thanks, Jenny/moonchild for a thoughtful and thought-provoking post. I came here for the music but have gotten sucked into all kinds of other discussions, arguments, flights of fantasy, advice-sharing sessions and joke swaps. I agree with Craig, the political threads are full of people who feel strongly about one side or the other (usually) and never the twain shall meet, in most cases. I feel passionately about my convictions but debating them in cyberspace (as I have found here and elsewhere) can be an excruciating exercise, much like beating one's head agaist a brick wall, or tossing one's heart into a blender, or throwing one's moral underpinnings into the eye of a hurricane.I dearly love and appreciate many of the people who post here; some I find to be a pain in the ass; for most members of MudCat, my feelings are probably somewhere in between. (I am sure anyone who has opinions one way or the other about me would have similar feelings about everyone else, feelings which range along a continuum).
I haven't been here all that long (a few months I guess) and with each passing day some newbie or old-timer may provide me cause to like or dislike them based on something they express or the manner in which they express it. Eloquence is in no short supply here (neither are invective or clumsiness or back-pedalling). At the end of the day, we all seem to get along pretty well and this is partly because people want to be accepted and liked by this strange and delightful and maddening community...and many of us seem comfortable with being who we are here...
here's to many more years of the same!
Peg