BeautyDialogues

Spring 2012

The weather has been so erratic lately that Spring has come as a surprise to me this year. An almost impossibly beautiful shade of green - a hue both shy & vibrant - has returned to my garden like the unexpected delivery of something I'd almost forgotten I'd ordered.

Perhaps most amazing to me is seeing the lilac bush I bought last year emerge anew. All winter it's been a lonely little twig that I've sadly thought I should be digging up to put out of its misery. But now it's back - full of those vibrant-hued leaves, along with a similarly resurrected dwarf red maple, two (no, four!) fat lily buds floating on the pond, and an exploding flurry of water iris buds.

It may be just that I am a new gardener, unused to seasonal display, but to me these miracles are proof that things aren't always what they seem, and just because something appears to be dead doesn't mean it is. What a glorious gift, like the proverbial rainbow; nature's cyclical pledge of renewal.

Internet Explorer 9 - (not) for Mac

[Advance warning: this post is not what people are used to reading on the Beauty Dialogues... perhaps I should have a new category called "bad mood" to announce any such diversions in the future! :-) It caused three people to unsubscribe immediately, and one of my best friends to say he was "shocked" to read it. Even my husband says I may have gone overboard here. I apologize for any discomfort, dear reader. I'll change a word or two and leave it up though, because I figure if there is no shadow, light loses meaning. I hope you will indulge me and keep your fingers away from the unsubscribe button]

Frankly, I'm sorry to see a resurrection of that bane of web developers everywhere - the Microsoft Explorer browser. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent trying to make a great site look right on it.

But in spite of my historical bias, I'm intrigued by their newest ad for Explorer 9, offering a "more beautiful web". Maybe they HAVE learned something from Apple after all these years - if only the power of collaborating with creative artists (kudos to filmaker Keith Rivers and musician Alex Clare who made their new commercial) and the aesthetics of beautiful advertising.

Unfortunately, Microsoft still does not really play well with others [I've since learned that this version of Explorer is one of the most web-standard-compliant browsers out there, so maybe this was a little harsh]. They're keeping their newest toy to themselves (and Macs running Windows). Apple's own clearly propriatery approach is only marginally better, but at least PC users can download iTunes and Safari.

I only hope that both Apple and Microsoft (and now Google) eventually wake up to embrace a deeper level of beauty and start thinking about what's good for everyone and not just their own kingdoms of commerce. Imagine a culture of collaboration that could replace the competetive status quo - now THAT would truly contribute to a more beautiful web. It might even contribute to a better world, which would be something worth advertising.