July 17, 2002
Weblogging is losing one of its most provocatively intelligent voices. Shelley Powers, AKA Burningbird, who has been debating whether to make the move for months now, is moving on to build the life she wants beyond the virtual. With her usual honesty and eloquence she has said her good-byes. Shelley Powers has left the party.
And, for many of us – like me -- the Blog is just that: a party where we can wander around inserting ourselves into catchy conversations or lurk around the edges of a group listening and learning, or if we are more gregarious, set ourselves up as the center of our own group dynamic. It’s a neverending planetwide party. A constantly re-created carnival where we can dress up in our verbal finest and strut our best stuff. A salon full of creative and thoughtful people with whom we feel we have enough in common so that they just might become our good friends.
But it’s not like that for everyone. For some like b!X, blogging can be an effective medium for trying to awaken a world-wide constituency to little known and globally important truths. For bloggers like AKMA, it’s more a venue for philosophical discourse that’s open and relaxed and accessible. For others it’s another medium in which to practice the art and craft of journalism, or a very visible corner soapbox, or a zany roller-coaster ego ride, or a very personal experiment in reaching out from deep inside. If you’re Burningbird, Jeneane Sessum or Mike Golby or Chris Locke, it’s often all of these things. In Blogdom, as in Life, we create our own realities.
But blogging is not life. And Shelley Powers wants a life. She’s going for it. You go, grrrl. And take our respect, affection, and best wishes with you.
I wanted the music to play on forever
Have I stayed too long at the fair?
I wanted the clown to be constantly clever
Have I stayed too long at the fair?
I bought me blue ribbons to tie up my hair,
But I couldn't find anybody to care;
The merry-go-round is beginning to slow now
Have I stayed too long at the fair?
The music has stopped and the children must go now
Have I stayed too long at the fair?
Oh, mother dear,
I know you're very proud,
Your little girl and kingdom is so far above the crowd;
No, daddy dear,
You never could have known
That I would be successful, yet so very much alone...
I wanted to live in a carnival city,
With laughter and love everywhere;
I wanted my friends to be thrilling and witty,
I wanted somebody to care;
I found my blue ribbons all shiny and new
But now I discover them no longer blue...
The merry-go-round is beginning to taunt me,
Have I stayed too long at the fair?
There's nothing to win
And there's no one to want me
Have I stayed too long at the fair?
-----Lyrics by B. Barnes
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Old Comments (1)
Elle on 16 Jul 2005
Correction-------
Oh Mother Dear, I know you're very proud
Your little girl IN GINGHAM is so far above the crowd