+Steven Curtis Lance
Sep 16, 2004, 11:55 PM
I am having problems with my computer, so I will be offline for a few days.
Miss you all.
Rick
Sep 19, 2004, 07:50 PM
Get well soon, +Steven's computer.
Shawn
Sep 21, 2004, 06:05 AM
I sympathize with you, Steve. I've been having some too of late.
Dara
Sep 21, 2004, 07:30 AM
I am glad to see you are back online Steven!
Love ya!
Dara
+Steven Curtis Lance
Sep 21, 2004, 02:27 PM
Friends and fellow poets, dear ones all!
I am back, with a fancy computer with glowing electric lights inside its clear-sided case; I have no idea what it does nor how, but I am sure my fourteen year-old son Teddy will love it. In any case, I am able to operate it quite handily, thanks be to God. It is Windows XP, which turns out to be much better and easier than Windows 2000. Mind you I have no idea what I am talking about.
What I mean to say is that I am back, big as life... well, perhaps a bit shrunken; I lost some weight in the midst of my trials in computer hell, but there are one hundred and thirty-seven pounds of me, I believe, in fairly good order, just terribly behind in all my work. Consequent/subsequent to my adventures in computer hell, I find myself quite exhausted. And cold! I have just awakened from being rolled up like a burrito in blankets and I understand it is hot outside for normal souls; it is the time of the Santa Ana wind, the first breath of fall, always the most inspiring time for my writing, if I can stand to be outdoors enough to look at the sky and feel the Santa Ana wind long enough to pick up the vibe (if you will allow me a '60s term for want of a better one).
I am terribly behind in my work. Silke and I finished a new book, though! So that is good... I am not behind in that sense; no, I mean I am behind in posting hereabouts: I just posted my "offline sonnets" in a few big chunks on the poetry board, for which I apologize; I was just too tired to post them more properly; the presentation is rather unaesthetic, I fear, rather just like pulling them all out of the suitcase and spreading them out on the bed for you as souvenirs. I do hope you will read them though, as some say I am getting better at all of this, and a few of you are mentioned (quite favorably, really; no worries).
I have to gather myself to post all my new sonnets on my poetry pages, found elsewhere on this site, which is sort of the depository of my stuff, the vault where I keep it all, if unlocked. Have you visited my poetry pages, by the way? Here, have a look; see how I'm doing getting trying to get caught up:
http://brainmeta.com/poemdirectory/stevelance/comment.php
Visit me on Lulu and see the new book, "Sweet Moon for Silke," if you like, too. Silke was the editor, and she also did that glorious cover. That's her, by the way, with a big sword. Good for you, Silke! What a beauty she is, and what an artist. I am The Lucky Little Bastard indeed; I will never understand it, but I do enjoy it.
I suppose I ramble... I must be off and try to get caught up with my work now. Thank you all so much for all your well-wishes. Some of you did indeed seem to pick up on the stress of it all, as well, the human as well as the cyber, and that was very kind and empathic of you. In the end, it all worked out really well and rather nicely, I suppose. My new computer is so high-strung I had to get a fancy filter for the electricity of good ol' Studio Lance, which has not changed since 1908; too much "noise" in it for my new cyber-assistant's delicate circuits. It sure does have pretty lights, I must say, although it is a demanding thing (can computers be bitchy? Let us just say it is high-strung). It reminds me of those special Hondas with blue and red light-effects; have you seen them, or is that an LA thing only? Well, in any case, I have a computer which looks like one of those.
I am just hoping it will keep working. By the way, my former computer was destroyed by the Linux Red Hat thing. That was really terrible. First my homepage was replaced by the Linux Red Hat test page, then it got worse and worse, until the entire system was destroyed. It came in through the modem, and destroyed it in the end. Yes, I still use dial-up... I have this telephone line just lying there, you see; I figure I might as well use it... it was my Grandma's... I'm lucky to have advanced beyond the pencil, actually; I am not the brightest bulb in the box, nor certainly the most modern. Old formalists do well to learn as much of computing as I have; I am still surprised! Stubbornness, I suppose... I was ultimately the one--with the help of God--who got this whole thing straightened out, oddly enough; my repairman was utterly mystified.
I suppose eccentric and highly-mannered formalists have eccentric and highly-manned, formalistic computer problems. I know I do, but a broad liberal education--and a broad mind--helps, even though I can't math me way out of a paper bag. Fortunately, Dr. Silke is a mathematician. I just count the syllables of my sonnet lines on the fingers of my left hand. My math skills are those of the Rosary.
All my love to all! Do think of me, as I think of you, and I have missed you all terribly. I hope you all enjoy the sonnets I brought back for you, and I hope you will have a look at the new book which Silke and I have done, "Sweet Moon for Silke."
Down with Bush, and peace to us all, before we utterly destroy ourselves.
+Pax vobiscum in nomine Domini,
+Steven
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