In case you haven't notice, Potpourri is about dead. When I think back how many posters we use to have when it was the "Breast Freedom Forum" I've concluded the only way a forum can succeed is if it has something about BOOBS in the title.
As others have observed, there are usually a lot more people who read without posting on a forum than those who post. My guess is that people are checking in just to see if there are any new postings -- they want us to embark on the next discussion for their entertainment.
Marseil may be busy traveling again.
Jeffrey apparently was saying he was tired of my "ignorant, hating conservative drivel" when he said "Goodbye" three weeks ago -- come back Jeffrey! You were sometimes informative, and always good for a laugh!
Cool Beans Boi -- is the winter finally over in NYC, as it seems to be here in Ohio, and he's out enjoying Central Park and the "eye candy"? Or, is it baseball season! (YOUTH -- I remember it well!)
Brandon -- My hunch is that he has been given a "Honey Do" list and spends his time now making home repairs, engaged in lawn care and shopping for flowers to plant. (Been doing a bit of that myself).
Greg posted once two weeks ago -- was that an alias? Why hasn't he been back? Same with the chick who posted twice a couple of months ago and not since. Was she looking for "Breast Freedom" instead?
Peter -- he checks in every once in a great while. I'd bet that he is one who reads more than he posts. It doesn't seem to be the same for him without Michaela here. I wonder if she ever comes just to see what we are up to. Boy, people sure hold a grudge!
I know some of you talk on other forums, such as "free ballerz". I looked at it a few times . . not really my issue or cup of tea. I think Potpourri will get going again in time. Sometimes I wonder if I should take more of a back seat so that others can pursue their conversations unfettered? On the other hand, if Nat and I didn't post, things could be really dead. I think part of my contribution is that I'm not afraid to share some personal information. You guys knew of my new relationship and later the break-up. You knew of my son's trip to study in Europe. I've talked about things and people that matter to me. Nat has too, when the ice is broken on the subject. I wish others would be more personal sometimes.
Oh don't start posting less Bob, you're the only one that keeps this board going now! My idea was that Potpourri would be a little social club where a group of us could get together and chit-chad about whatever. I ran across such a forum on NW54 a while back that seem to be doing well- even though it was a very amateurish looking forum with almost no graphics. I don't know why it has been so much more successful then Potpourri.
RE:""As others have observed, there are usually a lot more people who read without posting. My guess is that people are checking in just to see if there are any new postings -- they want us to embark on the next discussion for their ...."" .... but for a while not find any inspiriting
Well you know Johny- you don't have to sit and wait for Bob or I to start a new topic of interest- anybody can do it- no reason Bob and I always have to be the topic starters here. So somebody- anybody- everybody- give us something to talk about.
I live in NJ now and yesssssss. summer came early this weekend. 92 in Central Park. I borrowed my Mom's guy are cruised down to the beach. It was nice getting shirt off in April!! It was like summer but it was a bit weird seeing all the trees not quite full.
BTW, that damn "check engine light" came back on once again.
I hear Subaru's are plagued with this problem. She says 'don't worry about" it
Good you are enjoying some nice weather, Chris. It seems like summer here it FL too- but very dry. We are having a lot of brush fires. Really need some rain.
{Edited to remove Chris's promotion to Christ. Not quite time yet. )
This message has been edited by Nafana on Apr 27, 2009 10:15 PM
but I wouldn't go so far as to call him "Christ"! 92 degrees (F for the Europeans)! That is way too much global warming! It was an absolutely wonderful 82 degrees here in southern Ohio . . . and off work at that! (Boy, do I have a story to tell you!)
Oops- I did sort I promote Chris! Don't think he even want's that promotion. Funny thing- I did the same thing at TFF today- but I caught that and corrected it- but not here. Maybe senility is catching up with me.
As for the weather- well I've come to expect abnormal weather- or to put it another way- abnormal weather is now normal. Everywhere its either too hot, or too cold, or too wet or too dry or too something these days. Rainfall has been much below normal here in southwest Florida for more than three years now. Wells are going dry and we've been having bad brush fires because the vegetation is so dry it burns like crazy. Yet they were having floods in other parts of the country recently. It would be nice if the weather would just get back to normal everywhere.
Thanks for thinking of me..... but, when you write "Marseil may be busy traveling again.", you're unfortunately wrong. I haven't done any significant trip recently, just been to Avignon, Barcelona, Paris, Paris, Paris, Valence, Vienna, Monaco over the last couple of months.
I'm just busy at work.
An also preparing for the next vacation: Poland and Ukraine this summer. ANd probably New Zealand at the end of the year.
No, Pot Pourri is not dead. ... And I'm not either. I'm just very busy for the time being, so I have less time than before to post.
Also, when subjects are so domestically internally US American, like republican party defection, or bipartisanism, I have little to say about such subjects.
This preoccupation with matters in North America -- Americentric? It's just hard for me to talk about much else because I've never been outside U.S. . . but maybe that will change.
btw . . I wasn't far off in thinking you might be traveling, as I see you have a full slate of trips ahead!
Well it good to hear from you Marseil. With so few posters every one is very important.
And it would be interesting to know how a European sees US politics.
However I must confess, I don't follow foreign politics enough to comment either.
I do think it's amazing how far and how fast the Republican party has fallen on it's face.
Only a few years ago they had a lock on the country and now they are out of power and in total disarray.
"I do think it's amazing how far and how fast the Republican party has fallen on it's face. "
We could just as easily come back. In the late 1970s, after Nixon, the Republican Party was in worst shape than it is now. In 1980, we won the presidency and would control the White House for 20 of the next 28 years.
No one would have predicted the Reagan Revolution in 1976.
True, but the demographic trends are against the Republicans like never before.
There core voter- conservative white men are becoming a minority in this country.
That's very true Nat and that is why it is an absolute must that Republicans start making inroads into the African American and Hispanic American communities and also do a better job of reaching out to younger voters.
Yes but the GOP in full of stubborn die-hards like Limbaugh and Hannity who think to compromise their "principles" is to sell out. It's going to require them dying off before the Republican party becomes a majority party again- but when it does- it won't be the party you know.
Reagan did a good job selling the American public on the Republican ideals of capitalism and "trickle down" economics- but in recent years the American people have become disillusioned. They have seen the only people who are prospering are rich executives with multimillion dollar bonuses while the average working joe has seen his jobs shipped overseas, his wages stagnate and the cost of everything rise out of reach.
The idea of socialism- once a great taboo to every American is appealing to more and more now as they see it the only way to begin to re-equalize the great lopsided distribution of wealth in this country.
So while the Republican party may- indeed- almost certainly will regain popularity- it won't be the Republican party of today- it will be more like the Democrats- while the Democrats will probably be even more to the left. In any case- the trend towards socialism in this country has begun and will continue as it did in Europe.
I don't necessarily think the trend toward socialism especially in the U.S. is a movement that can't be stopped.
Europe is a dying continent (because of socialism IMO) demographically as Europeans are not reproducing enough to replace the current population.
America still has massive immigration and many of these immigrants especially from Asia and the Middle East still believe in the American Dream and are starting small businesses and getting advanced degrees.
Well socialism does not mean there's no capitalism. Even in socialist countries there are private businesses. In fact, socialism is confined to large public services- utilities, healthcare and the like. And actually- we already have much of that as it is- police, fire, roads, Water systems, weather bureau, military, etc have always been publicly owned and operated entities. So its not as big a change as you think.
The one major exception is our healthcare industry- which most people now regard as a atrocious failure- providing marginal care and at unaffordable prices. The vested interests here will tell you all sorts of scare-stores about healthcare in other countries but the fact is most people are very happy with their socialized healthcare systems and by almost every objective measure- general health, life expectancy, infant mortality, etc- their socializes systems are equal or better than ours.
No added comment about socialism. I just want to say Nat's last comment about socialsim was the most clear, concise and insightful thoughts I have heard in a long time on the subject.
I will use this comment when fighting with my conservative friends
As a guy who lived 2 decades in Canada and 2 in the US now, I've seen both sides.
Socialism basically ensures the the government controls most things, and that it does a poor job at it and eventually squanders money away. It also penalizes success and props up mediocrity.
If there was such a thing, I would favor Capitalism with some socialistic flavor to it.
And the reason why life expectancy isn't as high here is because of the obesity problem. Americans love everything to do with excess, which includes food and portions in such sizes that I have yet to see abroad.
No form of government is perfect which is why a successful government must be something of a hybrid. Yes, capitalism is important- but it must not be so that the middle class is vanishing while the top 5% have most of the assets and the rest of the people struggle from paycheck to paycheck barely making ends meet. The power has tilted too far to the rich who can "buy" the rules and laws from Congress that benefit them while the little working guy be damned.
A good example of this is the so-called Healthcare reforms. I heard about these great plans back before the election but it's becoming clear that by the time all the special interest fat-cats- the insurance companies, hospitals and pharmaceutical lobbies have had their say in the matter it's just going to be a big flam job- lots of window dressing but no real reform.
I have not been on my computer much at all these days. I have been working long hours and frankly.... I'm getting too old for this construction crap...... think I'll go back to being a nurse!
I do pop in periodically and read up on what and how y'all are doing. I really do miss coming in and contributing the way I use to.
I don't know if Mac pops in or not. She is happy and has a wonderful man in her life and they are doing well. She and I communicate frequently, and almost appear to be friends again.... (hope I didn't just jinx everything... lol).
I am always glad to see a few "old timers" here and enjoy seeing how the few newcomers have fit in...
Peter, it is great to hear from you, it really is- we have missed you. The fact is these days we barely have enough posters to keep the forum going. New people just don't find this place like they did back in the days the forum had "breast" in the title! Imagine that- more people google boobs than Potpourri. Who would have known. So it would be great to have you back.
I can understand what you are saying about construction, it is hard work and none of us are getting any younger so I'm surprise you don't get back into nursing as healthcare is one industry which is always in demand.
Good to hear Mac is doing well and that you two remain on good terms. I have not heard from her in a very long time.
So while I know that you are busy and tired, we would love to have participate here as much you can.
With my recent computer problems, I was smart to record the web addresses for all my favorite sites. Past experience showed me that it is not easy to find this site even when you are specifically looking for it. When I search "potpourri", most of what comes up isn't this site. I can type "network 54 potpourri" and still not find it. How newcomers find this site, I don't know. I do agree that having "breasts" in the title makes it much more likely that it turns up on a search -- maybe consider changing this to "breasts and potpourri"?
Speaking of my computer problems: The data processing staff person who took my computer to work on it, over two weeks ago, still has not returned in to me. I saw her a few days ago, and she said she would be bringing it to me. When I asked how the repairs went, she rolled her eyes and confirmed that trying to get it working right was a pain. Guess it wasn't just my incompetence.
Peter, as always, it's good to hear from you. I too am glad that M is doing well and that the two of you are on positive terms. I remain on positive terms with my ex-gf, but sometimes it is hard to hear her bragging on how "wonderful" her life is now. Women (and some men) always want the ex to know how "great" life is . . without them!
You know Bob, I think you are on to something. Let's face it- while the title "Potpourri" seemed apt for a discussion forum about various topics- it simply hasn't worked. The reason is because almost everyone uses search engines to find websites these days- and nobody searches for "potpourri". So we need a title that contains a term that people are likely to use in internet searches- something that will at least get them here. Like a store- you can't sell anything until you get people into the store.
I recall seeing a list of the most popular search terms and high on the list was "nude"- so what if we called the forum something like "Nude Cognitions"- as to mean unshrouded discussions so the term really does have some applicability- even if not quite what people might expect.
There is a note in the crawl at TFF advertising Potpourri- which I suppose is why search engines make this connection as they can snag any text on the home page. As to why it comes up quicker for TFF then for here is probably because TFF is a much more active forum- and that alone make search engines rank it higher. It's a chicken and egg thing- you have to be popular to get a good ranking- and you have to have a good ranking to get popular.
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