Minque, that's horrible. I'm sorry.

Damn. Sorry to hear that, Minque. You're in my thoughts, and if I prayed you'd be in my prayers.

========================

On the good news front, earlier this week I got hired for a biology job in Wyoming, so I'll be moving out there come May. It's a good job, though it is only seasonal.

That is so sad. You are in my thoughts. My father died unexpectedly- I think it might have been better because we didn't see it coming.... Know that you have friends across the world who love you.

Thank you all! You're so kind and I love you all too! Dad is 85 years old and he has had a good life, apart from the last six months...

I'm glad now that my project in Barsebäck(a NPP very near my parent's home) allowed me to see him very often. During those twelve weeks I spent down there I visited my parents several times a week, mostly because my dad appreciated me coming, then he could talk to me about all other things than illness and pain. He was not very healthy but had a good spirit and was always very happy during my visits.

His kidneys have been in a bad shape for the last three years. He's had a pacemaker for about twelve years...so his ticker is pretty bad too.

Honestly I don't expect him to make it, even though he's been tough before when he has been very ill. So when there is life there is hope...

I dare not go to bed, so I'm just sitting here, somehow I imagine if I don't go to bed he'll eventually make it through the night...

My poor daughters were so sad when I told them, the oldest one met her grandparents in january, but the younger hasn't met them for a very long time, and now there's a very great risk they're never gonna see their grandpa again...

Stay strong, Minque. I wish both you and your family inner strenght to get trough this.

If there's a chance try to take your daughters to see your dad?

I'll also ask my youth group to pray for your father, Minque. Best of luck with your family.

Wow, I'm really sorry to hear that Minque. You and your family are in my thoughts.

Oh Minque, I'm so sorry to hear about this. Your Dad is just around the age of my Dad. This must be so hard for you! We will pray for your Dad and for all your family in this needful time. Please do stay strong and gather your family around you in spirit if you can't all be together in person.



It's so hard when we've had a loved one with us all our own lives but we must remember that at 85 they have lived a very full life and are probably so much more at peace and settled in with reaching the end than we can imagine. And know that the Heavens welcome each soul home as we welcome the newborns into our world.

Well,today I noticed a post here on these forums about some sort of fanfic writing contest. Interesting. I read more and realized that ... somehow ... it is already over and I have completely missed it. Whoa: I'm out of it, or something.

Aside from that, I'm still playing too much Guild Wars. It gets on my nerves sometimes (very hard game) but I keep playing. If you are thinking of getting it ... don't. It will suck your life away.

Work progresses on stories, though slowly. In progress: a Lokken sequel, a Lokken prequel, a short non-Rashelle MW fanfic ... and something else.

In other writing-related matters: I've decided to give the Scripting Frenzy a miss. I can't see it attaining anything that I did not achieve already in NaNoWriMo.

Yeah, it really should've been done over two weeks, if you ask me. We'd have gotten more entries, and some of the less satisfying entries we did get could've improved. Personally, I'd have loved to get 1000 more words to play with, at least.

I personally feel the same way, Canis. I however did not make any entries. Not that I did not have notice or was uninspired, but for two personal reasons: One, I hate politics. I really do. Two, The purpose of prose is to contribute, not compete.

Minque. Sorry, I check this thread like once in a blue moon. Sorry for your Dad, and assuming nothing has changed at the time of this post, I hope he makes it. If not, I hope it's peaceful.

I didn't have much motivation to try when there were such limitations. The reasons I didn't take part were pretty much the same as why I didn't participate in NaNo.
Anyway, This week my gameroom TV broke down so every time I turn it on the screen remains blank and it emits this droning sound. One good point is that we're getting a new LCD model to replace it, and we'll be getting it installed later today.

In other news, during Spring Break (last week) I noticed a lot of Europeans and Asians in American theme parks (no doubt due to the sinking value of the US dollar compared to other currency). Monday was also the first time I've seen Terminator 2, which I must say was an awesome film (the first one in a long time that made me cry at the end). That's right, folks, I cried when Arnold had to die, even though I already knew it happened.

And Minque, your family is in my youth group's and my own prayers.

Black Hand:
Word.

Now I see that there is a "pinned" thread about the writing contest. That is dumb. Why? Simply this: the contest if over but for the judging. A sane person would only "pin" a thread that is going to be relevant permanently. Who wants to read a pinned thread a year from now for a contest that is over and done with?

The whole thing was ill-done, starting from the mere weeks notice and then the pinned thread. Bad job, people-who-run-chorrol, bad job!

I even posted a reply about how it ought be un-pinned ... and you know ... my reply was quietly erased! I did not even receive a PM or other form of explanation! That is even more heavy-handed then the way the apes over at the Elder scroll forums moderate!

I begin to wonder why I stay at chorrol. I really do.

Oh boy...

Okay, I'll answer these one at a time. Let's start with this one.



Nobody, that's why the pinned thread will be deleted after the contest. It was pinned purely for the purpose of visibility and so it wouldn't slide down the page. I fail to see why it's such an issue for you though...





Canis's point first - higher word limit and more time. The reason for the time and word constraints was simple. We're running this competition as a trial basically. In a few months time, we'll be running another competition. This will be much broader in scope, and the comments you've made there won't be an issue. I'm not going to say any more yet - Alex will publicise it closer to the time. However... as a forum (ie not including the ill fated TES F'ruum mod competition) we've never run a writing competition before. So, we decided on a small scale one, to let us see what difficulties could arise. This will enable us to be fully prepared for the future one, so they don't happen again. With the aim of small scale - and it was me who suggested both the word count limit and the time limit - we didn't really want too many entries. 6-8 was my original estimation that we'd get. This was so that we could try out different methods of judging - not only a panel of judges, but the public vote and the anonymous comments. We wanted to see if we could involve forum regulars, so their opinions would count. It hasn't worked as we hoped. Any future contests we run (not just including the one we have planned) will have a longer submission period and a higher word limit - trust me on that.

Black Hand. I respect the second reason you gave, and that's your choice. Not sure about the first one though, simply because we did try not to make that an issue. That was one of the main idea's behind the anonymous posting, so that it wouldn't be about the people but the stories themselves. Any competition though, in any area, will always have an element of that involved sadly. If you can think of a way around that, let me know. Seriously. I racked my brains thinking on that.



I don't know about that. It wasn't me that deleted it. I suspect that whoever did, was simply trying to get things back on track, and didn't want to go off topic anymore. Personally I ended up deleting a lot of the comments which I thought were just being as negative as possible.

EDIT: I found your post in the mod section. I'm not sure - maybe I did delete it. If so, I'm sorry I didn't tell you why. Or indeed just answer it there and then. My nerves were a little frayed then. I really can't remember if it was me or not. This was the post.



The simple answer is no, as it isn't finished till Sunday/Monday coming. After that point it will be deleted, not unpinned. Again, I'm not 100% sure if it was me that deleted it or not. If it was me I probably should have just answered it. If it wasn't me, then you'll have to ask them.

As to why you stay at Chorrol, it's because (hopefully) you like it here. Not everything we try here works out perfectly, the way we'd hoped - but at least we do try.

The truth is, we've learned a lot from this competition, and what we've learned will hold us in good stead in the future. We've discovered that anonymous posting doesn't work for one, and we won't use it again. We've learned more about what people want from such contests, and with that knowledge we can implement them better in the future. And so on...

Awful night before day even started. It was beans that caused my stomach to hurt like sharp nine inch nails were going trough it... luckily, I managed to settle it and went to work.

There, we froze our butts for most of the day. There was some work, but scarce if compared to holiday season, really scarce. Tomorrow, though, we're getting 145 PC cases and it will be fun to cramp them up in our [tragically limited] space. We already prepared the staging area so it won't make us too much trouble [I hope].

Stomach still hurts a bit, mind is a bit better.


Wow.
Blockman, you sure you're not overreacting? This, after all, isn't TESF BGSF with tensions and idiocy running rampant, even if recent events in 'Competition' proved me wrong [but only to some extent].

As for competition itself, I will gladly uphold the idea that, once it's done and over, everyone signs their own posts, just to lose the friggin' masks and show real faces. I know I would. [will?]

I really do think that the anonymity was a big problem, because then people aren't accountable for what they write. I've got some experience with writing workshops (as both a creative writing student and as a composition instructor) and I find that people usually don't have a problem being honest about work, and criticism stays on-point and constructive (and most importantly, civil).

And yes, Burnt, I see the point about this being an experiment... thanks for pointing that out, as it is easy to forget that the forum is new to such competition.

I do think that the contest is worthwhile. I had to try to think outside of the box a bit, for once. (I mean, its so easy to write about Al--he's so well-established that all I have to do is ask, "What Would Always-He-Lingers-in-the-Sun do? [aka: WWA.H.L.i.t.s.D?] and then add some clever wordplay.) That, and it was great to see the nice works from others that might never have came to be.

Wow. Let's all chill.

Blockhead. They are not heavy handed here. Trust me, I have had my run-ins at the Main Site, and this place is a far cry from the Bethstapo.

I dont mean the next sentence, the way it sounds. However, if you truly don't want to be here, noone is keeping you here. Dont get me wrong, I like your writing and you, the site would lose something without you. just pointing out that you have a choice.

BSD-IES. My feelings have nothing to do with you or any of the other moderators. Politics for dummies says "Politics exists wherever there is more than two people." If I had a solution to deal with the shortcomings inherent in any competition, I would share it. I don't have it. I stay out of it. The idiots who are ruining things for you are ample proof, assuming they are trying to swing things in the favor of a certain author.

I am sorry that people aren't being as civil as they usually are on the site. As someone on the guestaccount wrote, 'The safety of anonymity, eh?" And its always frustrating when you simply want to do something fun for others, and then someone or someones in the group have to spoil it.

I do feel that there was short notice, and a heavy limitation, but thats just my opinion. And opinions are like earlobes, everyone has a couple of them. Now that I know this was intended as a trial run, my opinion has altered slightly, assuming that the next one will be reorganized based on lessons learned.

In short: LEAVE THE MODS ALONE!!! They do a bang-up job here as far as I am concerned. And when they decide to give us inch, some fools want to take a mile. How would you feel?

Yes that's horrible, your dad (my grandfather) past away today at noon. Minque was down there when he died. It is a big tradegy.


//Daedroth

Oh man... I'm really sorry mate. Tell your mum we're all thinking of her will you? And that we all hope she's ok. Puts everything else into perspective doesn't it.

I'm really sorry for your loss, both you and Minkey. Take care...

Burnt Sierra

My deepest condolences, Minque and Daedroth.

Yes, condolences. Ya know, I really feel sorry for you both, but just saying condolences doesn't quite have the load I want it to have.

At least I had the 'luck' (well, that doesn't sound right either) that my grandfather passed away when I was still barely literate. (He worked in the mines, really messed up his lungs) I was too young to understand and merely placed it on the same level as 'he's going on a trip'. Being old enough to actually know what it means when someone dies really increases the impact.

Daedroth and Minque- you have my sympathy..... I am sorry that this has happened to you. But I am glad that you have a community and friends here who can grieve with and support you at this time. As Spider Robinson says, "Grief shared is grief divided; happiness shared is happiness multiplied."

Burnt- I am sorry that the writing competition generated idiocy- you folks (and our regulars) have done a wonderful job of keeping this place one that we like to hang out. As one of the panel, I have to admit that I was relieved for the short time limit, low word count, etc. As my lack of posting demonstrates, I find myself with far less time than I would like. That means I am unable to read as much as I want, unable to comment as much as I want on what I do read, and unable to write much anymore. As a (former) writing teacher, I take commenting on others' work seriously. That means I want to read thoughtfully and have something meaningful to say... Sometimes it may be a bit terse, but I want to point to something specific that I find good: character, dialogue, plotting, something... So I was relieved that there were a reasonable number of entries- I was able to read each of them several times (and will again before turning in my final ballot).

...I missed a writing competition?

In the words of Cartman: "I.... am.... so.... pissed.... off!"



AND DEATHS? Man I should pay attention more to threads....

#$%&

Now that I've gotten over the initial shock, I send you my e-condolences Minque and Daedroth.

My condolences to Minque and Daedroth. As Burnt said, tell your mum she's in our thoughts and we hope she's ok.

Probably for the best. I think all can agree that it ... did not go as expected.



BSD-IES:

My post was deleted, quietly. You at least fessed up to it, and restored the post. That is more than they would do over at Bethesda ... but still ... someone deleted my post. That is not right. Proper procedure is to edit the message for profanity, obscenity or racist content (none were applicable in that instance) and to then tell the poster why their post was bad. In an extreme circumstance, the poster may be warned. This was not what was done. "My nerves were a little frayed" is a poor excuse for a casual deletion.

Deleting a message quietly in that hopes that no one will notice and it will all go away, is guaranteed to explode in the moderators face.

Now consider this: had the message simply been answered in the first place, we would all have been saved some trouble.

What about next time? A message was deleted without explanation or warning once, what is say that it will not happen again?

milanius:

My message was deleted, without warning, and without explanation. It had to almost get to a flame war for the this to be admitted to and then somewhat corrected. The over-reaction was not mine, but that of the original deleter.

Black Hand:

They deleted my message. Even the trolls that run Bethesda's forums have not done that to me (yet). That one action now puts Bethesda ahead.

Black Hand:

Not so long as even one of them does Wrong.


For me, Chorrol has been forever changed. I no longer see these forums as I used to. The damage has been done. I am very disappointed.

Meh, post edited. Screaming drama queen has left my body...

Anybody who read it, ignore...

Minque and Daedroth. You have my condolences.

Oh what the crap.

Exactly, Mr. R.


Once again, I am sorry for your loss, dear Minque and Daedroth.

Oi, we NEVER do wrong! We're superhuman, immortal, wise and fair beyond reckoning!

Oh.... wait!

You mean, you're not really Vivec?!

Let's all call it a bad hair day and move on, ok?

So, how about them Dodgers? (Local Southern California Baseball Team, though I don't really care about sports.)

Hi! I'm back home now.

First I'd like to thank you all for your nice and supportive comments on my loss. It's so good to know you're here for me (and Daedroth), it gives me that warm fuzzy feeling that is necessary at a time like this. I don't think I really grasped that dad is really gone...yhat I won't see him again. Maybe I'll fully understand that later and then ...who knows?

I spent my birthday at the hospital with my dad, he did give me a big hug...he survived far longer than was expected, after renal breakdown and a massive heart-attack...due to his strength and willpower. He wanted to make sure we would cope and he wanted to tell us how to proceed and so he did!

Also I want to thank you for all birthday congratulations!

Thank you all for being so lovely!

I liked them more when they were Brooklyn Dodgers...

Anyway. We're having ONE MORE FRIGGIN INVENTORY CHECK tomorrow, one hour earlier that worktime [08:00 Central European time] and firm's main storage manager is coming for inspection. There is no rational explanation for this act; it's just out of the blue, because there are some minor inconsistencies. Places in Belgrade and other cities have 10 times more flaws, yet we are the only outfit that has had 3 checks so far. This is the 4th. I am starting to think someone is behind this, as in, this is vendetta aimed against our particular work outfit.

Well, screw them. I'll play hardball with rest of the guys tomorrow and stay there for 12, 13, hell, fifteen hours if it comes to that. They want to **** with us, they'll see just how tough, hard-working and principled we are. And yes, **** free Saturdays, I have no life anyway.

Lousy dodgers!

Ok, just for the record, I deleted your message. And if I seem authoritarian when I say this is appologize up front, but I don't owe you an explanation for deleting something I thought was ill befitting in that thread.

I believe everyone knows we don't moderate very strictly, we don't have to, because we have quite a few very intelligence, sophisticated people here, who need little to no guidance to keep things clean, cool and fun, but make no mistake about it. We're here, and if any of the mods or admin feel the need to moderate something, we'll do so as we see fit. And we may or may not offer explanation to everyone, or even the person involved.

In the words of someone famous; this is not a democracy


Again, don't take that as any sort of threat or authoritarian statement, but please be advised that in the past we've done things not everyone liked, and in the future we'll likely do that again. Sorry.

Alex.


P.s.
If you'd care to discuss this further, please feel free to pm me. But let's not drag this out further inside the coffee shop shall we.

P.p.s.
Ah, and one slight addition, if anyone is wondering why I didn't mention this sooner, simple. I'm on Vacation at the moment in Orlando Florida, and don't spend much of my time on the forums as you might understand

I was just in Orlando! What are you doing in the theme park city of the US?

Here's some bizarre news....

http://www.tmz.com/2008/03/28/wwe-puts-the...ntinuedcontents

oh, and also an answer to Revan. Enjoy Nipplemania Alex

Mainly I'm here because of Wrestlemania, but while here I also took the time to visit the Orlando parks and Disney World. Great fun, both of them, but I can't wait for tonight when my wrestling adventure starts off with the Hall of fame ceremony, and then on to tomorrow for Wrestlemania



hehe, well, this is one of the silliest things I've heard all day

It would take me about 700 dollars to get a plane ticket for US or Canada. You lucky, lucky bugger... hope your vacation goes smoothly.

Check is done; I am tired and perhaps in a dire need of bath.

Oh dear oh dear! I hope those great writers in the writing-competition doesn't behead me now! But guys! You have no idea how hard it is to rank stories that are of good quality all of them!



So all of you have a from me!

WHAT.

If someone, ANYONE tries something I'm going to go back to my Gangrel Warform, personally hunt them down, tie 'em up and play PRO-PAIN's "In for the kill" so loudly, until they expel all 5l's of blood trough ears... I mean, I might use harsh language against them. Yes.

Anyway, you definitely need one.

Awww my sweetest Mil! Always being my knight!

Hey homies guess what?

I'm going back to school! I know I shouldn't sound excited, especially since I promised myself I wouldn't do any heavy drinking or smoking this time, but going back is a means to an end. I'm in love, unfortunately, and I'm stuck with a compulsion that coaxes through every cell in my body like a heroin addiction running ten years long. My body simply needs her, and as much as the circumstances suck I'm pretty much in do-whatever-it-takes mode. No, I'm far beyond that. What I used to call my life is now just a heaping pile of rubble but through it all I'm emerging stronger and stronger. Every day more obstacles come. Sometimes it feels like life is just putting more walls and more distance between us. I don't care, I will accept no excuses from myself. I just have to live in the moment and not think about all the burdens and snags in my life, just do the best I can at whatever's right in front of me and give it my full attention. Somehow, one thing at a time, I'll accomplish everything. Most importantly, despite how much I miss her and how hard everything is starting to become, I proceed with joy.

Anyway, my toilet's expecting a package so I gotta go. Peace!

Power to you, DoomedOne, and good luck!

Right, you may have noticed we have a new writing competition up. This is the bigger one I hinted at last time.

http://competition.chorrol.com/

if you haven't seen it already. I know one or two people missed the last one (which was a trial run - hence the speed of it) and I'd hate for people to miss this one.

So, three categories, short,medium and long which should satisfy those who'd have liked a larger amount of words last time. And, just under a month for submissions. Again, this should satisfy those who'd have liked more time in which to write. See, we do listen to what you say

Hey, Christo and Pat (guess I didn't notice you since I hadn't known you when you joined), great to see you guys checking out Chorrol.

Well, I had a good weekend. I went to see the Mars Volta (live!) and it was easily the best concert I've ever been to. Kind of strange, since my main focus as far as music goes is metal, and here I am calling a modern psychedelic concert my favorite of all time.

In the middle of their songs they would almost always go into some sort of improvised jam for a while, only to go back into the song seamlessly. Omar's guitar work was flawless and even though he was always fiddling with this effect or that, he always made the perfect sound. (Though when he and the sax player got into a solo duel of sorts, I think the sax player won) Cedric's voice was on point too; it sounded as good as, if not better than it does on their recordings. (since he sings in such high registers, I figured he would be straining, but he wasn't in the least) Their new drummer, Thomas Pridgen, was also great; I liked his versions of older songs a lot. Pretty much everything throughout the entire show was perfect, and it was great.

I'm pumped for seeing Symphony X this Friday. Should be epic. I'm definitely interested in seeing one of the opening bands as well, Canada's Into Eternity who are basically an extreme Progressive Metal band. Lots of noodly guitars, 3 part harmonized vocals, with some added death metal elements (growling, blast beats, etc). Tasty combination though their last album was a step down from the previous one, "Buried In Oblivion".