[Gossamer's Scrapbook] The Ethereal Canyon I

[Aidara]

I love this picture. I love how the stadium is lit up with white lights while everything else has the warm orangish glow. I've tried to take so many pictures like this on my own and failed, so I am marveling in this shot. Makes me want to go there.

I need to get a shot of the spread of the bay area from the top of the hill at Ian's school. You can see all the way across the water to san fran at night, it's awesome.

[Gossamer]

. Getting To Know People - The Real Them Otherwise known as "Things I didn't need to know." Mizahar is for creative collaborative writing. I swear we were not 'community building' when we were crafting this website and developing its concepts. All we were actually doing was providing a plot-rich background folks could create characters in and immerse themselves so they could roleplay. All we wanted was lovely visually stunning boards to tell stories on and a place where people could run wild with their creativity. Sometimes, in moments of weakness, I think it would be a perfect thing if no one knew each others names, sexes, races, religions, politics, etc in regards to real life. But we are real people behind our PCs and that will never ever happen due to the very nature of people, which we need to run these lovely PCs. People are social creatures. I have no problems with that. Where the problems come out is when people pitch themselves one way and then turn out to be another way completely in reality. Sometimes I think the core of all these problems revolves around chat. In chat you get to know the people there by the faces they present to you. You understand them in core ways and make connections and fall in love or into friendship and form animosity and all the hundreds of other things that come with communities that gather. However, people tend to forget chat is logged or else they think no one reads the logs. Wrong. People do. But when you are a Founder, there's other aspects to understand. Sometimes we need to go through the logs for one reason or another. And when we do that, we see whats really going on below the surface of niceness and pleasantry. Traditionally I've never touched the logs unless someone has a complaint or there's some sort of harassment issue going on because I believe in privacy. But on the same side of the coin, there should be no need for privacy in a forum like this. Before Tarot gave me some new log tools to use, I had to do this line by line usually days after the 'incident' or whatever it was. Clunky, difficult, and it exposed a lot of dialog I didn't want to see. And once you do that, even with the help of say a Word's 'find' function, you still see things you'd rather not read. You see people being their 'true' selves. It's shocking, angering, sad, eye-opening and makes you go 'WTF People.' I can't tell you how much steamy 'TYPE HARDER TYPE FASTER' I ran across. Perfectly nice people calling hardworking mods names just because they didn't get exactly the XP they thought they should - and not just bad names, horrible names. I've seen adult men flirting with teens or people half their ages in very inappropriate ways even going so far as to ask for pictures etc. Chat exposes the darkness in people, the embittered, the delusional, the very very disturbed and so much more. I've seen people log on and go fishing for drama five minutes after they get settled then repeat it to others the second the others log in. I've seen people call me names. And odds are I've seen people call you names. I'm tired of people blindsiding me with who I thought they were verses who they really are. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt besides the obvious trouble makers who come make PC's on Mizahar and refuse to read the lore before they even begin posting. But in this scrap I'm talking about people I thought I knew. It doesn't take long, it seems, for someone's true colors to shine through verses the face they are showing to the rest of the world. If I'm somehow intimately connected to them (say they are a staffer or whatnot) they soon aren't a staffer anymore for various reasons - believe me all of them good. Sooner or later I'll give them an ultimatum or a perfect 'out' so they can bow out without being obviously booted just to save face. And you have to ask yourself why? Why can't they be the person you want them to be? Why can't they be the person they wanted you to think they were? Is it so hard to visualize yourself one way and mold yourself into that? That's what all the powerhouse business people do. That's what motivational speakers urge us to work towards. That's the fundamental principles behind modern paganism - visualizing what you want and seeing yourself getting it until you do indeed get it. I think sometimes you just have to step back and realize some people just have issues. They aren't apparent at first. You can look a person straight in the eye, think they are great, and not realize they go home and for example maybe physically or emotionally abuse their kids every night. A female friend can smile and laugh and act like everything is normal and be having terrible problems at work, or be badmouthing her supposed best friend behind her back. The examples are ridiculous. Then you get alcoholics, the addictive gamers, and even the people you know are 'off' but can't put a finger on it. It just gets worse and worse and worse. So I guess the point of this blog is simple. Be the person you want to be. Use Mizahar as an RPG not as a dating service or a drama factory. Write and be creative and keep it all IC and just try and be good humans ooc. And if you can't? Shame on you. Because sooner or later its going to catch up with you. .

[Verilian]

Well you don't have to worry about me, Jen. I personally feel I am just too awesome to hide my real self. What you see is all me.

[Gossamer]

*throws him a towel*

That was too much of you, Ron. Too much!

[Gossamer]

. Stop Leaving The Window Unlatched! .

[Verilian]

Okay, Jen, I just have to ask. Do you Google every single person's name that comes on this site, or do you just have this vast, godess-like knowledge of all copyrighted names? Because half the time when I see you say something about a name, I had no idea and am like, "How did she even know that!?"

[Paragon]

I know right! This lady is evidently now a resident evil player too - is there anything she can't do?

[Gossamer]

I can't divulge my secrets. Now put your towel on! Paragon is going to be traumatized.

[Paragon]

LOL! *Runs from scrapbook as he realises Verillian has no clothes on!*

But on a more serious note. That's what I like about you Goss, what you see is what you get. You don't ever pretend to be someone you're not, and you're quite happy to share your opinions. I can't help but respect that *nods sagely*

[Bolden Denusk]

Although I don't know the particulars Jen, I know -exactly- the kinda crap you mean in going through logs. It's ugly and you see a world you really didn't want to know exists. That's the reason I dropped Orb @ a decade ago. *offers some very strong booze* I understand and I've been there. If you need to talk, shoot me a pm or call me hon. I'm here for you.