The Following CC Members Are Obviously BAD INFLUENCES. (You Have Been WARNED!!!)

@seoulsearch is a bad influence because she's always pulling me into the Singles treads, which is tantamount to making me go out with her cruising for dates.

I'm working from this direction toward the other. My English teacher honored me among the seventh-grade population with a creative writing award, so I was delighted to see he was again my English instructor, Mr. Jones, when I reached my junior year. And if I could award him with any honors, I would offer him the Most Brazen Public School Instructor for including a study in the Bible in that year's curriculum. But that encouragement he provided to me is a big reason that I share your opinion of, and appreciation for, the influence of good writing. That you aspire to encourage your readers is as plain as the writing on(...there's an old adage about writing on paper that means 'clear to see' that I can't exactly recall at the moment but would fit just perfectly here).

That you aspire to encourage your readers is as plain as the writing on(...there's an old adage about writing on paper that means 'clear to see' that I can't exactly recall at the moment but would fit just perfectly here).

I honestly do have qualms about this, and wrote a thread about it a while back.

I do realize that a lot of married people won't feel comfortable posting in Singles, and for good reason.

But... going back to our Star Trek references, it seems like Singles is "The Last Frontier." My goal is to always try to pull people in for hopefully fun, uplifting threads (in as close to an online, introverted nerd party as one can get,) but I'm trying to think of ways to allow married people to participate without feeling awkward (hopefully.)

I also know that it might be unhealthy for singles and married to interact on a regular basis, so I do pray about this regularly. Back in the days when we had live chat rooms, I know that crossing that behind some closed doors, crossing the lines between married/single became a problem (as we were told about this by a moderator.)

I pray often about how we can extend fellowship here while trying to maintain boundaries.

As an experiment, I tried posting in Miscellaneous for a while, but right now it seems to be a landing pad for more spiritually and politically charged topics. I don't want to barge in and disturb the flow, so for now (as during most of my time here,) I've reigned in all my antics back to Singles...

Hmm.

Perhaps I will set my sights on the Family Forum for future frolics... Just to see how it goes.

Any suggestions or feedback is welcome.

O, I meant to add a disclaimer there that I particularly am drawn in to see your mother bear reaction when a particular cat starts poking at your cub.

And I also did not want to go without mentioning that I have noticed your efforts in trying to include everyone with the recent move to miscellaneous. And I imagine you could only add to the interest of the family forum (which apparently doesn't get much positive attention apart from venting familial issues). However, I didn't mean to cause you any stress at all about drawing me in to the singles forum as I was only joshing about being reticent about posting here. Au contraire, I'm more likely to crash in if I thought that I was not welcome at all.

I might just be kidding there too though

@seoulsearch And... I hope your singleness does nothing to keep your from posting in the family forum. Close families are made up of young, old, single, married, and otherwise individuals.
As I think on it further, it would be a good idea to brainstorm how to orchestrate more family get togethers. Maybe something like, Keeping Up with the Jones' or "planning a potluck cookout, what dish are you bringing?"

However, I didn't mean to cause you any stress at all about drawing me in to the singles forum as I was only joshing about being reticent about posting here. Au contraire, I'm more likely to crash in if I thought that I was not welcome at all. I might just be kidding there too though

Spock was my hero, like Superman, Batman, or Spiderman, until the point I saw them kissing a girl, and at that point I would realize they are not as strong as they'd made themselves out to be. But I've yet to see @Lynx falter in this otherwise every other hero's kryptonite.

While I can neither confirm nor deny whether @Lynx has Spock ears in real life, if this picture is anything to go by, I'd say the chances are higly probable.

(His real-life logic is about on par with Spock as well, so I'm guessing the are probably close cousins.)

I haven't exactly been avoiding them...

But I haven't been chasing them either. And they don't chase me the way they chase Superman.

Shouldn't that read "live long and PAWsper"

oh and @seoulsearch is a bad influence because her fun, intriguing threads always pull me into this foreign place called "singles forum"

I love that you honed in on this. ❤️

I am always asking God what the boundaries are with just writing -- and how they can be broken. I constantly ask Him for new thread ideas and love experimenting with structure, wording, and illustrations.

Long ago (in a lifetime far, far away,) I was in a ministry in which I wrote paper letters to prison inmates. This was long before some places allowed email, so it was all through the snail mail system, and different prisons had different regulations/restrictions on what could be sent.

I loved looking for ways around those restrictions as much as I could. I understood that the rules were there for a reason, and I never sought to do anything that caused harm. Rather, I was looking for ways to fulfil my mission of trying to send a touch of humanity into places that sought to erase as much of it as possible.

So...

* When it was forbidden to send whole books or booklets, I bought devotionals and took them apart, sending just a few pages at a time (same with things like picture books, which of course the inmates loved.)

* When stickers weren't allowed on letters, I used rubber stamps with ink and stencils filled in with markers instead. One inmate wrote, "When the mail person comes down the line, if I see a flash of color -- I know it's going to be a letter from you," because it was often the only color they saw in a surrounding that was always white, black, and gray.

* When blank postcards weren't allowed (which I understand, as some were used for nefarious purposes,) I simply used them as pieces of stationery, writing letters on the backs of postcards like regular pieces of paper (even if I had to use 12,) also sending just a few at a time.

I know that to most of the world, writing is just words on a screen (or paper,) but the Bible speaks of the Living Word.

Now of course, my words are just chicken scratch on a blank slate, but I believe in doing everything I can to push the limitations of color, senses, and feeling of writing that will hopefully touch and uplift people's spirits.

Oh, and causing a bit of a ruckus along the way is just a bit of an added benefit.

I can proudly say I'm not above trying to occasionally lure them here, even if it's just every now and then.

Now part of me wants to put up a big thread banner in Singles entitled: "MARRIED PEOPLE, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN SINGLES!! GO AWAY! WE MEAN IT! LEAVE, OR WE'LL GET OUR SINGLES COOTIES ALL OVER YOU!"

And my main purpose in doing so would be PRECISELY to see just who our most brash, outspoken, and rebellious married people on the forum would be -- especially the ones who made an appearance ONLY BECAUSE they were being told to STAY OUT!

Ah ha! She admits it!
She's "bad" after all

but, she could still pop into family forum more often, after all; aren't we all just one big family?



you really are "bad" aren't you?
my head feels ready to 🤯 and this time it's not from my kids

Hey Everyone,

This is serious business.

The following CC members are OBVIOUSLY BAD INFLUENCES and EXTREME CAUTION should be taken when interacting with ANY of them at ALL times:

1. @Mem mentioned a set of adorable, microwavable plush animals in another thread. Because of her, I am now thinking about saving up and buying one for myself for Christmas -- and I'm torn between The Fox, The Sheep, and, most troubling of all, The Chicken. I DON'T EVEN LIKE CHICKENS!!! Obviously, Mem is a bad influence!

2. @Snackersmom is always writing compassionate, insightful responses to people here. She puts her whole heart into her writing, and her gentle answers often stop me in my tracks when I think of something more harsh I want to say. Snackers is one of the brave few who actually keeps me in line, just by her grace-filled examples. Obviously, Snackers is a bad influence!

3. Over the years, we've had a lot of posters who write opinions that are very pro-one gender, while putting down the other. @Subhumanoidal makes some of the most reasonable, balanced answers to these posts that I have ever read. He does this well in response to a lot of others we've seen with black-and-white thinking as well, and his posts often have me contemplating how to better balance my own answers, too. Obviously, Sub is a bad influence!

4. I have often observed @Cameron143 answering posts with more patience and grace in a single reply to some posts than I have probably shown in all my time on this forum. He has me thinking a lot about how to work harder at understanding the other person's point of view, and how to answer with encouragement rather than criticism. i've also heard he has impeccable strategy when it comes to Pillow Fights! Obviously, Cameron is a bad influence!

5. @Susanna has gone through a lot of trying times in her life, but she is unabashedly and geninely herself as she strives to serve both God and her fellow humankind. She often has me thinking about how to be more authentic and less afraid of what people might think. Obviously, Susanna is a bad influence!

6. @TabinRivCA and @Tall_Timbers are always here welcoming and greeting newcomers, making sure they know they can have a place here. I often wonder if I should follow their example and do less thread writing and more greeting. (I'm praying God will help me balance that out.) But it's been their own examples that have gotten me thinking about this. Obviously, they are both a bad influence!

7. Those of use who have met @RodB651 can't stop crowing about his Ninja Burger Skills. My stomach loves his cooking, but every pair of pants I own hopes I'll never see him again! More than that, Rod encourages us in our small group chat no matter what questions or controversial things we might say. He'll always tell us, "You're looking for answers, and that's ok!" What's that??!! Encouraging independent thinking WITHOUT immediate criticism or harsh put-downs??!!! Most obviously, Rod is a VERY bad influence!!!

This of course, is just the tip of the iceberg.

* Who do YOU think are BAD INFLUENCES here on CC -- and WHY?

As you've probably noticed, the purpose/twist of this thread is to show a bit of "sarcastic support." The answers should be edifying and encouraging, not evil! This might get interesting if we get a few people who only read the title and not this first post.


And if you can't think of anyone else to claim is a BAD INFLUENCE here, feel free to take pot shots at me! Shoot, I'd almost feel offended by now if people didn't see ME as a bad influence.

Before I sign off, of course I have to mention @Lynx and @cinder as "The Original" bad influences here. Not only do they make me think, but they often say exactly what I wanted to say -- all in one paragraph, as opposed to my 20 pages.

They also help me "round out" my ideas for many of these threads. I often say, "Hey guys, I need a word that means ___________ and starts with the letter __." Yesterday Cinder told me, "There is such a thing as an online thesaurus, you know," , but personally...

I'd much rather those two ping-pong all their ideas back and forth!



* And, how could I not mention the Original Bad Influence himself, @Oncefallen. While sightings of our fearless leader might be scarce and precious, sometimes when he graces the Singles forum with a post -- it's often with some kind of joke aimed at Lynx -- and it's far better and beyond anything I could have ever come up with.

Hmm. I'm thinking, this is the ONE EXCEPTION on this list -- obviously, @Oncefallen is a very, VERY GOOD INFLUENCE -- when it comes to keeping The Cat in line.


How about you? Who do you think is a bad influence on the forum -- and why?

Ah ha! She admits it! She's "bad" after all but, she could still pop into family forum more often, after all; aren't we all just one big family? you really are "bad" aren't you? my head feels ready to 🤯 and this time it's not from my kids

I think an adequate punishment would be to require that she sit in the BDF corner. She must compose at least one argument, whether for or against shall be left to her choosing, in the "Not by Works" thread. And to offer just a bit of mercy, there is no requirement that she answer any replies that may be generated from the assignment. And, adding generosity, she may take Winston along.

Hold up.

This just isn't fair.

@Mem is coming up with punishments that are even worse than what my own parents would think up!!

As much as I want to sniffle in the corner and make some half-hearted, make-shift promise that I'll be good...

I don't think anyone would believe me.

And wouldn't you know, years ago I did post in the BDF every once in a while. I wrote a thread about the verse telling us to "store up riches in heaven," and asked what people thought those "riches" would consist of. No one actually answered, but just kept regurgitating the same verse back -- which could be expected, as the Bible doens't really expound on this point.

But I was curious to see if there would be any kind of wild speculation as we see about... other topics.

However.

The "Not By Works" thread??!!! That's just cold, Mem, pure ice cold, and you know it! Not even Vanilla Ice, in all his glorious 90's garish get-up, could withstand that kind of cold.


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Now admittedly, allowing me to bring Winston is a generous move.

However, Winston said he's pretty sure they don't serve snacks in the BDF, except, of course, The Bread of Affliction (which he doesn't really have a hankering for,) and so, he is firmly tapping (pecking) out.

Seeing as I would be left with not even a feather's ruffle of protection, I am declaring your punishmen to be too inhumane to (ice ice) implement.

Humph!

Hold up.

This just isn't fair.

@Mem is coming up with punishments that are even worse than what my own parents would think up!!

As much as I want to sniffle in the corner and make some half-hearted, make-shift promise that I'll be good...

I don't think anyone would believe me.

And wouldn't you know, years ago I did post in the BDF every once in a while. I wrote a thread about the verse telling us to "store up riches in heaven," and asked what people thought those "riches" would consist of. No one actually answered, but just kept regurgitating the same verse back -- which could be expected, as the Bible doens't really expound on this point.

But I was curious to see if there would be any kind of wild speculation as we see about... other topics.

However.

The "Not By Works" thread??!!! That's just cold, Mem, pure ice cold, and you know it! Not even Vanilla Ice, in all his glorious 90's garish get-up, could withstand that kind of cold.


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Now admittedly, allowing me to bring Winston is a generous move.

However, Winston said he's pretty sure they don't serve snacks in the BDF, except, of course, The Bread of Affliction (which he doesn't really have a hankering for,) and so, he is firmly tapping (pecking) out.

Seeing as I would be left with not even a feather's ruffle of protection, I am declaring your punishmen to be too inhumane to (ice ice) implement.

Humph!