Hi! I love this site, and it's great to find a place to talk with fellow Bradburians, but I think that it is very difficult to know where to post most things, because the forums don't really have clear titles. "Favorite Story"? Well, where do I post about stories that aren't my favorite story? "Inspired by Ray"? Where do I just talk about Ray?
I've seen a lot (most of them) of topics that don't fit in with the forum titles, and it's hard to know where to look for certain threads.
I don't mean to criticize, but we might be better off with a forum list like this:

Ray Bradbury: Discuss the man and his life
Ray Bradbury's Literature: Discuss Ray Bradbury's stories.
Ray's Other Work: Discuss film scripts, theme park rides, and other works here.
Off Topic Forum: Discuss any topics, Bradbury-related or otherwise, not covered in the above.

I think it would be a necessary change.
What do you all think?

scarywarhol:

Dandelion would have to discuss this with Harper Collins for any changes. And getting changes to this website may be a true labor of love. But you never know unless you try.

In the Ray's Legacy section, there used to be (and still is) a section for any and all sorts of topics, basically NOT relating to Bradbury. It was titled, "Ruled Paper-A Miscellany of Topics" , by ptteran, I believe. I say used to be....(tho still is)...because somehow somewheres around a couple hundred plus ...posts...disappeared!!! Now in secret archival-land I'm sure.

Get Dandelion's attention...email perhaps...to let her know your suggestions.

Wow, it has to go over with Harper Collins? I had no idea it was so complex.

I would say making changes to this site would be next to impossible! HarperCollins does not respond to me. Through persistence Nard has effected a few attentions, but no major changes.

I believe the "missing" posts are still available on the link I provided, but as no computer whiz has stepped forward in all this time offering to restore them all "as is," and I don't want to copy and paste them all in one really, REALLY LONG post from me, here is what I think we should do:

Starting with the first missing post, what I'll do is list the names of those who posted them and check the date of their last post (I've never done this but assume it's possible under Member Profile, Search, etc.) to see how many of those people are still present and posting. I'll also list the order of posts by poster name. (In other words, if there are 300 posts and one person posted every tenth one their name will appear 30 times.)

Then, each person in turn can go to the link I posted, where the old posts are still available, and copy and paste your own post(s) in turn. That way everyone's post appears under their own name and no ONE person does ALL the work! If the post following yours is from someone no longer here, also copy and paste that, indicating identity of the original poster. Also please indicate the date so that no one who posted to this thread a lot gets screwed up and posts the same thing twice or skips one! Keep doing that till you get to the next person who is present. In other words:

Nard (copies and pastes own post and two following from people who never reappeared)

Nard: Mr. Dark, your turn.

Mr. Dark (copies and pastes own post)

Mr. Dark: lmskipper, next!

And so on. Does this sound fair to everyone? If it's someone's turn and they haven't checked for awhile, perhaps someone can volunteer to email them to keep the chain going.

I'd love to help, but myyyahhh-arthritis is acting up.

A likely excuse.

I want to help, but I didn't understand a word that you said. I will read through this again tomorrow when I'm better rested, and maybe it will become clear to me then. I have been spending most of the past week at the hospital with my father, who had a heart attack. He's home now, and doing very well, so I hope to catch up on everything, including reading all the recent posts, as well as sleeping more than three hours in a night!

lmskipper:

I'm very sorry about your dad, but glad to hear he's doing really well. I just had my second echo-cardiogram and they discovered that I have a Bicuspid Aortic Valve. (It's supposed to be a Tricuspid valve") One more genetic disorder!

Hope he continues to recover and get well.

Sorry to hear of your health problems. I'm going to go for it, that is, post the restoration procedure, in as coherent a manner as possible for everyone, but it will not be my first priority.

We'll see what we are able to do....

lmskipper: Parents getting old, with sometimes their having no one to look to except the kids, can be the greatest struggle in the family relationship. We hope for the best...

When are they going to get these darn human bodies right anyway?

Braling II:

Never! Totally new kinds of one? Well, that's different. So will everything else be.

Good one, Nard!
Reminds me of the quote from 1 Corinthians which was hung in a church's NURSERY:
"...we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed..."

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone. My father is recovering very rapidly, especially for a man of 82. Do you believe that he was still working two days a week? He retired many years ago and got bored during the winters, so he worked three days and lately two at an Ace Hardware store. He says it's for "beer money." He strapped on a pedometer at work one day and found he walks at least five miles per shift. He also works out on an exercise bike and lifts weights three days a week and does all the yard work in a three acre yard. So he was actually in very good shape when this attack struck. His doctor says he's the healthiest heart attack victim he's ever had! I think his problem was genetic, since three of his brothers had previously had heart attacks, with two of them dying from that. Also, one of his main arteries was shriveled at the end and had never worked. The cardiologist said he had to be born this way. So when another one clogged up, he was in trouble. Anyway, he's rebounding very nicely and now the entire family has decided to get checked out. I have already started watching my diet more closely and am planning on getting a full cardiac screening over my spring vacation. It was all a very scarey experience, but we're all feeling much safer now. Thanks for listening!!

"Let the dead bury the dead." I think the "ruled paper" thread buried itself.