From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=109">Stephen</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Sati~~ "Release Me" was awesome.... very visual and powerful.. good job.
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=13">B.K.</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Sati; I agree with Stephen "Release Me," is excellent. Keep it coming.<BR>
<BR>
bk
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Hello All, Kirk:<BR>
 Are others having problems with getting on The Blender these past 2 days?  I have been unable to log on (especially last night) due to what seems like server overload.  I can navigate all other sites, yet this one didn't load up after 5 minutes!  Just wondering if others had the same.<BR>
<BR>
Rhet
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=34">Just Some Girl</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Hey, Rhet:<BR>
<BR>
I must say that "My Prada Princess" is as fine a piece of work as you've ever written!!!  My favorite line..."I can’t even spell haute couture, let alone fathom which train to take me there."  What a great line!!  You rock!!!
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Just Some Girl:<BR>
<BR>
I am pleased as punch that you like my little piece.  It came to me yesterday after a conversation and I couldn't help but put it to paper.  I as timid to share it - but I am swelling with glee to know that it is well received.  <BR>
<BR>
Do you think it is too much?<BR>
<BR>
Rhet
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=34">Just Some Girl</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Rhet:<BR>
<BR>
Do I think it's too much??  Never!!  I think it's lovely!<BR>
<BR>
And by the way...yes, I also experienced difficulty getting onto the Blender all day yesterday. Perhaps there were many seeking gems of truth in the words of love here at the Blender. 
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=1">Kirk, Blender-Keeper</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Rhet:<BR>
Yes, the Blender was very slow yesterday, often unusably so.  (i.e. the page just wouldn't load.)  My webhost was having problems on all their sites it seems: it may have been related to a *really* nasty Microsoft Internet/E-mail Worm that's going around<BR>
<BR>
In the future, if you wish to get a little more informatin on what might be going on, try to hit my personal site http://kisrael.com (which everyone should hit anyway because it's brilliant. Well not really, but aims to be interesting in a not-just-kirk-centric way).  <BR>
<BR>
If it's very slow too, chances are the problem is with my webhost (or you can try my wife Mo's site http://protogeek.com , or the webhost's own http://www.ezpublishing.com .) Of course, if *every* site on the web is slow, the problem is either your connection or some kind of massive, overall problem (like that Worm I was talking about.)
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=4">TJ Holland</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Ya, getting into the Blender last night was impossible. Oh well. Had to jones for a fix until this morning. <BR>
<BR>
BK ~ thanks for the kudos on Falling Through Walls.<BR>
<BR>
Rhet ~ Made me smile with your comments on Falling Through Walls! Oh ya, Staind IS great, huh?! I agree that sometimes (most times) songs say JUST the right thing....coupled with music I find that to be powerfully moving. Helps me understand me. And Sylvia Plath is one of my top three poets right now. (I never have a permanent favorite anything! )Fiona Apple is very good. Not sure about the song you mentioned as I’d have to hear it to recognize it, but I’ll check out the words, that will probably tweak a memory.<BR>
<BR>
Betty Boop ~ Liked your poem. And you know, you remind me very much of a Blenderite named Harem...??<BR>
<BR>
Peace All,<BR>
<BR>
-Teej
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=35">Star of David</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Hi......<BR>
Dark Angel, I'm so upsset that you're still not feeling well but I'm relieved that you're still at the blender. Hope you will be better soon. I miss reading your work. Come back soon. Thoughts and prayers are with you.<BR>
Harem, come back soon!!! I went backwards for about 20 days on the blender board and discovered why you left and I think you should come back soon 'cause you are needed here!!!<BR>
Love, <BR>
Star of David.
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=35">Star of David</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

ARRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Excuse the extra 's' in 'upset'<BR>
I get so worked up when I type wrong.
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=205">Violet</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Ali~ thank you so much! :-) You know, I really admire your knack for creativly signing off at the end of your comments.<BR>
If I tried, it'd be something stupid like this:<BR>
Yours Until The Ocean Waves, Violet (and that's why i don't.) :-P
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=313">Blue Angel</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Little Blue Man:<BR>
<BR>
Your work is perplexing but enjoyable. 
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=205">Violet</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Rhetoric~ :-) You made my day! I like to think I have a pretty good handle on life... but most of the time I'm just as lost as the next 20 year old. :-) Poetry is my therapy...<BR>
i'm sure you feel similarly... so i just write what's on my mind/heart. Somtimes, i express myself pretty well, and the other times I sound like a fool. :-) <BR>
Here's a question for you... do you think that your poetry is more effective when written from your real life experiences? Ooh here's another one... is it the word choice or the content that moves the reader? Can good content be moving if it isn't well written? :-) Just some stuff rollin' around in my head. :-P Thank's again, for your words. Have a lovely day!
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=205">Violet</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

and by the way... "My Prada Princess" was fantastic!! :-)
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=395">working_girl</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Just a quick message to let everyone know that Unchained (Dark Angel, ect.) came through the surgery just fine.  He should be home by the weekend and writing again soon there after.  Thanks for all your prayers and concerns.  
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Star of David:<BR>
  I loved <a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2001.09.19.12.29.13876">Free to fly again</a> .  Each four lines can be a mantra if one chooses!  I like this: <BR>
Don’t you know that I’m an eagle baby<BR>
My hearts up in the sky<BR>
Thats a way to get 'em where it hurts, huh?<BR>
<BR>
Betty-Boop:<BR>
Oh, <a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2001.09.19.08.35.10492">My Fisher-Price Toy</a> is so sweet and naughty at the same time.  The toy reference keeps me in a youthful mindset until you heat it up with the 'rough' talk. Yummy!<BR>
<BR>
Misti:<BR>
Wow, Mildred found herself a wild one in Charlie huh? <a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2001.09.19.12.58.32153">Literally Lyrically Luckily in Love</a> mentions Charlie's name for his dog - Zarathustra.  You have got to be drawn to any man who can conjure the images of the ancient Persian hilosophers!  I am anxious to see where they are headed next in this story. <BR>
<BR>
To all a silken day, <BR>
Your Darlin Rhet.<BR>

<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Violet:<BR>
<BR>
   Howdy - you seem to be in a talking mood.  Well Doll, I am always ready for some conversation!  I am enjoying your stuff - and I do think that praise is the best way to either feel vindication for our efforts OR to let another know that you are feeling their vibe.  To answer your question: Yes, I often wonder if I sound like a complete and total idiot.  But my salvation lies within the knowledge that I post for ME and MY therapy.  If Mr. XYZ doesn't like my style or my words, oh well.  That is the amazing glory of poetry - not everyone has to 'get' your stuff for it to be comforting and therapeutic (or well written).  <BR>
   I think that words from experience seem to ring more true to the reader - but one doesn't need to actually experience a specific event to have a thought or feeling on the subject.  For example - Rumors of a Divorce I posted a few weeks ago: I have never been married.  Yet the emotions that are felt when a relationship ends is somehow universal. I didn't need to sign papers to feel the torment.  Does that make sense?  <BR>
  Most of my stuff is a word play on a feeling or event. Sometimes, an entire piece may be built around a word I like!  Content AND word choice move me.  Don't you think?  It is a combo of both those concepts that get me as a reader.  It may be just one phrase or word that sends me thru the roof when I read the words of another, or simply the way the words are put together.  Please, tell me your thoughts now that I have given you pages of mine!<BR>
<BR>
Godd day to you, Miss Violet<BR>
Rhetoric
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Ooops - that was Good Day, not Godd day.<BR>
<BR>
And Violet, thanks for the smiles on Prada Princess.  I wrote it about a very cool chic.  I hope that she doesn't come accross fake - she is just not your average Hillbilly.<BR>
<BR>
Rhet
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=314">Betty-Boop</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

To Rhetoric,<BR>
You are such a friendly sort. Talkative, positive, and fun.<BR>
I enjoy reading your comments and your interaction with everyone.  Thanks !!!<BR>
<BR>
Betty <BR>
<BR>
.
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=268">Misti</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Rhetoric~<BR>
I appreciate your comments on my latest Mildred and Charlie story but I'm afraid I have nothing left to write about those two. Writing the two Mildred stories was a sort of catharsis for me. Mildred is loosely based on me. My husband says it's decidedly "stalker-ish." He says there are three things single guys never want to hear: "I'm pregnant." "I did some detective work." and...uh...I forget what the third thing was. Have a great day!
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=396">Tangerine</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

To Little-blue-man :<BR>
<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2001.09.19.13.53.512">Q&A</a> was quite interesting.<BR>
<BR>
It aroused my thoughts and prodded me to comment. <BR>
Everyone has a different method to attract the opposite sex...some use more than one approach.  We each have our different talents and attractions... perfume, clothing, hairstyles, good looks, beautiful eyes, sexy figure, tall stature, muscular build, new lexus, musical talents, artistic treasures (drawing, singing, painting, writing)etc..  We can only go with what we have.<BR>
<BR>
I agree with you that the ability to write and use words can be very powerful and sometimes misleading.  Words can paint scenes in the mind that can be more provocative than pornography, more sensual than seduction, and more romantic than romance..... Little wonder that the world is filled with romance novels, and pornographic literature.... which obviously sells and makes millions.<BR>
<BR>
The art of verbal articulation can be so overpowering, that many a Don Juan uses the proverbial "line" to enchant and capture the object of his "love" or "lust". <BR>
<BR>
And I also agree, that words can paint a fairytale land that has misled many a man or woman into a world that simply does not exist.....  The real trap lies, in the fact that not everyone means what they say.... nor acts in a manner that is consistent with their words..... From experience, I can say, that I have learned the hard way, to pay more attention to a person's actions than to their words.....<BR>
<BR>
But oh, how wonderful it feels to be the recipient of beautiful words of prose, when it truly comes from the heart.....<BR>
<BR>
T.<BR>
<BR>
-
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Tangerine:<BR>
  WELL SAID!!!!  Q&A was a perverse look at exactly what this site hopes to foster and raise to new heights - words.  I can see the validity in (and agree with, to an extent) the general idea of what Little-Blue-Man is speaking of in Q&A.  However, I can't help but wonder if he is speaking directly to someone here at The Blender.  We all remember To Unchained, right?  LBM, are you merely venting or are you tormented by another Blenderite?  Please share your insight and thoughts on this piece.  It was a very deliberate dialogue with someone.  I wish you luck in avoiding that ship of fools.<BR>
<BR>
Kindly, Rhet
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=205">Violet</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Rhet~ thank's for your response. Yeah, I agree with you. I think both word choice and content are important (of course!) I just know myself... if i read something that isn't organized well, i won't keep reading. I know, my word choice isn't always the best... but i try to only post the things that i think will reach people on some level. Sorry for my rambling... you seem so interesting... I was just inspired to strike up a little conversation. :-) have a good one.
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=355">little_blue_man</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Interesting responses, each and every one. I must warn however, not to over analyze. Any of my “works’ directed at any particular person clearly indicate such intent. I know such works may well have stirred some ill feelings toward me. Well, I knew that would happen right from the very time I posted them. Sorry folks, but no one here that has been posting prior to my appearance knows all the details.  I do not care to hash out the why or how of it here. No one at the blender knows the whole story about this. Perhaps they never will. Truth has its own way of shining through in its own time. Sometimes inadvertently aided by those most trying to hide it.  No need for me to continue to attempt to stoke the furnace.  At any rate, I promised that I would post nothing else about them unless I discussed my “problem” with them first. <BR>
So is Q&A directed at one particular person? No. I dare to say that each and every one reading this has been a member of the crew of the ship of fools. Someone said how pretty the words are when they come from the heart. True, but the danger is that not all words that are pretty do come from the heart. What is Q&A about? It is a warning that there are people who have learned to use pretty words to do some very ugly things. All of us have been deceived at some point in time in our lives by someone able to convince us that they should be trusted or endeared because of their skill to say what we want to hear. Such individuals have learned that they can often manipulate people by saying what someone wants to hear. (Bet you know such an individual!) Trouble is, what we want to hear is not always grounded in the facts. I can tell anyone they have won the lottery. It may be what they want to hear, but is it true? The message is somewhat simple. Being as all of us have been stung once, did we learn anything? If so, we know better than to blindly believe everything we are told or read. If not, we are doomed to ignore even the largest of warning signs and be led down the merry path to who knows what by who knows whom.<BR>
<BR>
                                                                 Very respectfully to all,<BR>
<BR>
                                                                  The Little Blue Man<BR>

<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Blue Man,<BR>
    I do apologize if I seemed to "judge" your work.  That was not my intent - nor was it to draw out some kind of explanation about Dark Angel/Gary/Unchained.  I know neither of you from Adam.  I just felt that your words were personal, that's all. <BR>
    I do know of those people.  I too have been bitten squarely on the ass for accepting words as truths.  I understand your metaphor - ship of fools.  I guess I still feel that each day, every one of us uses 'words' to our benefit in one way or another.  Whether the manipulation is malicious or simply protective, it is still cajoling nonetheless.  <BR>
   Please accept my apology for stepping up to a podium at which I was not invited to speak.  One way of looking at this situation is that Blenderites are reading and commenting on your work.  Even the spark of a challenge is a compliment to your written acuity. <BR>
<BR>
Rhetoric<BR>

<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Oh Violet:<BR>
<BR>
We CAN email for more indepth conversation.  I promise not to stalk you - just bore you to tears with my cracked rear view.  So, next time you want to dish - hit me at [email-masked].  That is rhetorical one, not rhetoric alone (sounds depressing, huh?). Just plain Rhetoric was already snatched up by some smart ass college freshman, I am sure!  We can spread our brains out on the table and pick topics!  I love new pen pals.<BR>
<BR>
Rhetoric
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=13">B.K.</a><BR>
Date: 19 September 2001<P>

Didn't mean to post it twice, only a million times...ha sorry<BR>
<BR>
bk
<HR>