This one is for KATE

[lordmage]

this speaks for its self

[Kate]

If ...

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Kipling

[Kate]

[Vince1]

Then hot dog vendor fixes a hot dog and hands it to the Zen
master, who pays with a $20 bill. The hot dog vendor puts the
bill in the cash drawer and closes the drawer.

"Where's my change?" asks the Zen master. The hot dog vendor
responds, "Change must come from within."

[Kate]

Ha, very good Vince, . Can you hear my one handed clapping

[Vince1]

Have you noticed how much the forum has grown lately? Over 7,500 members. Several times recently I have had to wait to be able to view posts and got the "server too busy" message. We have also had over 400 members online at one time, that's a lot of e-ciggers!

[Kate]

It has become very busy very quickly around here. I hardly read anything now apart from a few topics of interest.

[Vince1]

Haha, I think cults would get a lot more members if the food was better. Give up worldly possessions? okay. Give up lust and desire? Fine. But don't ask me to give up my cheeseburger!

The forum has really took off, not sure if that is a good thing, It's getting harder to keep up with things, I go to work a when I get home I have to view 200 posts to get up to speed and a lot of harsh thing are being said and there are is a lot of intolerance around these days.
I guess it's bound to happen when you get so many people in one place. Anyway, I help when I can and just read most of the time.
And above all I have to watch my smart mouth a lot!

[Kate]

I hope the forum will adapt to the higher numbers rather than keep the same structures. Social groups/special interest groups are certainly the way to go, nobody could easily keep up with all the forum topics.

There was some interest recently in a Christian group, is anything likely to come of that do you think?

[Vince1]

Well, It's like with most special interest groups. You will have a surge of membership and action at first then it will calm down until there is some kind of event or incident that re-sparks interest. Although, if you can attract enough people with similar interests you can keep it alive and even growing.
I have joined the Christian group mainly because I enjoy conversations without foul language, flaming and mean undertones.(mean people suck). While I am spiritual, I am not religious by any definition of the word.