Thomas Perdue

2017-05-14
Hi there,

Interesting topic. I would never have thought of writing about social media. It does seem rather limiting in many ways, especially in regards to genuine human connection. Facebook with its news feed, a list of names both familiar and unfamiliar, quick scrolling through the endless list, occasionally stopping to engage with a post, and then on to the next. Definitely no replacement for real connections. I recently got rid of the Facebook app from my phone, I think I'm much happier now. Still check the thing from time to time on the web. It's a positive change. Excellent topic and very pertinent to today's culture!

Nice to see some new work from you. Hope you're welll,
- Thomas

2016-03-14
Typo. The last part should say "Oh, I certainly hope the anti-Hitler Germans DIDN'T say that."

Sorry about that.

2016-03-14
It seems rather popular to compare a politician with Hitler. It also seems rather popular to denote political ideas that one disagrees with as "communist" or "fascist," with little to know understanding of what those ideologies denote. However, Trump does seem to have the charisma of such world conquerors, enslaving people's minds, warping them to what he wants them to think. I don't think the average Trump supporter is necessarily vile, just very suggestible. And I don't say that to be insulting. On the contrary, I say it as a redemptive quality of their personality. I believe that they truly mean well. A good point is that (important in the literary composition of fictional narrative) no one sees themself as "evil." In some philosophic schools (such as nihilism) "evil" is seen as figment, there is no good or evil. I'm not well read up on nihilism, but I can get the main point. If I were to explain a philosophy based around that idea, I would say that the concepts of "good" and of "evil" vary from one culture to another based on what is acceptable. To get to the root of what is good and what is evil, one must look passed not only one's own culture, but passed culture entirely! To do something like this shan't prove to be an easy task, for culture is the very means by which one thinks. What al this amounts to is that when considering good and evil, one must consider the intention of the person behind the action and the very character of that person. There are some things that are universal (transcending culture.) Of these things, obviously, the philosophy which Trump claims to support should be counted as universally evil. Politics is full of brain warping, introducing ideas gradually to gain followers. I'm sure Hitler did not go out straightaway with his anti-Semitic ideas, he worked up to that gradually as he gained supporters, introducers more and more extreme ideas as he saw fit that his supporters would get behind him on it. I believe it was Mark Twain who once said "Hisotry does not repeat itself, though it often rhymes with itself" or something to that effect.

In any case, very nicely written. US politics seems to be the Entertainment Industry of the World, of sorts. haha! Though, that might not be so funny, more scary than anything else, especially when we have Trump running. Even if he does win, thankfully it is unlikely that he shall be elected supreme dictator. Oh, I certainly hope the anti-Hitler Germans said that, if so, we might be in a bit of trouble! ;-)

2015-05-27
ten years already? times seems to move as water seeps through fingers at times... i first joined back in '06, under my original account. became inactive once or twice, but always find myself coming back! i've been on a few other sites, but always seem to get bored of them. poetbay is the only one i ever truly miss!

always glad to see familiar "faces" (names on the screen), and eager to welcome the new comers, of course!

well, here's to another ten year!

- thomas

2015-05-20
i've always loved the rain, ever since i was very young. i remember thunderstorms in early childhood, the rattling of the skies use to startle me. but somehow, i now find it comforting.

a very fun story of a rainy summer day, really enjoyed it!

- thomas

2015-02-17
A very reflective and meditative piece on self actualization. Kind of reminds me of the works of Kahlil Gibran. Love it, nice work!

2014-05-27
Sounds like you had a nice weekend there, Mr. Ken D. Williams! ;-)

I really liked the rhyme and rhythm of this one, nice job!

2010-10-17
Personally, I feel that the vast majority of those who commented on this poll do not understand what is being asked. This poll has nothing to do with texts being shared: it has to do with implementing a new feature to facilitate easier access to sharing as such. I can understand that most people do not want their texts being shared by others, I am not one of them, but I respect their desires. So, I would recommend giving users an option in their settings to either include the tool bar on all their posts by default (and possibly giving an option to change that setting text by text), or not including the tool bar at all by default, or (as a third option) blocking access to their texts by anyone other than a logged in member. This is just an idea I had, and I do not know programming, so I don't know how easy or difficult this would be, or if it is even feasible, but I thought I would add a suggestion!

2010-09-03
I am not particularly familiar with the sharing toolbar. I have seen it around on various sites before while surfing the net, but it is not a part of any website that I regularly use. However, as to my understanding, all it actually does is share the LINK to the posted text, correct? It is not re-posting the text anywhere else on the Internet?

If that is so, then the toolbar is not allowing or promoting users to do anything that they cannot already do. I could post any link I want on Myspace, facebook or any other similar website that I want! However, this tool would make it more easily done, easier access to do so.

As for copyright laws, I do not see that being an issue here, since the vast majority of the work being posted here is NOT copyrighted. That aside, I do see it as being good courtesy to not post links to people's works on sites if they do not wish for it to be posted (even though the text is actually published, and as such it is available to anyone with an Internet connection).

I don't want to sound like a broken record player or anything, but why not put something in the account settings to allow users to decide whether or not they want the toolbar to appear publicly on their texts? Or maybe decide on a text-by-text basis? Decide as we post? I dunno, maybe that's not such a good idea!

In any case, I'm definitely in favor of the toolbar. And I do not see it as infringing upon anyone's privacy (there is no privacy on a public website, unless you block non-members from viewing texts). It may encourage more people to share texts on social networking sites, that could be a downside for those who do not want their works shared in a forum where so many people they do not know will be seeing it.

In conclusion, I would have to say that PoetBay is a small website, some people may prefer to post here since that means their work is being seen my a smaller audience. If that's the case, then they should be given the choice to not have their work shared elsewhere on the Internet against their wishes (even though this cannot be guaranteed). The toolbar might infringe upon that since it would encourage people to do so. All the same, I'm in favor of it. What's on the Internet is public! This site is already referenced by Google anyway!

Sorry if I seem to contradict myself, I'm just trying to look at it from all angles, in addition to expressing my own views. :-)

2010-07-10
Here's an idea: how about giving each user that choice? Like putting it in our account settings? That way, everyone could have it just the way they want it! :-)

2010-07-02
nice rhymes!

2010-06-14
I like the sound and rhythm of this one, especially the "I flicked a flake" line. Nicely written! :-)

2010-05-02
I take it that that means that you won't be growing it out? ;-)

Nice work,
T.

2010-03-31
Hmm... You say that the Greeks got the idea from the Nazirs, but later, you say that it appears that it emerged simultaneously in India, Israel and Greece. Hmm...

Well, it's a nice article, a very interested history of long haired men, even though it isn't completely accurate. Nice work! :-)

2009-12-29
I second that!

You see, the reason intolerance is so much more popular is because it's so much easier. It is SO much easier to just sit back in your own glory and hate everyone else because they do not believe in the same things as you. It's so much easier to preach to people about hell because you secretly wish for them to burn for disagreeing with you. It is so much easier for people to hate than it is for them to love.

No, there is nothing disrespectful in this peace. But it appears to be the response to disrespect for you and your beliefs. If you have experienced such a thing, I am terribly sorry... I hope this new year will bring happier times for you. :-)

Congratulations on the Editors Choice!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.
Best wishes!
- Thomas

2009-10-08
No, I've not read it. But it sounds very interesting!

2009-08-18
The haiku is an often misunderstood form. It isn't really so much based upon syllable count as Westerners often believe it to be. The syllable thing was kind of like a natural feature of the Japanese language, it just came out like that (and there were other syllable counts that came up occasionally as well, it's just that the 17 syllable count was most common). And the idea of "syllable" is actually quite different in Japanese, Japanese works different, what we call a "syllable" in English isn't really the same in Japanese, I've never studied the language, so I can't really understand that idea so well. I've only studied Spanish, nothing so foreign as Japanese...

Haiku is more about imagery: creating a beautiful image of nature, a moment in time, and then presenting an emotional response to it. I think you've pretty much done that here, so you've done good. :-)

T.

2009-08-17
I suppose the controlling one is the wife? Yeah, I'd say love is love, if the wife isn't loving at all, and you find it somewhere else, then go for it! "Marriage" is just documents, without a real relationship, it's meaningless, unless you count legalities...

Nice poem, I enjoyed the read. Very sensual and romantic!

2009-08-17
I like Sid's comment. That's really where things get messed up: intolerance of others' beliefs. I've been exposed to a lot of different belief systems, and considered different things, so I have to be able to have some tolerance for other belief systems, and in many cases, I even have a deep love and fascination with different belief systems!

I think this is what we really need: to get the religions of the world to respect one another, come together and study together. I think a lot of people could learn respect for others' beliefs like this, and we really need that in the world now: there are a lot of people who, like you say in your poem, take offense in other belief systems (yes, I know you are talking about Christianity in your poem, but it can be applied to any belief system).

Overall, nice write, good job!
Hope you're well,
T.

2009-08-17
"Esoteric" has always been a favourite word of mine! :-)

2009-08-17
Oh, and I'd like to point out that your poem DOES in fact contain rhyme! Yes, well, I'm sure you already know that, of course. :-)

2009-08-17
I'm with Nicholas on this one: I do believe that forcing beliefs on others would be an offense, but I find it hard to believe that any sober person would believe posting such a work as this to be "forcing" a belief on anyone.

I've tried to have spiritual conversation with people online a lot, there was this one time when I tried to discuss things with this one person (it was someone I did not know), he went as far as to tell me that I did not have any place in heaven because I did agree with him on certain issues regarding the Christian faith. THIS was offensive, of course! But I was more saddened than angered by him, I found it sad that he could not even tolerate to hear an opposing view, I still find that saddening, always.

What you have posted is your free will, your free speech, it is your beliefs which you are free to post. It is not in the least bit offensive (even though I know I have some differences in spirituality with you).

I'm sorry to learn of this negative experience you have had recently, and I hope everything is well with you besides this.

Best wishes,
T.

2009-07-28
Oh, baby! You keep me up all night long
With that God-forsaken annoying song!

2009-07-27
that's what i get from it, anyway.

2009-07-27
hmm... i think it's about mysticism.

2009-06-16
Welcome back!

2009-03-14
Yay, Pi Day! :D

Math was actually one of my favorite subjects back in highschool. :-)

Nice poetic work, here. Did you mean "Greeks", or is it supposed to say "geeks"??

Anyhow, nice work.

2009-03-14
wow! i actually read a book on spirituality recently in which the author recounted a version of this story to explain something! that's amazing! i didn't know the story was very widely known, i thought it might have been a little more obscure...

well, i really like the story, and you tell it beautifully! excellent work on this one, zoya!

i'm actually part cherokee. :-)

2009-03-05
HA! I like how you put the word "talented" in quotation marks! Yes, I completely agree. Though, I do believe there is still good music out there, that there are still real artists in the world of music. You just have to pick through all the crap to find the good stuff...

Congratulations on the editor's choice!
T.

2009-03-04
Congratulations on the editor's choice!

I like "acid tears", is that from a song, or did you make that bit up yourself? Was it perhaps song inspired at all?

Nice work, I like it. :-)
T.

2009-03-04
a veces, no tengo tiempo para hacer todos las cosas que quiero hacer. ¡hay solamente muchas horas en un dí­a! pero yo edito todos mis poemas, al menos que ellos no estan muy bien...

Buen trabajo,
T.

2009-03-02
I actually read "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" shortly after Christmas last year. I was disappointed because I didn't get to see the movie on TV... ABC had just stopped broadcasting in analogue signals, and we didn't have DTV, so I didn't get to watch (actually, I still don't have DTV as of yet).

Well, happy Birthday Dr. Suess! And nice work, Nurse Phoenix! lol

2009-03-02
So does that mean you don't mind that you misspelled two words???

In any case, nicely done! :-)

2009-03-01
sweet, i like it. i suppose love isn't always very logical, but you did a wonderful job expressing your feelings here! :-)

2009-03-01
Wonderful work, I love the imagery you have in this one!

2009-02-28
i completely agree! though, i believe it is escapable: only by our choices. we all must "pay the piper" for the choices we make in our lives. wonderfully expressed, really enjoyed it. *applause*

2009-02-27
¡Excelente! Very moving, very moving indeed! I'd love to hear you sing it. I really like to listen to songs in Spanish. :-)

- Thomas

2009-02-27
Eh, we can all be hard to live with at times. I can really relate to this one, nice job!

¡Bienvenidos a PoetBay!

2009-02-10
i really love the internal rhyming.
excellent work!
t.

2009-01-29
Nice start to it, I look forward to reading more and seeing where you'll go with this... It's good to see you posting again. :-)

T.

2009-01-25
i like rhyming poetry, especially when it is to such an extreme degree as this. i wish i could rhyme like that! nice work, i really enjoyed it. excellent use of metaphor as well. :-)

2009-01-18
i really like the rhyme in this one, masterfully done. nice work!

2009-01-18
i could easily see this being a song, it has a very musical quality; at least i think so...

i like it, it's very hot. :-)

2009-01-16
i love facebook, i've been on there for some time, but only recently became addicted to it, oddly enough...

i'm glad to see the group is attracting new members to poetbay. :-)

welcome to poetbay!
t.

2009-01-11
congratulations on receiving the editor's choice. :-)

2009-01-02
Very affectionate, I like it. :-)

In the first stanza, you actually mean "his", not "he's". "His" is possessive, "he's" is the contraction "he is".

Nice work, and welcome to PoetBay!

Happy New Year,
- Thomas

2008-12-31
You know, at one time in English, we ALWAYS capitalised nouns! That's how it is in the Constitution and such documents... And German still does that. :-)

Oh, well, that's a random bit of trivia...
Anyway, I like the poem. Love is always a nice feeling when it comes around. :-)

Nice work!
T.

2008-12-31
excellent metaphors, symbolic language and imagery. nice work!
t.

2008-12-31
i like the rhyme scheme, very good. and that's a very good ending "until they bend
and break"

i like how the last line departs from the rhyme, that's very good. nice work! :-)

t.

2008-12-21
Merry Christmas and Happy New year, Stan and Don. :-)