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Ethel wrote:

I really wasn't all that valuable to TORC as a moderator. I doubt I will be missed much at all, actually.

The only time I ever hear you talking crap and its about yourself.

You're wrong, Ethel.




*E*

Ethel

I must concur with the others here, you were one of the best mods I have seen on TORC, it is indeed a sad day when they lose such wisdom and level headedness.

Right now I feel an old anger brewing when I see so many fine people hurting senselessly.

VtF, 'Jon just doesn't get it'
You are right, My last angry parting shot at Jon was that for a christian he was very fast to judge people's actions from a very unchristian stance. At that point I was hurt and angry at having my motivations judged and twisted into something ugly. Especially when spite and maliciousness were never there. Oh, well like I said to some unlidded single eyed person recently, Jon is a great one for saying" don't get so upset its only a messageboard". perhaps we all need to heed his words...

(damn see I got dragged into talking about that t ORC ish place )

Jnyusa wrote:

Seriously now, can we put your head on the block, er your name on the list?

heheheh.... I'm glad Jny is not as 'shy' as I am Was almost going to ask that myself yesterday but then chickened out of it.

I take that as a YES Ethel :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
and do you really need to feel sorry? How about feeling proud instead of what you've done over the years? That does not mean you cannot have any wounds licked by who-ever ... erm... tickles your fancy

Will add your head to the block.... the second block
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Resident witch

Tigg--Hi! We haven't met, and I'm glad to meet you. It's one of the strengths of this message board, at least in these earlier days: everyone stirred up together.

I will never accept that this place, or even TORC , is "only a messageboard." It's a community where people find each other who may never connect again, if "their place" vanishes. I'm ridiculously grateful to everyone who thought up this place, built it up, invited a mass of people including some goof named Prim, already had or then proceeded to invite most of her friends, and let her and them feel free to invite the rest . . . . *snif*

Primula_Baggins wrote:

I will never accept that this place, or even TORC , is "only a messageboard."

I've been told "its only ___" so many times about so many things that the phrase now just seems to me to be an excuse for apathy. They're basically telling me to not care about something because they've dwindled it down to the most basic definition possible and taken all the heart out of it. TORC is not just a messageboard. Lord of the Rings is not just a movie. For some, sports aren't just a hobby (sp?), or music isn't just a song. There are things in our lives that mean a lot to us and admittedly, some of it maybe doesn't need as much time and mind spent on it as we give it, but man does it tick me off when every time I get upset someone tells me its just so-and-so. In a lot of ways, I am a very apaethetic person, and I do not think that is the answer! I can tell you this from experience. It saves getting worked up a lot, but that's part of life. I think the bigger travesty is that when you don't care, you also don't get to enjoy the nice things. Not caring is a double-edged sword. You may miss out on a lot of negativity, but you sure miss out on the positive.

I think a lot of times when people use the "its just a messageboard" phrase on TORC, it is for their own advantage. They just want to calm people down. Of course, when something good happens they want everyone to care about it.

It's just not a phrase I'm fond.




*E*

Yes, TORC is "just a messageboard". Just like Byron is "just a cat", and my mum is "just a person".

One of the things that shocked and saddened me the most of the whole sorry affair was Jonathan saying (in December, I think, in the thread spawned from Lidless's banning that was posted on TORF) that the community at TORC didn't matter to him, the only thing that mattered was the Vision. I was dismayed. How on earth are you supposed to have a living, breathing messageboard without a community? That was when I did my two-fingered salute to Jon and left, only to return a few days later when I saw that people (Ethel prominent among them) were trying to work things out in a positive fashion.

I remember IE saying (somewhere - there's been so much stuff said about all this that I forget where and when) that Jon and Ted tolerated the Talk-type chitchat, but that they wanted to focus on the other content of the site. To this day I cannot comprehend how someone can attract a large enough body of people to create a thriving messageboard without a sense of community. In order to feel motivated to contribute anything meaningful, I need to feel comfortable with the place (either that, or they pay me to give a paper ). TORC without its community is nothing more than a scholarly library and archive, and when the last TORCer has left, they'll have their library, but it won't grow any more. Maybe that's all they wanted: a full library. It is impressive, but unless there's a cosy coffee bar outside where I can relax with friends, I won't be working there.

Voronwe (hi!!! ), I welcomed that half-baked apology from Jonathan because I wasn't expecting anything of the sort from him. All he's said over the last few months amounts to stating that TORC is his playground and that anyone who complains about it only want to take it away from him. I personally have never demanded ANYTHING from TORC staff save politeness and respect, the same I gave them. I apologised when my wording offended anyone, and appreciated it when they did the same. What can I do... I appreciate apologies, even if they're small. Especially if they come from someone who has demonstrated a noticeable inability to take what was being said at face value and preferred to see conspiracies and plans within plans.

Ethel, it's been said before by many a person wiser than me, but it's worth repeating. You were invaluable as a mod. A good mod isn't everywhere, everytime - she's there when she's needed. And you always were.

About the "only a messageboard" thing - I agree, TORC was never "only a messageboard" to me either. And maybe there's not really such a thing as "only a messageboard" in the first place. Maybe messageboards by definition are communities? I like Ber's library analogy, but I'd probably take it a step further. A place with a lot of names and a lot of history where people don't give a damn about each other is nothing more than a graveyard.

Graveyards can be beautiful, and thought-provoking, and relaxing. But given the choice between a lively, bright place where I can see people rant, swear, support each other, and care about each other, and a graveyard, I'll gladly pick the former.

Farawen - that's actually what I made my parting title in my Liyaera PM

Quote:

"If it were not for your guests all houses would be graves".

I was more than surprised when it got approved.

Well said Farawen :mrgreen:
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Resident witch

YUP, this TIGGER agrees entirely..do you know I cried for 3 days solid when I was banned? I had been away and returned to an email calling me spiteful and malicious, to this day I have not got beyond that hurt. My husband retuened 2 days later to find my eyes so swollen I couldn't open them. Someone maligned my very integrity.

ok..stupid, but it was like someone took a knife and killed something inside me. I loved that place, when I got angry I took a sabbatical, I held onto mod secrets and still do because of a loyalty I felt to my friends and the community I was a part of, and my saying " its only a message board, lets listen to Jon" is my way of being cynical and giving him the 2 fingered salute.

It was never a message board to me it was as much a part of my life as my own physical neighbourhood, and basically that is what Jon will never understand.

As TLE said " he sees a vision" we see a community, we might not always agree but we co-exist, we laugh, we love and we communicate, and thats is what makes it and us real.

I'm so glad we got to have you among us again, Tiggy.

I haven't had much interaction with Jonathan, and I haven't gone through all the latest in the TORf- I think things are brought up here enough to suit any curiosity if at all.

One thing I'd like to add- Ted hasn't been around much due to job responsibilities and when I met him at the Gathering, and he was speaking of change in the wind... I had very mixed feelings at the time.
He was talking about pulling back and pursuing his career- fine, great for him. But quite honesty, I think he was a factor in the equation that helped the sense of 'community' on TORC- granted he might have also been a 'visionary'- like Jon, but I believe he truly appreciated the fact that TORC was a community, and what that community could accomplish.

example- I never got much response from Ted while trying to put together the quilt project for the Gathering(something a community CAN do.... something that was pulled off WITH and internet community!!)- I figured, the guy is busy and has other concerns. BUT!!! At the Gathering- when I met him face to face... the guy visited the Quilt booth... Several times,... over two days while it was displayed- he kept coming back. ... and just SMILED!
It might not mean alot to those of you who had nothing to do with it- but I do believe he was PROUD- that this was a beautiful token of what a group of people with a common interest and a good foundation (the TORC online community) could bring together. And I was proud that HE got the point!

It takes all kinds of folks to run an online community- the visionaries are needed, but also those who carry out the vision in practical means and make it workable and good for all who participate. Jon and Ted (and Dave, whom I've never met or seen ) were a good team, they balanced each other.

Ethel- You WERE valuable and valued on TORC (and I am sure you wil be missed as well, just as you ARE valuable here! You are a part of the good balance equation

Tigg- your love for the TORC community was evidenced in the TORC Ted! you made- beautiful, lovingly crafted with travel suitcase and all!!! (we were raffling off the TORC Ted-, one may have infered that we would be giving away Mr Tschopp for a handful of dollars )
I am glad you are here! And hope I get to interact more with you than I did on TORC.

And as to the 'only a messageboard'.... my Hub still refers to this a 'a hobby'..... He is not yet enlightened.......

Crys, you must m00t him.

Sorry Rodia... a bit slow on the uptake... (blame age and Earl Grey tea)
m00t him??? As in... invite Ted to a moot? ,.... meet as in netspeak???-.... or are you infering we should actually auction him off for a handful of dollars

Bring hubby to a moot.

I think that's what she meant.

Then, with all luck, he will see the light. :mrgreen:




*E*

Good lord!!!
Thanks *E*-
I guess the thought never entered my mind - he is rather 'reluctant' to join such a festivity...
I am working on it though.. and he IS reading the Silmarillion on his own accord!! (without my suggestion... except to tell him to keep going because the first part is rather cumbersome to get through)

Of course... if we happened to be in London or England at some point, and just 'happened' to run into a group.....

*E* got it right. And he surely must want to meet his wife's friends?? But if not you should try and bump into people by accident, excellent idea. :cheers

Yeah, CS! Drag your husband along! Mine certainly enjoyed the Gathering, even though he did not and still does not get into message-boarding of any kind.

But, then, he DID have his costume to hide behind!

Maria: Which I TRUELY loved! That and meeting your whole family (though I think I nearly gave your teenage son a heartattack when I tried to hug him - forgot how 'distant' and easily embarrassed that age can be )
Yes.. I have tried, believe me... either that OR I'll just have to arrange for a moot here... mid-Europe.
Heck...we've got a HUGE barn, what with some hosing down (dirt, not cowpoo- don't have no cows...) and dusting it could camp out a whole bunch of folks... in the summer that is...winter would be a tad drafteh......
now how to get the electricity hook up for a beamer and movies....

MariaH - that's your hubby in the pic? What an excellent Gandalf he made!!

Jn