[atlarge-discuss] I can no longer hold back ...

[Joey Borda **star*walker** <starwalker@gay.com>]

Wednesday, August 14, 2002 * 2:43 PM EDT USA

Everyone:

I can no longer hold back on an idea I've been fermenting. I've been 
following "[atlarge-discuss] Current suggestions list of new names/DN's for 
our group" and other things, and some posts that have even mentioned me, 
with the greatest humor (and I gather affection; actually I prefer humour 
but MS Word will tell me it's wrong -- well "f"-em) -- THIS IS ONE FUN AND 
FUNNY GROUP!

I spend a great deal of time laughing when I read some of the posts!

AND... I would love to spend time socially with just about any of you. 
BUT... how can I do that?! While obscenely wealthy in spirit, I am at the 
same time obscenely impoverished.

My passport's out of date and would cost me at least $100 to renew, not 
counting the professional photo that of course I would have to have taken 
for it, one of those boudoir glamour photos, you know.

Then there's the airfare, or train fare, or tramp steamer fare. Not to 
mention the costs of the trashiest hostels possible. And I still couldn't 
afford all this.

SO... my idea is this -- and if it's already been suggested or done, well 
then NEVERMIND. ;-) Stop here, and don't read on.

Uh... oh... that's right, you haven't read it yet. Here goes.

I am always looking to integrate the real and virtual worlds we are 
fortunate to live in and have available to us.

In the case of icannatlarge.com I think it important that we have a purely 
social space (these days everything of this sort is called "chat"), where 
we can "hang out," have virtual coffee or tea or whatever together, and get 
to know each other less formally than on the icannatlarge.com lists or 
forums. Especially for those times we have nothing "better" to do and would 
like some company doing it. Yeah, right; we have nothing better to do.

THE benefit to our icannatlarge.com work would be the immediate shrinkage 
in off-topic, or non-topic posts to the lists, or portions thereof. I not 
naming names or anything but we know who we are, don't I?!

Rather than simply a "chat" room, I like to think of it more like a 
"student union" space that likely most of us had in our college and 
university days. We are all still students aren't we?! At least students of 
life. ;-)

[Aside: Actually I learned everything worth knowing in 1st grade; we didn't 
have kindergartens back then.]

We could call it a "skeller," a place for rascals, rogues and derelicts -- 
a home of our own, away from home.

I sure remember a lot of folks sitting around the student union (it now has 
it's own building at my alma mater) and playing cards, and just getting to 
know each other doing whatever.

In my case, I love getting to know new people, and people of different 
cultures and languages.

Of course, we'll have to be careful it doesn't take us away for too long 
from our "studies" or work for icannatlarge.com! And careful, too, in our 
pursuit of new "girlfriends and boyfriends." ;-)  Oh my, those were the 
days, for most anyway. Too bad for me I wasn't in the game yet. :-(

Hopefully greater, rather than fewer, of us would have this kind of access, 
and some number of us have web cams and voice capability to make it even 
more personal.

There would also have to be an understood, honorable, ethical privacy and 
confidentiality agreement on the part of those using the space, that 
anything said there, heard there and seen there would stay there. The ONLY 
exception might be if you wanted to tell tales on yourself. ;-)

It can also be by invitation only, to keep out all but icannatlarge.com 
members!

The place I have in mind for hosting this right now is Yahoo.com. It's 
free. You've got to pay for your own ale and pretzels though. ;-)

This will be a COMPLETELY UNOFFICIAL SPACE with a few of us (volunteers 
anyone?) sharing hosting chores around the globe, so that it never has to 
be "close" (I'm being metaphorical here). When I receive some affirmation 
on this from folks, like real soon, once a new name is decided for 
icannatlarge.com I will go ahead with it (only with affirmation, so don't 
anyone get too frightened) and let everyone know.

SO... what do you all think?

Rascally... /s/ Joey
[Unproofed; get it?]