I haven’t posted any “HAPPY Watevers” because I sort of burned out on that by the time I was 8 years old.    I’ve never understood how wishing people a Merry X-mas, Happy New Year, Happy Birthday, Happy Easter, Happy Mother’s Day etc. did anything to assure they would have one. It rings hollow in my mind.   Life happens, no matter what we do or say.  I’m, more likely to wish somebody endless endurance for whatever is looming in the time ahead…good and bad.  By this reasoning, I gave up on sending out “greeting cards” as soon as I was old enough to buck the social expectation.  Actually, that was hard since I come from such a traditional family.  I was a BAD person when I stopped.  Didn’t care…it was a HUGE relief to drop that hypocrisy.  I value a phone call or E-mail above commercial greeting cards.  The absolute WORST cards are the SYMPATHY things that intrude on your grief.  Hate those things!

Now here we are in the second day of 2012, which means that it’s already on the way out.  We don’t know what it will bring, but I wish you all the wisdom and endurance you’ll need to deal with whatever comes.  We have only the day we’re living now.  Yesterday is dead…tomorrow doesn’t exist yet…live in the NOW and make the best of reality.

Christmas is coming…soon…erg!

Surely there must be a way to cleanse all the EVIL in the world without some deity actually bestirring him/herself to descend and destroy everything.   How about if they just stay in Valhalla and Zap all the “Starbucks” outlets for a start…then move on to the Oil Companies and the Porn industry….whatever?  Take it slow.

Are we really seeing MORE natural disasters than ever?  Is this a sign of the impending Apocalypse?  Maybe it’s just a sign of an impending escalation of the news Media…the advances in speed of communication…the hunger for descriptions of sensationalism and chaos?

Dunno about the rest of you but I can do with a little less chaos.  Seems there’s an unending stream of misery couched in earthquake, volcanic eruption, flood, tornado, war and gawd help us…it’s Hurricane season already.  Ole Man RIVER has stepped out and is walking his banks again, but he does that every 100 years or so.  Before “people”, it was a good thing…used to build the fertile land on those banks.  People can’t be angry at him because they put houses in his paths.

The truth is, that it’s ALWAYS been this way.  The Earth cyclically tries to self-destruct….right on schedule.  We just know more about what’s happening on all sides of the mud-ball, thanks to “communication”. People fighting wars in the middle ages or even WW2 didn’t have Cell Phones to call out with descriptive narrative and pictures. 

When you think about it, maybe the planet is systematically trying to shake off HUMAN influence.  Maybe, but that’s a gradual process and won’t happen on a Saturday.

Philosophy looks mostly at the journey.  Theology looks at the perceived destination.  Humans want finality and tend to invent answers.  I align with the Socratic mindset that states, “The only true wisdom lies in knowing you know nothing”. “True Wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves and the world around us.”  Please forgive me if I sidestep all the Memoriam platitudes about afterlife etc.  It’s simply not the point of this message.. 

We lost a dear friend in the past few days.  Ernie was a good man, an artist, teacher and loyal friend to us all on the SF Forum.  He, as will we all, came to that crossing in the River and passed over.  He will be so very missed and remembered with love. 

“The heart hath its own memory, like the mind. And in it are enshrined
the precious keepsakes, into which is wrought the giver’s loving thought.” ~ H.W. Longfellow

There’s a vast variance in people on the Forum and with it comes a wealth of visual experience.  That’s especially true of us who are also artists and aspire to creation of visual beauty.

I’m hoping that the SF members will add to the Photo Gallery by sending pictures to me in e-mail.  Now, people…please don’t send pics of your pets, your house, your cousin’s wedding, the new barbecue pit or the grandkids.   All of that is very nice, I’m sure but it’s only meaningful to you personally and is good filler for the family albums.   If you have a few photos of the scenery in your part of the country or something that inspired you with awe on vacation…send me a few.  I can’t post ALL your photos of the Grand Canyon, but maybe the one or 2 that struck you as awesome.  You get the idea.  I’m hoping for some of the Beautiful fall leaf color changes or maybe mountains…sigh.

Well, you can see from the opening group what the scenery in my part of the world is.  I never saw SWAMPS as anything beautiful.  Because I’m a City-gal and never really wandered into them, viewing mostly from the sides of the highway, the real fearsome beauty never appeared to me.  However, I am surrounded by a lot of family and friends who take full advantage of the scenery and are inspired by it.  I STILL don’t venture into the wetlands…which frankly, scare the bejeezus out of me.  I’ll get my pleasure and inspiration from  the photos taken by the more adventurous people I know.

angelica@siliconfolly.com

I’m in dire peril because I CRAVE backups. The first thing I do after buying a new glass-carafe coffeepot is order a spare carafe.  Sure, it might take 4 years to break the original, but a spare glass anything is essential.  If I had Metal carafes (don’t like ‘em) I’d STILL have spares.  Just remember where you stash them, up in the back of the highest kitchen cabinet.  Took me 3 days to find the last one when it broke.  For some reason, I currently own 3 coffeemakers, though you can only use one at a time (with spare carafes for 2 of them). Duplicate parts for mixers and food processors, electric knives (had 3 of those, but forced myself to give 2 of them away) and everything that moves or wears out, fill those upper cabinets.  They’re up there somewhere…just not always sure WHICH cabinet.

Woke up yesterday to a DEAD monitor.  I hopped on Amazon.com and purchased a new one which was delivered today.  The problem was that I had a terrible time not craving 2 monitors.  Now, that’s just wrong.  There IS a warranty on the new one and before it bites the dust, technology will have supplied better upgrades.  Still, that little voice talking about a “backup” was whispering.  What I’ve trained myself to do is YELL back…”Where am I supposed to PUT it?”

I do think THAT response is the saving grace.  It’s the mentally balanced ability to not just keep acquiring “Stuff” and simply dropping it in piles on the floor…or the furniture…until the mind becomes anesthetized.  Sigh…it’s time to give away that 3rd coffeepot.  No place to keep it…don’t need it.

Your danger spots are closets.  I was horrified, looking through one of mine (yes, I have more than one) to see the SAME 2-piece casual outfit in 3 different colors.  That sort of sneaked up on me.  Sure, it’s pretty and ever so comfy and I DO wear them, but that just screams BACKUP at me.  Time to thin out those closets.  Amazing, how they can fill up in less than 5 years after a flood totally destroyed all my clothes.  At least I don’t collect mega shoes…slippers, maybe.  Good thing I love giving and throwing stuff away as much as I revel in collecting it.  That balances out if you’re vigilant.

There’s a silver lining.  I don’t like animals enough to hoard them.  THAT’S nastier than piles of stuff.  At least “stuff” doesn’t poop, pee and throw up all over the house or crawl under some of the Stuff and die.  Erg…makes an extra coffeepot seem like a perfectly acceptable idea.

Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne.

-  Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

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Sorry, guys.  The name change was, indeed, to make the BLOG a bit more visible.  Maybe there’s a way to get some “Virtual Beer” on tap.  Y’all come on back now, ya’hear?                                                                           

The Simple:Press Forum program is a bit different.   As good and  adaptable as it is, there’s one special tool for mastering its use.  No, I’m not referring to a good BRAIN (though that’s an excellent place to start ).  It’s a good MOUSE…that little computer peripheral, sitting patiently next to your keyboard.  I wrote a 7-part, titled, introductory message that is designed as Reference Docs.  It, (or they), sit pinned at the top of the Discussion Forum where they can be easily found…or ignored…as needed.  The one constant phrase in those references is the instruction to MOUSE OVER.  Strange phrase?  Well, S:P is loaded with these tiny symbols, which when exposed to your Mouse, open to a descripton of their actions.  Sounds simple but it’s not so obvious.  I was learning the program and kept just about a week ahead of the Board opening.  It took me WEEKS to find all those little messages.  Every time I thought I had tamed the little bugs, I’d come across another one or several.  I wrote, re-wrote and edited those Reference messages many times.  It’s not only the way I learn but it acutely tunes me into what all the users are going through as they learn the Forum paths (or is that…The Yellow Brick Road?). 

Then there are the FLAGS…an invasion of little Flags.  Red ones, Red and Black….colorless flags, all pointing us to messages with new infomation.  The little Mouse-bugs drove me crazy, but I love the flags.  They fill one whole Ref message of their own.

So many new pleasures seem to pop up.  The message writing tools are a delight…and for many, a discovery surprise.  The Private Message function that is at once Dead Serious and Hilarious always makes me smile when I use it.  Of course, the realization that I can no longer list my SF e-mail address publicly as it was on the old SF gave me a few minutes of concern.  It hasn’t proved to be a problem.  After 10 years, most people have it stashed somewhere and if not, there’s always the PM function.  I’m always on the other end of that.

I must say how pleased I am that you all are becoming comfortable with the Forum use.  There are even some who are as freakish as I am about the passion and pleasure we get from learning something new.  Keep asking for Board help in messages or PM.  Easiest way to pick up skills is from other members.  PLEASE make an Avatar.  It’s not only fun, but…really…you’re walking around the Board Naked without one…really…really. 

I’ve always had the uneasy feeling that people who are good at blogging have a certain type of arrogance,which is somewhat past the usual self-esteem that lets many of us coast through life, secure in the knowledge that we can do anything.  Whether that self-awareness is based in fact or delusion, it’s a damn good trait to have and a good tool for approaching new roads  as they pop up in the path.  The results are often the same either way.  If you believe in your personal power there will, sooner or later, be somebody else who does as well.  I admit to having an extra large dose of self-esteem.  I’m a thinker and have done a lot of writing inside and outside of Forum and Internet.  However, I suspect you can see that I’m approaching this BLOG thing with a bit of trepidation.

Here I sit, spewing out the most precious product of the mind…Words.  There you sit, reading them, (I hope)  and while you CAN reply it’s not the same as the immediate responses on an open Forum.  On the BLOG, you’re a voluntary prisoner of whatever ideas I toss out.  It sort of reminds me of deer hunting, which is an unfair sport because the deer can’t shoot back.  OK, you will have weapons and a range where they can be used.   Replies in agreement or counter ideas are easily posted in BLOG comments…or take them to the Discussion Forum for true interactive debate.

The IDEA…crazy as it might seem…for this Compressed 2-Forum Board is based in a desire to revive the Glass Forum system which has fallen on slowing activity. This isn’t obvious when you look at posting activity over a year but on a day to day scan it’s getting scary.  Silicon Folly was founded as a home for information.  Primarily I wanted a site to post the Stone Manuals that I had written after many requests on Forums and in E-mail.  I had already sent that info out in more than 350 E-mails when Webbie and I decided it was time to give it a home.  I was a system Admin (and user) of many years experience so it seemed natural.  The Board info and the 5 Forums that were added just sort of naturally emerged in response to need.  This version has retained all the info sections of the original SF.  That was over 10 years ago. It’s become more obvious lately that the needs have shifted.

We will have a General Discussion Forum for all kinds of ideas and talk.  It’s been the most active Forum on SF since it was opened.  I’m always impressed by the intelligence and verbal skill which fills that Forum.  It’s a delight to merely be in the company of those members.  I would do anything necessary to preserve that venue and Keep those wonderful people in my daily life.  Just get on there and TALK.  It’s what we’ve always done there. Make a topic, join other topics and don’t limit your action to just one or even, one at a time.

The Glass Discussion is where the real departure from traditional formats emerges.  Glass is our passion and it’s the thing that brings us together on these Forums.  Glass artists rarely do just ONE kind of glass construction.  I would like us to come together and talk about GLASS…anything to do with glassing, whether you’re a Pro or a hobbyist.  Of course, as people start threads, the glass talk will naturally layer out into topics.  That’s fine, but I prefer NOT to pigeonhole that talk into structured categories where the users must migrate, one at a time, to participate.  Within a Thread, there may pop up several ideas, maybe about different glass activities.  Maybe the talk will include overlapping techniques.  Some of them will stimulate NEW Threads.  Let’s try the open Discussion Format for Glass.  The Forum program has a subscription and Search functions that are useful for following your interests in the messages.

OK, that’s my BLOG and I’m sticking to it.  Nothing is written on Stone Tablets here.  I welcome your ideas…here, on the Forums or in E-Mail.

What’s that silly FLOWER doing  there?  Anything visual to attract attention.  OH, the arrogance of a Blogger!