Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

48, Single, and Back at Square One

Tammy Stevens — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 06:24:46 EST

Relationships are tough under the best circumstances. Imagine finding yourself single for the first time since you were 17 years old. Now imagine that you’re 48 years old. That’s where I find myself after a 17-year marriage and a subsequent 14-year, long-standing relationship. I was recently told by one of my regular readers that what I write carries a theme of ambivalence. She was absolutely correct. I think there’s no way to avoid being ambivalent when something that caused you heartbreak in the past is what you always hoped you’d have as you grew older. We all dream of having a soul mate in our golden years, but when the person you thought would be that soul mate taints your current outlook on love, you have a tendency to frown on ever falling in love again. Oh yes, ambivalence is exactly what I feel.Ambivalence is a good learning tool. Cynicism vs. a positive outlook can be sort of a coat of armor - a protective shield that helps you pay attention to those relationship red flags that you didn’t pay attention to when you were a little younger. I suppose because you aren’t a little younger, you’ve realized you’re not immortal and time could run out.When I first became single, I didn’t plan to get involved again for a long time, and I didn’t. This was the one time in my life when I decided to take some time to get to know me and nurture what had needed to grow for a long time. That was the wisest decision I ever made. It didn’t really help much in deciding whether or not I wanted to pursue a relationship, but it did help me in understanding myself and learning to be true to myself.Being with the right person doesn’t always mean being with someone you love or being with someone who loves you. That’s a pretty important part of the big picture, I’ll admit, but it’s not all of it. I am learning now through dating experiences how to look at what kind of reaction our separate lives have to being together. Relationships should never hinder growth no matter what kind of relationship it is. I believe a good relationship should challenge us every day to make strides of personal growth as well as growth within the relationship. As I move forward in this dating experience of mine, I’m finding every day that even though I long for that special someone, I’m not willing to compromise the big picture for a few pieces of a good time. I have found that not being sure of what I want, or even being ambivalent, is okay for now.

Tammy is a native born California girl, who has lived and raised her children in Washington for the past 30 years. After many years of writing and raising a family, she has at last found her home in the blog world, and is now telling the story of becoming single at 48 for the first time since she was 17.

Blogcritics Author: Tammy Stevens

Announcement: Short-content feeds

48, Single, and Back at Square One