Why I Write ...

Purely as a form of expression to the emotions that run riot in my life at different junctures. This blog has seen several title revisions that also reflect the state of being and evolution I am constantly in. If one were to remain stagnant in hope of never changing their temporal present, one will awaken someday to much regret. Life is about living, evolving and adapting to the constant changes all around us.

My spot on the web is essentially a journey along with my monologue ramblings of my coherent mind accompanied by the incoherent thing called life. Read me if you like ... if you don't it is not the end of the world. I am at the very least a believer in humility lifts us further than pride.

Happy trails

27 October 2009

Goodbye GeoCities .... Oct 27, 2009

I remember way back in 1996-97, when I first entered this wonderful experience of chatting, surfing and being and internet freak, there was a place called GeoCities. We had hmtl chatrooms, we could private chat, we could even have our own little easy to create and maintain webpages - sorta like the start of all this blogging mania that continues today.

On Geocities, I met many interesting people from around the world. And as we chatted, exchanged information, teased, flirted, some fell in love and were happily ever after, some fell in love on to crash boom bang one net met real life, it was a vibrant platform for interaction across all corners of the world.

There were chats themes and for all lifestyles. I remember I met my best friend on one of those alternative websites. We started talking. I was in a stage of learning that people's choice of sexual liaisons was a personal choice and one that did not usually dictate the rest of their interactions. Speaking with the gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals, transexuals in that particular room, and I discovered friends and friendships that opened my mind and made me more understanding. Just because someone is different from you it doesn't make them wrong, because there will come a time you might be different from the rest too. These were extremely intelligent, successful, caring loving friends. And me and my best friend, we have stood the test of time and distance and I can only love him more for the wonderful person he is. ~~~MEEEEEEOOOOOOOWWWWWW~~~ you know who you are :))

The most significant chatroom in Geocities which touched my life and I made so many friends globally was the Rainforest. And in the Rainforest, I was known as the lioness. :)) doesn't take a genius to figure out this was because I live in a Rainforest country and I am a Leo hence the lioness. If I look at my Yahoo Messenger and email address book, I still have many of those friends from that time whom I keep in touch with some sporadically some more frequently. And all have remained amazing supportive friends through the years.

Many I have met in person either in my travels abroad before or they've made trips or in transit in Malaysia. And we met with some misgivings at meeting someone who other than typed words exchanged was really a stranger only to find when we said hello, there was none of the 'stranger anxieties' but really just friends catching up in person. Conversations flowed easily, like as if we did this every other day. Three people who immediately pop into my mind from the Rainforest are AbbyN, Pseudoreal, and Silas - and 13 yrs later, we're still in touch. The power of internet eradicating distances.

I had my first 'blog' too on Geocities. It was called the Lioness of The Rainforest (I think - my friend .sha would remember better coz he reminded me of this final days of Geocities). I put up pictures, I had stories about my love story with Jacob. I had poems. I actually wrote all of the html codes myself even with funky flashing text and all. It was my pride and joy. When in 1997 I moved to KLIA site, .sha did me a favour and backed up all my files and pictures of my spot on the web and gave it to me in the harddrive of Charles my pc. Charles the pc has long died and the harddrive was saved (still have it wrapped in exactly the same plastic .sha gave it to me in after he'd rescued it just for posterity sake) Charles the pc was a 486 running Windows 95 - ahahha man have we come a long way now ....

Some of the material from Lioness of the Rainforest I had in written form which I have since loaded into my more current blogs. Some of it remain on Charles the pc's harddrive that is obsolete and forever shall remain thre.

Goodbye Geocities. It was the catalyst to an amazing menagerie of friendships that have lasted 13 years and I am confident will survive the test of time. Thank you for the memories, thank you for the experience.... and you were doing great until Yahoo bought you and things got a bit more complicated. I am sure many of your early users also hold extremely fond memories of your. RIP Geocities.


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