From: the shark <BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Oh...one more thing. Love the Valentine's Day Special! There sure are some great writers at this site. Kudos to you, Gala, for coming up with such a winning idea.
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From: B.K<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Happy Valentines Day You All!<BR>
<BR>
What a wonderful day, I got word from my man that he's growing stronger. I am the happiest woman alive right now. The best Valentine present a woman could get, that and five rare red orchids about to bloom. Hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day as well!<BR>
<BR>
bk<BR>

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From: B.K<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Happy Valentines Day You All!<BR>
<BR>
What a wonderful day, I got word from my man that he's growing stronger. I am the happiest woman alive right now. The best Valentine present a woman could get, that and five rare red orchids about to bloom. Hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day as well!<BR>
<BR>
bk<BR>

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From: terry<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Kirk~ I like the trimmed down front page alot. Especially the navigation box.....ever thought about adding a search feature there too? Would sure be handy for those of us who cannot remember what month something was posted...<BR>
<BR>
And thank you for the Valentine Day picks everyone. I was shocked, pleased and humbled too speechless!<BR>
<BR>
Thank you all!<BR>
(...and a cool new tradition is born Kirk, thank you Gala!) <BR>
terry
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From: the guppy<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Wow, everybody.  Thank you.  I sometimes wonder if my best truly romantic pieces met an unjust fate of dusty shoeboxes in distant closets.  I'm truly happy that my work is enjoyed by other people here.  <BR>
<BR>
I'm not a romance poet, but I know love.<BR>
<BR>
Thanks for the honor,<BR>
gup<BR>
<BR>
b.k.---Which orchids are about to bloom???...do tell
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From: Riggs<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Mr Shark. <BR>
<BR>
As much as I hate getting drawn into the mud slinging matches that happen hereabouts occasionally, I feel the need to tell you that your act is wearing damn thin buddy.<BR>
<BR>
An heavy drinking heavy smoking brilliant but tortured artistic soul who can't seem to escape his weaknesses???<BR>
Come on man, if it were true you wouldn't be bragging about it by dropping those frequent and not so subtle hints.<BR>
<BR>
"You've made me thirsty. I'm going to make a run for the liquor store now."<BR>
<BR>
Kurt Cobain meets Dylan Thomas huh? Jim Morrison crossed with Janis Joplin? An Andrew Wood Brian Jones hybrid? <BR>
<BR>
Come on man. Angst is my favourite subject. You can verify it with any of the people who contribute to this page. I know perfectly well what it's like to be bitter and disillusioned. Finding a focus for your anger is the hardest thing in the world. But how about making an effort not to rub people up the wrong way huh?<BR>

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From: Angel<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

*HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY* To the Blender *SMOOCH*
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From: the shark<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Mr. Riggs,<BR>
<BR>
First of all, I don't have an "act", I have a life. Am I perfect? No. Do I have what some might call a drinking problem? Probably. But do not question why I do what I do, sir. I suggest you go through half of what I have in my short life. I suggest you lose your high school sweetheart in a freak hunting accident at 18; I suggest you get to see your beloved pet golden retriever since childhood run over by a garbage truck. Etc. Oh, and "making an effort not to rub people the wrong way" is just a wordy and euphemistic way of saying "kiss ass".<BR>
<BR>
Everyone else,<BR>
<BR>
Sorry about that. Don't want to tarnish this wonderful day, but it needed to be said. True, I'm not technicially "with" anyone this Valentine's Day, but that doesn't mean I can't dream and hope. And read poetry that stirs my soul. Thank you, all - this site is a veritable island paradise amid the vast and stormy seas that are my life.
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From: Spirit's Joy<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Shark, I am not a man, I am a woman!  It doesn't really matter though!  
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From: Stephen King Love Page<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

From: the shark ([email-masked])<BR>
Date: 12 February 2001<BR>
~swishing tail furiously~ <BR>
<BR>
See, this is the deal: the shark is tired--tired of swimming around the same old ocean, tired of reading all these trite poems (a lot of you get an A for effort, but, come on fellas!). Please, for the LOVE OF SHAMU, someone catch me and send me to Sea World or something. Enough is enough. The shark wants some real live audiences cheering him on, some perky co-eds, some hot dolphins, some biggie-size Wendy's frosties, some good bloody bait, some tuna. In short, a good time. Sharks need action, too.<BR>
<BR>
Shark, you insult us and now we are an island of wonderful to your lost soul. It says loveblender not CREEP ME OUT on the page. <BR>
<BR>
<BR>

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From: Lucy (The pHyciAtRisT is In)<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Shark:<BR>
   You barely got scars, go kiss a new dog, we've all seen snoopy die. As for death of a loved one well thats life. You are quite a young shark aren't you? Well, fella, you have not seen the real hooks life can give you yet. Better prepare yourself now..LOL  Quit your wailing, go read, "How To Win Friends and Influence People." 
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From: the shark<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Okay, you've figured me out. The shark is complicated. The shark is not nearly as simple as you'd like. As an aside, I would like to say that (some of) you folks are just brutal. You don't know the HALF of my life story. Oh, and quit using phony names to convey your angst over me. I know you're regulars who are too cowardly to come out in the open. Don't be so scared of me! I don't bite. Happy Valentine's Day - even to you idiots who hate me. Everyone deserves love.
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From: It Ain't Easy Being Green<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Sure Shark and eveyone wants to swim with a shark and have the Marquis De Sade come visit on Valentines Day as well. Women want men that need to have restraining orders taken out for them, now thats a real Valentines Day treat. Bad boys only seem to work if you are Brad Pitt and it's only a movie. There are plenty of big IQ's under the bridge. Go visit and see. There are also plenty of us here that can match your angst bone for bone and then some buddy, but we choose to see life differently. Its like playing pool, you need to know what angle it takes to get the ball into the pocket. So far all your balls are square. 
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From: the guppy<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

this is getting annoying.  no, i take that back, this is already annoying.  it's evident that shark has said a few things that could be considered offensive.  it seems ridiculous for him to be surprised that people react to such things.  i'm venturing a guess that it's by design, and that the "stirring things up" game would probably end if met with silence.  <BR>
<BR>
i imagine my above comments will be met with some sort of chess move to alter some invented position, or maybe an accusation of judgement, or profession of complexity.  those would be wasted words.  i do not care.  i'm just annoyed.<BR>
<BR>
gup
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From: Madison<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

I got goosebumps (see that?) when I clicked to the Valentine’s page to find scqueen and Angel had picked something of mine as a favorite, thank you guys : )
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From: scqueen<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Madison ~ You deserve it. I've gotten goosebumps a couple of times from your work so we're even :-)
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From: deevaa<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

after a lot of stress, I finally got my homepage updated... there are several things that need tweeking, that I totally didn't have patience for last night, but they'll get cleaned up over the next few days... also there are some links to paintings missing because I couldn't find the scans, but as always I'd love some feedback. <BR>
<BR>
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/~deevaa<BR>
<BR>
... thankyou to Riggs who kindly let me use some of his poetry.<BR>
<BR>
Take care of your hearts.<BR>
<BR>
dee<BR>
<BR>
oh Gala, Cassandra isn't up yet, I can't remember if you gave me permission to include your words?<BR>
<BR>

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From: Angel<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Madison, "Dancing Down 6th Street", was one of the few poems this year that I made room for on my hard drive. I loved it from the moment I first read it and have reread it many times. Choosing only three from a whole year of Blender submissions was soooooo hard and I had to rely on choosing from the ones I troubled myself enough to save to my personal Blender collection. Narrowing it down that way saved me the trouble of rereading a years worth of poetry lol. <BR>
<BR>
Kirk, it would be so nice to have a file system that goes by author rather than just the month of submission. I did have a poem in mind by Rennie lorca that I had somehow failed to save and have forgotten the title of and for the life of me could not remeber month of submission :) A quick look through her titles would have refreshed my memory.
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From: the shark<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

guppy,<BR>
these words will probably be wasted on you and from the amount of time I've been here I've figured out that you're the Brad Pitt of this site, but I don't know what your problem is. all I've done is posted a few lousy comments and submitted some poems. I feel confident that the poems I have submitted are far better than a lot of other submissions by poets who shall remain nameless. by the way, your mouse poem didn't seem inspired by love or romance. <BR>
   anyway, I am not some random jerk ranting in this forum. I have shared my vulnerability and insights with total strangers. all this ire is unexpected. I'm reminded of grade school. this place is one big clique. I'm moving on to bigger and better waters. fans can still e-mail me at [email-masked]. I love hearing from you people. makes my day. 
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From: Ali<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

First off, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYBODY!!!!!<BR>
<BR>
Secondly, ok, here goes...Ok, there has been a lot of mean things said ...and it's not nice! At the risk of sounding like a completly naive little cheeseball, can't we all just get along? There's all this harsh banter, going back and forth, there's a lot of not nice things being said, and it bothers me...I know that things aren't always nice, but isn't this a place to be kind? Maybe I'm way off base, maybe I'm being silly...It is just upseting to me, that there is this discord, right now...Everyone here writes amazingly, and I love it here...everyone has been great to me...but things have been said, that I don't think are very nice...and I just don't think that meaness is right...Okay, well, I think that I'm done ranting now...<BR>
<BR>
Love and light, Ali
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From: Kirk<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Shark, for me guppy isn't the local Brad Pitt or whatever, he's a poet writer who has a higher respect than average for words and their usage, and while IMHO his work isn't universally stellar, I think on average it says more things in more interesting ways than the stuff you presented.  (in particular, it's not quite as fixated on a single topic, unlike the shark theme that carries through most of your work.  Maybe that's not entirely fair, good artists do tend tend to explore one mode or style for a while (ala Picasso's blue period, etc) and we haven't seen as representative a sampling of your work as we have his, but still. Your genius is not as instantly recognizable in most of your work as you seem to think it is.  
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From: The Regulars<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Ali - We were provoked, dontcha think?
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From: Kirk, Blender-Keeper<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Angel, making a better organizational system has been a long term todo for a while.  But to do that it would probably need an entire login/account system for authors.<BR>
<BR>
A search engine is a possibility to. I once had one about 75% done.  Maybe I'll take another stab at it soon.
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From: Angel<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Guppy~"Decoration", keen to the senses; I could hear your heart break.
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From: Angel<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

Kirk, I would love a login for authors, for many reasons;) sounds good to me.
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From: None<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

I read a poem the other day called Oh Stars on the newly submited poems and I looked for it today and i don't see it there, would the author of the poem please repost it. Your poem really made me feel good about the loss of my girl friend.
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From: Rob<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

I've reposted my Oh Stars None. And thanks for reading it, I'm glad one person read it at least.
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From: Ali<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

'The Regulars'~ Yes, I must agree that you were provoked...but, honestly, do two wrongs make a right? I wasn't saying that one person was wrong, and another not, I was just upset that there has been such unpleasantness, shall we say. Perhaps, I have not been here long enough to have made a comment, like I did... Love and dreams, Ali 
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From: deevaa ([email-masked])<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

I know that some people like to fight their own battles, and I know that the best way to make an attention seeker to quit is to ignore them, however I find the allusion in 'mice are nice' offensive and want to say so, loud and clear.<BR>
<BR>
dee
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From: the guppy<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

shark---email me at [email-masked] if you want to talk.  my problem is just annoyance by constant bickering on the board.  your writing is good, you have definite talent.  <BR>
<BR>
gup
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From: fugu<BR>
Date: 14 February 2001<P>

the fugu is in the water...
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