Too many forums - Request for your input

[Doreen Peri]

I think we have too many forums here.

Wouldn't it be a better idea to consolodate some of them so that more of us are in one room together when we're here?

What do you think?

If you agree, your ideas for how to consolidate them (which ones to combine), would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[mousey1]

Well, you might be right, sometimes things do seem a bit scattered, spread out, but it's probably fine. We can always wander about from room to room, listen in, wander out unnoticed.

Besides I kind of think of it as a giant room anyway. There are some areas of said room that I don't much enter into, the conversation way over my widdle head, but it's nice to know I can peer from the sidelines, woot woot a little.

I like it the way it is though. I am an old dog who can't learn too many new tricks, and I'm also getting a little senile so might end up fearsome confused for awhile.

I will definitely think about what could feasibly be consolidated without too much inconvenience to me me me, it's all about me!

[Doreen Peri]

LOL!!!.. ok... thanks mousey

[mousey1]

ps: It's also kind of cool to dog people about! Or in my case...mouse! What this has to do with anything is anyone's best guess but I just thought I'd kick that ball into the room, see if it bounced!

[mousey1]

You're welcome.

[Doreen Peri]

I donno. Maybe I'm wrong. I asked this same thing before and people replied 'the more forums, the merrier' or something like that.

I'm just the type of person who likes to make things happen... make them change so it's not the same all the time.

Maybe it's fine just like it is.

*shrug*... i donno.

[Zlatko Waterman]

I have gone.

[stilltrucking]

I am going to miss you Norman.

Please don't go.

[Zlatko Waterman]

DorDear:

I think "johnwasin" ( our latest member) may be a SPAMBOT.

His link is all about selling "skyephones"-- so are his interests and his website.

Not as interesting as the "Natalie Portman Squirter."

Just a hint.

--Z

[Doreen Peri]

Got it. Zapped it. Gone.

We've been zapping quite a few every day again.

Gotta update the software again.... sighhhh

Thanks Zlatko.

.....

Where's mousey1? Cheeezzzz.... I'm missing her! Anybody seen her around? Gone on vacation maybe? Hope she comes back soon.

[stilltrucking]

She left the same day Zlatko did.

Somebody hurt her feelings.

I hope she is just on hiatus


HIATUS

Not been much sunshine for me since she left.

I been trying to leave too but I think I could quit smoking easier then I could quit this place.

Sorry I lost the url to that picture. I surfed to a website that was closed, the owner just had a picture of that kitten and the words "On Hiatus"

[Doreen Peri]

I can't follow it all. I can't keep up. Zlatko left more than once. He's back now. I'm happy about that. Zlatkomix is great! I love his artwork & presence.

Was it me who hurt her feelings? I sure hope not! If I did, I definitely didn't mean to! I never mean to hurt anybody's feelings.

She's a bright light on this site! (and that rhymes.. maybe i'm a poet again?)... she's a poet, that's for sure! Miss her gentle spirit, great sense of humor & writings.

It's a haitus, yep. She's just bein' a mousey1.

[Doreen Peri]

One more comment...

Seems we've lost a few around here and now you've got me thinking. Why is this? Is it because everybody's feelings got hurt somehow? Is it because the site isn't really moderated to control what people say to each other? Is it too free around here?

I donno why people leave. People have been coming and going all my life. I never can figure out why they leave.

My friend John doesn't come by any more and doesn't return his phone calls. Joe got married and his new wife disconnected his email address. Kathie moved out. Many move on. I don't get it a lot of times, I really don't. But what can you do?

I'm talking too much. I don't have any answers. When my first husband left me, I was devistated. I didn't understand how he could possibly want to leave. I've grown up a lot since then. I've seen a lot of people leave, some come back, some leave again, some come back again.

I've written poetry about it. People come and people go. That's the cliche title to one of them. Maybe I'll post it. It's a cliche poem too, for sure. But I sorta like it anyway. Wrote it a long time ago.

I used to be overly sensitive. Used to be? ha! I still am a lot, but I don't make a fool of myself as much showing it.

Anyway, I've rambled on... just saying I miss a lot of people... mousey1's one of them. Hope to see her soon after her haitus.

The internet is a tricky place. Sometimes I leave for a week or 2. That's about it. I go away from it. And most of the time when I do, I really don't miss it. *shrug*... then after a bit, I miss it.

It's definitely NOT a place to live. The internet isn't really real. It's a place to visit. Real life is real. There are real people on the internet and as my friend Karen used to say when she tap tap tapped on the screen... "there are people in there!!!" .. that's just so true. But nobody can spend hours and hours on this box and live on this machine without eventually needing to take a break.

That's not why my first husband left or why John doesn't return his phone calls or why Joe's wife disconnected his email address. I don't have answers for those things.

It's easier to come up with answers, no matter how temporary, on the internet because the internet is temporary.

Or something.

Yeah, I miss a lot of people. They're all on haitus, maybe. I'll see them again soon. People come and people go. sighhhhhh... They also go and they come.

[stilltrucking]

No it wasn't you Doreen

I don't want to talk about it.

If you want to know more read Hollow Log on Mousey's artlog.

Hell even richard nixon left for a while
"You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore. ..."

I just come here to hide that's all.

I work online, so easy to just check in here. My computer is always on. I got over five thousand posts since you invited me here. Too many, way too many.

But as my avatar suggests
I ain't no fun anymore.

BILL MOYERS: Have you forgiven your husband?

PEMA CHÖDRÖN: Oh sure. Yeah. Well, not only forgiven him, I tell him, you know, it's a little insulting to him actually. I say, "You know, your leaving me was the best thing that ever happened to me." It's, you know, I'm not sure he's forgiven me, you know. But sure I've forgiven him because, basically, without that, it's like people who say, "I lived such a superficial life until I found out I had a disease that wasn't going to get better." Do you see what I'm saying? Not everyone uses that to get happier. But for a lot of people, when you can't get rid of it, it sort of brings you to the bottom, and that kind of positive bottom where you surrender, and then things begin to open up for you. Somebody had given me a poem, and it had a line it which was, "Softening what is rigid in your heart." Work on yourself. Work on your own aggression. And that's sewing the seeds of peace. It's not that do this and then the war will be over in Iraq. You know, it's not naive that way. But it's talking about sewing seeds of peace. And this is where the meditation comes in. People who meditate, they do become much more in tune with being able to notice that they've been hooked and then also notice what they're saying to themselves at that time to escalate the whole thing. In other words, it does give you more clarity about what's going on with you.


http://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreaso ... print.html - 48k -

[Doreen Peri]

OK. I read it. Lots happens around here when I'm out playing scrabble, painting a picture, bluesin' on the 88's, runnin' off to reunions and all that.

Hell, lots happens everywhere I guess. People miscommunicate. Somebody tries to fix it. Somebody blames this person. Someone else blames that person. Emotions run high. What can you do?

I stay out of it most of the time. Here on the net and in real life, too. Why? Because I'm not particularly fond of conflict. (Translation.. i hate conflict.. it makes my heart beat too fast and it makes me cry. Seriously.)

But I'm not afraid to tell people my take on something including this. Did you ask me? No. Will I tell you anyway? Yep. Why? I donno. It's my site, I guess, and I feel sorta like maybe I should speak up.

First off, mousey1's right. Geoff can be very immature. He's egotistical about his writing and yes, he has some very bright moments but his spelling sucks. Whatever. That's thet truth. And yanno what? He doesn't care about that. Seems to me he should care more if he wants to write and be read. That's just my opinion, of course. I hope that's not too harsh. It's just how I feel about it.

I love reading his writing but frankly, when I stop and have to figure out what he was trying to spell, it makes it harder to read. If people can't take critique, they shouldn't post on the internet for the entire world to see. He needs to grow up about it if he wants to be read because many people aren't going to want to wade through misspellings and sloppy writing, no matter how much brilliant content may be there. It's just the way it is.

Then again, there's a lot to be said about letting the muse go wild and just writing creatively without thinking about spelling. There's merit in that. For sure!

But you sure can get a wider audience if you give a shit about honing your craft.

Those who thought mousey's critique was harsh were critiquing her critique. Whatever again. That's ok. People will say what they feel.

Nobody has to take anybody's comments seriously. It's that simple.

People should be sensitive to each other's feelings, sure, but that doesn't mean that should stop them from offering a serious critique with a humorous tone... peer to peer. And it doesn't mean they should stop critiquing the critique either. This is how we learn from each other, in my opinon (for what my measly opinion is worth). If the critique gets critiqued, well then what of it? Same thing. Nobody has to take anybody's comments seriously. It's that simple.

At the same time, we're all artistic types and sensitive so it would be a good thing to be sensitive to each other, right?

If members here decide they don't want to post here any more, there's nothing I can do about it, there's nothing you can do about it, there's nothing anybody can do about it. People will go where they're comfortable and leave when they're not comfortable.

And if they want to beat each other up in the process of figuring it out, that's up to them, I guess.

Wonder how much else I missed? Quite a few other people have stopped posting here, too. Oh well.

-------

Gonna jam this coming weekend. Hope to see you there. Bring a friend.

Hope some of the ones who have disappeared for a haitus will come back and jam with us, too.

Tomorrow is another day (as my mother used to always say).