Frequently Asked Questions
Q: "Frequently asked questions" implies that a lot of people have been asking these things. Is this true?
A: Since at the time of this writing my page isn't even on the web server yet, it's obvious that these should really called "Never Asked Questions," meaning that I just made them up. After I've been around a while and (hopefully) receive some correspondence, I may include a real FAQ list. Though to be fair, I am also planning an Occasionally Asked Questions section, as well as Rarely Asked Questions.
Q: What is this "Practical Romantic" thing? Isn't that a contradictory concept?
There is a popular view that if you have a romantic nature, you must be without common sense. That you must be illogical, flighty, mechanically inept, have a short attention span, and just be generally foolish. I disagree.
When I use the term "romantic nature" I'm not talking about someone who will send flowers once in a while. Living a life with romance extends beyond an occasional gesture. Have you looked at any personal ads lately? "I love romance, candlelit dinners, walks on the beach, blah blah blah." Somehow in our short attention span culture, romance has been reduced purely to certain situations between the sexes. This view is far too narrow for me.
I'll admit it, I'm a born romantic. But I'm also analytical and logical. My profession is in the arts but I am also a good businessman. I'm a big and manly guy, but I"m also a good designer and decorator. Finding that I possess many supposed paradoxical qualities does not trouble me because everything fits just fine, thank you. Being the kind of person that could be put into a pigeonhole is what would make me uneasy.
What does trouble me is when I hear of someone using their romantic nature as an excuse for being foolish. By foolish I mean acting in a way that is self destructive or emotionally unhealthy. I don't buy the "but I love him/her" concept of ruining your life. Equally, I pity the person who has no time for romance in their life. Last summer I spoke briefly to a man who was a professor emeritus* of a Big 10 university who had obvious contempt for anything he regarded as childish--which seemed to include everything short of nuclear physics. I'm not belittling nuclear physics, but being a scientist or anything else doesn't preclude having poetry in your soul. For example, I completely understand the physics that produce the Northern Lights--but this in no way diminishes the awe I feel when I see them.
*Why do most people retire but professors are "emeritus"? Is there a difference?
Q: So why did you decide to make a website about practical romance?
A: Why don't you ask me an easy one? It seemed like a good idea at the time,
and actually it still does. There isn't just one reason I'm doing this, of
course. It's a creative outlet for me (and eventually, I hope, for others) and I
actually hope it might do a bit of good for people.
Q: What kind a name is "Lucky Bones," anyway? Admit it, you just made it up.
A: Well, not really. Family legend has it that the name "Bones" was
related to working with dead people. My own theory is that we had the name Jones
and the J was converted to B through hurried Ellis Island scribbling. Whatever the
reason, there it is. My proper first name is Dale, the "Lucky" nickname has
followed me since 6th grade when a teacher described my attitude toward
schoolwork as happy-go-lucky. This was true and prompted one class clown to
exclaim "Lucky Bones!" Official disapproval of this pun/nickname
naturally guaranteed its use, so there you go.
Q: Are you serious?
A: The concept is serious, obviously my approach to it is no more serious than necessary. Long ago I vowed to take myself and the world no more seriously than I have to. I can be very serious, even grave, when occasion demands. But it's not my natural state.
Q: Are these all the questions you can make up?
A: No, but I do have other things I need to accomplish now and then. Now is one of those times. Stay tuned for more.