As much ROFF as anything

Jeff Miller wrote:

...well, i was feeling polite, smart, and energetic. fortunately, it
was fleeting...

and, btw, i'm ashamed for not having said this sooner... i'm privileged
to know and to consider joe macintosh as my friend. ...

How nice for you, but I don't keep that kind of company nor do I have
much use for those who do.

--
Ken Fortenberry

Jeff Miller wrote:

...well, i was feeling polite, smart, and energetic. fortunately, it
was fleeting...

and, btw, i'm ashamed for not having said this sooner... i'm privileged
to know and to consider joe macintosh as my friend. ...

How nice for you, but I don't keep that kind of company nor do I have
much use for those who do.

--
Ken Fortenberry

....actually, i suspect you are marked by "the human stain" more deeply
than those whose company you reject. but, i doubt any of them are the
poorer for the loss of your society...

jeff

Ken Fortenberry wrote:



How nice for you, but I don't keep that kind of company nor do I have
much use for those who do.

....actually, i suspect you are marked by "the human stain" more deeply
than those whose company you reject. but, i doubt any of them are the
poorer for the loss of your society...

jeff

Ken Fortenberry wrote:



How nice for you, but I don't keep that kind of company nor do I have
much use for those who do.

Frank Reid wrote:
I'm here mainly for the entertainment value and am
rarely disappointed. Then again, my expectations are fairly low. ;-)

Let me guess, you liked "Gigli"?

Never saw it. Who the hell talked *you* into going? They should be
negotiating peace in the Middle East.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Frank Reid wrote:
I'm here mainly for the entertainment value and am
rarely disappointed. Then again, my expectations are fairly low. ;-)

Let me guess, you liked "Gigli"?

Never saw it. Who the hell talked *you* into going? They should be
negotiating peace in the Middle East.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Ken Fortenberry wrote:

Mike Connor wrote:

snip
It may well be that we can´t all just get along. Assuming such to be the
case, then why are we all here? Just to waste time with absolutely
hopeless
"sounding-off"?


Exactly. It's fun, it's entertaining,

I'm probably going to regret this, but I am curious about that
statement. I agree that some of the banter and the intellectual
jousting can be entertaining. But the part I don't get is the veiled
(or sometimes, not-so-veiled) threats of physical violence and the
insults that resemble schoolyard taunting.

It doesn't bother me in the sense that I'm offended, it just doesn't
make a lot of sense to me. I've been around newsgroups since 1991, and
spent a good bit of time on political groups, so I've seen my fair share
of the good, bad and ugly (mostly ugly). But I came to expect the worst
when the only common ground those folks had was their hatred of the
opposite side.

Here we supposedly have a common love of ff'ing, and in fact, most
of the participants in the most egregious name-calling have fished
together (and apparently, in some cases even enjoyed it). That's the
part I don't get, and can't really find humor in.

I still follow (most of) the threads, so I guess it's at least
intriguing (in a car-wreck-by-the-highway sense), but why is it
entertaining to call your fellow flyfisherman a poopie head?

Yeah, it's a waste of time, but so long as you have friends here,
and I most definitely and emphatically consider you a friend, it's
not meaningless.

This is not directed (just) at you, Ken, but since you brought up
the idea of friends: It sure seems like a number of folks here have
gone out of their way to alienate any possible friends they might have
had here.

Then what will you be left with?


Chuck Vance

Ken Fortenberry wrote:

Mike Connor wrote:

snip
It may well be that we can´t all just get along. Assuming such to be the
case, then why are we all here? Just to waste time with absolutely
hopeless
"sounding-off"?


Exactly. It's fun, it's entertaining,

I'm probably going to regret this, but I am curious about that
statement. I agree that some of the banter and the intellectual
jousting can be entertaining. But the part I don't get is the veiled
(or sometimes, not-so-veiled) threats of physical violence and the
insults that resemble schoolyard taunting.

It doesn't bother me in the sense that I'm offended, it just doesn't
make a lot of sense to me. I've been around newsgroups since 1991, and
spent a good bit of time on political groups, so I've seen my fair share
of the good, bad and ugly (mostly ugly). But I came to expect the worst
when the only common ground those folks had was their hatred of the
opposite side.

Here we supposedly have a common love of ff'ing, and in fact, most
of the participants in the most egregious name-calling have fished
together (and apparently, in some cases even enjoyed it). That's the
part I don't get, and can't really find humor in.

I still follow (most of) the threads, so I guess it's at least
intriguing (in a car-wreck-by-the-highway sense), but why is it
entertaining to call your fellow flyfisherman a poopie head?

Yeah, it's a waste of time, but so long as you have friends here,
and I most definitely and emphatically consider you a friend, it's
not meaningless.

This is not directed (just) at you, Ken, but since you brought up
the idea of friends: It sure seems like a number of folks here have
gone out of their way to alienate any possible friends they might have
had here.

Then what will you be left with?


Chuck Vance

Conan the Librarian wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:

Mike Connor wrote:

snip
It may well be that we can´t all just get along. Assuming such to
be the case, then why are we all here? Just to waste time with
absolutely hopeless
"sounding-off"?


Exactly. It's fun, it's entertaining,

I'm probably going to regret this, but I am curious about that
statement. I agree that some of the banter and the intellectual
jousting can be entertaining. But the part I don't get is the veiled
(or sometimes, not-so-veiled) threats of physical violence and the
insults that resemble schoolyard taunting.

It doesn't bother me in the sense that I'm offended, it just
doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I've been around newsgroups since
1991, and spent a good bit of time on political groups, so I've seen
my fair share of the good, bad and ugly (mostly ugly). But I came to
expect the worst when the only common ground those folks had was
their hatred of the opposite side.

Here we supposedly have a common love of ff'ing, and in fact, most
of the participants in the most egregious name-calling have fished
together (and apparently, in some cases even enjoyed it). That's the
part I don't get, and can't really find humor in.

I still follow (most of) the threads, so I guess it's at least
intriguing (in a car-wreck-by-the-highway sense), but why is it
entertaining to call your fellow flyfisherman a poopie head?

Yeah, it's a waste of time, but so long as you have friends here,
and I most definitely and emphatically consider you a friend, it's
not meaningless.

This is not directed (just) at you, Ken, but since you brought up
the idea of friends: It sure seems like a number of folks here have
gone out of their way to alienate any possible friends they might have
had here.

Then what will you be left with?

Good points all. It occurred to me that we haven't had a good roffian
tragedy in recent times to bring the touch of reality and
meaning-of-life-lesson to focus. I see a post like Frank wrote about his
FIL, or Barry wrote about his father, and it humbles me and makes me
recall a not-so-distant memory. When my son had his snow boarding
accident last year and shattered his back, many of the folks here
rallied around me with support, empathy, and good wishes. This wasn't
just "virtual" to me, my family, or my son, especially when he started
receiving get well cards from people not only that he hadn't met, but I
hadn't met either. Roffians offered more than just well-wishes in the
form of offers to travel and help us any way they could. That stuff is
real to me. On a personal level, I've seen things differently from that
time on. Skies are brighter, the sun's warmth is greater, and ff'ing is
an inspiration. I'm not good at putting how I feel about this stuff into
words like some others here, but this was a life-changing circumstance
in more ways than one, and roff is a part of that. It will not take
another tragedy like that to make me realize what I have and what I hold
dear.

Yeah, maudlin - sue me.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Conan the Librarian wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:

Mike Connor wrote:

snip
It may well be that we can´t all just get along. Assuming such to
be the case, then why are we all here? Just to waste time with
absolutely hopeless
"sounding-off"?


Exactly. It's fun, it's entertaining,

I'm probably going to regret this, but I am curious about that
statement. I agree that some of the banter and the intellectual
jousting can be entertaining. But the part I don't get is the veiled
(or sometimes, not-so-veiled) threats of physical violence and the
insults that resemble schoolyard taunting.

It doesn't bother me in the sense that I'm offended, it just
doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I've been around newsgroups since
1991, and spent a good bit of time on political groups, so I've seen
my fair share of the good, bad and ugly (mostly ugly). But I came to
expect the worst when the only common ground those folks had was
their hatred of the opposite side.

Here we supposedly have a common love of ff'ing, and in fact, most
of the participants in the most egregious name-calling have fished
together (and apparently, in some cases even enjoyed it). That's the
part I don't get, and can't really find humor in.

I still follow (most of) the threads, so I guess it's at least
intriguing (in a car-wreck-by-the-highway sense), but why is it
entertaining to call your fellow flyfisherman a poopie head?

Yeah, it's a waste of time, but so long as you have friends here,
and I most definitely and emphatically consider you a friend, it's
not meaningless.

This is not directed (just) at you, Ken, but since you brought up
the idea of friends: It sure seems like a number of folks here have
gone out of their way to alienate any possible friends they might have
had here.

Then what will you be left with?

Good points all. It occurred to me that we haven't had a good roffian
tragedy in recent times to bring the touch of reality and
meaning-of-life-lesson to focus. I see a post like Frank wrote about his
FIL, or Barry wrote about his father, and it humbles me and makes me
recall a not-so-distant memory. When my son had his snow boarding
accident last year and shattered his back, many of the folks here
rallied around me with support, empathy, and good wishes. This wasn't
just "virtual" to me, my family, or my son, especially when he started
receiving get well cards from people not only that he hadn't met, but I
hadn't met either. Roffians offered more than just well-wishes in the
form of offers to travel and help us any way they could. That stuff is
real to me. On a personal level, I've seen things differently from that
time on. Skies are brighter, the sun's warmth is greater, and ff'ing is
an inspiration. I'm not good at putting how I feel about this stuff into
words like some others here, but this was a life-changing circumstance
in more ways than one, and roff is a part of that. It will not take
another tragedy like that to make me realize what I have and what I hold
dear.

Yeah, maudlin - sue me.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj