The Lit Net Monthly News

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[FONT="Book Antiqua"]March2010[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]


Welcome to the March edition of The Literature Networks online newspaper. Every month, we will keep you updated with information regarding threads, contests, Book Club and lots more!
Happy Reading.
The Lit Net News Team

[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Forum Book Club[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

Don't forget to vote in the March Reading is Steppenwolf by Hesse [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?p=868034#post868034[/url]
And don't forget to cast your vote in the April read! for the April Read [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50490[/url]
The nomination period is well under way for the May read. Please drop over and see what has been nominated and if there is any places left why not nominate a book of your choice! [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51191[/url]
Also for anyone who is interested, the 2010 Valentines read is Breakfast at Tiffany's By Capote [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50694[/url]
The Forum Shakespeare Discussion Group is currently starting on Henry IV Part I. Pop over to the sub forum is you are interested in participating in the Discussion or any other forum Discussions. [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=5895[/url]

The Forum Book Club is always happy to have new participants. If you are interested, you can find it in the Reading section of the Forum Index page.

[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Official Forum Contest[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

The next round of the annual short story competition is under way so get your entry in! [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49792[/url]
The first elimination round for the 2010 Short Story Contest is closed. The Winning story was Collettes Coffee. Well done!

[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Unofficial Poetry Contests[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]

The Personal Poetry forum is one of Litnets’ most active forums and comes complete with a sub-forum dedicated to poetry games and contests. We have three very popular poetry contests located in the sub-forum; The Picture [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23675&page=42"]Poetry Contest (continued…) [/URL] , [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23444&page=34"]The Form Poetry Contest [/URL] and [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38056&page=4"]The Subject Poetry Contest[/URL]. There is also a new contest set up The Minimalist Poetry Contest. [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50408[/url] Why not pop in and give it a go. You might just win!
The current winners are;
Form: Qimissung
Picture: BienvenuJDC
Subject: The comedian
Minimalist :Virgil
Congratulations to you all!

[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Featured Personal Poetry[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]
This month we have selected three poems from The Personal Poetry Forum, posted during the month of February, to feature in the Litnet Monthly News! I hope you like them too!

[B][U]You Were Never the One ~ Dark Muse[/U][/B]

It was
raw animal
magnetism

Static electricity
which set off
a spark
of attraction
like synapses
firing

Undeniably
a pull is felt
caught within
charisma's
web

Enhanced
by rare
wisps
of tenderness

Small fires
still burn
a candle kept
not snuffed out

Still
drawn apart
our lives
would never
fit together
in completion
like
yin & yang

Primitive
wantings
of the body
invariably
suspended

Not quite lust
not enough love
but a friction
unfading
requiring
to be placed
aside

Never to break
into the light of day
but only to live
in passing
private
moments
of the mind

[B][U]Natural world ~ Biggus[/U][/B]

They say nature is perfect
They say nature is beautiful
But they are so wrong
Nature is ugly and brutal
Oh it looks pretty in a picture
I quite accept it all looks nice
But don’t be fooled
Nature will kill you in a trice
It doesn’t matter where you go
If you look closely enough
Something is eating something else
Nature is cruel and tough
Its dog eat dog its bird eat frog
Its fish eat fish its whale eat seal
In nature it seems to me
Everything is some body’s meal
So don’t try telling to me
That nature is perfect and wonderful
I don’t need the natural world
I can go to London if I want brutal



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[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Profile Of The Month[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

This months I have selected Petrarchs Love's profile [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/member.php?u=9941[/url]

[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Blog of the Month[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

This months blog of the month is NikolaiI's blog [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?u=34281[/url]

[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Featured Threads of the Month[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]

Every month we will feature different threads and games. This months Thread of the Month and Game of the Month are:
Thread of the Month is Book Buddies [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50369[/url]
Game of the Month Which movie would you like to watch with the person above you Thread [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44925[/url]


[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Lit Net Book Reviews[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

This month’s book review was randomly selected from the Write a book Review sub-forum in general Literature.

[B][U]The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius[/U][/B]

It's been a long time since I last read Stoic philosophy. I think the last work of this type that I read was the brief [U]Handbook of Epictetus[/U] as an undergraduate. I didn't like it much. Mostly because my girlfriend at the time (who was a major repair-job) loved it. She was using the emotional detachment ideas to get over this jerk she dated before me. Nice. As a result, I thought that stoicism was just a mask that emotionally weak people wore to hide the honest and hard-earned scars on their souls. Logos, detachment, "the whole" = chicken****.

But that was then. I don't really trust the self-important, hot-shot judgment that I had back then. Could stoicism kindle my intellectual fire? I bought Marcus Aurelius' [U]The Meditations[/U] (Grube translation) to find out.

[U]The Meditations[/U] begins with a series of odes to people in Aurelius' life who have demonstrated unique moral or personal characteristics. Many of these are touching, emotional, and reflective and (really) against the grain of the general stoic practice of emotional distance. None the less, there are some gems here:

From his father:

[QUOTE]not to take an empty pride in what are considered honors; to love work and to persevere in it; to listen to those who have something to contribute to the common good. . . .to use the comforts of life without arrogance or apology when fortune provides them when they are available, without making practice of it, and not to feel the lack of them when they are not. . .[/QUOTE]

These and many other observed qualities from the first book find their way into aphoristic style and structure of the remaining 100 pages that Aurelius uses as (almost) spiritual prayers or reminders of how to live a good life, make good decisions, and do good work.

Philosophically, Aurelius reiterates his belief in a guiding logos (sometimes found within divinity; sometimes logos assumes a divinity itself), a naturally derived order to which humans must synchronize if they are to be wise, and on our tendency to fall for the [I]femme fatales[/I] of praise, fear, and greed.

While the reading is often repetitive, the cumulative effect of the repetition is that of mantra or a family prayer before an evening meal: the repetition itself draws on the power of routine and language to build meaning.

Some more of my favorites:

This on the habit of pure thoughts:
[QUOTE]The kind of thought you frequently have will make your mind of the same kind[/QUOTE]

This on individual will and authority:
[QUOTE]Be upright or be put right[/QUOTE]

And this, my overall favorite:
[QUOTE]The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, insofar as one should stand ready for, and not be thrown by, whatever happens unexpectedly.[/QUOTE]

This last makes me reflect back on my former girlfriend who had the bad beak up. Maybe she used stoicism to stand up right after she had been thrown, not as a mask to hide behind. Maybe in my mind, I was cruel to her for thinking as I did, and in those thoughts, discolored my mind.

Marcus tells me this: [QUOTE]when you are impatient, remember that the life of a man lasts but a moment, and after brief while we have all been laid out for burial.[/QUOTE]

And this: [QUOTE]rational beings are born for the sake of each other, that tolerance is a part of rightness[/QUOTE]

Indeed.

9/10 Comedian

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[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]March Birthdays[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

Here are this months Litnet birthdays! Also, don’t forget that many of these members will be sent an interview, so look out for the [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36273&page=4"]Getting to Know You thread[/URL].

Happy Birthday!
Livelaughlove, Amundsen, Schokokeks, DanielBenoit, JuniperWoolf, Chaneybean, Koa, vheissu, kevinthediltz, Bluebiird, imthefoolonthehill, Shanannigan, NikolaiI, PoeticPassions.

A very special happy birthday to our wonderful Admin! :)

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[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]New Additions to the Site[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]
There are some new quizzes added to the forum by Logos. If you have some free time on your hands, why not give them ago! [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/quiz.php?catid=1[/url]
There have been some recent upgrades to the forum. If you are interested in seeing what Admin has now created and changed, please follow the link below. [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45417[/url]

[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Letters to the Editor[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]
The poetry book club is having a heck of a good discussion reading Giacomo Leopardi.
Here's the link: [url]http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=50876[/url].
Virgil

[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Special Thanks[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]

I would like to thank everyone who helped contribute to the Newsletter over the last year, whether they were aware they were contributing or not!
Also a special thank you to all those that subscribe to the newsletter.
Yours truly
Niamh, The Litnetter
Kilted Exile, Personal Poetry
Papayahed, Book Reviews