Streams of Consciousness & Thoughts~~~

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seoulsearch

OutWrite Trouble
May 23, 2009
16,707
5,617
113
Any-and-all "official"/"public" CC meetups/parties/etc. should be well planned with all CC members invited.

Private events for a small group should be kept private within the group who are invited. (Use group private message.)

And - this is [just] one reason why there needs to be a forum/space on CC that only logged-in CC members can access/read/etc.

(So that CC Members can make announcements that the whole world does not see - so that only logged-in members could see them.)
...it is, indeed. Seems to me this site is about sharing who you are, what you are about, and what is important to you. Yes, the fellowship aspects are very important also. Mainly, I come to this site to simply spend some time with my friends in Singles. Yeah, at times I venture to the BDF to stir up a little trouble. Nothing wrong with trying to have a little fun, right? :)
@GaryA,

I do understand how you feel. These kinds of things prick our hearts in the places where we are most vulnerable.

A while back when @tourist and his now lovely wife were just getting to know each on this site, they wrote some playful threads back and forth to each other during their dating/courting process. I felt the same way about all of that then then as what you are expressing towards Lynx's post now.

After some time had passed, I actually wrote to Tourist's wife and apologized. I explained to her that at the time, I'd been longing for a boyfriend and seeing the two of them have this beautiful journey together right before all our eyes set off something awful in my heart, and God convicted me of my envy.

I apologized to her and told her I was so sorry for how I felt and any sharp remarks I might have made at the time. She was overwhelmingly gracious and told me she completely understood, saying she would have felt the same way when she was single. It was a relief to talk to her and receive her blessing but it did take me a while.

To be honest, this whole upcoming meetup is actually kind of my fault so if you want, you can blame me.

I was planning out my schedule for the year and happened to mention, "Hey guys, I'm going to be in X location around X time... Would anyone be interested in meeting up?" And a few of them were. However, I had an emergency a few weeks ago in which a family member wound up in the ER and suddenly, I wasn't sure if I could still go.

Thankfully, I think God has put us in the clear, but I felt TERRIBLE for getting everyone riled up and then possibly having to back out on them.

So, Lynx's post is more than just anticipation -- it's pouring out from a feeling of relief as well.
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
42,663
17,116
113
69
Tennessee
@GaryA,

I do understand how you feel. These kinds of things prick our hearts in the places where we are most vulnerable.

A while back when @tourist and his now lovely wife were just getting to know each on this site, they wrote some playful threads back and forth to each other during their dating/courting process. I felt the same way about all of that then then as what you are expressing towards Lynx's post now.

After some time had passed, I actually wrote to Tourist's wife and apologized. I explained to her that at the time, I'd been longing for a boyfriend and seeing the two of them have this beautiful journey together right before all our eyes set off something awful in my heart, and God convicted me of my envy.

I apologized to her and told her I was so sorry for how I felt and any sharp remarks I might have made at the time. She was overwhelmingly gracious and told me she completely understood, saying she would have felt the same way when she was single. It was a relief to talk to her and receive her blessing but it did take me a while.

To be honest, this whole upcoming meetup is actually kind of my fault so if you want, you can blame me.

I was planning out my schedule for the year and happened to mention, "Hey guys, I'm going to be in X location around X time... Would anyone be interested in meeting up?" And a few of them were. However, I had an emergency a few weeks ago in which a family member wound up in the ER and suddenly, I wasn't sure if I could still go.

Thankfully, I think God has put us in the clear, but I felt TERRIBLE for getting everyone riled up and then possibly having to back out on them.

So, Lynx's post is more than just anticipation -- it's pouring out from a feeling of relief as well.
I was deeply touched by this humble post that you wrote.
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
9,883
4,345
113
mywebsite.us
I still have IRL stuff to do this afternoon - I will try to respond further later tonight - hopefully after everyone who wants to makes their replies to my comments/remarks - perhaps, I may be able to address them all in one post...?
 

seoulsearch

OutWrite Trouble
May 23, 2009
16,707
5,617
113
Meet ups sound good am I invited ? Hahaha just kidding 😂😂😂
If we were in close proximity, most definitely.

I've known you for a a very long time, and have known many who also know you. I've never heard a single bad thing about you, ever.

This discussion leads to some good points. I might write a thread about this sometime in the future... I tend to travel at least once a year, and I'd be welcome to ideas of how to have a safe and secure general meetup for any CC members in the area or interested in showing up.

But this illustrates one of the key challenges of trying to set something like this up. Notice I'm saying, "I travel..." In other words, even I would never host a general meetup close to my place of residence for my own privacy.

And so, that brings up the unfairness of trying to have such a gathering near the people I visit -- seeing as it violates their privacy.
 

seoulsearch

OutWrite Trouble
May 23, 2009
16,707
5,617
113
I was deeply touched by this humble post that you wrote.

Back in the day, CC had a lot of displays of people finding romance on the site and posting about it, sometimes making entire threads about their new relationships.

Some worked out, some didn't, some got married, and I hear some are now divorced. There were even some marriages between members here that spanned across different countries and continents. It was a time when everyone here seemed to be rushing to pair up (and then announcing on CC that they had found success.)

Which could be a wonderful thing, but I was in a more desparate state of mind back then. The window for having kids was closing, and I was feeling it.

These days (after knowing medically that window has closed,) I feel a lot more at peace with where I am in life and ok with whatever God decides, whether single or someday married. I've honestly gotten to where I enjoy a lot about the single life.

The kindness and the compassionate understanding of being a single that your wife extended to me helped secure my path to a much healthier state of mind.

You and JesusLives have always been a blessing to us. I'm grateful that you're still friends with us, and I always enjoy the stories about your lives and family -- particularly Sugar and Tango. 🐱🐈😊
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
61,149
30,296
113
As much as I'm all for friendship and fellowship, I have also unfortunately known
cases of real-life incidences in which people on this site had to get the police
involved due to someone else actively trying to force themselves into their life.
And I will never forget your kindness when that was happening to me. I may have never
spoken to you before that, and many wondered why the other person was banned, when the
truth of the matter is they came back at least five more times (twice that I know of as a woman!)
and pretty much every single time was to stalk me and poke at me using other people as well.
 

seoulsearch

OutWrite Trouble
May 23, 2009
16,707
5,617
113
And I will never forget your kindness when that was happening to me. I may have never
spoken to you before that, and many wondered why the other person was banned, when the
truth of the matter is they came back at least five more times (twice that I know of as a woman!)
and pretty much every single time was to stalk me and poke at me using other people as well.
I'm just glad you are safe, Lady Magenta. ❤️

I knew of at least one other person here who actually had to go so far as getting a restraining order (in the USA.) I've known guys who were being stalked by female usernames as well.

Online privacy and security is nothing to take lightly!

Which is one of the many challenges in trying to coordinate meetups. I'm going to write a thread tomorrow asking for ideas of how to meet people in person but still preserve privacy and security.

I tried to start it tonight, but right now my brains is like a pan of fried bacon! 🥓🥚🤪
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
61,149
30,296
113
I'm just glad you are safe, Lady Magenta. ❤️

I knew of at least one other person here who actually had to go so far as getting a restraining order (in the USA.) I've known guys who were being stalked by female usernames as well.

Online privacy and security is nothing to take lightly!

Which is one of the many challenges in trying to coordinate meetups. I'm going to write a thread tomorrow asking for ideas of how to meet people in person but still preserve privacy and security.

I tried to start it tonight, but right now my brains is like a pan of fried bacon! 🥓🥚🤪
The only thing that stopped him was me telling him I had called the police (and I had!).

Any who... your brain is like a pan of fried bacon??? LOL I cannot imagine what that is... :unsure::giggle:

Today has been a day off for me; I designed this panel:



Ephesians 5:14
:)
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
61,149
30,296
113
After six years of designing, I kind of took a Sabbatical... I had not really planned it, but late last year
I mostly stopped designing. I did start a scant few early this year; one was for Karlon after his sister
in law passed away in April, but mostly I was idle in that department except for updating a few older
ones. But since June, I have started twenty-five. Not all of them are completed at this point, and all
told this year including those incomplete: 30.

From the 12th of this month:



Isaiah 42:16 ~ I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
From the 14th:


Ephesians 2:1-3 You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
16th:


Biblical truth concerning the natural man.
18th:


John 3:17-18
19th:

Matthew 16:15-17
20th:

Isaiah 5:20-21; Proverbs 26:12b
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
9,883
4,345
113
mywebsite.us
I still have IRL stuff to do this afternoon - I will try to respond further later tonight - hopefully after everyone who wants to makes their replies to my comments/remarks - perhaps, I may be able to address them all in one post...?
:(

Quite frankly, I think my comments/remarks may have come from a bit of an overreaction (of sorts) - my apologies to all - carry on...

(What can I say - it just "streamed out of my consciousness" and into the keyboard - work and other IRL things have had me stressed as of late.)
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,725
9,656
113
I'm just glad you are safe, Lady Magenta. ❤️

I knew of at least one other person here who actually had to go so far as getting a restraining order (in the USA.) I've known guys who were being stalked by female usernames as well.

Online privacy and security is nothing to take lightly!

Which is one of the many challenges in trying to coordinate meetups. I'm going to write a thread tomorrow asking for ideas of how to meet people in person but still preserve privacy and security.

I tried to start it tonight, but right now my brains is like a pan of fried bacon! 🥓🥚🤪
So THAT'S what that smell was...

Only thing I can think of is, we all rent cabins in the same campground. And put masking tape over the name of the county on our license plates... Just for the meetup. Or we all rent cars for the trip.

One person couldn't do all the renting though. That would be a lot of money, and if people bail at the last minute the organizer gets stuck with a big bill. We would all have to agree on the group of cabins and do our own renting of each cabin separately, for the same time period.

Or if not cabins, hotel rooms. But those are nowhere near as much fun as cabins for a meetup - no kitchen space, hard to fit the whole meetup in one person's accomodations for watching a movie, etc, etc.

Of course hotel rooms would be easier to find in a group, and potentially a lot cheaper. AND they are much easier than cabins to find in a group near stuff we might want to do on a meetup.
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,725
9,656
113
:(

Quite frankly, I think my comments/remarks may have come from a bit of an overreaction (of sorts) - my apologies to all - carry on...

(What can I say - it just "streamed out of my consciousness" and into the keyboard - work and other IRL things have had me stressed as of late.)
Your reacting may have been a bit over, but your complaint was valid. I shouldn't have mentioned the meetup, for precisely the reason you listed, and I do apologize.
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,725
9,656
113
But yeah, the strength of your reaction DID catch me a bit by surprise. Like, "lolwut?"
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,725
9,656
113
I'm just glad you are safe, Lady Magenta. ❤️

I knew of at least one other person here who actually had to go so far as getting a restraining order (in the USA.) I've known guys who were being stalked by female usernames as well.

Online privacy and security is nothing to take lightly!

Which is one of the many challenges in trying to coordinate meetups. I'm going to write a thread tomorrow asking for ideas of how to meet people in person but still preserve privacy and security.

I tried to start it tonight, but right now my brains is like a pan of fried bacon! 🥓🥚🤪
Actually the Opryland Hotel would be ideal for just such a meetup... If it wasn't so doggone expensive.

Anybody know a place like the Opryland Hotel, but with lower prices? We could all meet from wherever we are, then go back to wherever we live and it would be relatively safe.

Or a place with fun stuff for a meetup group to do, and we could find a nearby hotel after we decide on the place. That would work too.
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,725
9,656
113
Actually I hear the Mall of America is a pretty nice place to get lost in. We could have a meetup there... Just saying.

Okay this should wait for the thread coming out tomorrow. G'night.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
61,149
30,296
113
Last year I did 142. 175 in 2022.

That is going by counting my start PSD files which are named by date. At some point in
the creation process I rename them by verse citation and move them to a different folder...
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
42,663
17,116
113
69
Tennessee
.

You and JesusLives have always been a blessing to us. I'm grateful that you're still friends with us, and I always enjoy the stories about your lives and family -- particularly Sugar and Tango. 🐱🐈😊
Both Sugar and Tango are close to me right now. They love their daddy. And mommy too! :p