When I first had the idea for this home page I asked my husband what he thought about the ideas that I had and he has supported me 100 percent. I bounce all of the ideas I have for this page off of him and a few select friends before I post them. That way, I can be sure that I am putting up a good QUALITY home page that may help people or give them information that they were looking for. I actually have friends who look over and edit parts of the page before it even goes up. Some of these friends have very different lifestyles/ideas and interests than my own. I have comeplete control over the content and the artwork though. I spend several hours a week looking for good links and other good home pages for sources of information.
However, I digress - there are several reasons WHY this page came to be and how I accomplished this. Here's the story!
I had no idea what HTML was when I started thinking about web page design FIVE YEARS ago. I always knew that I wanted to do a web page and what issues I wanted to discuss, but not how to go about doing this. Oh, I did proto-types to this page on several different on-line services years ago (some of those pages are contained on this home page as they are still relevant issues in my life). However, the HTML editors were clunky, and/or hard to use and the capabilities were minimal at best. Then almost two years ago I found out about GeoCities and specifically their Wellesley Community for women. I liked the idea of a women's only place for home pages. I also loved their NO pornography rule ZERO TOLERANCE policy for child pornography. I decided to move in but what next? I never learned HTML and I had no idea how to go about making my own graphics. The first page was rough - little or no graphics, backgrounds that were very hard to read, lots of text but no real substance BUT it gave me a chance to flesh out some ideas and practice HTML. I bought a book about HTML and learned HTML by just reading and following directions. ANYONE CAN DO IT!! It's very easy, so if you are thinking about publishing your own page, give it a try. Yes, it does take some patience and some common sense trial and error and can be frustrating at times, but to me that's the beauty of the thing! I love to create AND have a challenge at the same time, so this page allows me to use my mind and creative abilities in a way that I can't in other aspects of my life.
About the subject matter - I chose issues that were close to me and my life! Yes, I know some of them are controversial, but I have backed down from opposition so many times that I refuse to do it again in my life. I remember being beaten and thinking, when can I ever voice MY opinions and when will what I am thinking and feeling ever be important to humanity at large? Now, I think, is the time! I was stifled in my youth and young adulthood and I refuse to put up with that kind of pressure to NOT speak any longer. I chose those very same topics and I presented them in what I hope to be a non-confrontational, warm and friendly manner. The hope for tolerance among all people is a lofty one and knowing that I do not live in a Pollyanna world does help keep me grounded.
If I'm not going to speak about controversial issues WHO WILL? I once had a born-again Christian woman write to me saying that she did not approve of me at all, however the fact that I put up a page addressing these issues helped he in her search for herself and she decided to put up a page addressing HER issues!!!!!!!! I will agree that many people will not LIKE what they see here, but if you can respect me, I can respect you. DON'T AGREE with my side of things? Then PUT UP YOUR OWN PAGE and DEBATE. I hate it when people whine about content here and there on the internet but we don't hear about their views. To me it's sort of like not voting and complaining about the presidential choice that was made! I would rather see a person air their views in an intelligent and non-confrontational manner than get a pile of senseless hate mail.
Why would I bare so much of my soul on the INTERNET where everyone would see? After all the years of being told I wasn't a good person and that my ideas, comments and feelings didn't count, I decided to explore how I felt about some very controversial issues in my life. I did that by writing everything down in a type of journal - only that journal would been seen by thousands of people every day. When dealing with the internet and my page you have to remember that in order to read about my issues you HAVE TO CHOOSE TO DO SO!!!!!!! I put up an entry page detailing what is in these pages and how to get to them. You cannot access my pages by accident or without going to the main page. You CHOOSE to read what is contained WITHIN. Also, it is hard to accidentally stumble upon my pages. You MUST be looking for women's issues, or bisexuality, etc. If you are looking for Beanie Babies or flower arranging you won't likely come across my page.
So what did I hope to accomplish here? The MAIN GOAL I had was to make people feel good about themselves no matter who they are. I like helping people and I feel that I can relate to people. I like to think of myself as a caring person who generally likes others. If you take a LONG HARD look at these pages you will see that I do not use harsh words or try to convince ANYONE that my way is the one true way. If my way WERE the one true way and everyone were the same, then this world would be a boring place.
I then wanted to air my views. I wanted people to get to know the real me in a way that they wouldn't get to know the real me from normal every day conversation. Some of what I have to say has relevance in my life currently and some of it is old news. I set this page up in a very open and informal way as to let the reader decide what he/she wants to read about and to let them get to know me. I personally like this style of writing and even though it can become disjointed at times, I enjoy reading it. There are times when I wonder what people will think of me and then I realize that I have a rich and happy life and those that will like me and have taken the time to get to know me will continue to do so. Those that do not will go by the wayside and I wish them a happy and harmonious life.
I encourage people to write to me about this page and/or sign my guestbook with comments about me, the page design and content of the page. I want to know that you think. I want to know that there are people out there looking at the page. I now get about 30 pieces of email a day - usually 10 of those are idiots wanting to know if I will sleep with them (no thanks) and the other 20 pieces of mail are questions about web page content or the specific content of my page. I appreciate these intelligent discussions and eagerly await the email.
This journey is just beginning, I assure you. I plan to add a lot more pages to this - more about general women's issues, book reviews, and information about asthma and sleep disorders both of which I suffer from.
I urge you to stop by often if you wish. I appreciate hearing from you. Most of all I wish you a happy, harmonious and peaceful life - something we ALL deserve.