In a message dated 11/13/00 3:59:27 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< There is nothing "ugly" in Nature - this exists only in the mind.  Beauty
can be
found in ALL of nature, if one just looks for it!

-Ross.

P.S.: Now, manmade stuff - Ugly is EASY to find there!! (remember Windows 95?)
 >>

This brings to mind an Isaac Asimov quote: "Who is to say that a beaver and
the dam it builds is a natural object, while man and the dam he builds is
not?"

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Aesthetics are all learned. As an
example, may I offer bell-bottomed pants?

Allen Lacy writes books about gardening. He claims, and I think he has a
point, that one of the joys of gardening is having hates. He hates gladiolas,
just despises them. But on the flip side he reserves the right to change his
mind. At some point down the road he might be come an avid gladiola
enthusiast.

And so with shells. A murex enthusiast might find strombs a snooze until the
day he's snorkeling along and finds a roostertail. And then all conchs appaer
in a new light.

I say go ahead and find some shells ugly, go ahead and loathe them. Just
reserve the right to change your mind.