From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=5">jackryhme</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

hmm not an expert A sameal? plus one who would caricaturize their poetry as *blows*  yet still willin to dictate what you feel no matter how honest you would wish it to be.. ah one who must speak truth no matter the hurt it portends lol sorry met your type too many times.. and as to this site and its rankin on seniority ... you might be surprised to find that if you came on this board commenting on what ones you did like and leave the rest off, that people might even accept you as you and come to understand what you write as well<BR>
<BR>
ah well just my two cents <BR>
sorry kirk fer all the wasted space <BR>
<BR>
jack
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=909">leamas</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

Thanks for your insight jack.  You made some sense.  I guess  I should be more constructive than destructive.  I tend to see everything half empty.  I will try to go about this site and the authors the way you described.  I am sure, and hope, that it would raise a better feeling from the rest of the community.  Mr. Kirk, I assume this is your site, or some such, I too apolgize if I wasted space on this board.  I will try to be more courtious if possible.  Otherwise I do really enjoy this site and some of the works.
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=5">jackryhme</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

ah now being nice now i can relate to...  welcome to the blender Leamas, lol though i warn ya this place can become an addiction so if you thought of runin lol do it now... if not, well, be welcome and write on k?<BR>
<BR>
jack
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=620">Varda</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

Hihi,<BR>
<BR>
I am of the opinion that one of the nicest things <BR>
about poetry (and all art) is that they have value that <BR>
is subjective. A good poem is not necessarily one with <BR>
a unique structure or perfect spelling or nice rhythm... <BR>
Yes, there are stylistic devices that can add to a poem,<BR>
and poor spelling can take away from the poem's feel, but<BR>
I think a "good" poem is something that inspires a feeling<BR>
in its reader. If one person doesn't relate to a specific <BR>
poem, they might not think it's any good, but another <BR>
person might feel very touched by it. I think that's part <BR>
of the magic.<BR>
<BR>
In any case, Leamas, you certainly have the right to <BR>
your opinions, but I think that one of the main purposes <BR>
of this forum is to encourage people. I'm glad you chose <BR>
not to point out any specific poems, because I know<BR>
that poems are very personal to a lot of people, and <BR>
a bit of criticsm is all it can take to stop someone <BR>
from submitting their work. Maybe an author<BR>
will look back at some of his/her poems years later (or <BR>
days later) ;) and cringe (I certainly do), but it's<BR>
all a part of the process. <BR>
<BR>
Well, adieu!<BR>
<BR>
*V*<BR>

<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=2">scqueen</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

I think the niche that this site provides is on more of a theraputic level as opposed to that of a literary contest. We post as a release. A release comes out fast and not often thought about, but damn it feels good just to get it out there.<BR>
If any one of us professed to actually be great, I think we'd have all missed the point. 
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=900">RennieLorca</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

leamas~ Good questions and good answers here, good interaction. I often have to do some serious writing on technical, historical and other tedious subjects. I play with poetry for the pleasure, to unwind, for some interaction with other poets. I've done this for many years. I put together far more verses than just romance that this website is about. I am sure the other poets here do the same. It is difficult to focus solely on one subject, but the poets here really try with a very emotional subject. <BR>
<BR>
I applaud all who may be doing their best to deal with emotions AND also vent or communicate with them in verse or prose at Blender. One of the most memorable verses I ever read was by a very young child in very simple and honest words. Also, Picasso said it took him 40 years to learn to paint like a child. For that, he became very famous. But then, there are those who don't care for Picasso. Life is preferences and opinion. <BR>
<BR>
I don't post everything I write in romance poetry here, but what I DO post in romance poetry, I post here. I really like this kind community. Sometimes, I use poems on the Blender that I wrote many years ago. I may come back later and rewrite them here. Once in a great while someone will be moved by my verse and comment. What is nice about this website and community is more in the way the other poets comment, praise or make a few kind suggestions about certain submissions when they feel inspired or the need to address a poet. <BR>
<BR>
What often moves me or them to comment can be for very different reasons in our emotions or opinions at the time. I sometimes want to comment on just a great LINE in a work. The internet is filled with other poetry websites for critique in all stages from mild to harsh. I share here. I'm like jackryhme in that I can't be hurt by criticism since I know that I can always rework and repost a work of mine, or in my own mind be content with what I have written. <BR>
<BR>
It helps to go ahead ... (and this is for all of you) ... to go ahead and post and see a work in print or on-screen and get the feel of it, even comments. Any poet, including the very famous ones, have rewritten works during their lives. Some have rewritten even when satisfied with a work just to see it in a different form. I've rewritten to change a word, punctuation, the visuals. The ability to write comes with practice, just as playing a musical instrument or dancing, anything we do. I take delight in seeing all the poets here work, play, stretch, learn, be community. You are no less community in questioning to help form opinion. <BR>
<BR>
On the matter of you having trouble in getting your thoughts to paper and maybe here as poetry, try a tape recorder to record your thoughts and you will lose a bit less. Go Write! ..... Rennie
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=900">RennieLorca</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

leamas~ On ILLNESS: To have the capacity and ability to love others or romance another, you need to first love yourself, but not in excess or narcissism. Try this to be a good package to present to others or another: First romance yourself with some gifts to make you happy, fix-up yourself until you are a pleasing vision in a mirror, think good thoughts, be good to yourself, et cetera. Hopefully, ILLNESS is an exercise in writing and not a personal statement of yours in some great misery. Take care ..... Rennie
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=900">RennieLorca</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

BTW: Agent Leamas~ the term "pseudo-intellectuals" is something better used on a philosophy website where it can be debated if true and false intellectuals even exist. I know "intellectuals" in MENSA who cannot manage to write poetry, and good poets who would never manage to qualify for MENSA. There are "intellectuals" or intelligent beings who can get rockets to the moon, but cannot grow a tomato or crops to feed us. Everyone, from farmer to scientist, is important to this world in some way. Each poet is important to this particular poetic community. Trying to control people and their minds with names and tags or terms describing them is only a means of trying to gain control. A poet who writes and shares deep emotion anyway has slipped those bonds of control. Time for me to go write some verse ..... Rennie
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=911">Inflatable Sushi</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

B.K. - I tried that link to discover who my literary lover might be.  The answer was William S. Burroughs.  Is that a bad thing?<BR>
IS
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=620">Varda</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

I tried the quiz too... it came up blank. ;)<BR>
<BR>
*V*
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

BK Beene!<BR>
<BR>
I took the literary lover test and opted to isolate a female lover - Virginia Woolf was my ideal!<BR>
<BR>
This is how I was described:<BR>
<BR>
You're bookish, intense, and profoundly self-conscious - just like prolific modernist writer Virginia Woolf. Woolf, author A Room of One's Own, To the Lighthouse, and Orlando, was dedicated to experimentation with language and novelistic form and was a committed feminist (so look out guys). Of course, Woolf was also plagued by chronic bouts with depression and sexual anxiety and, near the end of her life, heard voices and refused food. So don't expect a light evening on the town.<BR>
<BR>
Pegged me (except bookish) like only my psychic healer Cleo can! Am I so transparent to even a silly computer?<BR>
<BR>
Interesting banter today and yesterday.  I do enjoy it when solidarity rings true.<BR>
<BR>
Rhet
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=5">jackryhme</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

Jane Austen?
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

Jack...I have one even better.  When I selected a man, I turned up Marcel Proust! It doesn't get any better than that, huh?<BR>
<BR>
I would have guessed Jane for you - you are a romantic. A flowery and hopeful dreamer, right?<BR>
<BR>
See ya,<BR>
Jen
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=5">jackryhme</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

lol me a *romantic*? lol nah just a simple sailor my lady, wife in every port and runnin from all the rest lol<BR>
<BR>
jack
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=1">Kirk, Blender-Keeper</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

Hiya Leamas.<BR>
<BR>
This is gonna come across as a cheap shot, but <a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.15.09.14.27590">ILLNESS</a> probably won't strike the average reader as a stunning testament for all mankind...it has some promise in its specifics, but the overall gloomy theme is a bit hackneyed, and I don't see a lot of romantic content in it...<BR>
<BR>
Anyway, you do raise some interesting points about the new submissions and about the board in general. I think the Blender does serve as a release for some people and there's probably less editing and more first-drafting going on than I'd like to see, but hey, what am I gonna do?  As for the board being a bit cheerleadery...well, I'm told it's better than the alternative of a lot of spiteful people being nasty.  I'd like to see more "workshoppping" going on (sort of how I recently posted the red earrings haiku looking for suggestions) and I might some day build some specific pages to try to facilitate that...but the blender board is what the community makes it. In a recent correspondance with RennieLorca it hit me that, to use soccer terms, I'm an umpire here, waving the occassional yellow or red card, more than any kind of coach telling the "team" where to go.<BR>
<BR>
As for the "select few authors" issue...well, there are a few reasons for that.  In general, it's a self-selected group...as you post and comment more, you'll probably get more attention. Given the volume of posts here, it's probably tough for a new low-volume voice to get attention.  <BR>
<BR>
For what it's worth, I try to be reasonably author-blind when I make the frontpage picks.  Also, while I work to be a little delicate, it's not all unbridled praise...I'll mention when I think a line is a clinker, as well as trying to make specific comments about what caught my attention in the poems I select...so there is at least one set of comments every month that goes beyond the points you make against the board in general.<BR>
<BR>
Heh...that makes me think, it might be interesting to have anyone who wants to make their own set of "premier picks" around the time I publish a new issue.  I mean, you could do it here on the msg board, trying to follow the same criteria of specific details about why the piece worked for you and/or constructive-ish criticism. 
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=69">Savannah Haze</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

Don't want to stir anything up but this just struck me as, um, hell, I don't know, kinda funny I guess.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Leamas- Being agnostic (a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and prob. unknowable; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god<BR>
(which is TOTALLY your decision that I am in NO way "knocking")) signifies you choose to neither believe nor disbelieve in God or a god or a diving being of any kind or whatever <BR>
Samuel was just a man, as any other man in history.  Technically being agnostic doesn't mean you have to discredit the entire "historical" element of the Bible.  <BR>
Not that I'm super religious girl or anything... I've just discussed this topic at length with associates who are atheistic, agnostic, "Christian" whatever.  Much of the Bible IS historical.  Many of those people DID exist and are documented in other historical documents.  <BR>
Just wanted to point that out.  I completely respect your beliefs, but just wanted to help you avoid statements for the sake of argument.  <BR>
<BR>
But I digress.<BR>
<BR>
And I'm through now.<BR>
<BR>
Sorry for wasting board space.<BR>
<BR>
Humbly,<BR>
S.H.<BR>
<BR>

<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=5">jackryhme</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

hastily battening down the hatches...securing sails ... fervently offering up prayers to any one that will even listen...  preparing fer a mightly blow... cause RELIGION has been  re-introduced to the boards<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
please wake me when this storm is over k?<BR>
heh i'll be down below<BR>
<BR>
jack
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

Kirk,<BR>
I thought about your comment to the board about posting our picks for a change.  I like it. Maybe we could have a readres poll of sorts.  Since I will be in and out of town, I wanted to still offer up a few that I simply adored for one reason or another.  I know how difficult it is to not always applaud the voices you love the most…but I tried to be open to new words. I am curious how many gems I missed and how many of you would agree that my choices were also stellar.<BR>
<BR>
Here goes:<BR>
<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.20.09.40.31422">useless</a> by ooloi. This piece filled me with an amazing amount of memory and regret. However, the stream of thought is remarkable; from sex to suicide, a lapse we all may share.<BR>
<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.19.17.19.11059">more on dreaming</a> and <a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.19.17.16.9609"></a> by kevin urenda. These two posts seem to be the prologue and the epilogue to the same tale. Painting and dreaming in love and color – there is truth, and I like its form.<BR>
<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.19.11.25.6201">FRAMED QUESTIONS TO A LOVER</a> by Rennielorca. This hints at stolen and lost love – the struggle to regain possession of the emotions necessary to love. When I read The Wall,  ‘silent memorial of unanswered questions’, I feel it.<BR>
<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.21.00.37.6530">wasted</a> by TJ Holland.  Whew…first 2 lines just pulled me into the fervor.  When I am talking to myself – this is what I hear.<BR>
<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.01.21.36.16466">Love me still, Forever.</a> by muryan. Verbs at their best; well said and without reservation.<BR>
<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.04.23.13.24047">Could You Ever</a> by prezioso. Great metre – very crafted and simple all the same.<BR>
<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.22.21.13.17024">Blech</a> by Misti. True wisdom is oft ignored. I guess a clever 3 liner is always better than a shitty page of words.<BR>
<BR>
Whatta ya think?<BR>
<BR>
Rhet<BR>

<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=69">Savannah Haze</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

No, no, not trying to "reintroduce" religion... I apologize for even making the comment... it just struck me as odd how he turned the whole "Samuel" thing into a "I don't believe in God thing."  I said what I said from more of a historical standpoint, not trying to sound "enlightening."<BR>
<BR>
No more religion.<BR>
<BR>
Love is a many splendored thing.<BR>
<BR>
There, back on track<BR>
<BR>
hee hee hee<BR>
<BR>
SH
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=268">Misti</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

Here are my picks. <BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.01.11.16.21720">For Stacey</a> (Jon)<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.21.12.18.31681">Talking Picture Frame</a> (cryingshame58)<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.21.00.37.6530">wasted</a>  (TJ Holland)<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.19.14.22.18821">come haiku me</a> (Rennie Lorca)<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.19.05.12.7598">Days are comfortable uneasily when...</a>  (Stephen)<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.18.07.19.24174">A Little Sip of Me</a> (Ali)<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.16.09.55.11699">Slip Away Woman</a> (Galadrial)<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.08.14.13.11.3033">the girl I used to be </a>  (Lydia)<BR>
<BR>
Why? Because they all work. I didn't read a couple of lines and get bored. These poems held me all the way through.<BR>
<BR>
...thanks, Rhet, for the comment on *blech*!
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=16">kevin urenda</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

Rhet<BR>
What you just posted is exactly what this place has been sorely lacking in (and I am thinking it also parallels Kirk's thinking).  When I started posting to this place in 1998 there was a lot more thoughtful commentary on why, precisely, people liked what they liked.<BR>
<BR>
As a writer I would like to know why something resonates, not just that someone thought it was good.  So thank you, too, for that.
<HR>
From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=109">Stephen</a><BR>
Date: 25 August 2002<P>

Picking 10-15 poems to represent 400-700 submitted poems is a major bitch. I know I couldn't do it without having to up the front page to several hundreds. You have a tough job Cptn. Kirk.<BR>

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