Moderator: Orlion
Me- "Thank you for calling *blah* this is Mel."
Them- "I'd like to speak to *blah*"
Me- "Sure, may I tell them who's calling?"
Them- "*random douchebag*"
(pressing appropriate button to connect to *Blah*)
"*Blah* you have a call from *random douchebag* on 101"
) I'm halfway through Graduate school but may change from Spec. Ed. to something else. Job goal: to write fantasy, own a sci-fi fantasy bookstore and be an Associate Prof. all at the same time. I still play basketball and tennis when my gimpy bod can get around, art when I can afford it, poetry, hotwheel collecting, camping, sports addict and avid gardener.
Welcome to The Watch Eye. Nice to see another South African around, there's far too few of us here. (Even including you ex-pats.)Eye of paradox wrote:I was born in South Africa. (Greetings Avatar, my fellow South African).
(Thanks dAN. 
)
I truly believe people can be good friends and vehemently disagree about many things. It's all about sharpening each other's wit and being respectful and polite... for me. So I'm home a lot... my husband is a great guy (53 years old), but he doesn't like to do a lot unless I DRAG him places... he's also a Christian and I'm not, which gets interesting sometimes... but we're both musicians, when the mood still hits us. *sigh* He reads Conan books and wasn't too impressed with TCoTC. I've got him reading the DT books ("Dark Tower VII" now), and he doesn't love them the way I do. Oh well. 
Great intro. I hope you've checked out the Steven King forum in the Library...Well, that's pretty much what we try to achieve in the 'Tank. (Outnumbered by who?) I hope you will join us there, and takle the opportunity to see that compared to most places on the internet where politics are discussed, the 'Tank is a haven of peace and friendliness. (Ok, I'll admit that sometimes feelings are strong, but we behave ourselves pretty well the vast majority of the time.Chassit wrote:I took a peek in the politics discussion and decided I'd probably be outnumbered there... LOL... so I may lurk more than post. I used to love to argue politics, but anymore, I just want some peace. I guess I'd rather find out what I have in common with someone than what separates me from them, although every now and then, you might see what my opinions are and either like me or hate me. Generally, I like to have disagreements without it getting personal, but alas... on most of the message boards now, it always does.
)
Avatar wrote:Well, that's pretty much what we try to achieve in the 'Tank. (Outnumbered by who?)
Uh... well, I just perused a hot-topic at random, and read several pages of the thread, looking for someone who disagreed with the core, fundamental argument... and either didn't find any or just couldn't tell from what was said. In such situations, I grab a drink, stand back by the wall and do what I do best... observe, nod and smile. Every now and then I put down the drink and run over to do a bit of finger-wagging and opining, but I'm trying to restrain myself more these days. Thankee-sai. I already have... just to get my toes wet.Feel free to jump in anytime you like. We always welcome another point of view.
You know, it's taken me many years to do that. Part of the reason I would get into heated arguments on the 'net, as I told a moderator RL friend on another board, is to actually make my skin thicker, which I badly needed. It's been several years now, so I think I've made some progress. You hang around on fora long enough, and you can alphabetize all the descriptions other posters hurl at you. Probably I'd hear nothing new, and nothing on the 'net would truly bother me after living this long (I am 41)... but I just want a li'l break, or at least some moderation (no pun intended).The important thing is to have a thick skin and remember that this is just the internet, and not to let things bother you.
Well, the reason for that, as we like to believe, is that as readers of a highly sophisticated and mature writer such as SRD, that we, as fans, are highly sophisticated and mature people as well.(I do like the seeming lack of frequent "You're a f--king moron" or "all [liberals/conservatives] are brainless idiots who need to pull their f--king heads out of their m-----f--king..." type things on this site. Ah, a breath of fresh air!)
* 
kevinswatch wrote:Well, the reason for that, as we like to believe, is that as readers of a highly sophisticated and mature writer such as SRD, that we, as fans, are highly sophisticated and mature people as well.(I do like the seeming lack of frequent "You're a f--king moron" or "all [liberals/conservatives] are brainless idiots who need to pull their f--king heads out of their m-----f--king..." type things on this site. Ah, a breath of fresh air!)
-jay
