Found a picture

I'm moving my bookcase and I ran across this picture. This is the country band Little Texas, in the basement of the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. The girl in the middle in the black dress with blue trim is my daughter Shelly. This was her birthday and the band gathered around and sang happy birthday to her. She was in her mid twenties, I think. The girl on the right side in front is my wife's sister Debbie, who was with us that night.

(Picture removed because there are too many people with unknown values posting here at this time.)

Beautiful daughter and a happy bunch of people.
Thanks for sharing with us.

Dear E. Don,
I love the hair on these girls! It is my kind of hair.

How lovely everyone is. Your daughter is beautiful.

Love,
Betty

Alice and Betty, thank you very much. If it weren't for the two of you and Marie and Sue, I'd probably be long gone from here.

But I'm not, and here's a photo of my other daughter.

(Picture removed because there are too many people with unknown values posting here at this time.)

I love all the pics!!! Even the one of you on the sidebar. *grin*

I am glad you are here with us!!!!

I am too Sue, but according to Phil, there are some who are in contact with him who are now afraid to post here because they think I might insult them. Can't figure that one out. Of course, I did just insult Phil, but only after he refused to even try to play nice.

Well, I post when I can. There was a time that I wouldn't post for fear of....... Fill in the blank. But that only hurt me, not anyone else. So now I post and if I unintentionally say or do something wrong, I apologize and post again. Life is too short to let other people's perceptions make me stagnate.

I totally agree. Phil made some posts about PA that seemed to be pretty much right, but Dick and I made the mistake of saying we didn't really want to go over that same old thing again, and Phil took offense at us. He made some pretty atagonistic posts, which he later deleted, and I sent him a very nice PM in which I tried to show that we aren't all bad, we just didn't want to go over the same stuff again. I even shared some information that I thought he might like, as it fit in very well with what he was saying. He later posted that he wouldn't open my PM because he thought it would be nasty. I then posted it on the open forum for everyone to see, and he claims he never read it then either.

I started the thread about cyber bullies because I see that as a real threat to open message boards such as this one. Phil made a very bad post to me that was uncalled for and in which he claimed that I called him a name, which I had never done.

After that he began to rant and rave, directing all of it at me, and I finally had enough. I answered his posts, and am not waiting to see if he can follow through on his accusations of people who are afraid to post here. I don't look for him to do so. I am deleting the two pictures of my kids because you never can tell what someone that is as far out as he is might do.

E.Don, I didn't get to see the pictures, but I am sure they are nice. I like the new avatar photo, too. I for one do understand the need to remove photos with other people in them when unsure of who will view the pictures and how they will be used. This cyber stuff does have it's dangers. That is why I don't post personal pictures.

I have never felt bullied by anyone here. That is not to say that I always agree 100% with everyone, just that I allow we all have opinions and they are not all going to be the same.

I think that 'Phil' is blissfully unaware of how much water has gone under the PA bridge, and felt that he was simply trying to state some facts about the issue not realizing that he was spewing the same old stuff we have been subjected to for so long now. Perhaps he is new to this?

Phil might be wise to realize that just because someone has a strong opinion does not make them a 'bully'.

E.Don you add considerable interest to this board.
Don't let this disrupt your health.

I think I should say something to clear up a few misunderstandings. Phil has been associated with PA since 2004 and won an arbitration case against PA in 2006. The arbitrator ruled in his favor on the basis that PA had breached its contract several times.You can read about it here:

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/storyTools/print_story.htm?storyID=47638&cameFromSection=news

There is an ongoing case involving members of AW and one of PA's lawyers. Phil started the thread with good intentions. He was treated fairly by PA and feels that the insults from the AW board are misdirected.

The astonishing thing to me is that he was treated just as badly here as he was on the AW boards. A "we've heard all this before and we know better than you" attitude was adopted without asking anything about Phil and his involvement with PA.

Sometimes, the attitude from members here is disappointing.

Sue Sunshine wrote:

Well, I post when I can.

... and we are always delighted to see you here, Sue. Always.

But Shelagh, remember how you told me to quit posting anything about PA because it caused problems? You were right, it does.

I asked you politely by private message. I didn't storm into you and tell you that I couldn't care less.

Phil brought his own PA agenda to the board, Shelagh, and showed in his PA post in the Publishers section. Merri answered with her anti PA stance, and he refused to let anything she said go unchallenged.

You answered it with your opinion of PA's prices, which is one of the points that you usually choose to discuss. Carol said she didn't have any problem with PA, and it began to excalate.

Once the thread too off down the same old familiar road, both Dick and myself posted that it was just more of the same and wondered why we were going into it again.

The following is my first post on that thread, and it was not in any way attacking Phil.

E. Don Harpe wrote:

Phil, you seem to have quite a lot of knowledge about PA, and I find the posts enlightening. I'm not sure when your book was published by PA, but I have two that were published in 2006, which means I've now had some three years to grow tired of the neverending, nothing ever settled arguments.

I'ver read all I care to on the subject. I've not changed my mind and I doubt I've changed anyone elses, but I have seen this topic nearly destroy several message boards.

Dick said "who cares" I repeat it. Who cares? You can make your very logical posts till hell freezes over and you will not make Merri come around to your way of thinking.

I realize that I don't have to read or respond to this thread, and that's where I will leave it, but, you, sir, are beating a dead horse, and for some of us it smells to high heaven.

I put in this last part after Phil had told Dick he wished he wouldn't read or respond to this thread. Now what do you consider that kind of statement?

After that I sent him a very nice PM, which he refused to read, I then posted it and he says he didn't read it there either, and then I got tired of his petty little attitude. When he brought it from that thread to the one about the bullying bill, I responded in kind.

The fact, and yes it is a fact, that PA discussions, however well intentioned, always go downhill. I know this, Dick and Don know this, and you, Shelagh, also know this. That's why you requested that Dick not post about PA. But you did say that you thought Phil should post his opinions on PA in the Publishers thread, even though you certainly knew that it might end badly.

Phil removed all of his posts on that thread, and then started making his accusations on the other one. I call that an agenda.

Thank you, Shelagh. I appreciate it. There are a lot of posts I would like to address. I just don't have the time, so have to pick and choose. I would like to be better at welcoming new members or congratulating featured members. That seems to fall between the cracks for me. I am trying to do better. My business has taken off so quickly that I don't even have time to write anymore. I don't even blog. So the little I can contribute here is about all I get written.

I love this forum board. It is the only one I take time for anymore: including my own.

At take your point, Don. The thing I missed on this thread is the photos of your daughters! With the time difference, I missed out. You are right about PA, it is old news. But I know very little about your daughters and I am interested in learning more about them. Dads are allowed to be proud of their daughters!

I am very proud of them, Shelagh, but after everything escalated I removed the pictures. Never know what might happen. Shame.

Don said, "Carol said she didn't have any problem with PA, and it began to escalate." I replied to the thread that I was neither thrilled nor extremely disappointed among a few other non inflammatory statements. I do think the problem is that we are put in either one of two boxes, for or against and I tend to think, live, etc., outside any box.

Okay, a question. What can happen with pictures? I want to know before I take down my picture of my mother's big family. Worst case scenario or just some examples would be helpful. I am really interested. That has been mentioned on here before.

Carol

Carol,

I Google therefore I am. I found this:

Question: Is Posting Children's Pictures Online Dangerous?

"First you must ask yourself…..how likely is this? In reality, the fear
that a pedophile is somehow going to see your child’s picture, then
become obsessed, go through the nearly impossible feat to identify your
child in the first place, then develop an elaborate plan to somehow
abduct your child, is about as likely as your child being hit with a
small asteroid, twice in the same day."

http://articles.webraydian.com/article150-Is_Posting_Childrens_Pictures_Online_Dangerous.html

It's far more likely that some fool will see a picture and make a some silly remark about it. None of want to go through that.

For reference read any of the many warnings about too much exposure on places like My Space, and then ask yourself if you want to take a chance.

Carol, I think most of us have both good and bad feelings about some of PA's practices, but that wasn't the point at all. Once the conversation started, even though most were very much in the middle, it still turned into another of the same kind of threads that we've seen so many of.

I have posted many times that there are things about PA that I like, and things that I don't like, but do you think that makes any difference? I'm always seen as a pro PA writer, and no matter what I say they just don't pay it any attention.

We all like to think that we are "outside the box" when in reality we are what we are perceived as being by others. It doesn't matter what I post, or how far outside the box my thoughts are, I am what the others perceive me to be.

All we can do is post our true opinions and let the chips fall where they will.

E. Don,

Now that I agree with.

Carol