Hmmm. Where to begin? Likes & dislikes? Ok - I Like:


Well laid out sites, that look good, are easy to navigate & load quickly.

Message Boards.It's great talking to people from all over the world & discovering their points of view.

BladePro Presets & sites that have a boatload of 'em.

Tubes (Paint Shop Pro stuff).

Easy site building.

Informative sites that tell me something I didn't already know.

The occasional mindless game (Bubble Popper is great for zoning out).

E-MAIL!!!

Copying my lp's, cassettes & 8-tracks to my hard drive (THANK YOU, Cool Edit Pro!!!), so I won't lose them.

Finding a site with good graphics that I may use or be inspired by.

Sites with easy to follow tutorials.

My Paint Shop Pro.

On-line dictionaries & encyclopedias.

On-line data bases (that are accurate & don't have dead links!).

New Programs!

Obviously, I tend toward the creative aspects of using my PC. I am THRILLED that PSP has allowed me to take images that have been in my mind for 20 or 30 years & finally get them out! Who knows - maybe I'll have a little more room for 'important' stuff now, lol. My PC is especially great during the hotter months, when I don't really want to go outside to garden (sorry, I'm not so dedicated as to invite heat stroke!).



So, on to what I DON'T like:


Viruses! What's the deal, folks? Nothing better to do with your time? Get a life, huh?

Anime'. What's with the crap cartoons?

"Diva Dollz". WHAT is with that? And why the mania to collect them? I know I over-react to these, but they REALLY irritate me!

'Adoption' sites. Not for humans or pets, for graphics. WHY would I want to 'adopt' someones cartoon picture so I have to place it on my site along with a credit, thank you & link to them? Sorry, my sites are about me (which is why the "VanityPage"). Obviously, these are sites I have come across in my graphics searches. Don't do them too much any more, since I can create my own.

The 'snoop & swoop' crowd. AKA 'lurkers' who read message boards for a while & then pop in just long enough to insult everyone on there (usually anonymously). Probably the same people who write viruses. Nah, that takes at least a little intelligence.

Dead Links. I'm all ready to view a page that I've found on another site or from a Search Engine & - nada. The site is either gone or another site has that address.

PORN!!! Especially in pop-ups that you can't close! When I first got on-line, I was trolling for MP3s & nearly every site had porn pop-ups (this was before Napster, etc.). One time, 26 of them generated & shut down the PC (Windows 95 couldn't handle it, apparently). Now I get invitations & free keys to porn sites in my e-mail. I'm sure it's because of Yahoo (most of the sent addresses are from Yahoo). Also,

The Dead Nigerian Letters. Also from Yahoo sources (and never got any of this stuff BEFORE I got on Yahoo Groups!), I get at least 4 a week, usually from different 'relatives' of different 'dead nigerian millionaires'. Honestly - is ANYONE so stupid as to believe that crap?

Sites that insult the visitor. Usually belonging to teenagers, they tell us to F-Off & do impossible things to ourselves if we don't like something on there. It's always on the first page, too, so why bother proceeding? I know they're trying to impress everyone with how cool they are - they don't realize it's the opposite.

Dial-up! It was great in the beginning, but DAMN! I LOVE my cablenet, lol! No connections to wait for, no DIS-connects in the middle of downloading or viewing, & no more 20minute downloads for 300kb!

AOHELL!!! The Internet with training wheels. Several years ago, some friends let us use their password to connect. After a week, we got our own service with WTNet. What a difference! AOL is great if you're nearly brain dead, but that's about it. ( No offense intended to my friends & sister who still use it ).

APOSTROPHEs before every 's' used! Fercryinoutloud! The rule is that an apostrophe is used to show 'possession' when used before an 's'. It isn't used when using an 's' to show more than one. This IS NOT directed at any particular person! I have seen this all over the Internet, & it really makes me nuts. I read a great sig line in a Usenet group: "An apostrophe doesn't mean 'get ready for an s ' "


So! What does this all say about me? I spend WAY TOO MUCH time at the computer. So what?

Addendum - January 7, 2004.

Well, it's been over a year since my whine above. Everything's pretty much the same. When I wrote the above, I had just come off being a Moderator for the now defunct (and much missed) original CitySlide. One of my duties was to check various websites for content, either to check for breaking TOS, or for inclusion in the Members' Directory. About 2/3 of them were either anime' or "dollz" (aka Diva Dolls or Bratz) sites & I had had my fill of both. Now, I come across this stuff ocassionally from my PSP graphics group, but it's a brief view & hit delete, instead of a one hour torture. Don't ask me why they make me nuts - they just do.

Also since the above, I've become slightly 'obsessed' with making the ultimate Chicago Logo design (or something like that). I had done a tutorial for an iced & decorated cookie & it popped into my head to apply the Chi logo to it. I posted it on the now defunct chicagotheband.com message board & recieved several requests for diffent designs. That was the start of it, & I haven't stopped yet. :P

Also since the above, I've spent a good chunk of my time trying to find & then download drivers for various PC components, for the family biz (we build & sell computers from home). So, I spend even more time on the PC now, unfortunately not just for playing. But, at least the bills get paid.

Addendum - May 1, 2006.

So. A little over 2 years since the above Post Script. The thrill is gone. Well, almost. The PC is on from the time I get up until the time I go to bed, but I don't spend all that much time on it. If I do, it's usually to read one of the many geeky newsletters to which I am subscribed, read e-mail, or the ever popular looking for drivers.

I've done 3 graphics since last Autumn: one for Hallowe'en, one for Thanksgiving & one for Easter. I've had no inspiration or desire to create anything. *sigh*

On the upside, maybe this means I'm going back to real life, instead of escaping it. Good for me.