Internet Trolls -

- I thought I knew what that was. Obviously I didn't. I've been called one, as it turns out by someone that A) didn't know what it meant either. B) is troll-ish herself.

I wondered onto a fan forum today and started reading. The admin of this forum had suspended adding new members because of trolls. I thought, hey, wait a minute, there are over 250 guests on this forum. You see, I thought a much hated troll was someone who visited a forum or discussion group and didn't participate. If that was the case, why would this forum allow people to read posts who couldn't in turn post?

Obviously I was wrong, so I looked the term up. Turns out an internet troll is someone who joins a group for the express purpose of causing trouble. They either target the topic specific group as a whole, or single out one member they feel they can rile up, and basically harass them. Often these people are networking with other trolls, comparing how much damage they are doing, and generally having a laugh at said destruction.

It turns out I'm NOT a troll. I do visit a number of forums, and many of them I've never posted to. Partly because these groups don't seem to me to be particularly welcoming to newcomers and partly because I don't really have anything to say. These forums are almost all geared to cross stitching and I'm just interested in new techniques and ideas since I've never had anyone in my real life to talk to about cross stitch, except for one, and I taught her to stitch, so there's really little she can add to my knowledge.

I've been feeling bad about myself since I was called a troll. I've even been working to the conclusion that I should stop visiting all forums rather than be something loathed by others. Now, I'm angry at the person who called me that. I'm angry at myself for letter her get by with it and not making sure I knew what the term meant. I'm also feeling a lot better about myself in general now.

Playing blog catchup

A lot has happened since my last post.

First - My daughter's wedding. She looked so beautiful and was so happy. We did pictures before the wedding, and I was told I could NOT cry, or all my pics would be of me with red eyes and nose. Mom said I could cry at the wedding, not before. Then, down the aisle she comes, and daughter looks right at me, and says, do NOT start crying or I will! First time I ever went to a wedding where I didn't cry, and it was my baby's. It was a wonderful day, but we were all so tired when we got back to the hotel room.

My best friend/adopted sister came from the U.K. for the wedding and stayed the next week for some vacation. To us, that's watching movies, a bit of shopping, cross stitching, taking turns cooking goodies and lots of giggling. We managed it all.

The last day, we thought for a treat, we'd get some breakfast at MacDonalds. Bad idea. We both got food poisoning. I was sick enough, but in the comfort of my own bathroom. Sis was sick at 40,000 feet over the Atlantic! I missed the better part of the next week at work and have sort of been playing catch up ever since. Not to mention, my tummy still isn't back to totally normal. We both survived though, but have taken MacDonalds off our list in the future!

The newlyweds headed out to Colorado to visit a friend of the grooms who couldn't make the wedding. They got back home to Houston a week before Hurricane Ike. I was such a wreck that Friday night, as they decided to ride out the storm as the mayor advised. I'm relieved to say they came through with no more than being without power for a week. They were lucky, as they are quite close to the downtown area. My son-in-law, who thought that a hurricane would be the coolest thing, says never again. Next time they leave. Thank God.






Lastly, is what I just found in my email inbox. This is Naomi, my newest granddaugter, who won't be born for another 3 months! My son tells me this is a 3-D ultrasound. I never knew there was such a thing. It was what my daughter-in-law wanted for her birthday.