Dear Tom:

Guess I'm still way behind Grems, because I have no clue what's going on.....

As one of the three aforementioned ex-editors, I could tell you. But I want to hear Tom's response before exposing the awful truth.

I appreciate your patience with this Dame Ruth. I want to hear his take on this as well. I could never understand how the behavior was tolerated by Gather and why the editors were expected to tolerate it.

Very interesting question, Grems. I'll watch for the reply.

I'm curious how this is going to play out.

Grems I am interested in what response if any you get.

Me too.

I'm betting you get no response. It's always been easier to sweep a lot of us under the carpet, rather than deal with our questions.

I cannot imagine that anyone has ever swept Ina under the carpet successfully -at least not when she was sober.

:-)

I do leave a rather large lump.

I brought a good book and a lawn chair...

Webbie, I hope you brought a blanket. I don't want you to be cold.

Thanx Grems. I hate cold...but I've got me leopard print Snuggie right here. (And one for his little dog too!)

We'll need some coffee, too.

Perhaps something to add to the coffee?

I brought a lot of disappointment and few expectations.

Now, that's why people have sign-up sheets for this sort of thing. Otherwise everyone ends up bringing the same stuff...

Ha ha, Aniko! :) That was funny.

I'm glad to see you didn't bring apathy. I brought that.

I'm glad somebody showed up for the apathy group meeting. Nobody else gave a damn.

I could care less about apathy. I'll keep trying.

Start slow, Aniko. Enjoy a little ennui first.

I know, I thought my apathy was going to get me through this but I can be a persistent person when frustrated. I have been known to beat a dead horse.

I've been accused of the same, but the truth is, it was the dead horse that was beating me. People were just trying to put it kindly.

I will, Dame. (Gateway drugs always have such melodious names, don't they?)

We'll have a Give All Your Valuables to Nippy Katz booth set up shortly. It'll be right next to the Bratwurst, Kielbasa 'n' Brew booth.

And near the Hyper Hour Coffee booth too.

Took "hyper hour" from a place I could see from my hotel window when I went to a trade show many years ago. It featured bungee jumping and espresso. They had a sign in the window that said "Join us for hyper hour." It's the kind of thing that's hard to forget. :) Swear it was real. Right next door to Circus Circus.

mason will keep you company in that quadrant, Nippy. sausage, beer and coffee are 3 of his favorite things.

Did anyone find a funnel cake vendor. One always needs fried dough at a fest like this.

We're out of powdered sugar!

Ohhh, fried dough.

I have sufficient ennui and apathy, but can always use soem Nippy Brew and some fried dough.

I'll do anything for fried dough. I'll bring the pickled bologna and soda crackers...

Yes, Virginia, there is a Tom Gerace.

He was seen in the company of the Great Pumpkin this weekend.

Grems you are not one of the chosen, you are a member of the great unwashed.

Grems, I brought along my loom and several skeins of yarn. How many hats do you think I'll be able to make before you get a reply from Tom? I might need to get more yarn.

I have some friends who would love a little hat. They are part of the two and younger crowd and like lots of color.

I'll just sit here, with my tapestry... and wait.

None of that Penelope stuff.

Nippy, my husband has been calling me Penelope ... I crocheted about 10" of an afghan and decided I hated it, and ripped it all out. Then I crocheted about 5" of a different pattern and realized I hated that one, too. Now I'm working on my own bleeping pattern.

I'm working on a baby aghan ... um, the blanket kind, not the young person ... I'm curious to see what is said, too.

I'm also reading up on energy vampires. LOL! That has nothing to do with this, of course. Back to my crocheting.

I'm familiar with energy vampires. I used to work with one. They're not just mythical. They really do exist, and they prefer to show up at your workplace.

I think I have one sleeping in my living room. All I know is that I don't want to go home anymore.

Go home and do an exorcism. Need help?

Yes! LOL! I was just listening to "Otherside" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and thinking that might be my only way out of the situation.

Thank you all for attending this event. I will be working for a bit and look forward to seeing what happens in my absence.

(Psst! someone needs to arrange for the tent as well as find the firewood. We may be here for awhile.)

I have the firewood! I need help hauling it over here, though. It's a pretty large load.

Since I'm a witch (or the variant with the bilabial plosive), all I have to say is Accio Firewood! and it will come flying across the air.

Camping in November is hard core. A sense of homelessness for a group of Gatherites that still give a hoot is equally grim business.

I brought a splitting maul Ina.

I'm not so sure any of us give a hoot any more, Adrian. We're just venting our frustration. He broke it.

Are you any good with that maul?

I'm feeling a bit like Madame Defarge - here I sit, tapestry (OK, so she was knitting) - under the guillotine....

When do heads roll?

Cords worth of splitting with a maul! I always hit my target. Less so with a keyboard (or #2 pencil) but working at it!

I still give a hoot. Particularly after doing a fairly focused search beyond and finding less than dit for a community who fosters writing.

Bring your sleeping bags kids. It could be a long cold night.

Well, I was knitting...

If you're knitting sleeping bags, I'll take one!

Hmmm... Maybe I should hire some bands to entertain us while we wait; we could have a "Waiting for Tom Festival". I might be able to convince Springsteen to show up, but I don't want him giving Tom ideas with "Born to Run".

Roy, this would be more like the Tenth Avenue Freeze-out that ended the party.

I think we could get Kevin's band to play for free, since they always play for free, anyhow.

Why not an open jam?

I would love to have Kevin play along with any other wonderful musicians among the group waiting in the cold for an answer from Tom.

Where's Roy? We can get some hot trad tunes going -- Ste. Anne's Reel, Coleraine, Tarbolton, Rakes of Kildare... Bill Cheatham...

I'm bringing electric Kool-aid, too. It's the only way we'll see Tom here.

well good golly miss molly. naturally i'm not shocked that you have yet to get an answer. i'll be even more shocked if you do. i'll make sure we have a dunk tank so we can all get a chance to drown some of gather's most hated. that way we get some exercise while waiting for tom.

I have brought the Kris M. Special, which is a particularly bitter and jaundiced point of view. It also looks entirely appropriate, given the fact that this post has been up for nearly six hours with no response whatsoever from "management."

If I recall correctly, several people were similarly interested in Tom's response. It would seem he's had sufficient time to research the matter, wouldn't it?

If he's researching, I hope he saw the latest "woe is me they were such meanies" post.

I saw a rather narcissistic little rant out there. As usual it was about how others are persecuting those who write without regard to grammar, spelling and basic writing rules. I wonder if there could be a flag for those who protest too much.

I'm tired of trying to explain the difference between flagging and reporting anyway.

The thing that makes me wonder, is where are these articles that people are leaving demeaning comments on? Ridiculing people for grammar? Not ON the article that I've ever seen. I've read a few articles generally bashing people who can't and won't try to spell or use grammar, but never anything on that person's article.

I do find it interesting, though, that they're having flagging issues. I really thought I knew where all the flagging was coming from, but maybe I don't. Heck, for all I know, Gather is flagging stuff just to keep the hornet's nest active. (just kidding)(mostly)

Okay -- once more, then.

"Flagging" is when you throw up a caution flag by marking your own article as graphic language, graphic violence, and that sort of thing. So, technically, when they complain about flagging, it's their own fault.

"Reporting" is when you click the link at the bottom of someone else's article because the content is unacceptable for some reason. This sends a link to the PTB of Gather, who are supposed to review whether the report is justified or not, and take appropriate action. The article is "invisible" during this time, and -- honestly -- the action taken is only questionably appropriate.

Not really, Dannielle. Articles can be flagged by the author (okay) or "flagged by the community" (bad thing). Or they can be "reported". The flagging people complain about is not the kind done by the author (it says up at the top if it was done by the author or by the community), but the kind where anonymous people come through and flag (basically saying the author should have flagged for some reason and didn't) ... but what actually happens is people flag other people's work just to piss them off and keep other people from seeing it.

I report racism. I don't care if it's fair or not. The hell with 'em!

I report spam when I'm really bored. I go through the list of newly published articles and look for the obvious ads. There's usually at least one per screen.

i've been able to get into some flagged by the community articles. once you post a comment, you can follow your comment back there and pass the link off to people. if gather upholds the flag, then you can't get back.

I almost forgot, there's an exciting update tonight.

There is?

What site will that be on?

*taps Kris on the back* Here silly! Don't you pay attention!

Yeah -- didja see my status line?

Dannielle! I'm shocked!!!

:-)
It was one of those opportunities I just couldn't pass up.

Great. Now some people will never know what I was shocked about.

[evil laugh]

"I'm curious how this is going to play out. "

See, this is the essential problem. It will NOT play out. People will continue to jump on board, and wonder what will happen, and the truth is, NOTHING WILL HAPPEN.

Oh, yeah, life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone... ♪♫ ♪♫
♪♫

Tramps like us...

Let us give him the benefit of the doubt... there is a MAJOR upgrade this evening..... all hands on deck, donchaknow.....?

I'll conduct a sing-a-long outside Gather headquarters.

We could do "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" "Bye, Bye Miss American Pie" and anything else you all want to sing that will get on their last nerve.

"Google Bottles of Beer on the Wall" lasts a good long time.

But it isn't half as annoying as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". It's a nice optimistic song.

Or "I Shot the Sheriff"!

Tempting as it is...

In addition to Grems' thoughtful and very reasonable question, I would like to pose this one to "management:" Is this what you feel Gather should set forth as an example? There are some dedicated member editors on this site who deserve better company than this.

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977869135

I read this contribution to the pit. I also commented on the contribution to the pit.

* My eyes! My eyes! *

I think some of the nectar of the gods will heal your eyes Ina.

Holy cow. That's ... uh ... rather rambling and somewhat disjointed ... in my opinion. And flagged? Eh? Confusing.

when you write like that, after professing to be a real writer, you deserve all the criticism that comes your way. i don't care what it is i'm reading, any mistake, mostly in spelling, totally ruins the read for me. to then blame one's failures on a disability just insults all those who do manage to overcome them through hard work.

Well, she did say she was indeed writing to her audience.

good point barb. i'm just glad i didn't have to pay admission to that train wreck.

"The joy of writing is hitting the common thread entwined in our lives or our hearts. "

How many writers are "hitting threads" that are entwined in their hearts?

Does the joy come when you start or when you stop?

Does anyone else hear echoes of the ungrammatical and sentimental pablum that was once spun into endless articles by the Maine Poet and Plagerizer of Gather.

I recently followed a thread to the wretched writer whose whining was exceeded only by his literary thefts - and found that he is now posting travelogues about his road trips with his "best friend forever", a post-adolescent male about 18 years old.

The photos are creepy.

Ew, Peter, that sounds like a pedophile travelogue! Send me an email with the link! :)

Does the joy come when you start or when you stop?

LOL! Maybe when they stop?

I think I understand the point she's trying to make, but while I agree that writing can be a joy, it can also be a joy while following the rules. I don't agree with (what I think) is her main point, though. To be truthful, I read all the comments as well as the post, and I'm not sure what her point was. I guess she enjoyed writing it.

Does the joy come when you start or when you stop?

Really -- I'm just not comfortable answering this line of questioning publicly and on the internet... ;^)

I missed the wonderfully mixed metaphor about the thread in the heart. Sometimes I need to read more carefully.

i love The Pants. she can read my mind.

The literary thefts were made by a "plagiarizing" idiot.

I should not be allowed to type after 10.

Good morning Peter. Thank you for correcting you own error. An unusual event here on Gather, but those with integrity often find their way back to do so.

And so it goes. Grems, I fear you may well be a dried up dessicated corpse and still not have received a response from Tom!

[drum roll] Will the article survive the upgrade? Tune in again tomorrow...

I don't see anything different.

I guess fictional wizards don't do much.

Ah. The classic view is default!

I've changed it to the new one. Stuff has been moved around on the "My Gather" page. Your status line is prominent and can be shared with the usual suspect sites. I can find things if I look for them, but then I've always been able to find them. I'm going to change back to classic now.

That concludes my report.

I tired the new page for all of two minutes, if that long. It wasn't worth getting annoyed over.

Think Facebook-ish, but less functional; yet another swing and a miss.

no no, it's a hybrid between facebook and myspace. those drop downs on the top of the page are pure myspace.

"Tasks"? What kind of word is that?! Do I come here to be told I have "tasks" here?!?!?!

Even on the "classic" view, I notice that the points have been minimized visually, which is interesting. From the time I joined, this feature was always prominent, even though when I joined the points were of no value at all -- they just accumulated, and the site promised some day they'd be redeemable for gifts.

If I could figure out how to do a photo essay anywhere else, I'd only come back here to annoy people.

Hmmm.

Oh, a party...and some of my favorite people are here! Why is it that it feels a bit like a "going away" party??

Because i have a feeling it is. No response from Tom. I wonder how often he visits Gather and reads what is on Gather.

Sorry I'm late.. I was looking into copyrighting my name... it's being used ad nauseum elsewhere.

I'd like to say I'm looking forward to Tom's answer, but I sincerely doubt one is forthcoming. The WE Debacle fits far too neatly into the "SSDD" file.

Now, I would never make the rookie mistake of saying something, like, "Well, he couldn't have a well informed or well researched answer for you, Grems, because he hasn't asked me for MY side of it, yet," (which he has not.) Nor would I expect him to; as I've stated before, WHEN YOU HAVE NO CONTENT YOU MUST RELY ON CONTROVERSY TO DRIVE YOUR CLICKS.

Thus, I doubt that there will ever even be an answer.

And if, on the off-chance that something masquerading as an "answer" should appear, magically, it will be more of that glad-handing, double-spoken bullsh!t that he's been practicing all over this hell's half acre for the last week or so. I'm mildly curious to see what sort of psuedo-corporate- speak or completely ostrich-like avoidance of the issue he and his circle of Intelligentsia come up with... but only for the joy of parodying it elsewhere on the internet.

You are not late. We are still here and I doubt there will be an answer. I am disappointed in Tom, but not surprised. I am learning to let go of the dead horses and this may be one I let go of sooner than later.

If Tom makes it in here maybe he will explain why TWO other members were allowed to claim exclusive use of their names, yet yours, Joy, can be abused. Never mind that one name is also a disease, or that two of us have nieces who share the name of the second person. None of us were allowed to mention the disease or our nieces because it upset those two. (Anybody want to guess which friend they had in common that made it possible for them to know when their names were used anywhere on this site?)

Okay, I need a scorecard. Someone want to email me and give me the lexicon? I'm a little slow.

one name is also a disease,

I never heard of anyone coming down with a severe case of the --

Nah. Too easy. I may only ever take out enough to win, but I'm not about waste ammo shooting fish in a barrel.

Who brought the coffee? I have a TERRIBLE hangover from last night's reading.

Have a little Hair O'De Dawg, Webbie -- follow Kris's link above for what is, in my opinion, some really terrible writing.

Oh, wait... your hangover is terrible! My mistake...

And what, pray tell, did you think GAVE me said hangover? My head is KILLING me!

Had my coffee. Feel like I am punch drunk tho. Keeping a vigil for a dead horse is not a good thing.

And then Sandy had to go and do me completely in. I'm as dead as our horse. My nerves just haven't figured it out yet. Is there a Valium in the house?

Nope, sorry, but I can find some wine or beer.

Thought I saw some movement with the dead horse, but it was just some writing maggots.

errr.... I mean, writhing maggots. Or maybe writing maggots.

Honestly, Vicks -- that could go either way.

Ha ha ha! Writing maggots. Snort.

LOL at Sue's comment!!! Seriously Grems, even though I have no idea what is going on, - I so hope you get a response!! Listening/responding to the 'little people' always makes the 'top dogs' bigger and better in my opinion....a response (whether favorable or unfavorable) lets one know at least you do care and have the guts to respond!

First, I would like to thank the person who rated this a 1. I take it you disliked what I had to say.
On another issue, I no longer believe I will receive a response to my question. It is unfortunate when, the powers that be decide they do not need to respond even when they say they will. I gave Tom the benefit of the doubt. Those who doubted were proven right and I wrong. I am disappointed and feel a bit silly for taking the chance that Tom would answer. I think the horse is dead and Tom does not care what many people think or are concerned about.
The person who was a major factor in this continues to delete comments found to be challenging because they cause others to consider another point of view. Unfortunately, Gather has a high tolerance for the behavior of this person who states there are bullies at large on Gather, but does not recognize how their behavior (both the individual and Gather) plays a role in this.
I talked in a previous article about taking ones' toys and going home when frustrated. I think it is time to take my toys and go home. Thanks for playing.

Here we are, Tom is returning to Boston. Perhaps when he gets there he wil take the time to look into this. Not holding my breath.

I have to say I have no idea what this is all about, but I want to thank all of you for giving me more than a few chuckles with your comments.

And, Grems, I don't want to make light of what is obviously important to you. I really hope you get your answers.

I don't know the root of this issue.
I hope you get your answer. But like you say, I wouldn't hold my breath.
Gather's priorities seem to have permanently attached to the area of the colon.

Apparently Tom does not feel the need to answer this. No longer worth the effort.
@#$% it!