Jude - that wasn’t *quite* all the post said. But that wasn't what the sorry episode is about. It was about Archer deleting posts, and then denying it. I would suspect that it was only admitted to, because those of us with admin privs could see clearly that she had deleted the posts, but denied it.
I was an editor for (I think) four years, and had great fun. For quite some time I was sole editor after Andrew resigned... then Mark joined me, and we worked well. Mark went full time and moved to the office. It still worked well, fantastic work came on, was discussed, the forums were often zingy and at times quite vitriolic, but such is the nature of the internet. It wouldve been good to have more editors, I dont know why it didnt happen.
When I decided to go back into full time education, I resigned. I didn't have the time to devote to the site that I previously had, so sadly I gave it up. After a while though, it became clear that no one else was giving the editing any time at all. Very few pieces were flagged, cherries were almost non existent. So, I came on when I could, and continued doing what I had. The difference being, that it was no longer something I had to do, and could concentrate more on my studies when I had to.
Now, when the voluntary editors were requested, how fantastic! I thought, here we go - back up to speed now the site is pretty much repaired. Archer, who had abandoned the site some months previously, came whipping back to applyfor a position, and got one. Neil - always a stalwart, he came too, and that was great. Fergal is an amazing editor, and alhough she cant devote much time to the site, when she does, does such an amazing and astute job, its a delight. I know when Fergal commented on my work, it was always worth ten times anyone elses comments because she is so wise and clever. A real compliment.
Now, the main problem I have had recently, is this - everytime someone disagreed with Archer, she spins round with some facile or vile comment and then justifies it with a 'cultural difference'. It wasnt just me, it was Tim as well and a couple of people who just left the site rather than endure the jack russel type tenacity with which she would argue trivialities. Now, like tim, I dont have a problem with any cultures thanks, and also like tim, I have many american 'pals', many who are thoughtful, polite and funny. The problem that I have with you archer, is not as you suggest, a cultural one. Your persistant gobbery (its not self confidence, incidentally, that doesnt piss brits off, arrogance does) is just too much at times. I couldnt post a single comment without you crowing all over it about how I was just too dry for you, or some snide and snippy comment.
It grieves me that editors who are supposed to set an example to the site, should be catfighting in this manner.
Enzo, you probably didnt know I was an editor because I didnt announce it everybloodytime I posted. In fact, I dont think I *ever* mentioned it really, as I didnt think it that important, lots of people knew anyway. The flagging of the work, clearing the unread and mailing members with encouragement was far more important to me than putting "I cherried this because" every sodding time I posted.
Archer, the persistant waving of your middle finger at everyone who you dont like is deeply, deeply wearing. One would think, that someone who persistently posts how they dont give a shit what anyone thinks - was talk to the hand the expression you used recently? - followed by your inability to just accept someone doesnt agree with you, speaks volumes. The fact that you deleted in a hissy fit (yes, you did) a relatively innocent post that annoyed you, also speaks volumes. In all the years I edited, I deleted one thread only, a thread where someone directly threatened another member and accused them of a heinous crime. As Tony says, anything else, blows over, or is sorted out in time. One cannot play God in this place.
I would suggest that its probably a good idea that you don't actually know a single person on this site. I don't actually know many either - I can count them on one hand, maybe one and a half hands I think.
Like Tim, again (blimey Tim, not often you and I agree) I also have problems with some things. The sow and pow is one - mostly these, like cherries, are given to encourage newcomers rather than to reflect the best writing that’s come onto the site.Not that the writing promoted there *isnt(* good i hasten to add. Tizzmetizzme got sow recently, imagine the hilarity when it transpired that Tizzme was actually me. Sorry guys. I'd never have got it under my own name. It also, should not be more difficult for longer serving members to get cherries than newer members - this is ludicrous. Where do longer serving members get their encouragement from? It is both an encouragement for improvement AND a reward for fine writing. The longevity of the member should be irrelevant.
I'll get back to my studies now however, and stop 'being difficult'. Getting a life is something I aspire to.
The thing that encourages me through all this, is that abc is bigger than the sum of its members, and will no doubt go on endlessly. I have loved this site and I sincerely wish it well.
I agree, Harry. Liana has taken the wrong end of the stick. Again. So here's my last reply to this impossibly dumb situation.
For the record, Liana/Pesky/Tizzmetizzme: I 'lied' as a feeble attempt to turn the thread back where it was intended; and, no, it wasn't at all because I knew you and Tim had ed's privvies. I admitted to it simply because it was obvious that I had done it, simple as that. Yes, it was a hissy fit, not because of what camus had said, but I was ashamed of myself for stooping to being sarcastic back to her.
I might be many things in your view: a braggart, a talker-of-shite, a blow-hard, offensive, opinionated, but I am not and never have been malicious to anyone on this site, even you, even when we so patently disagree about so many things. There are people on this site (or were, they've all left now sadly) who were much more disagreeable than me. You flatter yourself if you think that I was concerned by what either you or Tim thought about it, as it was not your post or your thread, and that that would be my reason for 'fessing up. I admire your writing, Liana, and I think that in real life you are probably nicer than you can sometimes appear on this site; but I find your continual baiting and sarcasm toward me wearing, too, as it so happens.
I like to tell people I've cherried their work; I want them to know I've enjoyed it; that is one of the priviledges of being a VolEd, that's one of the points. Why hide behind a false sense of humility? And, um, I was on the site for quite awhile before I volunteered for this post. I couldn't log in, though, or post work for awhile, as there was something wrong with my ISP, and I was rather busy with my real life; I did bugger off for a time when it got so ridiculously bitter and nasty over the whole Jasper thing, for which I was attacked, continually, by certain members of the forums, who know who they are.
And, anyway, what's it to you that I volunteered? Why do you care so much what I do and don't do? Jeez. Spend your anger somewhere else.
This is all so puerile. I'm glad you aspire to finding a life. I hope you find one.
What I want to know is why is it when people on the site have these 'discussions' I never get what's going on. It's the same in the office, I'm always the last person to hear the gossip...I was even the last person to find out that I was having an affair with the European Sales Director.
Well when I was told I said, "Am I?" and I was assured that this piece of information had been vouchsafed by someone in the classified department in the Philadelphia office and apparently it was common knowledge.
Honestly, jude, I didn't know I was involved in so much friction, either. It came out of left field as far as I know...
as to that Sales Director...weren't there some, ah, hints or clues that you were having an affair? I mean, how does this escape detection for so long?
I agree, bobblehat, there are some whose work would get it continually, which I think may be disheartening for those who struggle more with their art.
And this is -not- to say that those top-calibre writers don't 'struggle', so no-one get their nose bent out of shape, please.
oh a wallace and gromit thread.
I liked the organist too.
My kids like the little bunnies in the woods howling like wolves and beating thier little chests. hehe
http://www.freewebs.com/michaeljamestreacy/index.htm
Celery is very rich in vitamin 'C' - essential for healthy living and writing.
I must catch the latest Wallace and Grommet film - sounds fantastic.
I like ABCTales - the way you can organise your work into sets is very innovative, I think.
I was an editor for about a year some time ago. I greatly enjoyed reading all the new work, but no one knew I was an editor, other than Tony and the other editors. I liked that system because having to defend or explain what is essentially a rather subjective opinon would have had a 'chilling effect' on the process. At least for me, I would find it more difficult to cherry or not cherry a piece if I knew my decision was subject to second-guessing. In fact it would probaby lead to worse, rather than better, decisions.
I have read this thread with great interest, and am amazed that people were ever 'allowed' to know who the editors doing the cherry picking were. If they were anonymous, as justyn was then surely that would solve all the problems. Mind you after reading their 'c.v's' on the front page and the stories flagged with 'I cherried this because...' I am not entirely sure that all of them would still want the job if nobody was aware they had it.
In the old days, the editors had a number so when you got an email saying you'd got a cherry it would say editor 23 or whatever ....you could work out who was who after a short while.
As to my affair, I think it must have always taken place on a Friday morning - I was always in a dreamland and not conscious of my surroundings on a Friday morning.
I would disagree with easterbonnet about the whole cherrypicking thing. It makes no difference to me whether the eds are anonymous or not; if TC had stipulated that we were to do it anonymously, then I would have done so, happily. This wasn't about gettin' me some kudos, being a Big Bad Editor, and all that; I was just excited about being able to have some input into what got cherried, as I liked some writing that was overlooked by the others. I'm sure they feel the same.
And as jude says, you can kind of work out who's done what, anyway, and what does it matter?
oh look yet another thread about cherry picking, there hasn't been one of those in ages. Well, for what it's worth:
There are obvious merits in editors remaining anonymous, but if they want to announce and justify what they pick then -of course- they should be free to do so, although they run the risk that the rest of us will form our own opinion of their judgement.
The last cherry I got came, for the first time ever, with a note explaining why, which made an already pleasant experience ten times better.
On the other matter, exorcising a thread merely for snidy sarcasm seems bang out of order, apart from anything else I really enjoy the snidy sarcastic threads and won't get to read it now.
On the other other matter, Walace and Gromit are great and fully deserved the oscar.
On the other matter, some of us really -don't- enjoy the snidey sarcasm so prevalent on these threads, and chose to remove their own trip-up from the mess, thereby, apparently, causing an even larger mess. Next time I'll just leave my sarky reply in place, for your amusement...
bert is working with a young man with Semantic Pragmatic Disorder (Aspergers type thing i think) and sent me the following quote whilst watching Wallace and Grommit with his charge ...
"everybody knows the moon is made of cheese gromit"
"bullSHIT, wallace"
I was hoping all this would have been resolved by today and it would be back to business as usual. I'm disappointed that BBF and Pesky haven't returned. I was wondering who Liana was, it takes a while for me to click on and I'm gutted that it seems I have joined this communitty when the best is far behind it according to these respected and established members.
AG you seem to have come precariously close to apologising a few times in this thread but there is always a but, a justification for your actions. Maybe an apology would work better because you seem to know you were in the wrong. Deleting a thread obviously wasn't a molehill, so therefore a bit of recognition to those that have helped build the site would be the proper thing to do. Off course not just for the sake of it, swallow a bit of pride and admit you were out of order without making it sound patronising.
I don't persoanlly know anyone on abctales but it feels kind of like a cool pub, only some of the main people there that make it so cool have fallen out, so it won't be such a cool place. Hopefully that won't be the case though.
I don't say this from some judgemental high horse, I'm always fucking up and sending of shitty comments, not so much on here but with would be employers, I'm a bit of an Alistair Campbell when it comes to hitting the send button then sitting there wondering why the fuck I did that!
Again to those who have decided to call it a day, the same challenge, if abctales is not what it once was then make it like it was. If you were all around then then it's an admission of your own failures to keep the ball rolling rather than it being everyone else.
Harry Kerdean
Um. I like to send emails to people when I cherry them explaining why. Sometimes I suggest things that I think might improve it. If I had more time I would do this to things I haven't cherried. I wouldn't mind if nobody knew I was an editor, and I'd still do it. I don't actually own a computer and come and do my stuff in libraries or internet cafes - I try and do about 7 hours or more quality reading, commenting and the rest, but time is hard, and I always feel there are writers I'd like to email about their work, but just don't get a chance to.
I think all this is a real shame. I can understand the wish to delete things we've posted, but that just isn't the way it's ever worked here, and I - and probably a lot of people - don't like the idea of big chunks of post going missing, for whatever reasons (unless libellous or highly offensive). It just doesn't seem to go with the spirit of the place. I did once edit something, because it had a rude word in it and the author had accidentally made it a U so I made it a 12. I felt bad enough about doing that!
Liana was the first person to ever comment on my writing on here, and I found her comments useful, encouraging and witty. She does do a lot of reading on here, and flagging up, and I think that sometimes there would have been no posts on the discuss writiing from abc forum if it wasn't for Liana.
I hope pesky and bbf come back because they are both brilliant writers and readers. I like them being on here. I like to see what they've posted. When I come on and see Liana's name in the bottom corner I feel a bit like my nan does when she goes into the garden and sees her next door neighbour pegging out the washing.
One thing to remember is that it is very hard to come across right in type, and easy to have misunderstandings. Communication, in these instances, are really important.
Along with Ferg I wish that Liana and BBF would come back. But they will paddle their own canoes and although, as the years roll by, some go and some come back and some remain, the overall ABC site is in robust health at present and getting more robust by the day. These spats will occur - writers are highly charged people - and I hate it when they do, but I accept it and I accept everyone's right to be able to express themselves freely. A lot of the flak comes at me but then I guess that's part of what I'm here for!
Yea - they sell them in a shop by the station in Brighton. They are cardboard but look wonderful . You can have anything built around them. One I saw had huge angel wings coming off the top of it - not my taste but pretty outrageious if you ask me.
What would you fancy on your ideal coffin?
well Jude, anything that will eventually rot will do.
If you get buried in a coffin made of real wood and filled with leaf mould then, eventually, that coffin will become coal and then a diamond.... maybe, so your DNA could end up, millions of years from now, encased for all time in the purity of one of mother nature's tears.
Or you could look on that as like being trapped for ever like Judas on the seventh level of hell, his eyes open for all eternity, never able to look away from the horror of his batrayal.
In which case I'd go for cremation and scattering into the bath water of someone you fancy- it may be a little late for a long term relationship but at least you could finally get to swill around Johnny Depp's nutsack... think about it.
[the writer would like to distance himself from any inaccurate religeous references in the above post as well as any spelling mist aches]
I've tried to post this three times but I have a glich, so I'll try shouting.
YOU COULD TRY THE WICKER THING, JUDE.
Oh and, re the friday morning thing - Yeah * I * know what you mean, but try explaining it to my two kids...
Lou, I think the shouting worked! I'll have to try that next time, as my posts have often just *vanished* after I thought I'd posted them...
Dear Harry, I think, if you'll read back through the posts, you will see that I am deeply regretful of having done it; as far as I know it broke no rules other than the unspoken ones, and I don't feel I need to explain it *any more* to anyone. I had my reasons for doing it; whether others agreed or not was really not a consideration at the time, although certainly next time I will think about it a little longer before a) writing a smarty-pants remark I regret, and b) then erasing it.
I really wouldn't call it "a big chunk of posts"; it was three posts, two of which were mine, the third of which was exactly in between mine and referenced them.
Now, as to wicker caskets and such...I think wicker would be so -awesome-, I've never heard of them! How very pagan. I've decided I'd rather be wrapped in a shroud and buried in a fetal position facing North, buried with some grave goods (like my Depeche Mode cds and a nice bottle of merlot) to keep me company on my journey to the afterlife. Maybe a coin in my fist to pay the ferryman, just in case there really IS a river called Styx.
Only in Brighton would you find a cardboard coffin with big wings on it...
I can't find the Bobblehat comment that archergirl is referring to.
For what it's worth, I think ABCTales has improved tremendously recently - what with more work getting commented on and discussed - and I still find cherries encouraging.
My god people do you really have to be like this? Is it me or is every care-free, normal subject is ruined by this damn arguing? For god sakes the subjects supposed to be about wallace and grommit, a kids show. Just relax people.
As for wallace and gromit, did it deserve the oscar? Maybe. Was it gonna get the oscar? Of course. But Howl's moving castle was a much more moving and deep film, along with comedy embedded in it. (I enjoyed gromit emensly though)
"I am back, and behold I'm as good as ever"
Give me the beat boys and free my soul! I wanna getta lost in ya rock n' roll and drift away. Drift away...
Mike, this is nothing compared to what used to go on. This is supposed to be a site for 'grown ups', whatever that means, but the squabbles are often held at kindergarten levels...yes you did; no I didn't; yes you did; did not; did so, etc...
The W & G movie was great; however, I reserve a place in my heart for the very first one, "A Grand Day Out", which was, well...grand. I liked that you could see the fingerprints in the plasticine; the movements were jerky, there was no CGI, and I loved, just loved, the cooker (that's a 'stove' to Americans)-cum-robot with the coin slot and rummage drawer. The staticky thought bubble with the imagined ski holiday was brilliant and somehow poignant.
Time Out has gone 'green' this week and they've a piece on eco funerals in London.
Check out www.naturaldeath.org.uk
Green Endings (I joke not) is the name of the eco funeral parlour in the city - and it says they do wicker coffins as well as cardboard.
Liana
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www.fabulousmother.co.uk
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www.fabulousmother.co.uk
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www.fabulousmother.co.uk
Give me the beat boys and free my soul! I wanna getta lost in ya rock n' roll and drift away. Drift away...
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