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EyeCandyRayce
Fanatic   Posts: 247 Registered: 19/1/2004 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/5/2005 at 11:39 PM |
That's it.. I'm going to say what no one else will say. It is the same
thing Dolo wrote an article about and something that is happening that is
undeniable.
This site is dying.
The reality is.. either you people start getting involved more than just
words or you let the site die. If the site dies.. it will die forever. Do
you guys really think Devil will hand this site over to someone else? Hell!
I wouldn't.
So if you want to see this site live.. submit articles, pictures and forum
subjects. Point your friends with a brain this way! Out of respect for he
we so admire... Don't let Devin's work go down the drain. Not just Devin's
but the others who have works so hard to keep this site alive like Calei
and others! If you don't give a damn, continue to participate in your
present way of just posting when you give a shit and never showing when the
site needs members.
Let's either keep this thing alive or admit it is dead so Devin can stop
paying to keep the space and bandwidth going. ____________________
Suicide Hotline - Please Hold
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Meranda_Jade
Fanatic  Posts: 511 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 19/5/2005 at 07:26 AM |
Call me crazy, but I think that anyone intelligent who stumbles across the
site as it is would run in the opposite direction as soon as they see the
forums. Why post anything on a site where you are likely to get immediately
flamed for numerous reasons, not the least of which is saying, "Um.. hi.
I'm here." Or for failing to use your spellcheck. Or being shy and unsure
of yourself and saying something that could be considered stupid right off
the bat. Or having to EARN the respect and admiration of everyone with your
first post before really getting comfortable and getting to know anyone.
Submit an article? Why? So it can be put into a slush multi-post and be
held up for everyone's hateful comments? Post a comment in the forums so
people can pick you apart and humiliate you? Pictures seem to be doing
fine, after all, everyone likes eye candy, and we've actually put into
place rules that state that hatefulness about pictures is a no-no. I can't
remember the last time someone made an intelligent, thought-provoking
submission that got a flurry of comments and back-and-forth that meant
something. It's all about in-fighting at this point, which I am sure is why
the more interesting people just gave up. The standards for article
submission are much higher now than they were when the site was new. Nobody
even wants to try it now. I would be more active, talk more... if there
were something to talk about. Or if i didn't think that by posting, I'm
just letting myself in for a good rousing round of "You don't know what
you're talking about." Or "What you said was stupid." Or "Fuck off."
Disagreeing with someone is fine; that's where we get the stimulating,
thought-provoking discussion... but hatefully attacking instead of merely
stating a disagreement and the reason for disagreeing that someone can
respond to in an intelligent manner isn't how it works. If you post
something and all it gets is ridicule, why bother trying? It becomes a big
waste of time. If we stop with the heckling and start responding more
positively to people, then maybe this site can be resusciated. If not... if
all we are here for is "Look at me! Try to be as neat-o as I am, and in MY
way!", then yes, it will die. ____________________
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Starlight
Extreme Fanatic   Posts: 618 Registered: 27/9/2002 Status: Offline
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posted on 19/5/2005 at 05:40 PM |
quote:
Submit an article? Why?
So it can be put into a slush multi-post and be held up for everyone's
hateful comments?
MJ: I know exactly why I haven't submitted anything in the way of articles
myself lately. It will of course sound as if I am being a whiney baby, but
it's still how I feel so I'll say why anyway. My fiction article
submissions didn't seem to end up in the slush pile, and that made me feel
really good. However, the very first time I submitted a non-fiction
article, because I was being bombarded with tons of shmeng and I felt like
trying to share it as an article, it ended up in the slush pile. The
experience made me think of two things: (1) my real life writing is
considered not article worthy material, and (2) I can have my confidence
level successfully quashed a lot easier than I realized when it's done by
people I respect. I don't believe it would have deterred me from submitting
more articles, if it had just been returned to me. I can understand and
accept rejection. The slush pile experience was different for me, as it
caused me to feel a bit of humiliation. ____________________
"When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never
tried before." ~Mae West
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feralucce
Extreme Fanatic  Posts: 1810 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 20/5/2005 at 03:33 AM |
i would contribute... if i had anything to contribute... my life, while
infintely satisying at the momden, has had me too exhausted to do more than
I am in the real world... let alone anywhere else...
I am mortified by my lack of creativity in recent days... I sit at the
keyboard and stare blankly at grey letters on black plastic squares and can
do nothing more than that...nothing will flow... ____________________
The earth turns on a tilted axis - just doing the best it can.
Hohenheim of Light~Full Metal Alchemist
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feralucce
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 1810 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 20/5/2005 at 03:34 AM |
| and in an effort to help the site, I have been trying to avoid the forums,
as I am less than positive ____________________
The earth turns on a tilted axis - just doing the best it can.
Hohenheim of Light~Full Metal Alchemist
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callei
Extreme Fanatic  Posts: 759 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 20/5/2005 at 10:53 AM |
| hmm my stuff always apear in the slush pile posts. and devin shoots down
about 1/3 of my article ideas. though, in retrospect i admit that "why
tofutti is better than ice cream" is a dumb idea for an article.... ____________________
Real goths wear silver and crosses to keep the werewolves and vampires
away.
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pale-face
Fanatic  Posts: 478 Registered: 22/9/2004 Status: Offline
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posted on 20/5/2005 at 12:17 PM |
feral. dont quit the forums. people like you on this sight were some of the
reasons I joined. to pose a question and get an intellectual response
other than having people poke at my spelling and grammar.
And about MJ's post. I think all of us should be just a bit less cynical
about menial things like a slip up with spelling once and a while. so
people have bad days. I understand that a certain amount of criticism needs
to be used to stop people from using foolish internet slangs and abysmal
typing and short forms. let it slide, so what someone put the wrong their
in there sentence. (which I think I have just fallen victim of)
____________________
fucking classy.
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Schizo
Extreme Fanatic  Posts: 897 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 20/5/2005 at 01:54 PM |
I don't know - I just don't think there's been much going on in my life to
write about - except maybe the continual struggle to just survive. This
winter has been tough, and it doesn't leave much time or energy to
contribute to the site, even though in theory I would like to. I'm just so
exhausted these days, without much to show for it except a pile of paid
bills and a toddler who's just starting to get an inkling of what a potty
is for. Not exactly Shmeng article worthy.
At any rate, it looks like soon I may not have to work overtime every week
- my husband's business is starting to finally look like it might go
somewhere - so if Shmeng can hold on until then, I may just not only have
the time and energy to write something, but also the time and energy to do
something worth writing about.
Anyway, I read that Shade has FINALLY gotten the next chapter of Toy Dolls
ready, so that should give us some good Shmengly stuff to revel in. Bring
out the vibe! ____________________
"You can tell by the scars on my arms and the cracks in my hips and the
dents in my car and the blisters on my lips that I'm not the carefullest of
girls." - Dresden Dolls, "Girl Anachronism"
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Zero
Fanatic  Posts: 459 Registered: 15/2/2004 Status: Offline
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posted on 20/5/2005 at 09:05 PM |
I suppose it may be fear. Or it could be that the people who have things to
write are busy at the moment. I really don't beleive that life is getting
too boring for you guys to write about it......i mean you're the people
that have always sparked my interest since i came here.
Personally i think it's the lack of discomfort. The site hasn't been as
busy as those days when "Trolls" ran a little rampant. Kind of ironic, huh?
But, i guess it's something to think about. Is it true? Could there be a
need for "Trolls"? Something to hate and scream at, just for the joy of
screaming and a need to break something.
oh and I'm happy to read that Toy Dolls is comming back. Can't wait for
that. ____________________
"It is a fool's prerogative to utter truths that no one else will speak." ~
The Sandman, Dream Country
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dark_knight
Coward   Posts: 3 Registered: 15/5/2005 Status: Offline
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posted on 21/5/2005 at 11:45 PM |
i'm anew member and i allready like this site plez don't cloz it i post
*pouts* we can't let the sit die!!!
viva la shmeng !!!!!! ____________________
husband may kiss his wife goodbye
a rose may kiss the butterfly
the wine may kiss a frosted glass
and you my friend may kiss my ass.
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bettie_x
Extreme Fanatic  Posts: 1570 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 22/5/2005 at 01:39 AM |
| Feral, I understand where you're coming from. Chalk mine up for all
consuming spiritual malaise. I have little to contribute. I'm spent.
It's lousy. ____________________
Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
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Shade
Fanatic  Posts: 289 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 22/5/2005 at 12:24 PM |
I honestly stopped coming when I found I had nothing positive to say. When
even my constructive criticism lost the constructive edge I just gave up.
I'm hesitant to hit the submit button even now because I can tell that
without some further explanation this just sounds like vague condemnation,
but with further explanation it would sound like I was trying to start a
blame game of flame war.
I wish it weren't that way, and there are a lot of people on here that I
absolutely adore, but there finally came a time when I realized that the
act of logging in filled me with bile and in the end, it was spilling out
without any direction or reason. So I stopped commenting, stopped coming
back, and stopped caring really. ____________________
It is only through the lack of sex that humanity derives the need for an
all encompassing blind love. And in that moment of extreme horniness with
no relief in sight, in that moment can be found the birth of religion.
-Me
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bettie_x
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 1570 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 22/5/2005 at 10:53 PM |
Shade I understand that, wholeheartedly. As much as I love the old saying
"if you don't have anything nice to say, come sit next to me", it only goes
so far. I wish my reasons for virtual silence were even that easy to
pinpoint. I can NOT put my finger on what my problem is. I could blame it
on money problems, brain problems, drinking problems, emotional problems,
life problems, social problems, but I honestly think in my case it comes
straight down to I just can't do it anymore. I want to try, I just can't
bring myself to do it. I work, I come home, my brain has become the
consistency of a bag of bricks, and it's all I can do to sleep at night let
alone piece together a coherant string of thoughts that anyone would give a
shit about. I can't even make it matter to ME anymore. My lucidity has
left the building. I don't contribute even in my better moments simply
because I don't want to get either jumped over or ignored. I never cared
when that would happen, but that I Don't Care anymore. I'm not afraid of
conflict, of conversation, of admitting when I'm in error, or someone
telling me I'm wrong, or stupid, or right on the money. I just simply
Don't Care in a way that is benign, lethargic, belonging to the category of
"whatever". I could have written about finding an abandoned litter of
kittens, but I Don't Care. I could have written about seeing a film that
struck me, hard. But I Don't Care. I could take the time to look things
up so as to have a more firm argument than what I already know, but I Don't
Care. I simply show up out of habit as the first thing I do when I get on
a computer. But I Don't Care. I want to, I just don't. I can't tell you
how many times I've thought of writing a final toodelooo article and typing
out a final piece then having all my info and whatnot deleted, but never
found a way to do so without sounding trite, and didn't have the heart to
simply dissappear. That "LOG IN" button just too irresistible, that I
MIGHT miss something that would make me care again. MRD might be in the
area and want to relieve me of my "skinny clothes" again, MJ might have a
question about food substitutions or let me know how her family is, Dolo
might have almost hit a bat on the road and thought of me and sent me an
email, Feral may be wanting to pick a fight and need someone who likes to
say "fuck" a lot to strangers, and elusive callei posting, Rayce might tell
me something spooky about a place I'll never visit, I'll miss hillarious
personal trash.....and I'm dissapointed. ANd it is my own fault, because I
just have nothing to bring anymore. For that I apologize.
If devin gets sick of paying for dead air and deletes this whole sordid
affair, I'll understand. I'll miss it, but I"ll understand why. Gimme a
week, I'll see if I can be one who turns it around, at least on a personal
level. If not, put my name up on the reasons why it's gone. ____________________
Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
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EyeCandyRayce
Fanatic Posts: 247 Registered: 19/1/2004 Status: Offline
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posted on 23/5/2005 at 02:26 AM |
I definately see very point made so far.
MJ: I felt the same way. Especially after that huge flame war that
happened. When it got started, I protested that it was going to run off
good people. Everyone doesn't like everyone and just because one good
person is disliked by another good person doesn't mean they should be
flamed. This runs really good people off, which it did. We lost a lot of
good members from that.
But I have to back up the article screening. If you want a site with really
good articles that the majority of people will enjoy, you have to screen
the articles that come in. I write for a site that doesn't screen their
articles. In fact, the post articles from other sites with "unknown arthur"
on them.That site has a lot of members that NEVER participate and the good
articles get sorted to the bottom so fast you never get a chance to find or
appreciate them. I doubt you would want that for her. For instance, if
Shade posted another chapter to Toy Dolls, would you want it down two pages
before you even knew he posted it just because of two pages of dribble
posted after his? That is truly what happens when things are not
screened.
I also write articles on a sister site to Shmeng that approved no matter
what and everyone cares more about the forums than the articles. Good work
is lost because it is filled in with huge gaps of crap. It sucks for those
of us who appreciate a good read.
Feral: I know exactly how you feel. My life is so exhausting that I check
my email maybe twice a week now while I used to check it daily. The only
way to reach me online now days is to email me at work (and only MRD, Devin
and Callei have that address). I also know how it feels to stagnet. But you
know something, even with my busy ass schedule, my 12 year old daughter, my
new boyfriend and trying desperately to deal with a stagnant photography
hobby, redecorating my apartment and work grinding me to the bone for a job
I'm not being paid to do.. I still have time to post. And so do you. In
fact, you have been posting on a pretty regular basis. It doesn't take
fanatic posters to keep a site alive, just posters.
Zero: I disagree. There is no need to have trolls on a site that is
honestly composed of good friends which this site is. The people here are
amazing! The problem is that a lot of good people who were hear before,
left because they hated being involved in a huge "flame war" simply because
they expressed their opinion and showed who they were.
dark_knight: Welcome to the site!
note to all: In fact, we should all welcome new members. As I tell my
daughter, judge nothing from first impressions but from the impression
people give us over a few meetings. We often label people as trolls on this
site the moment they open their mouth simply because they are excited and
type badly. What until they say something truly stupid before calling them
that.
Shade: I definately know exactly what you mean. I have to walk away from
sites I'm on now and then because I have nothing nice to say. That is what
I did when the flame war happened because the people involved in it made me
have nothing nice to say and I would rather say nothing at all. The only
people who deserve my harsh words are those who have attacked me first and
attacked me personally. But there are many sites I go to where I have to
walk away from the flat out stupidity of the people who go there.
Especially with my interest in the paranormal. I get so sick of hearing
"God" and "it's a dust particle" when it is really a digital flash flare
that I end up not visiting that site to avoid the brainless flame wars. I'm
always up for a good debate but when it starts getting personal, I have to
walk away.
It is unfortunate that you feel you must walk away but maybe you can see
this as a new beginning now. Because that is how we are all going to have
to look at things to keep this site alive. Let go of the old hostility and
except that it is over and time for us to breath new life into how we all
deal and community with each other.
Schizo: What you find mundane is probably amazing to others. For instance,
a story on how amazing a single moment in your babies life is would bring
memories of our own to surface. Everyone on this site has seen a child
speak cute little words or discover a new food. Or the amazement of the
love in a mothers eyes as they see their child enjoy the most simple
things. There is always something to write about. You just have to find
your inspiration.
Bettie: You are so admired at this site that I don't think you even know
how much you are adored. I think many "Don't Care" right now which is why I
am making this effort. Because I have found the only place online EVER that
I really feel excepted and appreciated and I do care. From someone who
fights life from day to day in a constant uphill battle, I care if I lose
the one place I can come in and see enlightened conversations and amazing
articles on top of beauitful photos and paintings all in one place. And all
while feeling appreciated for who I am and not what the world expects or
sees me as.
I guess I'm just holding on here because this site has brought me so much.
It has taught me things, given me inspiration in huge amounts and even
introduced me to people I love without a second thought. I've found new
people I would love to meet and now I see the chance to meet them slipping
away forever. I feel disappointed.
This was my attempt to inspire some desire to keep this place going. Now it
is up to everyone to do just that. Nothing in this world is perfect, not
even this site. But this site is still better than even the places I go
more often online. This is the place I feel most comfortable as me. Even if
I get flamed for saying all the things above.
[Edited on 5/23/05 by EyeCandyRayce] ____________________
Suicide Hotline - Please Hold
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Schizo
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 897 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 23/5/2005 at 02:40 AM |
Bettie, you've hit the nail right on the head.
Yeah, there are people I care about here, but other than that, well, caring
takes energy, and that what I just don't have anymore.
When you think how much effort we used to put into this place, and how we
would hit the refresh button every couple of minutes to see what someone
had posted next - well, it's a little unreal.
But in my case, I guess it's natural. Back then, I was first working and
living alone, and then job-hunting after my lay-off and living with my
boyfriend. I had interesting issues - the psycho-slut, disillusionment
with the religion of my childhood, just general curiosity about life and
what is out there. Shmeng filled a huge need for me - it was kind of a
group mentor - and I had the time to invest back then.
Now, I work a 45 hour week, and play single parent during the week, thanks
to my husband's work schedule. I've sorted out my religion woes, the
psycho-slut has been put squarely in her place, and "the real world" is no
longer the confusing, unfamiliar place it used to be. I don't have the
time, the energy, or the need to run to Shmeng anymore. I keep coming
around, mainly because I know, respect, and care about the individual
people here, but I don't invest in the site anymore because it's not as
important or vital to me as it once was.
And to tell the truth, many of you have already shown me what you had to
teach me, and your personalities have displayed themselves about as deeply
as they can on a mere website. If any of you who I feel close to actually
lived anywhere near enough to see on a regular basis, I would jump at the
chance, but I think we've stretched this about as far as we can online.
And because I do not have the time or the money to go travelling far to
meet anyone, well, I guess I'm stuck.
As long as Devin cares to keep this place running, I will keep logging on,
just out of curiosity about what my friends are doing. If anything of any
significance ever dawns on me to write about, I will do that. But I don't
think that Shmeng is going to ever regain that old mesmerizing aura that it
once had.
But at the very least, I am glad that I was here when things were exciting
and alive. Shmeng in its heyday will not be easily forgotten.
Although, trust me, I would love to be proven wrong about this. ____________________
"You can tell by the scars on my arms and the cracks in my hips and the
dents in my car and the blisters on my lips that I'm not the carefullest
of
girls." - Dresden Dolls, "Girl Anachronism"
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W0rmW00d
Fanatic  Posts: 355 Registered: 5/8/2004 Status: Offline
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posted on 25/5/2005 at 09:47 AM |
| How ironic that a thread about why noone can be bothered to write anything
interesting anymore has produced some of the most interesting, well though
out and enjoyable reads so that have appeared for a long time. ____________________
Eritis sicut Deus scientes bonum et malum.
And the third angel sounded, and a troll army did descend upon the world.
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EyeCandyRayce
Fanatic Posts: 247 Registered: 19/1/2004 Status: Offline
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posted on 25/5/2005 at 10:44 AM |
| I have to agree with you W0rmW00d ____________________
Suicide Hotline - Please Hold
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KittyGoesMrow
Fanatic  Posts: 218 Registered: 30/4/2003 Status: Offline
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posted on 26/5/2005 at 11:29 AM |
| This is like the more in depth version of my forum thread of "I declare Thy
Forums Dead.." or something like that. ____________________
Anata ga sabishii toki, bokumo sabishii n da yo
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