salt'n the slugs

SlugFest

have you ever had a boyfriend that seemed to be doin the job just fine and then suddenly realized he was not what you thought he was and you decided it was time to move on? you allow him to save face by makin everyone think it had been his idea to break up cause what do you care - you're so busy tryin to fit in all the ones that had been waitin in the wings for you to come to your senses that you never even give him another thought? okay, maybe you take a bit of pleasure when you and one of your new suitors pull up in a bright red ferrari at some eatin establishment and you look over at the volksagon parked next to the passenger side and find the ex-beau sittin there watchin you bein helped out of the i-talian sports car by your handsome date known for playin a super hero on the big screen. you gotta admit some delight was experienced for maybe just a nano second. but other than that, you are so over him and are plan to keep on movin.

but then this ex-fella keeps showing up wherever you are. appears he thinks you aren't aware of his need to know what you're up to so whever you are, he makes sure to go too - even places he isn't welcome - goin to such lengths as tryin to disguise himself thinkin no one will know. you just wanna say 'don't you have anything better to do?' and 'do you really want me to know that you can't get me outta your mind?'.

don't know what made me think of that since i am much too busy tryin to protect the private part of my mo home from interlopers and bandits. it shouldn't be that hard to do. see, in the world of people that hang out at the sites where designers do up doo dads to deliver via download, most pick out a username for signin in and it's that username they hang onto wherever they go. this isn't a hobby where there's much of a need to travel around secretly and slither thru the shops and galleries under the cover of faux identities and anonymous postings. there's no shame involved in looking at cute doo dads designed for delivery via download after all.

okay - so maybe there have been many a child that has had a slow response to some need or other while their mom finished uploadin some pretty little page they did up about their love of motherhood or a husband that was aimin for some lovin when his partner finally joined him for the night and ended up havin to only dream about such things instead cause the other half of the lovin team was lovin their delivered doo dads a bit more than the doin-without dreamer. but until oprah does a show about doo dad addiction and it's need for interventions by our loved ones or unless some designer decides there's a need for neeked doo dads of the pornographic sort, i don't know of there bein much of a need for tryin to come up alias email addresses and faux usernames for shop hoppin and gallery gazin.

in the bizness of doin doo dads to deliver via download, it is my experience that most of the participants look forward to the internet audience comin to know who they are. sort of a virtual neighborhood, where the inhabitants travel around from place to place and enjoy bein recognized by the other digital art citizens and getting to know those they bump into along the way. you might not ever know the actual name that appears on a fellow traveler's driver's license but seldom does a well-intentioned member of this strange but wonderful little community get involved if they intend on doin so anonymously. i mean, after all, the way of participatin is to slap pictures of your family and life along with your own written descriptions of what you think of em on the world wide web! i can't recall many legit, authentic scrappers/artists who scrap and post art done up with people they don't know. what would be the purpose (this wouldn't include those who do up scrapped pages for non-family member for pay).

we get to know our digital art inclined neighbors pretty well via what they post and how they travel hither and yon. oh sure, you misjudge from time to time and get your heart broken when one of your pixel pals disappoints you, but that's part of life. seems most regular members of this growin universe deal with these stumbles honorably and make every attempt to treat such breakups respectfully, whether they are the heartbreaker or heartbreakee.

many designers who venture out into the internet hopin to deliver downloads of their doo dads by lining imaginary shelves with lovingly created pixels (in my case sometimes a few too many in the wrong places) in the shapes of ribbons n bow n buttons n such and then provide a place for their devotees to come around and show off what they did with em, just throw the doors to the place open wide for all to come and sign up with their internet handles and email addresses and maybe don't know or care when slug slitherin or stalkin is takin place.

i haven't yet opened the gallery and shop portion of my domain to the public. see, as those girls over at the pea throwin place made quite clear after visitin the public part of my spot , i am not a web site designer - oh no - not in the least. i did obtain me some help to put the thing together but the poor dear just about swore off the internet altogether after workin with me for a while. she hung in there but it was touch and go as she saw that i wasn't all that acceptin of the limits in typefaces and accepted modes of this and that and that i could care less about followin some rule just so the search engines would deem me worthy.

i won't open the back end of my little spot on the internet to the public until i have worked all the little kinks out and am pretty sure i can give each and every person who logs on the best customer service they ever experienced as well as makin sure i have enough goin on to make the trip worthy for em. setting up shop is different than makin pixel pals. and this designs available via download community is small enough and by golly vocal enough that if you open the doors and hollar for everyone to come runnin, you better be ready to take care of all visitors the way they deserve to be taken care of. if not you'll find yourself sitting starin at a screen with buckets o' hurled peas aimed at your username. it'd be like invitin people to a party and havin em show up to find you hadn't yet popped open the lid on the bean dip or ripped open the bag of fritos.

my feelin all along has been that if you build a good doo dad, they will come. and so far, the sort of person who likes my sort of doo dad is findin me. i try to make sure once they say they wanna come by for a visit, they know that my little place on the web is still considered more of a construction site than a WEB site and that they might run into some bumps along their way and that i am open to all suggestions. there are those who don a hard hat and visit and don't stay long...those who poke around and never return....a couple who thought it was the bees knees and then somethin made em change their thinkin and they snuffed out all signs of their previous devotion to doo dads.


but then there are the hundreds that have been welcomed in and have made themselves comfy and stop by a few times a day to see what's happenin. they say my failed attempt at web design has a cozy feel, even with all the noise from the hammerin and such goin on. i have truly enjoyed gettin to know the regulars and those that have started their own doo dad collections seem to appreciate all the extras i throw their way to show my gratitude for the pleasure they have provided me.

BUT...my oh so detailed reports show that there are some visitors that have gotten access to the private area of my domain by foolin me into thinkin they were someone else and this has left me feelin sort of violated. a few of these faux friends have even attempted to strike up emails relationships with me under their fake names, emails and personalities. i'm not sure if i'm more upset about them thinkin i was that dumb or that i proved them right. even more shockin to me is that one of these slitherin sneakers just so happened to be in my not yet open to the public home on the web at the exact time and on the exact pages where the bandit alarm was sounded last week. and then almost as creepy is the well known designer who spent approximately eight hours in this private area, going thru each and every item and perusin each and every member who had participated - all after sendin in faux information to get all registered up.

i find the whole thing unsettlin altho what is really puzzlin is you'd think these slugs and bandits would be savvy enough to realize they are leaving behind slimey trails that make it possible for their true identities to be discovered...i have been wrong before and maybe i'm wrong again cause otherwise i'm sure they wouldn't be doin this slitherin and sneakin. as of just last night i had one of em have one of their family members email me for access - i guess they forgot that i remembered the name from the christmas greetin they sent out last year. now it makes me wonder - was it a true greetin or a faux one? when people act in sneaky, sluggy ways it sort of makes you have doubts about them overall.

my desire to sell my doo dads was so i had a reason to keep makin em. i must admit i'm addicted to doin so. my reason for havin a gallery was to create a warm and friendly community where artists who enjoyed my doo dads could show off the art they created usin em and a place where good friendships could be made and a good time could be had by all. these things are alot more important to me than winnin over the most visitors or havin to do things a certain way so that i appeal to everyone. and i like to consider each and every person who honors me with posting their art on my site or takes the time to make comments and such, a member of the doo dad 'design team'. i find the thing i enjoy most is when someone new to this whole new form of entertainment feels comfortable enough to upload their first effort for all to see and everyone takes time to send them bits of encouragement. there's nothin like getting those little announcements that tell you a fellow traveler has stopped to admire your work - no matter how long you been doin this digital artin, it's a real good feelin and especially for a newcomer.

so...after all that blah blah blah...just wanna add...if you are lookin for some nice doo dads and wanna come to a nice .warm lil place on the world wide web and be surrounded by some really nice folks, then maybe you'll come knockin on my door. but nobody likes to feel someone is tryin to pull somethin over on em and the energy used tryin to do so sure could be better spent on something more important - so if you are more the trail leavin slug type or a bandit who takes pleasure in messin up someone else's hard work or feel the need to be sneaky in your travels, please- just pass my place by cause no matter how you are goin about it, you're not foolin me anymore and you end up just lookin foolish.

well - enough words given over to those who don't deserve em....for all of you who have written to offer your condolences on havin to deal with these sad sluggos and bandits, thank you very much and i apologize for not gettin back to everyone yet. it seems that after a year of not bein able to sleep for more than a few hours a night, i can't stay awake for more than a few hours at a time this week. i am sure i am close to bein rested now and once i get all the doo dads - delayed due to my dozin yet dying to debut for delivery via download - done up dutifully and divided digitally into their downloads, i will get right on all the emails i should have been writing instead of dozin daily.

and by the way....almost a hunderd of you have tried to guess what was on mini's daddy's video and no one has come close. maybe i'll just have to tell you on your next visit when you might just arrive to me ponderin why girls reach the age of 13 and overnight decide they know everything and you know nothin and what is it with all of em ruinin a perfectly good hair-do by decidin it must be parted way over on one side and then havin the flopped over portion hang in their eye? if you know the answer to that please do send it along as the only thing standin between me and a bald child is that i have taken to sittin on my hands when talkin to her.

todays art is once again by the oh so talented tracy, recently crowned re-colorin wizard over at the moland mall. and i need to thank zee for her excellent detective work after the bandit set the alarm off and for compilin all the info from the reports on the trails the slugs leave behind.....and to dear millie....while you were goin thru such a difficult time and away from the screens, i thank you for bein so smart on a daily basis that your absence was felt greatly....amyk for makin sure all the doo dads for donations get to where they need to go.....and of course to all you doo dad devotees who make the world a brighter place for an addicted doo dad artist.