Hi Luis and Friends,

I've also been thinking recently, the inventors of the internet made something huge that had never been done before, they gave us the ability to communicate worldwide.  What have a lot of people done the past decade with their internet ability?  Throw even more gloss on themselves than they do in real life.  Is that "communicating"?  I think the time is coming when people really get tired of the massive gloss-over and finally realize what the internet is for (what's it for?!)  To communicate with people we never would have been able to talk to before, hopefully in a real way!  I'm glad some people are doing that!  You'd think it would be easier to find tons of greatness everywhere online, but most of it is found here, we don't find greatness at Facebook or MySpace, I've said that many times before. 

Even thru the changes here recently, just remember, all of us learned to walk and talk and tie our shoes and use the bathroom, so I think everyone can get thru the newness here eventually.  It doesn't matter if it takes another month or two for some people to get used to it and work thru the bugs, just like in adulthood it doesn't matter if we learned to walk at 9 months or 12 months, we all learned that and we'll all learn this!

There were times when I thought in Biblical terms about the internet as the Golden Calf of idolatry, to some people it is, it's overly worshipped in the wrong ways, and for other people it's a Godsend, it's an open door, it all depends on the person.  The internet is obviously not all bad or all good, people make those choices, just like the choices of being honest or being a slick glossy nothingness.  We need to make choices to stay here and get into the new community even more, no matter if it takes an extra few months, by next year, that won't matter, we'll still love it and it will still have more great people here than anywhere else online.  True ALP people don't require gloss-remover!

Thanks Kathleen!

Just  - great !

B.

Hi Kathleen,

You are right, what a great invention it was that of the Internet. Anything that we can say about it is an understatement. And I agree with you on the matter of communication. Certain things about it are so stupid, like the time spent in those tons of messages which say "Sending Love your Way", etc . And what a pity that most of the "communication" going on at Facebook, Hi5, and the like are just like that. If there is a God that will question us on how we spent our time on Earth, I am sure He will have a word or two to say about it. On that account, we at Adland are the exception. We are most fortunate to be here.

As to the Internet being the "Golden Calf", you are also so right in that it can be that but only for those who have "gone astray" in their lives, i.e. made the wrong choice. Actually the whole world is currently like that. I too have dedicated a lot of thought to this aspect of the matter and I see the truth in the Eastern scriptures' saying that this "Age of Kali", as they call it, and especially the last stages of it in which we are supposed to be now, are both the worst and the best times since the creation of the world because they present us with the best and the worst possible choices at the same time. Like the Tree of Good and Evil.

You finally are so right too on the need to make our choices and stay here. I don't know you, but I have a feeling that we have been meant to be here at this particular juncture. I said it some time ago, and I reaffirm it now: I believe my destiny is somehow linked to this community.

Best Wishes,

Miguel

P.S. I hope you don't mind my later addition of this wonderful alternate version of Bosch's triptych Last Judgment.

Hieronymus Bosch - The Last Judgement (oil on panel, date uncertain)

Dear Roger, Luis and Friends of this forum,

WOW! Reading through some of the more recents posts, I am AWE struck! I hadn't heard of Hieronymus Bosch either. However, like most Renaissence artists his work is amazing.

Roger, your poem is so wonderfully insightful, that I am compelled to post it again.

I Like to Think So
(c) Roger Macdivitt 2009

What is it that flows from this pen?
Mere ink? Mere thoughts? More?
What of the value, who will decide?
Would I die for mere words, personally crafted?
No, but for the right to express myself,
I like to think so.

What is it that flies from this chisel?
Mere stone? Mere dust? More?
What of the result? Sculpture or dross?
Would I die for my stone, lovingly wrought?
No, but for the right to make a statement?
I like to think so.

What is it that my brush transfers?
Colourful Paint?, Bright Ideas, More?
My work, merited, understood, by whom and when?
Would I die for my canvas, daubed?
No, but for the freedom to work so,
I like to think so.

What is it that leaves my piano’s strings?
Is it a note, a chord or a concerto?
Inspired, learned or improvised?
Would I die to play?
No, but I’d die for the right to share.
I like to think so.

What is it that flows from true art?
Is it soul? A message? Something beyond?
Profound, disturbing or revealing.
Would I die to save my art?
No. But I’d die to defend art’s future.
I like to think so.

"It always sounds conceited when people say that they were inspired. I am sure that I was.

Art is like sport and true humanity. It is a manifestation of the human spirit, a glimpse of the God inside of us. True, wrongdoing and greed infiltrate the edges of all three, BUT, it is the very RIGHT TO EXPRESS ourselves that keeps the integrity.

If I inspire one other to express a feeling or emotion that they have harboured deep inside, then I feel justified in the means. If that thought was bad it needed sharing for when it remains unchallenged it will grow. If the thought was beautiful it will enter other hearts and swell the Love there."

AWESOME thoughts!

I agree with Kathleen in regards to communicating. There has been so much lost in writing in cyberspace. I think of all the letters and the art of writing them that has been lost.

Love & Hugs

Sincerely,
Terry

Hieronymus Bosch - Marriage Feast at Cana