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.


Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[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.

[jar]

There was a reason that at big family dinners there was a table for the adults and another for the kids.

[Lloyd]

Overall it's okay as long as you steer clear of a particular group of old-timers who feel challenged by imagination and creativity.

The OP made a massive mistake creating this thread. Showed real naivety. And it went along a precisely predictable path.

I think it's a naive assumption/stereotype that the oldtimers lack or are threatened by creativity and imagination. Sometimes, we enjoy when our spouses talk in a cutesy voice, but we'd divorce them if they did it all the time.

Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™

[An old bloke]

Actually I should have said that this particular group is challenged by the absurd notion that people may have different experiences than their own.

There was a reason that at big family dinners there was a table for the adults and another for the kids.

I'd rather sit at the kids table, there is more honesty there.

I am not the brightest light in the house by a long shot so I have to ask, does a comment line that reads, "Caution - this forum permits bullying", exhibit a provocative attitude of the writer and thereby create hostility towards the him or her? While I'm at it, wouldn't such an attitude provoke confrontations that one might consider to be bullying?

I also have two questions about your adult and children's tables. Am I mistaken in my belief that the main reason there are two such tables at family events is because different behaviours are expected from adults and children? I have to ask because the adults I associate with are honest people who speak candidly and accept the opinions of other with respect. Is the impression that there is more honesty at the chidren's table a matter of opinion?

[Farmboy]

I remember the kids table. It was a good foot or more closer to the ground and had stubby chairs to match. I always thought it was size related—when your knees floated the table you got promoted.

[Pendragon]

There was a reason that at big family dinners there was a table for the adults and another for the kids.

Because the adults usually got too hammered to prevail in the food fight?

[Lloyd]

There's always too much griping at the old-folks table.

Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™

[An old bloke]

There's always too much griping at the old-folks table.

Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™

The whining at the kids' table is rather annoying.

[Lloyd]

There's always too much griping at the old-folks table.

Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™

The whining at the kids' table is rather annoying.

Not at the ones I sat at.

Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™

[RobJohnson]

Does anyone else take the view that the bad behaviour of one particulr individual has had far too attention and for far too many years, a constant barrage of wanting to behave as they wish and then moan and complain that the world does not revolve around them?

I have tried support, advice, criticism and persuasion.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Does anyone else take the view that the bad behaviour of one particulr individual has had far too attention and for far too many years, a constant barrage of wanting to behave as they wish and then moan and complain that the world does not revolve around them?

I have tried support, advice, criticism and persuasion.

Give up.

Push off.

[An old bloke]

What I find interesting is that an individual who left this forum claiming never to return because of the the very things that are once again subjects of complaint has now returned, and is upset again.

I believe that just might qualify as a form of masochism.

[Lloyd]

Lip service hardly equates with trying.

What I want is to be able to express myself creatively without being shutdown in a prejudicial manner by people who lack tolerance for difference. Fortunately that is restricted to just a few members, but they unduly colour the forum.

What I also want is for people to respect that the experiences I've had are real and are not to be dismissed because they don't align with what other people experience. Note, I do not lie about my experiences, I report them as they are/were.

What I've always wanted is introductions in the pen-world so that I can find certain pens that I can then purchase. Not much to ask but apparently beyond the capacity of those who claim to be FP people and therefore better people. While I don't like to speak up for myself, I have been considerably more generous on this site than most of my detractors put together.

Not everyone likes the same art. No creative displays are universally liked. What does an artist do if their local community doesn't enjoy their art? They can continue to show the same art to bad local response, go to a different audience, or try a different way of expressing themselves.

Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Writing can be a creative art. I don't like all art, but I appreciate the skill and creativity that I experience even in art I don't personally want in my house. Here it is a tiny vocal minority who make the most complaints. My art, the creative side of my writing, is always in flux, changing with my moods and the continuing collection of experiences. Unfortunately there are some members here who don't like what I do because it is me doing it. It's a real blinkering exercise for them. They shut themselves off from the joy of discovery and exploration to further their personal enmity, and for that I pity them.

The point is, you don't have to like everything, but that is not an excuse to try and suppress things.

edit: watch the 'just some pen pics from time to time' thread. My pictures won't get any likes. Not because they are bad pictures, but because they are MY pictures.

[RobJohnson]

Writing can be a creative art. I don't like all art, but I appreciate the skill and creativity that I experience even in art I don't personally want in my house. Here it is a tiny vocal minority who make the most complaints. My art, the creative side of my writing, is always in flux, changing with my moods and the continuing collection of experiences. Unfortunately there are some members here who don't like what I do because it is me doing it. It's a real blinkering exercise for them. They shut themselves off from the joy of discovery and exploration to further their personal enmity, and for that I pity them.

The point is, you don't have to like everything, but that is not an excuse to try and suppress things.

edit: watch the 'just some pen pics from time to time' thread. My pictures won't get any likes. Not because they are bad pictures, but because they are MY pictures.

No they are bad, out of focus, poor use of light and colour, just not interesting either by subject or photographic skill.

What is more accurate to say is that they are bad and yours. You need to remember is that a signicant number of this small community have you on ignore and others roll their eyes and think wtf.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

A significant number? Where's your data... oh, that's right, there isn't any cos you just made that up. I love how people use the old fake formula (or variations) of 'everyone knows'. It's just shoddy.

No they are bad, out of focus, poor use of light and colour, just not very interesting enough.

Typically ignorant thing to say when you have zero understanding of the purpose behind taking those images. In the last three images, the light, colour and focus are all precisely as I intended them to be. May not be to your taste, but as an expression they do just fine. Your comment is in bad faith, and is offered only to try and demean my efforts, no other reason.

There are many photos that christof posts that I think are uninteresting from a compositional approach. Others that are only technical exercises, and appear sterile. Many that I see as somewhat derivative. I may not be a trained photographer, but I was raised by a sublimely skilled artist to appreciate art in its many facets.

How about you put something of yours up and let me critique it for you? At least you have my word that I will be as impartial as possible, unlike your approach.

[Lloyd]

Writing can be a creative art. I don't like all art, but I appreciate the skill and creativity that I experience even in art I don't personally want in my house. Here it is a tiny vocal minority who make the most complaints. My art, the creative side of my writing, is always in flux, changing with my moods and the continuing collection of experiences. Unfortunately there are some members here who don't like what I do because it is me doing it. It's a real blinkering exercise for them. They shut themselves off from the joy of discovery and exploration to further their personal enmity, and for that I pity them.

The point is, you don't have to like everything, but that is not an excuse to try and suppress things.

edit: watch the 'just some pen pics from time to time' thread. My pictures won't get any likes. Not because they are bad pictures, but because they are MY pictures.

This is others' house, too. They're not saying that you shouldn't express yourself, just that your "roommates" have different taste than you so they don't like your art hanging in the shared spaces.
Just because others don't applaud your work, doesn't make them hateful of you nor does it imply that they lack imagination or artistic appreciation. You might hate free jazz or classic rock or baroque or early country music. To each their own passions, preferences, and sensitivities.


Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™