Wolfram, did he say you could post that?

Edited. And thanks Hil. My better judgement went to sleep about 2 hours ago.

I second Deena's motion.

Thirded.

Get out, get out, get out!

This post has nothing to do with the last gajillion posts (i.e. I am not crossing the picket line on Deena's suggested break).

I feel like such a problem child, but I think I'm starting to find my way. When a stompy gets a chance
(and I really mean that—have coffee and donuts, or Kasha or something—there's no hurry—my identity crisis is only my own fault),
would/could/will said stompy please change my name on this account to Topic!Cindy.

Thanks, in advance.

How's that, Cindy?

Thank you so much, Liese!

It snowed here today.

April Fool's!!

I'm not nearly caught up here (though I do still intend to read each and every post), and I'm about to have very minimal computer access (let alone internet access) for the coming ten days or so due to Passover. I don't know where the discussion is at the moment, I don't know if what I'm about to write is in any way relevant, but I'll say it anyway, because this is what I thought and felt while reading this thread during the past few days.

A couple of weeks ago I got the most amazing gift I have ever gotten, in my entire life. And it was from you guys, and I mean 'you' in the most plural sense that the word can have. From the community, or the collective, if that's how you prefer to call it. It was through specific individuals, of course, but I don't think it ever would have happened if it weren't for the community, the board, this place.

And I'm not talking specifically about the money that was collected in order to give me the present of a plane ticket to the USA, as strange as it may seem (though that was, indeed, incredible). The money is the result of that gift, in my eyes, if that makes any sense, its physical or technical implementation. The very existence of the emotions behind it, the very fact that people from all over the world could connect in such a way through words-on-a-screen - that is amazing, in my eyes. The ability to know people I would never ever had any other way to know, in any different circumstances, and not only 'know' in the sense of having casual conversations and debating plot-and-character points, as much as these things are indeed fun and started this whole forum, but also know in the personal, emotional, level. And getting them to know me. I have never felt so rich in friends, as in that morning (my timezone), never felt so blessed.

And like I said then, it wasn't about me - it was about the goodness that came from your hearts, about reaching out all over across the ocean, both the one full of water and the one full of the cultural gaps, and being able to be friends, really regardless of gender, color, religion, or language. I got to see how wonderful, considerate, caring, enthusiastic, cooperating, generous, sharing, reaching-out - I can go on until my vocabulary runs out, here - you are. And when I say "you", I mean it in both the singular and the plural sense, both as each one of you whose generosity still brings me to tears when I think about it, and as the plural-you, the group that contains all those individuals, and without it, nothing would have happened.

I'm trying to explain this place to people I know IRL (well, "in real life" is not a good term, because you guys are just as real as any person I've met face-to-face, so maybe I should use that term). I've tried in the past, but now that I'm sharing my plans to go to the USA during the summer, and meet as many of you as I will possibly be able to, and stay over at your homes, I find myself doing that in a higher frequency. I try to explain that you are not just user-names who express opinions on "Buffy", that so many of these names have a whole personality for me behind them, a whole person, many times with history, current information, unique personality and character. That I can tell you apart by more than just a name, that each of you is a person to me. That I feel like I know, at least some of you, and moreover, that you really know me. That this is a community, that people share their lives here, that through the technology there's a human connection, different than the one developed when meeting people F2F, perhaps, but sometimes just as strong and significant. That it's something I treasure and feel blessed to be a part of, as small and distant as my part may be.

Like I said, I'm far from caught up, and I have no idea about the specific nature of the current discussion, but I just want to remind this to, well, I'm not sure whom, maybe myself, after reading throughout a lot of hurt emotions. You We are a wonderful group of people, who has done a lot of great things, both to individual members of the group and to many other worthy causes 'outside'. I am going to have quite a little internet access in the coming couple of weeks, and I'm going to miss you - to Nattering with you, to knowing how you are, to be a part of your lives, in this 'virtual' but very real way.

I'm not sure how to make my point, here. What I'm trying to say is that we're doing good, we're good people. I love us. And, yes, just as there are times when I am doing something that is wrong in my eyes and I'm disappointed in myself, there are times when things don't work out 100% OK in a more general sense. I want us to be able to get through this rough patch (as we got through rough patches in the past) and continue to be friends. But on the whole, I love us.

t allergies