major malfunction

[verybaddmom]

i think it's sort of like those "contests" where you get a phone call and are "selected to recieve" something like dinner for two at a great resort, but over dinner, you are forced to listen to a high pressure sales pitch for the resort's time share......its a rip off, and they misrepresent themselves, but you do (usually) get what you pay for and they remain just within the bounds of the law. the problem with these guys (poetry.com) is that instead of feeding off of greed, like the majority of scammers out there, they feed of the fragile self esteem of the artist...whose only joy is to hear that someone appreciates their work. that is what i think is so disgusting.
interesting note, and i think it's been mentioned on this forum somewhere, but your poetry for submission to their site, must not contain the word scam....it will not be posted. ironic. i thought.

[ajoe]

Cool, I'll try it out. (I'm good at composing trashy poems anyway.)

[amuse]

so if iye
just post
sumthing
lyke thys
end priint it owt
cend it two
thim end say ime
uh poet-
ess, they'll
giv mee tuns uv
press
and ile bee won uv
there feechird
riters?
weeoooh!

must try it!
actually, a fireman's wife at easter dinner suggested i submit something to them. needless to say, i did, was a semifinalist, and they were going to audiorecord it. after i received a second congrats more than a year later, i e-mailed them and said, "yo, y'all have received no poems from me" - they never contacted me again.

[ajoe]

I skipped a couple pages of this thread, but I decide to be fair I should throw in one of my malfunctions as well.

Ever since I got really, really addicted to the Internet, I compulsively use the expression lol... in fact, I've used it so much it sometimes nearly slip off my tongue when I converse in real life!

[emily655321]

--> LOL <-- Me too! I used to hate it, but now there are times I wish there was an equivalent I could use in conversation. So much easier than thinking of something to say.

[ajoe]

I say "laughing out loud" out loud instead. Hey, just in case you haven't noticed, you've passed your 1000th post! Yippee!!

[random_hero]

Holy divah!!! Wow!!! LOL!!11!!1!!!!ONE!!!one11!!

[simon]

I usually just laugh when I find something funny.

[verybaddmom]

i agree with you simon. just because i spend waaaaay too much time on the internet does not mean that i have lost my ability to express myself in social situations of the face to face persuasion. in fact i sometimes wish that i had the ability to use my body language and facial expressions to express myself on this forum. there are times that the only thing that correctly says what im feeling is one eyebrow raised or a great big grin. and Em, as if you cant think of something to say at all times. that just strikes me as not possible.

[verybaddmom]

and a big huge congrats on the post'o' rama you have engaged in. (postfest? post-stock? postacular?...i think im really tired!)
the big 1K eh? good for you hon. you win!

[simon]

Often I miss tone of voice for instances like sarcasm, but sometimes not being able to hear a person allows for less altercations and misinterpretation.

[verybaddmom]

i think i might have to disagree. rhetorical questions, sarcasm and teasing all require tone of voice and body language (specifically facial expressions) to be properly understood. there is so much more range to communication if the whole of the language is at our disposal, and so much of language is not just what is being said (or read).
that said, i believe that this forum is extremely useful, not just because of the friendships forged here or the benefits reaped from having intelligent sounding boards, but also for the practice in making oneself understood using only words. for any person who wishes to write effectively, that is an immesurably important tool. the ability to make clear your ideas and feelings using only the written language is highly underrated, and also much more difficult than one would think.

[verybaddmom]

see?

[simon]

Agreed mom, pretend to hear my chuckles then.

[verybaddmom]

i already heard the chuckling...that wasnt you before? uhoh