Zen and the art of surfing

[sam]

I have prepared the following zen diagram (like a venn diagram but more enlightened, in ways which transcend math) to illustrate our status:



Depicted are two ‘competitors’ – wording the Central Committee usually avoids as it invites ridicule, but accurate insofar as they theoretically compete for one's attention, as does every other principality. Since the fall of Another Cycling Forum I’ve spent time at both, as well as at Bike Forums, whose circle wouldn’t even fit on this page.

The trick to surfing is to not fall in.

[sam]

A funny thing happened on my way to deleting my account at Yet Another Cycling Forum.^[1] I decided to post about my rabbit instead.



Why? Why? Why?



So many questions. I’ll take those one at a time.

Why?
Why Yacf? Fortunately I’ve answered this before.
Also, I’m very fond of the tag line “Where you’re going, where you’ve been”.

Why?
Why delete my account? Because I continue to be drawn to the site,^[2] like a moth to a you-know-what.^[2b] This can lead to trouble as some of the natives get restless.^[2c]

This time when I felt the urge, which I very much want to compare to the Pon farr if only to add to the Vulcan vocabulary, I decided no, that’s enough. So I clicked on the ominous Delete this account, only to be presented with the unexpected news that suicide requires admin approval.

I remember being in the captain’s chair and watching people come and go, then sometimes come back. It can be oddly annoying, though I understand why they do it, having done it myself. Oh, the indignity of having to listen to Alanis Morissette while being put on hold!

So I stewed for a bit. Into this stew I threw the pros and cons, there being considerably more of the latter. But hope springs eternal. Out of the blue I decided what the hell, I'll start a bunny thread.^[3]

Why?
Why post about my little wild thing?

Because he can't.

[close]

It would be nice to chat about my specialist subject with anyone who wanders in.



Win-win? We’ll see.

Mindful of the potential for disruption, I shall endeavour to keep to the straight and narrow.^[4]


NOTES
Is it just me, or does

look like a squashed baseball?



1. We're not a franchise, honest.
2. Which for the purposes of comity I've accepted as an homage.
2b. No, what, a bunker porch light? A particularly tasty jumper?
Even this


"Computer says no"

wasn't an effective deterrent.
2c. Early indications are that the natives aren't bothered.
3. If it's not too derivative.
4. As it turns out, being disreputable isn't entirely disagreeable.^[5]
I'm still mostly harmless.

[sam]

ignore my stoic toads, my beautiful slug, my immaculately coiffed alpaca. But I ask you, does it not take hearts of stone to refrain from congratulating me on capturing a badger?

[anothersam]

Here's mine, a month early for a running head start: Give up CycleChăt.

It shouldn't be that hard.* Though my account dates back to 2011, I've never been too embedded. My busiest period was about 5 years ago, which was part of a golden age with lots of interesting and funny people on board. (This is where modesty dictates something along the lines of "present company excluded.") I wasn't a good fit then, nor in more recent times, even if I'm American, ask me anything did get positive reviews in the trades.

There are still attractions, including HobbesOnTour, in the travelogue section. As a prose stylist he doesn't knock my socks off, but that doesn't stop his dispatches from being epic.



Nevertheless I am hereby resolved, despite the inevitable tears. There is a small get-out clause which will be triggered should one of my threads be bumped in a way that invites reply. It's like the Bat-Signal.

* fourth time's a charm

[Lord Kelvin]

A week is a blink of an eye when it comes to resolutions, but so far:



It’s been a little harder swallowing the fact that there is^[1] zero degrees interest in turning NACF into a place where one is not just talking to oneself.

You may have seen through my veneer of sangfreud^[2] over the years, dear reader. I still hanker for a version of that which I threw away a dozen years ago, except with a new! improved! user base.



Plugging the site is degrading, and alas, one revolution does not a resurrection make. Or is that the other way around?

My next resolution is to truly accept that which I cannot change.


Famous last words

1. My gut, which does so much of my thinking, is having trouble digesting this particular subject verb agreement.
2. Excuse the Froidian slip and shocking pronunciation. It was for a good cause.
3. Enough footnotes in this thread? Yes, I think so. One more link though.

[Julia Child]

The bakery is calling: they want that piece of cake back.

So it's back to the big city, where everybody knows my name. But are they all glad I came?


Cheers, US Office

[Muppet]

What should you be doing right now


Who was your first?


You cannot be serious


Stewing


Best Star Trek characters


You can leave your hat on


Amusing ourselves to death





Ghost in the machine likes this

[Han Solo]

Three days after fleeing rubbish moderation at CycleChat, I ran smack into it at YACF. This post was summarily removed from a private board, without explanation by C-3PO.

"Too much personal info for a publicly indexable board and some was about a third party," I was informed by a third party, the droid being unavailable for comment. It was an HEartless way to handle things.


I've got a bad feeling about this

[Chewbacca]

[sam]

I think what Chewie's saying here is, the old Star Wars movies were better.

on edit, from the credit-where-it's-due dept:
I later posted about my terminally ill father, who bore no similarity to Darth Vader, and was helped.