Moderator Musings: The ol' place ain't what it used to be.
by JAK
ATS Weekly, Edition 032, May 18, 2006
As is the way occasionally posts with this meaning pop up. Here's a little something different then.
Hello, my name is Jak.
I was a late comer to online forums, when I found ATS it was my first. I'd been about on the 'net for a while but never really found anything
like ATS and when I did it grabbed hold of me tight. I came looking specifically for information regarding government black projects and UFO's but I
have also been interested in cryptozoology since my early teens and the paranormal became an area of great interest after a particular personal
experience while quite young. So with a little background you can see how once here for the UFO's etc. I was led from forum to forum, topic to topic.
I dread to think how many hours I spent reading when first here.
Before finding ATS I enjoyed (and still do) roaming about old bookshops like on a treasure hunt, the occasional exquisite little gem making
returning empty-handed the majority of the time worthwhile. Here at ATS though I found thread after thread of people offering new, interesting and
current information for consumption along with their own opinions. To me that was great, no longer was I stuck with books which although very
interesting only ever offered a one way flow or opinion and/or information. No longer was my broaching of the subjects that interested me so only met
with stifling yawns by the majority, quite the opposite; there were more conversations on more topics here than I could take in. It was fantastic and
I immersed myself. I love the way conversation can flow; there was one particular friend that I lived with for a while with whom I could and did
regularly chat with over these subjects. Often after chatting all through the night we would find ourselves retiring to bed at obscene hours after
the conversation strayed from Cryptozoology to UFO's to time travel with the paradoxes it could pose and here on ATS I found something similar. One
thread would lead me to migrate to another and so on. It was exhilarating.
That was back in June 2004. Fast forward nearly two years.
Absorbed.
The other day about 20:00 on 12th May a thread caught my eye, this topic had been in mind recently and I had been thinking of posting my story, so
I clicked and started reading. I read the thread with interest, visited the links, had a good poke around Google and posted. Then a refresh of the New
Posts page showed me something else of interest. I found a thread in Political Conspiracies which tickled me and brought back to mind one of the
interests which initially attracted me to ATS. An outrageous conspiracy theory which were I to bring up outside of ATS would lead most to offer a
friendly smile and politely steer the conversation round to asking whether we required a fresh coffee or not. But not here; here I didn't even bring
the subject up. So with a smile I made myself comfortable and started reading.
Interest in the subject raised made me search for other threads or posts on the same topic, while links provided took me elsewhere. Still reading
on the topic I noticed more than few hours passed and decided to take a rest and make a cup of tea. Bookmarking the pages for later I refreshed the
New Posts page and noticed yet another topic of interest. At 02:00 I made tea as quietly as I could, came back, smiled at the time and started reading
once again. An excellent read, good and spooky with the only light coming from the monitor everyone asleep the atmosphere was enhanced. I love Spooky.
A read of the thread, visit to the links and another related amble around Google later I wondered if it might well be time for bed.
A glance at the clock reading 04:28 almost made me laugh out loud.
Time travel.
One thing it did do though was to put in mind the memories of when I first happened upon ATS; here I was nearly two years later hooked as much as
ever by the wonderful membership offerings of insightful and polite conversation with excellent recommended links. Over these past two years
membership has increased greatly. Servers have been upgraded, the site tweaked and features added. A combination of all this, the way the evolution
has been handled while remaining determinedly focused on the original idea and ideals of ATS and the most admirable, respectful way members in general
treat each other has made this possible. This is what has, does and will continue to make ATS what it is. It is what made my most enjoyable of
evenings possible and enabled ATS to cast the very same spell over me these some two years later as when I first arrived.
This leaves me only one thing to do and that is to thank you all, each and every one involved.
JAK
Super Moderator
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