LornaW, I miss the C&D, OT and Den... and feel the need to converse about those things which inspire or frustrate a person, because we do reflect our times and our art (at least if it is really art and not craft) is being filtered through our minds and experiences. However, there are people who are less than mature, who roil things for the sake of causing distress, who'll fight over the personas and not the issues. They want attention or they want to be right (and sore winners can be as obnoxious as whining losers). For every person who'll talk about their cat or the incredible costumes in the movie they saw, there is someone who'll make nasty remarks about another's political affiliation or mix up morality and bigotry. If someone is having health problems, I want to send a hug their way, if they are remodeling a house and salvaged some antique wallpaper, I want to send congratulations... but how do we keep those discussions where we reach out to people sharing life experiences and effectively discourage discussions involving the presumed parentage of a slime mold in ratty underwear? There are so few tools for community maintenance... if people do not care what others think (and even relish being despised), they can cause an incredible amount of damage to the social fabric. As friends we will defend our friends, and the situation can spiral out of control within hours. A libertarian could argue that a healthy community could survive without the need for maintenance or moderation, but with 300,000 members, most of whom have screen names? Perhaps if we were less passionate... but if we were, we wouldn't be artists, would we? Currently, I like the looks of James. Rugged, masculine, but he looks like a man who could laugh. I wish that he was grouped better, but I can work with him. And I still like Michael 2. Carolly