Holy shit. You owe everyone else a [MI].

Can you swim, alicesshoe? After jumping to conclusions from tall, lonesome parapets in your own imagination? 'Cause alienation ain't a SciFi channel series, and denial ain't a river in Egypt.

Seriously, is it a full moon? WTF is going on here today? I sincerely hope this passes.

I have to say that if Hugh's story is true, it's a heart wrenching thing, but Hugh has also told us stories that aren't true, so I never know what to believe from him.Sorry if it sounds cold, but how can one tell?

Also, what's with the double/triple/quadruple new lines everywhere? Talk about making things hard to read.

alicesshoe, your comment to Hugh is obviously between you and him, so it seems to me that no one can really tell you how to address that.

Since you're ostensibly asking for advice, though, one constructive suggestion I could make is that it might be a good idea to get to know people here better before snarking at them.

A certain level of snark is commonly accepted around here -- but it's hard to accept from someone who hasn't been around very long. Not to sound cliquish, but a lot of people here have a long history with other people here. You can call me on my shit, but if you're new and haven't had a chance to get to know me, I'm likely to take it personally. (I'd also say that that applies to paulsc's comment toward you, which doesn't really seem very fair to me.)

And also, it's good of you, in my book, to try to make amends. Kudos on the courage.

alicesshoe - I don't know you that well, but this is the internet so I'll go ahead and give you my 2 cents. There's been a lot of drama around here in the last few days, which is unfortunate since usually we're a pretty laid back group of bunnies. I sincerely hope this sort of interaction doesn't continue in the future - the onus is on every one of us to try to remain as civil and considerate as we generally are. That said, this isn't the first time there's been unpleasantness in the community. However, this time it involved some pretty popular people who (deservedly, IMO) have a lot of clout in this particular place. Hopefully, this'll all blow over in a few days (I, for one, hope that we haven't heard the last story about Hugh's precocious nephew). Until then, perhaps we should all keep our heads low and show some support for both the moderators and our fellow bunnies (I'm including jonmc in our bunnies, if he'll still have us).

On preview, I tried to say what mudpuppie said, but it came out all snarky, so I deleted it.

Er.

Have I missed something?
If so, should I bother asking for a recap, or is it best that I just move along and mind my own business?

If so, should I bother asking for a recap, or is it best that I just move along and mind my own business?

The latter.

Oh hopefully I've learned something today.

Yes, I'm damn new here, but I don't think his story is made up. Even if it is, I'm erring on the side that it is true.

I know depression up close and personal and I wouldn't want him to take it personally.

I was told regarding hanging back and learning the lay of the land before opening one's mouth. Especially in text. It doesn't come across very well.

I have a habit of curiosity and no fear jumping in.

This was a bad set of circumstances.

Read some of my posts and I am King of mal aprop, innocently mind you, without a bad bone in me. I have no malice. I do tend to walk into 'interesting' scenarios. A fiction writer couldn't make up the things I've been through.

Seriously, is it a full moon?

I know! Peak craziness everywhere. Here and life, too.

But no, it's not a full moon. Confirmation bias doesn't win this one.

And astrology strikes out, too. Mark Lerner says: "The universe backs off from intensity to calm as planetary alignments recede from center stage. In their place, the Moon takes command for 24 hours. The lunar orb in Aries forms flowing and harmonious alignments with Jupiter in Sagittarius (12:11AM PST), Mercury in Sagittarius (5:04AM PST), Neptune in Aquarius (10:44AM PST), Saturn in Leo (5:33PM PST), and Venus in Aquarius (11:29PM PST). The early morning vibrations point you toward making progress in literary, journalistic and educational endeavors. Around the time the Moon connects with Neptune, the fine and graphic arts - plus music, dance and spiritual studies - look promising. The tie between the Moon and Saturn suggests the need to be more focused, responsible, grounded and logical. Gains can be made on the professional front for several hours just before and after the exact Moon-Saturn liaison. The late-night Moon-Venus rapport is an invitation to pursue romance with two feminine celestial bodies offering encouragement. The Moon in Aries all day enhances your leadership traits and gives you extra vitality to accomplish everything on your to-do list. For lovers and creative artists, an added bonus tonight is that Venus in Aquarius and Juno in Libra are approaching a nurturing trine pattern of 120 degrees - an alignment that becomes exact at 4:45AM PST tomorrow."

I could use a few nurturing trine patterns myself this evening. Or maybe just a stiff margarita.

As I tried to find today's astrology report, I learned that Darryl Martini, the Cosmic Muffin, died recently. He used to do daily radio reports on the astrological forecast. Another bit of the world of childhood gone.

So ends this day.

Would this be an inappropriate moment to make a joke about the Cosmic Muffin?

Why not? The normal order is suspended. The blood-dimmed tide is loosed; the ceremony of innocence is drowned. And it's after 5:00.

Would this be an inappropriate moment to make a joke about the Cosmic Muffin?

Not if you're referring to my ass.

CitrusFreak.

HJ's comments are at the bottom of the thread.

Pupps, please don't treat us like children.

Well I wish it was a full moon, then I'd have a good excuse. My excuse can be read in the 'Three Point Status Update', it's no picnic I'm a tad jumpy.

Margarita's or mojito's it is.

And profuse apologies.

urbanwhaleshark, pup's not treating anyone like children. And did you really need to put a link to the thread we're all just trying to let go of?

And did you really need to put a link to the thread we're all just trying to let go of?
Well, I'm glad I followed the link.

Alice, stop apologising. You made a mistake. Dan was wrong to jump all over you in the way he did. Only now have I caught up with the whole episode, barely.

Pupps, I'm retracting my call-out. I appreciate an admin's job is never done, but I think sometimes, the role (generally, not you) can be seen, by the rest of us, as overzealous, particularly for a generally happy-go-lucky site.

It might provide some insight into why HJ left. The conservative vibe doesnt just gel well here. Sometimes, however, someone leaving is not the fault of anyone. People do as people do. Perhaps there is the end of Metachat for some people. One hopes, in the majority tho, it's merely a hiatus.

And did you really need to put a link to the thread we're all just trying to let go of?

Yes. Because those of us still a part of this community, but not part of your little thread-clique, wanted to know what happened and wanted to understand why HJ left.

Pupps, I'm retracting my call-out. I appreciate an admin's job is never done, but I think sometimes, the role (generally, not you) can be seen, by the rest of us, as overzealous, particularly for a generally happy-go-lucky site.

I'm unclear about who I treated as a child, but I'm also totally ready to blow it off.

As for the above comment, I don't understand what you're getting at -- I'm not an admin.

This thread and it's antecedents are making me rather depressed. Somehow I'd managed to skip all the drama by not going into those threads in the first place, mainly because I wasn't all that interested in the initial topics. I love that metachat is a fully functioning community, but on the other hand, no matter how long I spend in forums such as these, I am always surprised how emotional people become.

I think everybody has a tendency to turn threads, or spoken conversations, into a discussion of themselves, some more noticeably than others. I accept that sometimes my threads get derailed, but mainly I'm just happy to have received some attention in the first place. It's really a matter of how well these discussions conform to our expectations. Fortunately, mine are pretty low. Mostly, I just post here to ping the universe, to find out if anyone's receiving the signal.

My mistake, Pupps. i think I'm conflating your #mecha admin work. Apologies.

And did you really need to put a link to the thread we're all just trying to let go of?
Well, I'm glad I followed the link.

As am I.
Thank you for filling me in, urbanwhaleshark.
Pups wasn't treating me/anyone like a child, I think. I offered up the option of minding my own business. I didn't know if this was an offline thing or something which happened in a thread, so I didn't want to force someone to give me an explanation if it really wasn't any of my business.

Alicesshoes, you've made your apologies. No more needs to be done, I think. It was just a mistake.

Please, everybody, take deep breaths.
Please.
I've no idea if this vibe is common for MeCha, but it's not an enjoyable one.
So deep breaths, MeCha.
:/

alicesshoe, I can have a bit of a sharp tongue (on the internet, in real life I'm waaay laid back so maybe I'm compensating or something, but anyway). Upon reflection an hour or two later, I often regret some of my comments, even though I still feel I as "in the right". I, like many folks, have room to improve my citizenship in the community and trying to be less snarky is an area I need to work on. It's been a rough couple of days for me on that front. But even I wouldn't be so bold as to pass judgment on long-standing members after just joining a new community.

Thus, for what it's worth, my snapping at you wasn't only because of Hugh's "story" (hmm, taz, I'll have to think on that for a bit), though that was the core of it. It was also frustration at what I perceived to be certain insolence on your part (and some other names here that are fairly new to me) that boiled over. Still I should not have been so abrupt.

Apologies go a long way with me, though. (The only people I really keep a grudge against are those who refuse to admit when they've made a mistake.) So, as far as I'm concerned, this matter is over and it won't cloud my future consideration of your comments. (

I can't make any promises about the question marks however. :) ... they make it hard for me to take your comments seriously.)

For real, alicesshoe, we love you... but the backwards question marks have got to go. Backwards exclaimation points will still be allowed.

I'm going to put a vote in against the ][ used as (), too. While we're at it. By the time I figure out what the punctuation is being used to do, I've lost track of what you're saying.

And I'll throw another voice in saying don't worry so much about what you said in the other thread. I'm sure the apology is appreciated, though.

I don't want to put off the regulars from this site, really.
It's not my intention to change the vibe of this site either.

Now I may have poked fun at someone whom I didn't know to his sad goodbye message.
I was horrified upon reading his story in the smoking thread. Suddenly my poke at his front page goodbye took on a different tone, unwittingly.

After a story like that, who wouldn't be depressed.
I felt I needed to back paddle furiously, because had I read his story, I wouldn't have made the comment I did. It was a play on words from another comment pointing to his fpp.
It wasn't my intention of adding fuel to the fire as it appeared. Because I'm new here, it could be assumed I was abusive. That was not my intention.

Therefore my apologies.

Now I'm reading that the story may or may not be true. Well.



As for my punctuation...
Why upside down... Spanish style. I like it. As in que¿
Should it be written ¿que. Nah, bound to be more confusing than a plain old upside down question mark. Artists/designers/photographers and poets... Hands up those who agree.

Exclamation points upside down I haven't mastered, but instead I use this ./
A period, followed by a forward slash. When I write on paper, I place my exclamation points at a 30º angle at least. For emphasis over and above a standard perpendicular one. A sign writing trick I learned for more emphasis than a regular exclamation mark.

I know on the computer a forward slash means end.

The reverse brackets I use just because. I could use slashes to bracket something. Sure brackets bracket a word or statement, but visually, anything separating or intended within could be done by a visual. The reverse bracket. Don't know why I've gotten fond of it, but it appeals to me.

Throw some rules out and just read the words, it may avoid confusion. Think of them as anything other than a reverse bracket.
If I used reverse parentheses. Now }that{ would be messy. Not as clean looking. ]Wouldn't you agree¿[

These odd punctuation marks also comes from short form text messaging. Call it an addition to the alphabet. Or alphabet 2007. For lack of a better word.

For fun, in any case.
Do not be offended. I don't mean to offend using non standard punctuation, in some instances.



In closing, I do thank you all for your comments and shall take them to heart. A hella introduction, indeed. By sturm und drang.

Artists/designers/photographers and poets... Hands up those who agree.

Wait, you do it on purpose? I thought you just had some funky latino keyboard and didn't have a choice. There are occasionally threads here where silly punctuation are used for fun. I'm rather fond of the <big> tag myself .... but for everyday use? Nah, dude, you're only going to make things hard on yourself if you choose to ignore conventional punctuation, spelling and grammar regularly. It's hard enough communicating with each other as it is.

Yeah, I've got to agree with dano here. You can have the best and most creative reason EVAR for using funky punctuation, but that doesn't mean it's not going to annoy people.

If you want to stand out, use your words.

This is only a suggestion, of course. But personally, interesting words are less likely to make me to skip a comment than are interesting punctuation and line breaks.

(And, alicesshoes, your comments are getting really skippable, because they're just to damned hard to read. Again, speaking only personally.)

I'll respond to mudpuppie's and dano's comments hopefully tomorrow at the end of the day.
I have to get up in a few hours. Night.

I, too, dislike the wacky punctuation. I don't think that you mean to offend, but I'm also pretty sure that you're not trying to 'avoid confusion.'

And let me put on my poet beret, so that I may suggest that if the words aren't conveying the meaning, you need different words, not typographic gimmicks.

(A response is not required.)

alicesshoes, I just want to let you know that it was me who e-mailed you about Hugh's post (from my lakefxdan account, not from my stilicho account), so I don't want that misconception to be a problem between the two of you. It wasn't meant as an "I told you so" in any way, just as a heads up to why it wasn't such a light situation for Hugh Janus after all. If I'd realized it was danostuporstar who'd scolded you I might have been more careful which e-mail I'd used, so sorry about any confusion.

Yea, alicesshoe, I understand what you're going for, but... it is annoying and difficult to read, particularly with all the extra spaces between paragraphs. Please heed our words and just cut it out.

Aliceshoe's comments remind me of spam.
Just think about it. I think it has to do with the sentence structure.

Not making fun of you, aliceshoe, just something that I've always noticed.

Oh man, get busy for a few days and you miss all sorts of shite. I had no idea about jonmc's timeout, nor of any of the rest of this.

Let me just say that the reason I came to MetaChat and all but abandoned MetaFilter was to get away from the heated arguments and the flamewars and the banination... the stress of it all wore me out. I'd really hate to think that MeCha is heading in that direction.

Don't make me want to find some new place to hang out and relax, please.