Against All Odds of Borean Tundra

Good golly miss molly, but I am late once more with the Manic update. If it weren't for the fact that no one else would write this, I might be fired.

So it's JUNE. How the hell did that happen? In a few days D and I will redecorate the site for Summer and now that we have moved and it looks not unlikely that I might get things done, the Manic store might actually get up as well. Imagine cute little Manic canvas bags and t-shirts to cover the Earth. It will be like a little cult of laughter, cheer and dorkiness.

The denizens of our little world have much to celebrate lately. Nate and Brit welcomed a new family member that isn't kitty or puppy. Iam Iam and Nielle graduated from University. D and I moved. Susan passed her promotion test with flying colours. Aaron found out that Connie wants to shoot puppies and Connie found out that Aaron likes his tarts fruity. Brando returned from the ether. John solved the problem of the space/time behaviour in the internet black-hole known as ME. The internet was created and then we all built a new god and had cookies and tea to celebrate (Gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free cookies of course).

*smooches*
Sincerely,
The Patron Sainte of Bathroom Products, Heiress to the Fortune Which
Flavours the Dolmades, The Saviouress of all Kitties,
Miss Manic (if your nasty).

I'm going to pretend that this is 1 March and that I'm not at all late in writing this. D has been busy making the board more homey this last month and sometimes it even looks like people like being here. Don't let them fool you though because it seems as if I'm the only one who has stopped living and dedicated my life in full to the internet. :P

So what will March bring to Manic? Well we are cooking up a photo album and D is still working on some aesthetic things in the bios. I know he's been also working on the RPG end so that he can offer the geeks a chance at a Manic Element game. Although we've also discussed having Paper Rock Scissor Games which would be based on the two parties betting cookies and the winner getting the bets.

But more presently, I have been working on t-shirt designs for our Cafe Press site. We are going to have the shop up soon and the world will be covered then in Manic Element apparel.

Maybe I will be able to post the next update on time. But I guess it's too far away to make those promises. If you haven't joined Manic yet, stop being lame, because we are waiting for you.

-C

While living in Guttenberg, NJ in 1994, I started an zine. That zine consisted of my band photography, music recommendations and my own creative writings. I made the first edition of it on a Mac2si, with QuarkExpress. My life and Manic floundered. In 1996 I moved back to Pennsylvania and Manic rested. In 1998, it was revived into a website. It was on like Xoom or something... not very pretty and not at all what it used to be. It was almost my personal website... and it was depressing.

In September 2000, for my birthday, D made me a messageboard, it was called, Everyday Sickness and it was people from Ezboards who'd I'd met through band boards and friends. It was really a crazy place. Like the old time freakshows from carnivals. It became where friends and I would share photography, writings, music, laughs and sorrows. It was the first step in reviving the real Manic Element.

The last year, I moved away from the messageboard, stopped talking to so many friends, and just spiralled out of control. It was painful for me to be there because I just didn't feel like I was myself. It hurt to see my friends have fun and not feel connected to that.

Just before Christmas D quit his job at Breakdown and we had all our websites and mail accounts turned off. It kind of freaked a lot of people out. D and I discussed putting Manic back together and I was excited about it, because I felt like it was my way of offering something back to those friends. It went back up, 21 days ago, prettier, better and more fun then ever. Manic Element was reborn.

It's denizens have been relatively the solid group who were there at the conception of Everyday Sickness. But they've never met a stranger on the board. Everyone is welcomed like they have always been there.

My hope is that Manic as a messageboard remains there another 5, maybe even 10 years. It's a part of me, and until you've been there, you really can't know me. It's more or less what happens when you are with real friends, everything comes out and you have people to laugh and cry with about it all.

And the Manic Element name, was a reference to me and my moods. It's initials being ME. I was so clever when I was 21.

Of course, you've probably all noticed we've been out of comission for a bit. Well, that is a whole lot of drama that no one cares about. So, here is the deal. I'm slowly getting things restored, but you'll have to re-register. And I need to rebuild basically every template. I suck like that.