OK, i have been coming into the cat for less than a month now. I already feel part of the community ( wether you are all too polite to shut my gob and blow on out of town I don't know), simply I think because I find everything fascinating on here. The diversity and the openess of the people within this community is amazing. I have found it to be the most accessible and open site that I have ever encountered in the 4 plus years that I have been surfing the net. I have been in Forums for science fiction where they only talk about science fiction, if you aren't into it then you aren't welcome. If you don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre you are considered a dork. I have been in history and archaological forums where the same applies. I had to work hard to get accepted into those forums in the first place only to discover that my thoughts and opinions weren't valued.
Mudcat is the first free forum that I have ever encountered, where people are welcomed and accepted by everyone, views are expressed, songs and music, and techniques and problems have been discussed, but also politics, feelings therapy, experiences and yes...God Forbid...Humour.
As with any community, sometimes things evolve that exclude newcomers. I was lucky I had the patience and time to explore the forum and the people on the forum and got to know them through the threads and posts that they made here. I was not discouraged. As I said I have been into a lot tougher forums that were practically exclusive. Sometimes things happen that are in-jokes, discussions that have gone on before, people who have known each other longer than others. You have no idea how jealous I feel about you guys that live near to each other and get to see each other now and again, i can't do that. If I were a different type of person I would write that off as cliqueness and haul my butt out the door. What can I do for the Mudcat? This is a big question. I have recently lost my job ( this is why I spend so much time on here) so a financial contribution is really out of the question at the moment ( the comp time is free by the way, a generous arrangement with a guy I know) so all I can do is keep coming in and contributing this way until such a time as I can afford to make a financial contribution (and believe me when that day comes in the not too distant future, it is a priority). Until then I will just be a little obscure, try and help with any information I can and generally try and make people feel welcome. Shamb, your message was received loud and clear the first time. Forgive me my levity in what I thought was actually a fortuitous and brilliant thread idea. And I managed to write this without once swearing, I am proud of that actually.