Let's clear the air a bit if possible. equinoxequinox, feel free to use my name. I'm not sure why you chose not to. Maybe for fear of censorship. I think you hit the nail on the head with the commercial nature of this website. For what it's worth, neither of my other forums derive financial support from advertising. And THAT is neither advertising "for" those sites, nor an attempt to get people "here" to go "there". Simply comment. Since it was one of my posts that was deleted, I suppose I could be offended, but I'm not really. This site, like many others, is a COMMERCIAL site. They do not offer this site in order to "make a better world" nor to be "friendly". They operate this site to MAKE MONEY. I understand that. ANY activity that they PERCEIVE will diminish their revenue stream will be "dealt with accordingly". As I said, I understand. One should not expect a koala to behave like a snake and vice versa. About the only things that I would like to see changed here at Garden Web is the addition of 1) A better editor that allows the use of more editing options so that the only option for emphasis is NOT capital letters, 2) "Stickies" - a means of permanently placing significant threads at a location where they can be easily found and referenced. This site - Garden Web - especially for a commercial site, is the most "primitive" site I know of on the web. It would be easy to say "It's all about the money", but it isn't. It's about having the business acumen to recognize what increases "flow" in a revenue "stream". Being "primitive" does not increase "flow", and in fact can actually impede the "flow". Garden Web is an interesting place. I've met some nice people here, as I do on every website I venture on to. There are a few sites in which the thugs that run the site have actually succeeded in driving me away permanently, but those are very few. Garden Web appears to have enough internet savvy to choose their words carefully when admonishing those that they perceive are threatening "harmony" AND thereby the revenue stream. Their actions in this particular matter seemed neither necessary nor "wise", but they weren't particularly heavy-handed other than the deletes. So here's my take on the WHOLE matter: 1) Garden Web has NOT bent MY nose out of shape by deleting my post. 2) I hold no "grudges" against ANYONE here at the vermicomposting site. Based on first-hand experience, I strongly suspect that there isn't a poster on this site with whom I wouldn't enjoy spending an evening. Let's move on to new and better WORMY stuff. Paul This post was edited by pskvorc on Sat, Aug 23, 14 at 11:19

Uh oh -- I really should come here more often. Sorry for letting you wait! So... do I want to be a muse. No. The poets wife considers herself as a muse to her husband. I know other women with artistic potential who live this pattern. All of them were ready to sacrifice their own creativity on the altar of devotion. I'm far too egoistic to be a muse, and I wouldn't want to be "the woman behind the man". I understand this work to be "just a job", but with a high risk of side effects. The emotional influence is strong, and it takes efforts to remain reserved. Ginger, thanks for visiting the picture page. I put it up because it makes explaining and discussing garden situations easier. However, the pictures are of poor quality, they were taken with an old camera and scanned with much loss. I really can not recommend them. For a few weeks now I have a digital camera. I still make bad photos, lol, but at least they're a bit sharper and can be posted without loss. With coming spring I'll replace the old photos by new and better ones. Chubbles, I will try to answer your questions. - What characters that hes created do you like? Most of his works are basing on anecdotes, real life happenings. Considering his life span, he has met everything in the range from Nazi commander to foreign tourist, from East German coal miner to West German intellectual. As life writes the most craziest stories, his characters are all fascinating, each in her/his own way. Short stories don't elaborate on details of characters, they are more like short sketches, using a compact dramaturgy which leads to the point like a joke to a punchline. Characters serve this method, they wouldn't dominate it. - How would you describe his paintings? I've seen some of his older works, mainly graphic arts done in red chalk, charcoal, Indian Ink, pencil. They show real situations similar like the ones in his short stories. In conformity with the material the works seem dramatic and somewhat "darkish" to me. The newer works are mainly collages using clippings from colourful ads. They are abstract, sometimes a bit flashy, and they invite for interpretation. - How has his art suffered? I'm sorry, I do not understand this question. - How are you going to change and grow? I doubt whether I can really influence this process, I feel more like struggling as mentioned above. - How is he going to feel when that last poem has been catalogued? Hm... he's adding... there are new poems and stories which he obviously had not on his mind to write down earlier. But now, in the process of approching publishing, he's digging out more and more. I don't know whether there will be something like a last poem. For the time being we've settled on a more practical agreement, that the book, be it his first or his only one, should not become too heavy. Weight shouldn't hinder people from reading the book in bed -- a strange but practical solution. apprehend, I guess Emily is Emily Dickinson? The poem is beautiful, and I regret that I don't know many works by her. I should do more reading... sigh. Many thanks to you all for your interest in the topic, and also for withstanding hibernation. ;)

"Elmer, is this getting to be a habit? You and me agreeing? Yikes! " Take any two people. I think it would be rare if they always either agree or disagree. That's why it's important to listen to all opinions, especially those you may think you disagree with, because a well explained opinion (not one that's simply a playback of a superficial soundbyte) always presents an opportunity to learn or to just better understand. Whether it's right or wrong, I have the same view about those lacking confidence as I have about those who suffer from stress, and I think the treatment is similar. I hadn't seen the NYT article before just glancing through it. With this soft stuff, the right analysis is the one that helps people perform better with life's challenges and feel more comfortable doing so. I'm not always at the top of my game in dealing with such stuff but I learned to be confident and how to comfortably deal with/minimize stress very long ago, early in my career.

I thought the title was in reference to how undecorated a lot of posted rooms look. I like monochromatic, though I don't have the personality to stick with it, but its success is in texture variances. I don't see much of that here. I don't see color. I don't see individuality very often and some of the commenters advise like they're staunchly against that! There's a lot of sameness populating Home Dec., these days. I agree with many of the above responses. Unending options, marketing trends from the various media sources, and fear of spending $$$ on something that doesn't translate to home/life/vision are some big ones. I grew up with professional and hobby decorators. Our gatherings usually involve moving art/accents, furniture, or shopping for an item on someone's list. We may have kept the big items but our homes were never "done" because our tastes and needs evolved. We got bored with the same vignette after a few months so moved things around. Seasonal changes brought the desire to cozy up or declutter. That is my normal. For good or ill, I have the task of refurnishing our home. I've spent an inordinate amount of time looking for an extendable dining table. There are so many choices. None have felt right and, while I don't feel "desperate", I've reached a frustration level that I didn't have when I brought family pieces home to use. Hahaha, Need Help ASAP for Modest Contemporary Old-Euro Austin-esque Chinoiserie Hand-Me-Down style ;) I can only imagine the responses!