I think we can all agree that 2009 has been less than a stellar year for most of us. For myself the year has been like being last in line for dinner and getting only the hind leg of an old possum to chew on...tough, hairy, and stinks to high hell.
Then, right here at the end of the year we get a mini-dust-up over the Front Page and the way the Editors choose to hand out EP's. Well, I gotta tell you, put in the context of the other things that have happened in my life this year, this dust-up hardly makes a freaking blip on the radar.
So what if the front page often looks like a cross between the National Inquirer and People magazine. So what if one writer in particular, whose every entry gets an EP could not, in my humble opinion, write their way out of a paper bag. I don't really care....not really.
See, the thing is, I have never written anything that I felt belonged on anyone's front page so not getting EP's is not only expected, but understood. I don't come here to see my name on the front page, I come here to practice the one thing I do well enough to serve as therapy for me....to write.
I also come here to read and to live vicariously through the words of folks who are smarter, richer, and more traveled than I am. I also have friends here who I can keep up with and know what is going on in their lives.
Ever so often, when the stars are aligned just right, and the Gods of Fate and Chance are in agreement, something I write might just touch one person and THAT just makes my day. On those rare days when what I write serves to help someone else, then I feel like I have been a success that day.
So my view of Open Salon? It is and has been and will continue to be, the one place I go to share my small words with whatever section of the world that might just happen by. This opinion of Open Salon is not effected by what goes on the front page or who has EP at the top of his or her entry.
Do I care what the Editors do with the front page?
Uh....my son is dying, I have more important things to worry about.
So now tomorrow will mark a new year. Let's all be kind to each other this year and just write. Open Salon is still the best I have found in the last five years.
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Comments
Generally, OS is one of the best things to come out of 2009 for me.
Onward!
xoxoxo,
Wishing for you and your family love and peace.
R~
Kathy....Have a great new year my friend and thank you.
Bette.....You are welcome and thank you so much for taking the time to read my little blog.
Robin....Happy New Year, lady. I hope you have a grand year.
Scanner.....Your blog has been one of the bright spots on this site for me and I try never to miss it. Have a great year, my friend.
Amanda....Hi and welcome to my blog. You can call me David or Tor, or Torman. Thanks for reading my words.
If I was the editor, would the front look like it does? Not on your tintype. But I'm not the editor; someone else has that particularly unhappy burden, and he and/or she is welcome to it. I have my own EPs, and they're on my friends list. Like you.
And glad to read ya Torman.
R
Thanks for this nice post. You sum up my feelings exactly.
I'm sorry about your son...
All the best to you this coming year
Best wishes to your family in 2010!
I agree completely and wish you well in the upcoming New Year.
Glad I found you!
This is quietly well put. I think Dakini Dancer and CarolinaBlue50 would love to be here today, alive, and not worrying about EP's.
My prayers go out to your son and your family. Much love to all of you.
In my heart and thoughts always...
Happy New Year Torman!
OS is a great free service, and we should at least be grateful!
@surly - "harmless woman?" That's a bit of a stretch, don't you thing?
Meanwhile, like you I"ve got other fish to fry ....and to figure out why or how I am sooooo cliche ridden tonight. Must be because I spent the afternoon with my 17 year old granddaughter watching Avatar. Now if I just were blue, striped and had a long tail!
Best wishes for health, happiness and miracles in 2010. Tonight we'll all see the same bright star.
~R
Skel...Thanks for the warm wishes and I hope this coming year is a great one for you too.
Lively Dame....Hi and welcome to my blog, and have a great New Year too.
boanerges1....THank you friend and I feel the same way about your writing as well.
mission....Thanks for stopping by and I'm glad you are on OS too.
Donna....You hold onto that miracle thing, cause I'm holding onto it too. I am so grateful for the prayers.
Frank...Thank you friend, I always look forward to your own story as well and I'm always glad to see a new addition.
Sandra....Thank you.
AHP....Thank you, my friend. Your blog is one I always turn to when I need to read something to calm the storms inside me....Peace.
Daniel....Hi and welcome to my blog and thank you very much for your kind comment.
MJ....I feel the same way, I just don't have the enegry to spare for all the outrage.
New Buddha....I could care less what anyone's sexual prefrence is as long as no one cares about my own.... I love my wife.
Kanuk...Welcome to my blog and thank you for your comment.
k. b....Another new comer to my blog! Happy New Year and may 2010 be good to you.
ladyfarmerjed....I am glad you found me too! Have a great New Year.
M. Mckenzie....I don't know how "wise" I am, but I do try to be as good as I can. If I have made your day then that really makes me happy.
Deborah....I feel like Ken was reading over my shoulder as I typed the entry and was chuckling over what he use to kid me about my "Plain speaking."
Gwendolyn....That is so kind to say and I cherish you as a reader.
Sheila....Ah, big sister, none of my blogs are complete without a visit and a word from you my dear friend. My daddy always told me to "Keep it simple" and that is what I try to do in my blog and in my life. It is easier to do in the blog sometimes than in life as you well know. What a year we have had! Hang in there girl, you are always in my thoughts.
imsurly...Happy New Year to you too and thanks for stopping by.
Winda....Ah another sweet, dear friend from WDC. Thank you hon and I hope your new year is nothing but fabulous.
Karin...Welcome to my blog and thanks for stopping by. I wish you all the best in the coming year as well.
Kathy...You are so right, it's free so let's just enjoy what we have.
Nanette....Hi and welcome to my blog, I am so glad you found me. We have lost too many friends this year and I hope next year is better for sure.
Sparking....Like you, I find the real gold inside OS and I don't worry about the cover. They can do whatever they want with it.
Jane...I worried whether or not I made myself clear; I am not taking anyone to task who has complained about the cover or EP's and I never would, I just don't think it's worth the worry to ME. Thank you for your well wishes and thank you even more for being a reader of this simple blog.
Owl....And here's to you my dear. I hope you have nothing but the best this year and I look forward to reading many more of your wonderful entries. Oh and..."Harmless women"? I never saw one of those. :-)
Islandview...Hi and welcome and thank you for the rating too!
Patie...LOL, the name is Tor, or Torman, or David! Not Tom. Now that that's settled, I am with you, I need to write cause how else will anyone know I existed in another thirty years or so. Oh and yeah, Avitar will do it to you in the Cliche department.
emma...Thank you for stopping by and you are right, perspective is everything. As for my son, we now have hopes of him making it until spring...we will take whatever we can get.
sueinez...How did I miss you last time? Thank you for your kind words and thanks for reading my blog, it means a lot to me.
Lunchlady2...And I missed you too, forgive me. I hope your own New Year brings you happiness and contentment.
mypsyche....Thanks and I hope you have a great New Year and thanks for stopping by!
LosingMyReligion....Thank you, your prayers are more than enough and I am so grateful to have them.
FusunA...Getting to know you has made the world a little smaller and friendlier for me...thank you.
Happy New Year to you and Mel. The two of you and Richard remain in my prayers.
Rated.
Lovely sentiments
-Linda
Jeff Howe....Thanks for stopping by Jeff. Yes, I hope that 2010 is all about the writing.
placebostudman.....Welcome to my blog and thanks for the comment. Yeah, reality does have a way of intruding from time to time doesn't it.
Linda Shiue...Hi and welcome to my blog. Thank you so much for your kind words and your comment.
Michael...Happy New Year my friend and I hope yours is nothing but good.
"writting" ? Ugh... :)
American soldiers handcuffed and then killed 8 children in Afghanistan.
Smithery...I too look forward to another year of reading you and my other friends here on this site.
femme forte....the feeling is mutual, my dear.
Lea...I totally agree with you.
Outside Myself....and my gift has been getting to know you and Smithery. You two are two of the best...thanks for being my friend.
Steve Blevins....Hi and thanks for dropping by and visiting my blog. It's an honor to have you in here. I will return the favor as soon as I can.
Joan H....Life is definitly too short, that's for sure.
Andy....I feel the same way. I get much more out of this place than I could ever contribute.
psychomamma...Thank you so much, your good thoughts for Richard are certainly appricated by Mel and me.