h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We have a dilemma. The Atelier is losing touch with what it was meant to be, and I don't know what to do about it.

Why did I start the Atelier?

I looked around and saw many threads in which nobody said anything much in particular; everybody was just saying hello or raising a toast or speaking in smileys or making arch one-liners... And it wasn't that I wanted to banish such things entirely, but that I missed the give and take of ~real~ idea bashing.

So I founded the atelier in the hopes that it would draw people

who wanted serious discussion on top of the usual nonsense.

That's why I became so particular about the backlog thing.


I did NOT post this halfway through! It spontaneously just posted!!


Now that fate has intervened and posted half the intro without my even being able to refine my thoughts, I will throw the discussion open.

How can we all still enjoy the atelier without degenerating into.. well, being like everywhere else? People used to LOVE our backlog!! It shouldn't be a slog.

*sigh*

Lil, the Atelier has become the main (if not only) reason I still come to the guide at all. I understand the feeling of disintegration of something that you created. It has heppened to me with the CotTB. In the Atelier I find conversation. Real conversation with far reaching topics. This is a reminder of the guide as it first started, fresh with anticipation. Almost everywhere else I go on the uide, it is hollow chit chat, but here I feel that I can converse with people that interest me. Loony tells us tales of life in a place I have only dreamt of. You give us updates from a community reaching back into US history. All of the denizens of this salon are of extreme interest to me. Speaking only for myself, the Atelier still serves the purpose of it's charter. I sometimes feel that I can only offer small niblets of conversation, but I still like to converse.

OK that was rambling, even for me.

Marv, you have explained exactly why I visit the Atelier. While catching up with friends, I feel as if I am helping to write a world-wide diary. Something like the international version of Days Of Our Lives

Lil, don't hit me. Ouch. Sob.

I came to the Atelier because of the real conversation but I must admit that sometimes I am in trouble with the backlog. See, my English is not so good and it takes quite a lot of time to read some pages ~and~ understand it. But I'm doing my best and I won't leave.
It's such a fun to have the feeling of being around the earth, everywhere.

Somehow, in my mindless wanderings of this place, I came across the Atelier, and I must say that it is the only fairly interesting thing I have seen so far (I am still relatively new; hopefully I'll find more).

P.S. Sorry if I caused any confusion in the last thread. It was not my intent to sneak up on all of you like that.

Oh! Hi, Firefly! Welcome! I haven't met you yet.

Speaking up is exactly what it is all about, Firefly!

And Marv speaks for me too. Actually, I don't find the backlog a chore, cos the conversation here does feel like a conversation. I suspect the backlog is a problem only because, if you see what I mean, we all feel compelled to read it because of this quality whereas in other threads we wouldn't bother.

Hello Firefly, nice to meet you.

I enjoy the Atelier because it reminds me that I belong to one large global community.

Another grey and gloomy day here, milder with rain threatening. At least that may help to shift the dirt and salt from the roads. Also from my car

Today I am mostly avoiding the accountant.

I find the conversations at the Atelier well worth while reading, that's why I never skip any backlog, although I'm sometimes forgetting which postings I meant to reply to along the way, struggling to reach the latest posting...

Yes... Which reminds me that I was going to say something terribly profound about driving. I've forgotton what it was though so...

But I love driving and miss it a lot. I discovered whilst driving a rather elderly old banger that the most stress free motorway driving comes from sailing sedately down the slow lane at just under the speed limit. The only drivers you then have to deal with are the lorry drivers, which even my car could successfully overtake. I never seemed to get where I was going any later than I would if I had been ducking and diving my way round the traffic. It did seem to annoy other drivers though, but I found this particularly unfair. It wasn't as if I was pootling along at 45mph or something. In fact I was probably the only person going at the 'right' speed.

I decided that I would never drive here though. Quite apart from the scary winter weather conditions, the fact that most drivers here seem to buy their drivers' licences instead of passing the test makes the prospect all too frightening. This includes Boyfriend, whose total time at the wheel of a car includes approx 3 hours. I have sworn never to get in a car of which he is in charge...

I have the same problem T! I shall either have to take notes or have 2 windows at the same time.

I may occasionally skip the backlog, but will go back and read it later.

Flying:

The first time I ever flied, it was in a 4-seater sports plane - in every turn you felt as if you'd drop down through the floor - but I enjoyed it! The first time I flied in a big passenger plane I was very disappointed - I hardly noticed I was flying - but the view is nice though - I like looking out the window when the plane is above the clouds - the sun always shines, of course, and the landscape looks like something from a dream...

Travelling:

In general I prefer travelling by train, it gives me time to get used to the change in landscape, language, culture. Let's say I would be travelling from winter in Sweden to summer in Spain - when flying, I always find it takes a day or two to get used to the idea of being somewhere else - someone once described it as 'your soul finally catching up with your body'...

[Munchkin]
Bother! Lil, this is definately one of my favourite places here, because you can have a proper conversation, or ask a sensible question and get something approximating to a sensible answer. I know I'm not the best at this, but that is mostly because I can't remember the backlog long enough to write about it. But then I scared my mother witless last year by actually remembering her birthday. Didn't get her a present or anything, just remembered which was enough of a surprise to everyone

[Amy] - might not have much of importance to say due to being so poorly and tired but still enjoys being here.

* for Amy*

And I forgot to mention that I deeply enjoy the adventures that usually start around here - with lots of imagination, being funny, exciting. and sometimes a bit - but highly entertaining!

Lil, I've tried to stay away from hootoo because RL doesn't leave time for gadding about fora and contributing to the guide. I love coming to the Atelier whenever I can go through backlog and say hello. Looney reporting from Godzone, your art and interesting life (sorry I never met you here in blue-hair land), Marv and OP's tech talk, GL, Affy, Sporky, Amy, Titania, G7...there are MANY fine researchers that are here. I don't feel like just lurking about in your life.

I, personally, enjoy the Atelier for a variety of reasons, ranging from the small, impersonal business aspect (after all, without this place the Crater's primary visiter would be forces of evil trying to wipe out CLI), to the large-scale value of hearing the voices and opinions of people from all across the world.

It's weird. I didn't notice what Lil was talking about until after she pointed it out to me. It's something like what A. Roma's Cafe went through almost a year ago now, and what Joanna's Donut Stall was like the last time I checked in over there.

I agree with pretty much everything already said here. This forum (and my necessary involvement with STUMPED and CHOPPERS) is pretty much the only thing keeping me around here.

Part of the reason I came here was because I was impressed, having read quite a lot of the backlog, by the imaginative and interesting conversation, and the diverse mixture of people here. It made me wish I'd been here from the beginning. I do admit to also being fond of inane jabbering sometimes, but on H2G2 the good thing is you can do both. At the same time if you want! Quite often, I don't have anything to add to the current conversation here, but I enjoy the backlog. I just wait until I feel I have something to say.

It was lovely to be so heartily welcomed when I arrived here. You are all so friendly and interesting. I would like to stick around if you'll put up with me!

Candi

I think Marv has got it. These day's I'm mostly lurking round the site not writing any articles, reading a few forums but here is where I come for conversation. The number of different people from everywhere means that topics don't normally stick round for too long which is why I like it, always something going on.

I also love travelling by trains. Shame the UK has some of the most expensive and unreliable train services going.