Words on the phosphor screen... Man... it's HOT down here in Big D. Almost a hundred in the shade, and thank gods we has shade. ;] I much prefer winter when I can hibernate. Weather like this makes me long for a charter boat, a strech of Mexico coastline, and a truly impressive marlin to tie into. *sigh* Instead, I'm stuck here at the keboard with you folks. *grin* But then you're stuck with me also. Guess we'll just have to make the best of it, eh? Reminds me of the line from the Watchmen where the con looks at Rorsach and gloats about him being locked up with them all alone, and Rorsach just gives him that bland look and replies "No. You're stuck in here with ME." *snicker* And all of the non comics readers out there are reading this and shaking their heads right about now and saying "What?" Never mind. You know me - I'll eventually connect all of the dots into something coherent. Or I won't... and that'll be ok too. Some days ya just rambles a bit. It bees like that sometimes. I go through long periods of time when the forums are hot, and the words are flowing, and I just rattle off the pages here like I know what I'm doing. ;] Other days... I log in, look around, and then open up WordPad and stare at the blank typing surface and just shake my head. And nothing flows... This has been one of those weeks for a couple of them too. First, my connections been down. And up And down. And up. Heh... you'd think my ISP was a flippin yo-yo. 'Course, that's nothing new. I had a temporarly loss of connection one time that lasted four years. *sheesh!* I lost track of a LOT of stuff in the online world when that happened. ;] And, I've been doing a lot of other stuff too. Been up to my eyebrows in poser for the past few weeks. Heh - and considering I'm almost 6'1", it has to get pretty deep for that to happen. ;] Gods, I love this language. I would, though. As a writer, words are my playground. As an artist, we lose ourselves in bulding imagery from all of the building blocks of our minds and experiences. As a writer, that's kind of what I do here... only my words are the canvas, and you build the images yourself in your minds eye, based on what the words invoke within you... That's kind of what we do here too. The forums are are the place where we create ourselves as we go, with words and imagery. They're the place where we really build the things that make this website a community, instead of just a collection of pretty pictures and store items and downloads. [SEE! I was going somewhere with all this! Fooled ya, huh? Just had to wander aound til we figgered out where we were going... ] We all know websites that are like that, too. Just a collection of stores and downloads. Or just a gallery. But this one is different... it has a heart and soul and mind and breathing thinking life to it. Just wander around and see... And it's all done with words. Words that praise, words that critique, words that cut to the bone on the occassion. But they're the words that connect us to each other, wether it's the comments we leave on a gallery image, or the Instant Message that connects us to another member over a span of time and electrons. We connect in the forums and in chat, wether it's to trade tips and techinques, or just kick back and shoot the breeze. The ways that we express ourselve and form and shape our ideas are the ways that we take for to the people around us. That's one of the majics of an online community like this - we're all just phantoms on the phosphor screen. A name, a user nick, and a style of writing and personality that shapes us to the people we interact with. It's funny... especially to an old netizen like me. You'd think that having been off and online since 1984, all of this would have gotten old to me long, long ago. But it never does... no matter how burned out I get, when I log in and wander around in any of my online haunts, it never takes long for the magic of connection to take hold and spark a reaction in me. Just as I'm sure it does in all of you, wether it's a reaction you're aware of or not. That's what keeps us coming back. Ok, so maybe I wasn't really going anywhere in particular with this. And that's ok too, in a way. At least it was an enjoyable ramble... for me anyway. Hopefully for you too, if for nothing else than a brief repite. That happens on tours - sometimes you wander off the beaten track for a time. Least we didn't wander into a bad part 'o town and gets eatne by something. *grin* Next time we'll turn this bus around and head back to what we're doing. Whatever that is. ;] In the meantime, here's a quick note on one of our members for you to browse: Re: dragongirl's art to be on CNN!! (EVERYONE TUNE IN!) by Nikitacreed Of course, if you missed it [like I did], hopefully they'll be repeating that special again. That's the hazard of doing a weekly colum like this - by the time I get to something, write it up, and it gets posted here... a lot of times it's old news. *sigh* Still, it's a really nice kudos for one of our own. Congrats, Dragongirl. I'm going to try and connect with her and see if she'll do an interview with us here. Maybe you'll be seeing her in this column at some point in the near future, eh? Til then... Sherman [Ironbear at Renderosity] Obligatory PS: Er... no PS's this time. ;] Ironbear's Featured Column (click here)