I'll say it again.. wasted energy. Gossip mongers at their worse. Nothing to see here, move on.

People minding other people's business is what was going on. Thank goodness someone got the power-that-be's attention and had the post removed.

Joann, thanks for the laugh. Love your little guy!

Did not realize she had not posted for awhile. Sad to loose anyone regardless of postings. If a person does not like the way it is going, just ignore and go to the next one.

I am totally clueless as to what's going on, but I can say this much.... I've been reading posts from Michelle (or is it Michele -- one "l"?) for quite a few years. I originally "met" her in the Pools & Spas forum. I can't remember now whether her pool was put in before or after ours, but we did our pool in 2004. So, she's not someone who suddenly showed up here at the Table under an assumed name. Well, for all I know maybe her name isn't really Michelle, but she's been posting under that name for years.

OK, I found an old post of hers (on page 8) and clicked on her "My Page" link and saw that it says she first registered on January 20, 2006. I registered on May 29, 2004. So, she's been around for nearly 6 years, at least. I know I was lurking for a long time before registering, and she may have, too.

Long longtime ago, back in Spike days, before we went PAY, there was a funny, when there was a FULL MOON, we used to have posts that created a BIG STIR, as to certain person that caused controversy. That was so long ago.

Old timeers will remember that. Right?

I haven't been around here that long but I have to say this whole deal has been kind of an interesting stir. I thought all the posting was rather odd and the strange saga continues.

I second Lindsey in that Michelle is a real person, not a troll and has been around a while. She is married and has been pretty open about who she is.

I've been away the last couple days so I missed the latest controversy. But I enjoyed her posts for the most part and will miss them if she has really left.

I did se the other thread before it was pulled where someone posted a link to another website with someone with the same user name. First names and regions are very common on the web. It's like expecting a birth date to be unique to just one person.

She is who she is. Sound like a couple weeks ago she was going through a bad time (emotionally) and some chose to jump her. That's the way I see it. Cyber bullying.

Many of you missed the original post and as is true of all gossip not only has it taken on a life of its own, many who missed it seem to have all their facts wrong..

Michele was NOT the one who made the offensive post, quite the opposite, it was a gossip monger who ran a google search and found someone named Michele in Arizon who had a profile looking for a man, and the troll tried to imply that our Michele was in some way cheating on her relationship......

Just to show how gossip gets out of hand, let us consider the facts.

The troll who made the post says she got the information from a google search, however the screen name that she posted to find that google information was slightly different from the screen name that our Michele uses..

Michele has openly stated that she lives in the Phoenix area.

According to the 2010 census the population of Phoenix is slightly over 1.4 million people and the population is 71% white. Now ask yourself, how many ppl in Phoenix do you suppose use some variation of their first name and city as a screen name?

Anyone who has followed my posts for any length of time knows full well that I often post photographs that are signed with my real name.. and on a couple occassions I have posted photos that were anotated with the city where I live..

Yet if I run a google search for my name, it returns over 150 results, 8 of which are within 30 miles of where I am sitting, but not one of them is actually me.... In fact, of the 150 results that was reported by google, not one of them is me.

My complete name, first, last & middle initial does come up on the FBI wanted list, a fact that I have twice had opportunity to discuss at great length with FBI field agents, but here again, it is not me....LOL

The bottom line is, the troll came in and attempted to belittle Michele with a bunch of nonsense, but fortunately the good ppl here at the KT saw through that BS.

So now you have the rest of the story,,as old Paul Harvey used to say,,,but I will still go on record as saying,,,

Educated ppl discuss ideas, concepts and world affairs....
Ignorant ppl talk about other ppl,,,

That does somewhat explain the most recent little tiff where a poster named 'lightbrite' (I think that was the name) signed on and then made odd statements about Michelle.

However what happened to Michelle - did she say she was leaving or did she just stop in for a short visit, post a flurry of questions and then disappear? Did I miss something?

Great, Lazypup, thanks for clearing that up. I would still like to know where Michelle is, though.

Just because she hasn't been posting, doesn't mean she's run off.

For those who think her posts have disappeared....they haven't. None of them. They are easily found by using the Search button.

I agree - just because she hasn't posted doesn't mean she's been run off. People do have real lives.

Cyber bullying - yep, agree with this too. Why would someone feel compelled to do a Google search for dirt and then post it on a closed board if not to stir things up? And remember that hysterical post demanding people not open her threads? That seemed to come out of nowhere too.

I think there are a lot of ignorant people in the shadows with industrial sized spoons stirring up the Collective.

I can't keep up with this. Maybe her feelings got hurt and she's just lurking for a while. Maybe she'll come back. I hope so.

I remember Michelle from the Pool and Spa forum when I first signed on in 2006. She and her DH were building a pool.

When she came back here recently it was obvious she was not welcomed by many. Some did not like her daily questions and made sure to let her know. Who could blame her for stepping back.

Cliques - very hard to break into. And don't dare stand out as a new person - people will eat you for lunch.

Especially at the KT.

Well I come here a lot and post quite a bit and I'm lost as
to the whole "Michelle" thing. Guess I'm not in the loop, but that's okay...

I hope that Michelle comes back. I liked her questions.
In any case we need to defend the sentiment of this forum. The bums do not deserve the attention.

If anybody needs to be run off its me....with all the smart azz quips & comments I make,,,,LOL

i have been around here since day 1 and i did recognize Michelle from quite awhile ago. she used to be on the pets forum and around here long long ago, i was surprised to see her here after all that time. I'm not sure she was an imposter... ~ liz

I don't think she's an imposter and I'm sure she's a nice person. I just don't think she's heartbroken if people get riled up about her. It seems like there's always a brand new person who shows up and blasts her out of the blue after she disappears for a few weeks. Michelle's defenders jump up, berate the new person and then we keep talking about her while speculating where she's gone and how much we miss her. The new member then disappears to never be heard from again. Funny how it works. :)

I also want to add that I do like Michelle and her questions and her straightforwardness. Whatever the motivations or the real story is, I don't mind a little excitement to mix things up!

I think you may be on to something chi83. Without actually saying it ;) Or maybe I'm just reading my own thoughts in your post. In that case, my apologies :)

Elisabeth

The "new" person who showed up in this case and posted something about Michele (sic), posted with the name "lightbrite" and had only joined the same day as she posted the shameful thoughts. So, lightbrite is somebody on the KT who posted with this alias, knowing that what they were posting was none of their business and statements that only a stalker would have found out by "googling" Michelle's name on the www. Gossip mongering at it's best as it is impossible to know if the 'gossip' was even our Michelle! Any chi83 how would you have felt if it was you that lightbrite had posted those shameful stories about? Would you still have liked the excitement?

Maybe Michelle "is" lightbrite and she likes controversy?

That's exactly my point - we don't know who it was. I have my suspicions but that's all they are.

And you're twisting what I said. I said I don't mind the excitement that Michelle brings to the table with her questions and straightforwardness, in contrast to people who seem bothered by it. I didn't condone or support any of the personal attacks against her. It's one thing to doubt a story but it's entirely different to attack someone.

"Maybe Michelle "is" lightbrite and she likes controversy?"

I'm sure that's it.

(sigh) I get busy for a while and miss out on so much excitement.

I hope she hasn't left but if Michelle (or whoever s/he is) left for whatever reason, I give her (/him?) kudos for not doing like so many who post a "storm out" post reminiscent of Beaver Cleaver I'm running away from home... and I ain't not never coming back! looking for the pleading of please stay, don't go, only to be back posting a short while later and usually making a big announcement post how they have forgiven the forum, presumably to get yet more attention.

And I like Michelle's posts. Far more interesting than some others who shall remain nameless. At least Michelle's invoked some thought and rational thinking rather than talking only about herself.

Thanks pup, for the info.