Mindy Newton Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Hey Mindy! Got you beat. Just celebrated 25. First for both too. Best, NickFor twenty-five times around the sun,Nick's wife has made his life more fun,And he has made her feel secure,And they have both felt love's allure.Congrats, congrats, congrats!=Mindy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Rich,Great to see ya'!Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Mawdsley Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Rich,Great to see ya'!MichaelDitto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Mawdsley Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Romanticism is a state of mind. To be a Romantic, or at least include a good deal of Romantic sentiment in one's life is a choice (hopefully a conscious one!). It can be a beautiful "way" through which to live. I respect reality, but in some ways I find it overrated. Or maybe I just know that a lot of how happy we end up has to do with how we go about approaching reality--is it joyous?Rich,I like this shift in focus. Romanticism is a state of mind regardless of how we try to define it and philosophize about it. Romanticism is viewing the world through the lens of appreciation. It does not deny realism. It emphasizes those things that have positive meaning to us by focusing on an aesthetic appreciation of that meaning. This appreciation, and making it real by transforming it into action for one's lover, is what Ted talked about earlier.Approaching reality with an aesthetic appreciation of the positive meaning people and things have for us contributes in important ways to how happy we end up. This is not to say we don't recognize, acknowledge and process the more mundane or negative aspects of life. We do. We just don't dwell on them. It's a shift in focus, a shift in the relation of figure and ground, not a denial of reality. The mundane and negative become a backdrop that emphasizes and helps define the value of the positive that we are focused on. It's a state of mind that embodies a commitment to happiness.Romanticism is just yet another lens, another context, through which to view reality. Reality remains reality but the focus, and the background that helps define what we are focused on, changes.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaalChatzaf Posted September 10, 2008 Author Share Posted September 10, 2008 Romanticism is just yet another lens, another context, through which to view reality. Reality remains reality but the focus, and the background that helps define what we are focused on, changes.PaulRose Colored lenses? Well, it beats fecal brown lenses.Ba'al Chatzaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Engle Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 (edited) Hey, Paul, Maestro Mike... nice to be seen. I almost ended up moving to Florida. Instead, I'm installed in a new compound out in the country (Amherst, OH). Many gonzo rock and roll doings are afoot. That and working on the novel, waiting to release the album. Yikes, what a damn ride. Ever record in a Motel 6 before? I didn't think so..."Rose Colored lenses? Well, it beats fecal brown lenses."Whoah...a veiled reference to yonder bittersweet rosebud, sir? Or just shit-goggles? A self-created transition, maybe an ass-ition even, but nonetheless a transition. Back to the business at hand...Part of the Romantic view involves the bittersweet, my own experience and that of many others tells me for sure (and I'm talking about the sentiment, not the damn taste...jeezus I'm still reeling from that one). It's funny how bittersweet can feel kind of good. Sometimes it makes you feel maybe ~ noble~<tm> or something... Yeah, bittersweet memories: meaning, they're sweet to conjure up, but then you realize that's all you can do. Again, though, better to have than to not have. I'm in that space now because I'm enduring an extremely long separation, one of the longest ones ever. So, I have my memories, but if I hold them too long I get miserable. Bittersweet.Maybe it's because I haven't gotten laid in like seven months. Oh, if it were only that... A 38 mile distance can be a continent away if things are messed up. I keep the scrapbook put away, mostly. All that whining aside, the bittersweet is definitely a strong area to explore in writing and music and such. Sweet misery. r Edited September 10, 2008 by Rich Engle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindy Newton Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 Romanticism is a state of mind. To be a Romantic, or at least include a good deal of Romantic sentiment in one's life is a choice (hopefully a conscious one!). It can be a beautiful "way" through which to live. I respect reality, but in some ways I find it overrated. Or maybe I just know that a lot of how happy we end up has to do with how we go about approaching reality--is it joyous?Rich,I like this shift in focus. Romanticism is a state of mind regardless of how we try to define it and philosophize about it. Romanticism is viewing the world through the lens of appreciation. It does not deny realism. It emphasizes those things that have positive meaning to us by focusing on an aesthetic appreciation of that meaning. This appreciation, and making it real by transforming it into action for one's lover, is what Ted talked about earlier.Approaching reality with an aesthetic appreciation of the positive meaning people and things have for us contributes in important ways to how happy we end up. This is not to say we don't recognize, acknowledge and process the more mundane or negative aspects of life. We do. We just don't dwell on them. It's a shift in focus, a shift in the relation of figure and ground, not a denial of reality. The mundane and negative become a backdrop that emphasizes and helps define the value of the positive that we are focused on. It's a state of mind that embodies a commitment to happiness.Romanticism is just yet another lens, another context, through which to view reality. Reality remains reality but the focus, and the background that helps define what we are focused on, changes.PaulI think part of living and relating romantically is keeping your wildest hopes in sight. If you're not romantic about life, you can't be romantic about a person. If you don't still have plans, or at least goals that would make life fantastic, you can't see your partner as part of something wonderful. If you, yourself are just "slip-sliding away," the whole world will look like a slippery slope to the end. =Mindy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Engle Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 "I think part of living and relating romantically is keeping your wildest hopes in sight. If you're not romantic about life, you can't be romantic about a person. If you don't still have plans, or at least goals that would make life fantastic, you can't see your partner as part of something wonderful. If you, yourself are just "slip-sliding away," the whole world will look like a slippery slope to the end. "Damn Skippy. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindy Newton Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 "I think part of living and relating romantically is keeping your wildest hopes in sight. If you're not romantic about life, you can't be romantic about a person. If you don't still have plans, or at least goals that would make life fantastic, you can't see your partner as part of something wonderful. If you, yourself are just "slip-sliding away," the whole world will look like a slippery slope to the end. "Damn Skippy. Thank you.I trust "Damn Skippy" is something good? :-)=Mindy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas Dykes Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 Hey Mindy! Got you beat. Just celebrated 25. First for both too. Best, NickFor twenty-five times around the sun,Nick's wife has made his life more fun,And he has made her feel secure,And they have both felt love's allure.Congrats, congrats, congrats!=MindyYou're sweet, Mindy. You know that? But actually Rachel is ~my~ security. She started a business when I got ill and turned out to be 100 times better at making money than I ever was! Best Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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