Month: March 2002

Categories
Just Shelley

I am a Romantic

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Is romance dead? I’m not talking about a trip into Hallmark, resulting in the dispersal of either quick wit or Profound Thought of the Moment. I’m talking about moonlight and roses, dancing until dawn, looking dreamily into each others eyes. Romance. Capital ‘R’.

Movies from the 30’s and 40’s showed ladies in long dresses being waltzed around the room by dapper men in tails. Or men sending smoldering looks across the room at their lady love. Or couples exchanging passionate kisses that you can actually feel sitting in your chair watching. No tongues. No groping.

Then the 50’s made romance silly or crude, the 60’s made it obsolete, the 70’s made it either trashy or angst filled, the 80’s put a price tag on it, the 90’s made it depressing or trite, and now here we are in a new millenium, and I’m not sure if romance, or I should say Romance, will ever show itself again.

Did we lose Romance when we burned our bras and marched for equal rights for women? Did we as women slap one too many men when they moved to open the door for us, creating whole generations of men who are hesitant to display anything even remotely resembling a gesture that can be construed as sexist?

Was it sex? Sex is a great romance killer. Think about it — why waste your time waltzing around the room, plucking a rose for your love, sending a secret note, or taking long moonlight walks when you can be in bed, doing the Big Thing? I think the crude would refer to it as “Cutting through the crap and getting to the real stuff”

Talk can also be a romance killer. We’ve progressed in our relationships to becoming good friends, exchanging and sharing thoughts on any and all topics. I think this is great — but there’s this little secret part of me that longs for the beautiful dress and being whirled around the room, the offered bloom, the look, the gentle whisper light touch.

I am a romantic. No, I am a Romantic

Categories
Critters

Don’t touch

As you can deduce from my postings, I am very fond of people. I believe that every person has a unique story to tell, and I want to hear all of them.

I am also a true blue dyed in the wool Greenpeace card carrying environmentalist who happens to believe that people would be even better if they would stop screwing with the environnment. Really, we’re like little kids in a particularly interesting store — we can’t see something without wanting to touch it, usually breaking something in the process.

Two words: Don’t touch!

I’ve been following the Seattle-based story of the orphaned orca that’s been hanging around in an area that doesn’t have much food, somehow separated from her pod. The little girl’s health is starting to decline and marine biologists fear that she’s starving to death. Worse, the orca is a communal creature, and the orca calf is separated from the contact and communication of her pod. Out of deprivation, she’s attaching herself to the humans that approach her in boats — an action that’s not in her best interest.

Hungy and alone.

What to do? Let nature take its course? Capture her and reunite her with her pod? Feed her? Put her in in an aquarium or theme park?

Touch? Don’t Touch?

Photo of orphaned orca

video

Categories
Weblogging

March 3, 2002

Meryl seems to be enjoying her new Southern digs — sounds like a positive change for her. Nice thing about moving to a place where you know the folks, you’ve got people around to help you adapt. Helps make up for the boxes and boxes of stuff.

10:51pm

I finally had a chance to see the infamous Tugboat pictures.

Justin has the background behind these extraordinary photos.

5:18pm

Categories
Weblogging

Weblogging Burnout

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

If I’m reading the posting correctly, it looks like Gary is taking a break from blogging, as Allan has done. And as with Allan, I hope he hurries back soon.

Weblogging burn out. Seems to hit everyone doesn’t it? At times if feels like you’ve got a weblog on your back.

Shake that little sucker off, brother, and walk unbowed in the sun, dabbling your toes in the cool green grass. You, too, can be free.

Come back soon, Gary.

—

I am also shutting down a weblog for a time — TechBlog. I started to last month but kept it on and that was a mistake. I need time to work on my ideas, see which ones really are worth pursuing and which ones I should just drop.

Burningbird will continue, though, pointing you to tidbits such as the Great Google/Church of Scientology Conspiracy that Victor found.

Categories
Weblogging Writing

Won’t be reviewing Radio

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I was in the process of writing a review of Radio for O’Reilly Network when I was aghast to see the publication of a smallish review of Radio by Jon Udell within this publication on Friday. As happens sometimes in a publication that has many parts, one part did not know what the other part was doing.

Though my review was going to be more in-depth and technical than Jon’s, he did cover one aspect of Radio — the community engine — I had planned on covering, but from a strongly different point of view.

After discussion with the lead editor at O’Reilly Network, I will not be continuing with my review of Radio. My apologies to those of you who took the time to provide me your feedback on the product.