirk-<BR>
<BR>
Bravo, sir.<BR>
All picks this month are wonderful and deserving...<BR>
Congratulations Jenna!  And to my dear friends Gala, deevaa, Angel, ZoE, Sarah...  And to everyone...  Kudos...  <BR>
<BR>
k
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From: terry<BR>
Date: 2 July 2000<P>

Congrats to all the front page picks...All great works.<BR>
<BR>
Kirk~ The ramble this month was really good. You did a very thorough job of it and made me think! Kudos.<BR>
<BR>
terry
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