I am shocked and appalled at the lack of participationism from the
Chicago/Illinois/Indianastan contingent of JSH.

Here we have a perfectly good website, with a perfectly good Chicago
forum, and there's a new topic posted about once every 7.3 years.

People, I KNOW there are some of you out there. I checked the search
thingie. Lots and lots of you out there. I suspect some of you are
even real, living, breathing human beings, and not leftover cardboard
cutouts from MySnakes.

(Of course, I could be wrong....)

I have seen a handful of you actually post on the forums. Could you do
a little more of that? Please?

I would really like to know if there's anyone local who would like to
talk about that giant silver bean doodad they have over there in
Millennium Park.

But all of the people who want to talk to me are from Canada and New
York and California....oh, and a WHOLE BUNCH from Russia, too, only
they're not on this site and they sure do seem to need a lot of
money....

Or maybe the Chicago people just have some unfortunate and tragic
medical condition that prevents them from being able to read these
posts....??

I myself suffer from ochophobia (fear of the Spanish number eight), but
it doesn't prevent me from posting. Well, nothing ever really seems to
prevent me from posting, and that's why I have posted this much!

Can you read this eye chart?

E

Very

Timeyou

Readthesesigns

Youhurtyoureyes

((( Lex )))

I don't need your money and yes I'm from NY........But I see where
you're coming from. All of my friends on here are quite a distance away,
except for Tom and Glen.

My eyes hurt!
Sorry Lex Michigan is as close as I get.
Morning to you!

Hey, Kitten & Teddy (sounds like we're running an animal shelter here)
--

Michigan is a lot closer than Moscow, anyway!

You know, the thing that I don't understand is how this particular forum
is so devoid of content most of the time....

Sure, it has a regional raison d'etre, and it's never going to match
"General" or "Relationship Advice" for sheer number of posts, but --

-- dammit, Chicago is a BIG PLACE, and there are lots of Chicago-area
people on here. Or so the search feature tells me.

And I see (rarely) someone local will actually post on the forums, and
sometimes even on one of my own threads which I even started! And I
keep thinking, "I wish she would post more, I'd like to get to know more
about her." Saw one of those just the other day.

And then they disappear off the face of the earth, are banished to
Neptune by the evil dictator Frunobulax the Third, and are never heard
from again.

Pffffffttttttt....

One for Kitten, one for Teddy, and one for the girl who vanished!

Awww Lex what is wrong with Canada? I can stop talking to you if you
want?

I love Canadians, don't get me wrong! (Why wouldn't I? They are the
nicest people on here, in my experience!) And you know you're my best
friend on here, even Ned knows that, look how he is always trying to run
across the keyboard when you're typing a message for me!

I just don't understand the reluctance of the locals to use this forum
and talk to some other locals, is all.

Do they not know it's here? Do they go down the forum list and see
"Relationship Advice" and figure, "Well, there can't be anything worth
reading below that one" and just give up?

Why join a site if you're not going to participate?

Lex, you know that you mean a LOT to me and Ned. But I am guilty of
doing just that,only going so far down the list. We do not have a
Canadian board here. And sometimes I forget that the rest of the world
exists on this site.

You know, a Canadian board might not be a bad idea. Do you think they
would let me in there, even though I'm not Canadian?

Sure they would. I an not from Chicago and yet here I am. You can be my
American sidekick

HEY THE CANADIEN BOARD IS A GOOD IDEA.

Lex I know how you feel I am from montreal and I dont see alot of them
posting.

Well, I haven't run across anyone from Montreal that I remember -- but I
have talked to a fair number from Ontario. I don't know what it is
about Ontario, but all that I've talked to from there are very
intelligent and very good at expressing themselves. And they all have a
sense of humor. It must be something in the water up there.

But Chicago? -- I don't know. For every 50 or 60 that show up in the
search area, maybe one posts here every month or so. It's strange.
It's like buying a box of cereal because you like the picture of the
cartoon rabbit on the front.

I'm sorry now that I'm so far away

Not exactly your fault!!

But I appreciate the thought!

I was kind of curious about the boards myself. I came from another site
where people posted all the time. It was quite lively. I figured since
Chicago had it's own section of the forums there'd be more here. Boy was
I wrong! I don't have much time to post and hang out but I check the
Chicago boards from time to time.

So, seriously, what's the deal with the Bean? I've walked past it a
couple times. Why do we have a big metal bean? I do really enjoy the
fountains though! I can't wait for summer! I plan on walking around the
city and taking tons of photos.


Cheers to you, Lex, for trying to jumpstart the Chicago boards!

Scarlet -- I really don't know what the purpose of the bean is, but I do
think it's a fascinating thing to see. Last summer, I would generally
go to Millennium Park about once a week and take pictures of the bean
(must have 500 of them on my camera) -- because it's so shiny and
reflective, you can get some pics with oddly distorted reflections of
the surrounding buildings, which are fun to play around with, if you're
into photography
at all.

As for our forum here, let me tell you a little story: Recently, one of
the local girls actually made some posts in a couple of the more popular
forums higher up, and actually replied to a thread I had started.
(After which, I replied to one of hers.)

I looked at her profile and she seemed like an intelligent and artistic
type; clearly had a good sense of humor and was articulate and fun to
read. I thought, "Here is exactly the kind of local person I would
really enjoy talking to." By some strange coincidence, I have pictures
on my camera of a sculpture made by an artist she greatly admires.
Common ground! She even checked out my profile after we had interacted
on the forums.

And she made a few posts and -- poof! -- disappeared, just like that. I
think she actually posted for two days, maybe a dozen posts altogether.
Maybe she didn't like it -- ?? But her posts were fine, no one had any
issues or problems with her, so -- ??

I guess the forum format isn't for everybody. But I really believe it's
the only way to "put yourself out there" on JSH. I mean, if you're
really interested in meeting someone, even if it's just for a friend or
someone to talk to and compare notes with, you need to be known, you
need to show something of yourself, who you are, what's important to
you, what you're looking for, and so on....

There's a post on another forum by a guy who has been on JSH for several
weeks; he has sent out some emails (no replies) -- a few people have
viewed his profile, but his contention is the site is bad because no one
contacts him. And he has made a total of ONE forum post, and it's the
one where he complains about how horrible the site is.

I just don't get that kind of mentality. Maybe there's something I'm
not seeing....? I get lots of email here, and probably all of it is
directly related to something or other I've posted in the forums. But
then, I love to write, so it's not all that hard for me to post about
anything and everything.

But I wonder about all of the Chicago people I see floating through the
"New Matches" screen -- why are they here? To meet someone? But they
don't seem to have any particular motivations in that direction. They
make a profile, write a few lines, post a pic maybe, then they just hide
behind the couch for 6 months.

Why be part of a site if you have no interest in communication with
anyone at all?

It's all sort of counter-intuitive.

Well, maybe if that one girl comes back, I can show her the pictures of
that sculpture. Maybe she'll even make a few more posts....

Lex - You're right, it is very odd that she would disappear. I don't
know why people join sites but refuse to participate. I suspect many
people are rather lazy (that's totally going to offend a bunch of people
but oh well) and they're just looking for an easy way to meet people. I
don't think they realize that even in the online world it's work.

When I first joined JSH... well, okay to be honest, when I first joined,
I did absolutely nothing with my profile, in fact I forgot I had even
created the account. But when I rediscovered my JSH, I didn't really
know much about the site and it took me a bit to find the forums. I
still haven't ventured far from the Chicago group. To be honest, some of
the other boards frighten me. I've never had much of an intellectual
conversation in any forum titled "Relationships" or anything of the
sort. I'm a bit nervous to take a look around. Right now my time is
quite limited with school. As soon as it's over though, I think I'll be
posting quite a bit more.

I hope your mystery lady returns. Maybe there was just an issue in her
life she needed to attend to but she'll return when it's resolved.

Lately, I lack creativity. My brain is rather fried or I'd start a few
threads myself. It's the best way to get out there, indeed.

Hopefully more people will post. It does make it far more interesting.

Scarlet -- Just a word on some of the other forums --

I admit, some of the "bigger" ones (General, Relationship Advice, etc.)
can be unwieldy and difficult to monitor thoroughly.

But for sheer exposure, nothing beats them.

One of my friends on this site was threatened by another member awhile
back, so I started a thread about that, on the "General" board -- and
got 70 emails that evening alone. It was really very interesting!

And I've noticed a sort of a snowball effect. Once you get "known,"
more people want to know you. Sometimes it actually gets a little
overwhelming. To think that something you wrote, something that
generated 50 or 60 replies, might have been read by 5 or 10 or 20 times
that number.

I suppose it all gets back to the communication issue. As a writer, I
am always aware that I am writing (hopefully, anyway) for some sort of
audience. And this often generates feedback --which is the beginning of
communication.

If I didn't WANT to communicate with people, I wouldn't be doing this
stuff....

I think you would fit in well on the other boards. You obviously have
no problem expressing your thoughts, and there really are (occasionally,
let's be honest) some reasonably intellectual threads! Something to
think about, anyway.

Thanks for the encouragement, Lex. I'll check them out. I do enjoy
reading your writing. How does one find other posts by a particular
person?

Last I heard, that was one of the suggestions that Vanchau and Mike were
working on for possible implementation at some point. At present, there
is no way to do that. It's a hunting thing for now.

I can tell you that most of my stuff, since I started posting back in
January, has been in General, with a few scattered things elsewhere. A
lot of it is satirical (a personal favorite was "Rate My Tape Dispenser"
-- and I did one earlier tonight called "Who Is The Hottest Girl In
Medicine Bow, Wyoming?") because there are just SO MANY of those kinds
of things on the boards, and they are just begging to be ridiculed. I'm
not sure anybody gets the joke (and I've never even been to Wyoming),
but I suppose esoteric self-amusement is better than nothing.

I have done a few poems in the Poetry section (only one of which is any
good, to be honest), and one of my short stories, as well as a chapter
from the book I'm currently shopping around....if you get bored
sometime, let me know, I'll try to locate them on the old boards....I
could use some feedback, anyway....!!

See hun there are some locals out here for you babe.