Are websites being killed off by blogs??

When I started a website in late 2000 blogs were barely beginning to enter internet consciousness and usually involved someone designing the blog from scratch. Over the years, as we all know, blogs have multiplied to the point that no-one can keep up. I still keep all of my poems on my website (though a good deal are hidden now and don't show to visitors due to sheer volume). I still get around 60 hits a day on the website so people clearly are visiting. No-one signs the guestbook so I don't know who. I have a lot more visitors than comments on my blog, too, but I DO get comments so the blog provides an interaction with the reader that a website never can give.

My questions are these: How many of you have a website now? How many of you had a website but closed it when you began blogging? If you do have a website, how do you use it, ie to showcase certain things, to keep most of your creative work there, or....??

Do you think we'll still see websites, other than business/professional ones, on down the road or do you see them slowly fading away.

Paul Newman dies at age 83

It was a shock to hear today about Paul Newman's death. When I was a teenager I had a mad crush on him. When I grew up, I could see what a fine actor he was, besides being a humanitarian. He leaves a hole in Hollywood, yet another one of the fine actors to leave us.

Roger Ebert's tribute article about him ends with this quote:

In a book about the actor, the writer Lawrence J. Quirk quotes Newman: "I'd like to be remembered as a guy who tried - tried to be part of his times, tried to help people communicate with one another, tried to find some decency in his own life, tried to extend himself as a human being. Someone who isn't complacent, who doesn't cop out."

Read the entire tribute here in the Suntimes.

A Challenge

Write the the first 2-3 lines of verse that comes to mind as soon as you see this. First impression. No thinking.

When Beauty turns against you.

Recently I read, in passing, a reference to the old Charlie's Angels tv show. I was blanking on the name of the third angel (though a third angel changed several times over the course of the show which I can no longer clearly remember now). Who could forget the quiet beauty of Jacklyn Smith, however, or those combed--back golden locks of Farrah Fawcett, along with 'the' calendar she made. I googled the two of them to find that Jacklyn, in her early sixties still has a calm beauty, though the article debates whether or not plastic surgery is part of it (She's said no, she's not had it). On the other hand, Farrah has had multiple facelifts and had to do several over again due to a botched job. There was almost a gloating in how far that famous face has fallen. I found a sickness in that gloating. Out of the 3 references I glanced through, only one mentioned that she has a serious form of cancer and is in a fight for her life.


Is beauty such a two-edged sword? Is it better to be just 'average' when you're younger so that people don't gloat so much when you lose it or is it better to have that brief moment grazing the sun before your wings are clipped and you fall? Opinions??

I do realize that beauty may not be the term some may use for Farrah but 'glamorous' would certainly apply. So would 'sex appeal'. Same difference in terms of the question I'm asking.

These are some of the photos I found at those sites:

The infamous calender:



A 'now' shot:




Another angel, Jacklyn Smith, in 2008, born 1947, according to her bio:



I wish Farrah the best in her battle with cancer! I was a little reluctant to post this all, but I think the question is important. How do we value celebrities now who was once made famous by looks or power? We don't even need to go that far. Is there one among us who's never commented on how far our old homecoming queen in high school has fallen?

The passing of a remarkable man. Reginald Shepherd

When I read the blog below, I'm struck repeatedly with the combination of talent, generosity, and strength of spirit manifested in Reginald Shepherd. He discusses the illness that led to his recent death and , at the same time, discusses poetry and lauds other poets. It's well worth your time to read his words at his Reginald Shepherd Blog.

(His blog was duplicated by The Poetry Foundation, but thanks to the comment below telling me that the link wasn't working, I'm linking directed here. I can's find the problem in the other link, though the blog still exists on that site, too.)

haiku for 9/11

birds, shorn of their feathers
they fall...
9/11

'Don't Miss A Sec' exhibit in Switzerland...unusual!

This public toilet was created by an artist in Switzerland as an experiment. People feel comfortable with other people they may not know well seeing them doing some private things, but not others. Going to the bathroom is one of those others. The first photo is of the public toilet seen from the outside, constructed of the type of glass used to observe without being observed.



In the second image you can see how it looks being inside. You wonder...can they really see?


Snopes goes into more detail and the images can be made larger there but copying a teaser phrase from the site isn't allowed so go to SNOPES to read the article. I was searching for another urban legion when this came up in the choices. This one isn't an urban legion. It's true.

Update and yes, a poem

I got to the doc. It seems I've had two kinds of infections going on at the same time so started on a new med last night to get rid of the other one. Right now the med has me very swimmy without any relief kicking in yet. I promise I'll stop moaning and groaning on my blog when I feel a little better. In the meantime, here's a poem I wrote. You can see that my state of bodily being was reflected in this one. It's one of my 'Sara' poems, my younger, wilder alter ego. Yep, I took her down in this one.


Sara in the Sky

Sara's tired all the time,
can't run with the boy.
She falls into walls, she's dizzy.
Words drift like snowflakes when he chatters;
she tries hard to catch them.
Her body's a stone, her mind, mud.
The boy pours his own cereal,
heads to school, shirt inside out.
One blue sock. One white one.
Doctors frown, tell her she's crazy.
Friends just want the old Sara,
say it's blocked energy, too little roughage,
maybe suction from a roving Black Hole.
She's glad Norman pays rent, sends money.
Nights she dreams she's dancing again,
skirt filled like a parachute.
The moon paints her hair gold.
Stars etch her face into the sky.

Not only can you hear Les Paul and Mary Ford but you can learn how to cure halitosis!

I know their music but never saw their tv show. This excerpt is priceless, not to mention Les Paul's guitar work. The man is fantastic!

Would this make YOU stop drinking?:-)

A friend sent this today. I needed a smile (that's his comment up above). We have Ike down there with us in the possible cone and Hanna passing to what looks like will be our east. Another storm is behind Ike. I feel like a bowling pin hoping the bowler misses! Thanks for all the messages below. I still don't have the infection under control but think it's improving. It has to. This isn't the season to be dealing with health issues.

The straw that breaks...

It's one of those times. I'm already doing my juggling act with the different things wrong with my body, then comes one...two...more and I'm up at night with the pain from it, am allergic to the med that fixes it, so had to try an alternative that hurt today. Yes, I'm being vague. Nobody needs to know the details. In the years of CFIDS I try not to cry anymore. It doesn't do anything but inflame my sinuses. Anyway, the dike burst today. I've had barely any sleep due to this mess, I'm tired of doctors poking into me. I need a break. I need some sleep. I need for the treatment I had today to kick in and help.

I'll be back. Send fairy dust.

Pris