Come back home I have

[Elise]

<sigh> i can understand Ofilia's disappointment. I thought this thread would be welcoming- welcoming back an old participant, and embracing new ones.

I have to particularly thank Ofilia, and Pam for making me feel welcome back when- i was a rank newbie and feeling a little tenuous about posting. And, there are more people than I can name who have contributed knowledge and wisdom- both in the trails they left (in the archives), and who respond to the frequent questions we all have as beginners.

While i may not be interested in everything that comes up on the forum...as many of you have said- noone's got to read it all if they don't want to.

I think it's great when people share personal information- sometimes even daring, given that a good many of us have never met face to face. When people put themselves out there, they take a risk. Let's try to respect that, and just move on if is not of interest.

i think there are also constructive ways of handling it when a thread which starts on topic, turns off- and I've seen some of our "elder statesmen" do it (tho most are women...and not all that old if you want to stay on topic...gently steer it back, or start a new thread. There are so many ways to handle it.
Well. I don't want to run off at the mouth here.

so Jan, though I never met you on or offline, welcome back. I think we all benefit greatly from the diverse information and backgrounds on the forum, and by the knowledge and wisdom of more experienced lampworkers. I hope you all stick around.
aloha,
Elise

[CindyLouhoo]

Count to ten... then count to ten again... and calm down. I don't think that anyone intended to offend anyone else. We can all pick and choose what we read. At least that is what I choose to believe. We all are here because of a shared love, and we do share. Isn't that what this is all about?
Every day I'm on this earth is a good day... no matter how much I whine and complain at times.
(Going back to reading and singing, "La la la la la" with my fingers in my ears.)

Cindy

[Karen]

Margi, I love your posts.

And in the interest of diversity and, obviously controversy, I have to say that I love it when threads go all kattywampus. Some of the most interesting things come up in those threads. And if I don't care for the controversy or the way the thread is headed, I have a mouse to click - next post. When posts get nasty, I just stop reading them. That is the fun of the forum - everyone coming and going from a different direction.

[margi]

Not only "Who is Jan," but...what is her POINT? Can anyone else interpret it clearly? I sure can't.

I'm sorry, Jan, Dale, etc., but when I am dealing with a situation in which my greatest loved one has been badly hurt and could have been killed (she is worse today, not better, BTW, for those of you who DO care), and I write asking for a little support from those of you who ARE compassionate and are my friends, and I get back "I don't care about your dog," I perceive that as an intentional, vicious, heartless and insensitive attack directed at the core of my being. Sure does discourage me from wanting to post anything at all here right now.(Although I do know that a lot of you DO care, as I care about you and your loved ones.)

But that line was a little too mean for even me to handle. I'm going to go spend some meaningful time with my injured animal. Good night. (But thanks for the support from the kind ones amongst you.)

No one is FORCING anyone to read any posts, especially when they are in the "Other Topics" section. Get it?

Margi

[Jan]

Ofillia I had to stop reading the rest because what you said is what its all about I just wish I could write like that. That's how I feel about bead making and what I wantthis forum to have. Its all that, the passion the discussion, how you make that same old technique into your own, That's what I want to see. The passion the drive to explore and push the glass to its limits and we need every ones impute to bring it out. Did you see how this thread all of a sudden took a nasty twist! Some one got defensive and it just took off. Margi if you re read what I wrote I did say You did the right thing and started a thread on the subject you wanted to talk about that's what its all about. Jan

[daffodildeb]

I agree--this is a COMMUNITY--and for the most part composed of rather isolated glass people (not there's a visual for you! ) who need to talk about their lives with understanding people just as much as their art. I think as long as it goes into the "other" forum, and is labeled properly, life stories are very appropriate. I like to read about Ladywolf (except for her accident), and I also like to hear about the trials and tribulations of working full time and trying to survive. It may not always be pleasant reading, but then again, there is (or should be) joy among us when one of our own succeeds to make a good sale, gets a great contract, or sweeps up at a show. And we can all support one another.

We should all share our successes! And our parrots. Mine is a nice mellow Blue Front Amazon called Kermit, named because when I handfed her as a baby 16 years ago she looked like a "frogface." (Didn't know until DNA sexing came out that he was a her!)

[rightbrainlynne]

Jan owns 'Check Glass' -- the company that sells czech glass to bead makers. He also makes gorgeous beads.

Hey Jan! Just want to say hi and welcome back!

lynne

[stagecoachdana]

Wow this thread made me feel yucky!!! I was unable to use the word I wanted to use. [img]/forum/ubbthreads/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] I don't know about everyone else.

I am new. I love this site. It is a great source of information and more importantly friendship. These are both very important reasons why I use this site and participate in conversations. My contributions may just be words of encouragement to other bead makers but this is an isolated art form, we need to give each other a pat on the back and words of encouragement. I do not come to read spiteful comments or those designed to offend. Negativity is not the norm on this forum. If I wanted to see something negative I would watch TV.

Everyone has a right to their opinion. My opinion of how this site should be revolves around information based on friendship, support, compassion, a kind word, and yes something other then a dry boring post. I like the way things are. If the PERSONAL aspect disappears then the PEOPLE disappear. Everyone that shares and makes this site a happier place need to keep posting and making this an enjoyable bead related escape. It is nice to know that there are bead making wizards out there and their technics and support are so very welcomed and wanted. Thank you for all the help everyone provides to us newbies!!! We appreciate it.

Dana

[Vince]

Jan,

good to see you again. By the way Margi, Jan is a man, not a woman.

I read everything that gets posted on the Forum. I may or may not comment and, most often, I do not. If I do not want to read about the latest Show n' Tell session or about someone's personal problems, I know where the mouse button is.

So far as new people asking the same questions over and over again, well, that's why they are new people, isn't it? What would one expect them to do? Sometimes it is useful to answer briefly and point them to previous posts, and at other times it is more expedient just to answer the question again. In general, some of the best technical information available anywhere can be found on this Forum, and it is the only place to stay abreast of what is happening in the Society.

As far as the off-topic threads are concerned, I agree that that's one of the reasons we have the "Other" category of postings. If the subject is not of interest, the thread will die an early and quiet death. Most threads are self-limiting and run out of steam all by themselves, and then there are those "hot" topic ones that go on forever. The place is indeed a community and it seems to me that there is room for quite a lot of differences of opinion so long as people can keep it civil, and mostly, we seem to do that.

For those people for whom this Forum is inadequate, there are other venues. If such people are not willing to contribute here, then perhaps they will find the climate elsewhere more to their liking.

Vince

[margi]

Back for just a moment (I guess that those of you who dislike me can't drive me away from writing to, and learning and receiving support from, those of you who don't dislike me or some of the rest of us who tend to write O.T. sometimes)...Jan, I guess I did misunderstand you. I thought you were saying that there should be a NEW section in the Forum called "chit-chat," and that since there isn't, we shouldn't be writing anything that doesn't deal directly with beadmaking. I met you at the Gathering and thought that you were a really, really nice person. So I think that there's just a bit of a language interpretation difficulty here going on here. And I think that I also got so upset about Dale's comment that I'm getting all these posts mixed up with each other...

Now that I know who you are, I shall make more of an effort to understand what it is that you are trying to convey to us.

Whomever it was who criticized Ofilia's thread(s)--and I really can't remember who it was right now--should be tarred and feathered. Ofilia serves a totally unique function in this Forum--she is the voice of sensitivity, deep introspection, a never-ending quest for and insight into the deeper meaning of what we are all striving to do. She is one of our own true National Treasures. How dare anyone mock her--or any of the rest of us, for that matter--for bringing up "deep" philosophical topics that provoke us into thinking and writing about things that we may never have considered before?

Margi