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Community News
Face Facts - 12/31/2007
by Sallie Mattison Young
Some of you have recently received an email stating that an admin (probably me) has removed your picture from your library. Before you dash off an indignant message demanding to know the meaning of this, here's why most were deleted:
* Processed or altered (negative, posterized, solarized, etc.)
* No face (back of head, hand covering face, cleavage only; if you don't want people to see what you look like, don't post anything)
* Partial face (my rule of thumb is that at least one eye, the nose and mouth should be visible)
* Inappropriate photo (rude gestures, inappropriate objects, etc.)
* Picture of building or animal, but not YOU (unless you're a really amazing dog LOL)
Oh. And one photo was removed because, well, you're ugly. ;-) You know who you are. (If you have to ask, then no, you're not the one.)
The Essence of the Season - 12/25/2007
by JD Clay
The Holiday Poetry Contest sponsored by Michelle Angelini, was a tremendous success this year. With a whopping total of 28 entries, I’m sure you’ll all agree that the competition was talent-filled, deep and wide. The winners are here as follows. Please visit each library and let them know how much you enjoy their work.
First Place honors go to Norm Milliken with ”Christmas 1968”.
Second Place goes to Dave Fitzgerald with A Christmas that almost never was.
And in Third Place is Bruce Neidt with his sonnettSwaddling Clothes.
Honorable mentions are recognized by Terry Olynik, Peter Humphreys, Kristina Woodhill, Kathy Wilson, Mary Frances Spencer, and Jennifer Ragan.
All the entries can be viewed in the Poetry Contest forum.
Thanks to everyone by making this a very successful event. You are winners all.
Happy Holidays!
HOLIDAY POETRY CONTEST - 12/16/2007
by JD Clay
Hey everyone! How about adding to the holiday spirit by entering Michelle's Holiday Poetry Contest. The contest ends on Dec. 22, 2007 at midnight PST, so get your (new or old) entries in soon - only 6 more days left. The first prize is a wonderful book from Barnes & Noble and POTD on Christmas Day. Second place winner receives a 2008 poetry and photo calendar. The rules are posted in the Poetry Contest forum; post your entries there and get them in real soon.
Open! Open! Open! - 08/19/2007
by JD Clay
For your leisure or a ceasure:
The Contest Forums are ready, willing and await your poetic imagistration.
For Critique: The Poetry Clinic and Poetriage have gurneys standing by. Give it a shot!
Oh and don't forget the forums are alive and well. Oh, are they alive!
Remember: This is a member driven community whereby your participation is vital.
Maria Angelina Annual Poetry Contest: ”Affresco” - 07/21/2007
by JD Clay
The following was eloquently scripted by Maria Massarella:
Congratulations! Angela Nuzzo, for winning First Prize in the inaugural Maria Angelina Annual Poetry Contest: ”Affresco” dedicated to Italy. Let her splendid poem “Sotto i Cieli Italiani” [click here] capture and lure you to her library.
Second Prize goes to Michelle Angelini who voices the subtle wonder of Growing Up Italian, [click here] . Third prize goes to Quentin Clingerman with his reminiscence of An Italian Holiday, [click here] .
Honourable mentions for Peter Humphreys, Rachel H Duncan and Deanna M Gritsonis.
Grazie! Grazie! to all the creative Muses who came out to play under Italian skies. Mine is still wearing rings on her feet, the pulse of a Second Annual Event throbbing Inspirations dance.
delightedhugs*
*maria Angelina
“Memories of June” Contest Winners - 06/29/2007
by JD Clay
As you may have read on the Poetry Contests forum, I, Bruce Niedt, sponsored a poetry contest for the month of June. Well, the votes of the judges are in, and here are the winners: First prize goes to Frank Ovalle, for his short but witty poem entitled simply, “June”, click here Frank will receive a copy of my latest chapbook, Wire to the Heart, and the latest issue of Journal of New Jersey Poets, which also features a poem of mine. Congratulations, Frank! Second prize goes to Sarah Kate Luce for “20 years ago today”, click here and 3rd prize to Mike Loftis for “Forever in June”, click here. Honorable mentions also go out to Stephanie Lane Sutton, Lauren Singer, Maria Massarella, and Kerilynn Thomas. Well done, everyone!
~ Bruce Niedt d:-)
Double Congratulations to Bruce Niedt! - 05/06/2007
by JD Clay
As winner of both the Animalistic Poetry Contest with “Bitterroot Deer” and the Springtime Sonnet Contest with “Ode To Mulch: A Sonnet”, please honor long-time pathetic member, Bruce Niedt.
These contest winning poems and many other fine works can be found in his library.
You’ll find Bruce an accomplished author who is very eclectic in all facets of his writing with numerous publications both online and off.
Bravo, Bravo, Bruce!!!!
In the Contest Department - 03/18/2007
by JD Clay
Congratulations to Siri Lipscomb for winning the St. Paddy’s Day Limerick Contest.
Siri’s winning poem “Erin Go” was
St. Patrick’s Poem of the Day
and can be found in her library.
The Inaugural St. Paddy’s Day Limerick Contest was a stellar success. There were over thirty entries and the judges were hard-pressed to conclude.
The top ten, St. Paddy’s Day Limericks (as per our judges), will appear individually as Poems of the Day over the next month.
Gracious thanks to everyone involved!
Server Outtage - 03/02/2007
by Gavin M Roy
The power supply unit in the main web server for pathetic.org died yesterday. I've pulled a backup unit from another machine and have the site back up and running. The database server was not affected by the hardware issue and no data should have been lost.
Contest this! - 02/24/2007
by JD Clay
All members are cordially invited to join the fun and frivolity in the Poetry Contest Forum.
A St. Paddy’s Day Limerick Contest is up and running and you needn’t be Irish to enter or win.
Erin Go Bragh!
Email Migration - 12/04/2006
by Gavin M Roy
I'm going to be moving email to a new system. If you currently have a pathetic.org email address you will receive an instructional email that tells you how to login and get your new email. I expect this change to happen this week.
If you're seeing this after the change has taken place and can't check your email, please email me at gmr@pathetic.org.
If you're supposed to have email (paid for an address, but are not setup) please email me as well.
Poetriage: A Critical Care Forum - 08/06/2006
by JD Clay
At long last we are proud to announce a place for all Pathetic Members to go for surgical critique on their poetry. To find out more just click on the ‘Poetriage’ forum tab and read the Operating Procedures for details.
Its success hinges on your participation and it should be fun and informative, so scrub up, share your ideas, stop the bleeding and enhance your poetic growth.
Visit Poetriage and tap the vein; it’s a bloody mess.
Database Corruption - 09/26/2005
by Gavin M Roy
Due to a server crash and hard drive failure, I had to roll back the data on pathetic.org to 9/24 at 4am. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Unfortunately it was not something that could be avoided. This means any poetry, journal entries, forum messages, and instant messages posted in the last 2 days is no longer available.
Call for Poem of The Day Suggestions - 09/10/2005
by Richard Paez
Read a poem? Liked the poem? Think it should be featured on the front page? Please let an administrator know! We’d love to share that gem you found with the world!
Teen Poetry Contest Winners - 08/21/2005
by Bruce W Niedt
Here are the latest winners of the Teen Poetry Contest, as announced by Michelle Angelini:
1st - Lauren Singer - "I compared him to poetry as he was getting dressed"
2nd - Louis Kitchen - "Free Roamin'"
3rd - Tricia de Gracia - "She Knows"
The first place winner will be featured in Poem of the Day. Congratulations to all, and thanks again to Michelle for her work on the contest.
Scheduled Downtime - 05/27/2005
by Gavin M Roy
The site will be down tomorrow, Saturday, May 28th for approximately 3-4 hours in the AM while I perform updates to the database server. There should be no data loss and things will return to normal when I'm done.
Poet Spotlight - 03/11/2005
by Bruce W Niedt
Due to circumstances beyond our control, there will be no Spotlight for the month of March. However, the Spotlight will return in April. Thanks for your patience.
New Site Administrator - 02/19/2005
by Gavin M Roy
Please join me in welcoming Mike McConnell as our newest Site Administrator. Since he joined as a member in December of 2003, Mike has been a great addition to our community, both in his writing contributions and in helping other members. We would like to thank Mike for his on going participation and acknowledge his efforts in being a resource for other members.
Member Photos, Revisited, Part XVII - 12/06/2004
by Richard Paez
Recently, several members have asked about or expressed concerns regarding the pathetic.org member photo rules. Lori's excellent post below discusses the general rules; however, recently several members have asked about special effects applied to photos.
As explained on the photo upload page, photos must be unaltered images of a member's face. This means that the majority of your face must be visible (enough for you to be recognized from the picture) and that the photo cannot have undergone any form of computer-assisted manipulation. Any effects not available from your average neighborhood photo developer are not allowed. This means black and white is ok, sepia is ok, lighting effects that could have been achieved "naturally" are ok, but brush effects, color effects (solarization, psychedelic, etc), lenses, and so forth are not.
This rule has been in place since pathetic.org began allowing photos and is in place for the same reason that we require "real" names. Please remember that we don't require you to post a photo, only that if you do post a photo it resembles what the average book publisher would consider for a book jacket photo--a recognizable portrait of the author.
If you have any questions or concerns about your current photo or a photo you are considering uploading for your member photo please feel free to contact one of the administrators. If you have had a photo deleted and are unsure why it was deleted please feel free to contact one of us and we'd be happy to talk to you about it. Please understand that removing photos is not something the administrators do for fun or to spite specific members, it is one of the things Gavin has asked us to do to keep pathetic.org a serious writing community that allows members the maximum leeway for creativity in their writing while retaining a cohesive structure overall. Certain aspects of the site, such as library and poem/journal page layouts, allowable member names and photos, and so on are kept uniform to make the site easy to navigate, to maintain a professional and warm appearance, and to facilitate communication between members. Of course, you are welcome to post as many pictures (altered or otherwise) as you like in your journal (as long as they are not obscene). You can find excellent suggestions on how to post photos in your journals in the Site Support and Features & Feedback forums.
We appreciate your understanding.
Sincerely,
The pathetic.org staff
A solicitation, of sorts - 10/07/2004
by Richard Paez
Do you know of any poems that you'd like to see made Poem Of The Day?
Here's the challenge:
a) The poem can't belong to someone who's been POTD before (or in remotely recent history)
b) The poem can't be explicit (either by tag, by content regardless of tag, or by my definition, which includes sappy love poems)
c) You have to IM me the link to the poem (PLEASE don't post it here in the forums!)
AND HERE'S THE REAL CHALLENGE:
d) I'd love for you guys to recommend poems to me that you find difficult to like, or by poets you may not personally like. If you're a liberal, send me a link to the conservative poem that challenged you; if you're religious, send me the poem that made you read it again even though it made you little uncomfortable; if you hate rhyme, send me that one rhyming poem you found that makes you break your non-rhyming rule; if you think purple-people-eaters belong on the endangered species list, send me a rabidly anti-purple-people-eaters poem.
I want to see a few poems up on the POTD that force us to think, poems that challenge our belief systems and preconceived notions, poems that promote democracy by opening the doors of communication and respect, poems that we can and should acknowledge even if we personally dislike them.
I look forward to your recommendations!
--Richard Paez |m|
Site Administrator
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