*NET COMMUNITY* after that nme piece...no don't delete......even my friends started calling me names for being on sinister. one of my best mates stuck swell's quotes all over her room, even though shes a b&s fan herself, and made sure everyone knew how 'sad' and 'geeky' i am for going on mailing lists etc. looks like i need to find some new friends huh? so yes, caroline, i agree with you. although shame is a bad thing, im sometimes embarrassed to admit to commiting such sins as going on chat room (*gasp*) and subscribing to mailing list (*scream*).
but whoever it was that wrote it (sorry, can't remember) you're right. its not a substitute for friends: ive got a few of them in the flesh. although many of my net friends are REAL friends. it's just so much easier to talk to someone with the same interest on the internet: search "belle and sebastian" and stumble across 1300 fans who *want to talk*. can't be bad. if i wrote a poster in the 6th form saying: female, 17, shy, likes...blah blah blah i don't think i'd get much of a response, and the truth is that if you're shy then it can be hard to make friends face to face.
It was me. When I said it's no substitute for friends, I wasn't knocking the net and all its uses, or in any way pleading for some jaded folks to see some inexistent light. Simple fact is there's no shame in any harmless pursuit, and it's FAR easier to find people like you on the net, as opposed to people who you can adapt to. It's the perfect answer for many ghost towners. Just wanted to point out that I'm no snob, or owt. I think. I see merit in the net, lists, chatrooms etc, and ABSOLUTELY no harm in any of the above, and it irks me when people pity or berate those who use the net for any reason at all. I mean, if someone wants to use a webcam to film his...social skills for a seaboard of sex starved middle-ageds, there's NO harm in it. It's the desire of a human being, and because it's not the more socially acceptable alternative, doesn't make it any less valid as a form of self expression, and I don't think I'm piling it on too thick here, so I can't be. That is all. Love Harry +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "peculiarly deranged fanbase" "frighteningly named +-+ +-+ Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+