"Lastly, personal attacks are NOT okay and you guys didn't see it, but 3-darena's last comment was a personal attack on staff (me) as well as the first one she wrote. There's a difference between "bashing the policy" and "bashing someone's character." For personal attacks, we have no choice but to lock it and send that member a warning."

i am not passing judgement one way or another in terms of whether Shawn was personal or not, as i only saw her original post, which to me, did not seem exceptionally personal.

what i DO wish to say is that there IS a difference betwixt personal attacks and attacking someone's behaviour.

i used to work with a girl who was in a position that, at that time, was 'above' mine. she exhibited all sorts of behaviours that i did not like, nor were they what i viewed as professional. we constantly seemed to butt heads because of it, because she was taking it personally, and sought to try to react towards me from a personal position. i finally had to explain to her that it was not her, per se, that i found to be objectionable, but rather her behaviours...

i'm sure you are quite a nice girl, Hope, as you've not shown me otherwise. and you most likely are trying to 'do the right thing', and are a positive person, and your intent is true, etc etc... i'm not sure anyone is actually questioning this bit, to be honest... behaviours are learned things, they are changeable, malleable, transmutable, and thus are not always a complete reflection of a person's core/character; but rather, behaviours are more a reflection of a person in that moment, under suchnsuch circumstances/stimuli... not quite the same thing as character, imo...

your community is a passionate one, oft given over to such passions, strong responses, and at times, might even appear to be bi-polar [heh]... we are a temperamental sort. and because of this written medium, words matter, really really matter [this might be where your journalism bkgrd might come in handy], and the choosing of not only the right word[s], but overall tone matters. and maybe the idea of having someone read over your shoulder seems as if it could possibly viewed as a biting suggestion, it may actually have merit as you try to figure out how to do the job you seem to really wish to do...

you have been invited by several folks to share more about yourself, to tell us more about you, your interests artistically, your experiences, etc., but you've been, as far as i'm aware, unresponsive. if by chance you've no experience with any of the types of artistic endeavours that exist on this site, be it Poser, DS, 2D, etc., i dunno, maybe trying to learn and participate at that level might help you understand us - learn by doing, asking for help if you need it - be ONE of us, in a sense, and not so far removed, or at least appear to be so far removed...

just random thoughts... whatever... sigh...

also, i'd greatly appreciate an answer to my question regarding what tools, methods, whatever you are using to determine what is "best" for US...

thanks.