Is FPGeeks still a pleasant place to stay?

[TSherbs]

ok thats pretty funny!

[TFarnon]

I already go to the kind of content I'd like to read--stuff about pens, pictures of pens, and pens for sale (with pictures). Occasionally I go to the off-topic threads when something really has me riled up, like COVID, or MAGATs, but I don't really have the headspace to do that very often. I'm fairly new to the hobby. I'd call myself a collector, but I haven't narrowed my focus despite efforts to do so. I like old pens and new pens, expensive pens and inexpensive pens.
I would like to attend a pen show, probably the one in San Francisco. I'm still too nervous about COVID to attend this year, so I'm making tentative plans for next year. I imagine pen shows are kind of like family gatherings, at least with my family. Everyone tries to behave civilly, as long as you don't count some silliness like making the glasses ring at the dinner table (woo--wild stuff, huh?). I imagine that more money exchanges hands at pen shows, too.

There are some pens listed on these boards that I would never buy because I already have one like it, don't feel an intense longing to have such a pen, or don't want to pay that much for a pen. I'm not offended if someone offers a pen that doesn't pique my interest. The same applies in the broader pen world. There are some brands and some vendors I won't buy from. Sometimes it's just that I'm not into their offerings. Sometimes it's not liking their politics. But hey, that's their business. I'll just wander off in search of something that catches my eye. What remains of my life (20 to 40 years, guessing) is too short to be doing things I don't enjoy.

I prefer these boards to other boards in part because of the layout. I like the look better than that on FPN. I like the content better than that on Reddit, although sometimes things get unbelievably, comically silly on Reddit. There's room for both in my brain.

I guess that's about it.

[Lloyd]

What remains of my life (̶2̶0̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶4̶0̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶s̶,̶ ̶g̶u̶e̶s̶s̶i̶n̶g̶)̶ is too short to be doing things I don't enjoy.

Whether you're 9 or 90, life is too short. There's just two categories for anything you should be spending your time on: HAVE TO and WANT TO, which are not mutually exclusive.


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[Pendragon]

Believe me, I thought for a very long time whether I should really write the following. Especially at a time when there is more arguing than interesting content being posted.

What the hell happened here anyway? I log on after being gone awhile and find the place turned into a warzone. Some folks, people who are normally very easygoing and civil, are being total douchebags to one another. At least one member apparently leaving, and entire threads vanishing. Wow!

I really like the idea of an unmoderated forum.

It's great until it's not. Other unmoderated forums I have seen soon devolved into big messes.

I'm still too nervous about COVID to attend this year, so I'm making tentative plans for next year.

I wouldn't worry too much about COVID. They don't even require wearing a mask in the Bay Area anymore. Pretty much everyone has either had COVID or been vaxxed to hell and back. Things are safe enough now that most companies are calling people back into the office. That would not be happening unless COVID was under control.

I imagine pen shows are kind of like family gatherings, at least with my family. Everyone tries to behave civilly, as long as you don't count some silliness like making the glasses ring at the dinner table (woo--wild stuff, huh?). I imagine that more money exchanges hands at pen shows, too.

To say people are nice and the vibe is cool at the SF Pen Show would be a great understatement. Jon's recap of the 2019 show is here, and is spot on. It really is that awesome.

I hope you don't let the nonsense on pen forums dissuade you from going to pen shows. People are super nice at the shows.