Comments by smithjoannem
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Posted on November 27 at 11:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Happy Thanksgiving from Minnesota! We were reminded again this week of how much we take for granted when we had a problem with our sewer pipes and the water was off for twelve hours. Couldn't flush, couldn't wash your dirty hands, couldn't get a drink of water from the tap, etc. (and no outhouse out back either!) Our Thanksgiving prayer is that we would never lose our sense of gratitude at what we could so easily take for granted in our trek through life. Jan and Joanne Smith MN
Posted on November 22 at 9:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sure, JoannRuth, here's the address again for the News-Miner.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
PO Box 70710
Fairbanks AK 99707-0710
Lablady suggested that I post it again tonight anyway since there are some new people commenting for the first time...people like Fairbanksbound, Arkansas-Traveler, Shorty from Kentucky, jonesie1961 from Vermont, and maybe even Alaskansheilah (altho she hints that she may have posted before.) Even if you've never posted, the Daily News-Miner would LOVE to know that you are out there gazing across their parking lot and reading their site. The Great Stuff-Your-Envelope-with-Thanks goal is to flood their offices with Thank You notes, Thanksgiving Cards, and State post cards that express our appreciation for this ArticCam view and this wonderful website where we can entertain each other with questions and stories of our Alaskan adventures...and maybe even dreams for the future! We'd love to hear from the staff that every state in the US was represented as well as a number of other countries. We know that there are readers on here from around the world. Australia, England, Greece, Canada, Wales, Germany, Norway and New Zealand come to mind as having posted recently. Anyone from Central or South America? What about Africa or Asia? CCNV, you are headed off to Australia in January; how about sending a postcard from there and one as well from your stopover point? Anyone from Fairbanks would love to hear from a South Sea Island in the middle of January! That goes for the rest of you travelers as well.
Don't despair if your snail mail won't get there before Thanksgiving; it'll still be counted and appreciated. Let's overwhelm them together!
Posted on November 21 at 3:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Welcome back Dolly Day Dreams! So, you got caught up in your quilting... that's a good expression of your creativity.
Simon, loved the video...altho it ended abruptly for us the two times we tried it. We loved seeing so many familiar sights that we had seen on our travels around Alaska in an RV this past July.
Posted on November 21 at 2:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey, our daughter Jenni belongs to the Fairbanks Fiberistas who are featured in the article about knitting the world's largest sock! It arrived in Fairbanks this week after making the rounds in the Kenai and Anchorage coffee shops and knitting enclaves. This group has turned out to be a great way for her to meet other people as a newcomer to town. She was married 16 months ago in Fairbanks and has now found her niche as a knitting designer with this group of wonderful women (and one man!) Wonder where the sock goes from here? It now weighs approximately 50 pounds and is about halfway done. Joanne and Jan Smith MN
http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/nov/2...
Posted on November 20 at 1:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey all you procrastinators who said that they were going to send in a Thank You card/Thanksgiving card/state postcard...you've only got a week left! It's going to take a few days to get there, so you'd better put it on your list to accomplish today or tomorrow!
In case you missed it, here is the latest comment from Julie, on staff at the News-Miner: "I wanted to say thank you again to the Arctic Cammers who have been sending in cards and postcards. We're filling up a bulletin board in the hallway and everyone is stopping to read them. You're bringing many, many smiles to the News-Miner. Don't forget to include your mailing address so we can reciprocate this holiday season!'
And of course we don't have to stop here...Christmas-card season is right around the corner! Joanne MN
That address one more time is:
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
PO Box 70710
Fairbanks AK 99707-0710
Posted on November 16 at 7:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's very interesting to read through the posts from this weekend and see how people responded. I certainly agree with CocoaBeach that "this site can be relentlessly banal at times,"...but she "sifts through the dross for the occasional pearl." Good comment.
Ladybug pointed out that there seems to be an "in-group" of people... and I know that I groaned and thought, "Not high school again!" But she does make a good point...some people do seem to be "more included" than others. Janet follows this with some interesting commentary on what it is like to be new on this site: "I leaned to just toss the thought out there to see if it would stick." And she mentions the feelings that go with being a new commenter: "Was anyone listening? Did anyone care? Was I on target with what this was about?" And Rose is not all wrong in what she said yesterday;perhaps we need to pay more attention to it. Others have commented similarly: This site used to have more "old-timers" on it...more locals...more people who were willing to share their "Alaska-lore"...but there are hints that some of the "chatter" is driving people away.
Perhaps we should self-police some of these things...if a comment is to one person only, why not just email that person directly? If the ArcticCam will only hold onto 100 posts at a time, perhaps people could combine their two or three posts so that more people's comments are there at the end of a day. What do others think about the direction the chatter is going? Has this site become so much of a social check-in that it is driving away some of the people that we most would like to hear from? I know that this might not be a popular point-of-view, but I do hear an undercurrent of this nature flowing through here every week or so.
Perhaps we could all agree on one thing (because we know that it will happen again next week!) When the next person criticizes HARRIETT for "SHOUTING", let's just assign one of us to answer them. Then we don't all have to get our panties in a bundle! Any volunteers? Joanne
Posted on November 14 at 11:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Tennesseelady. I see that you are retired after teaching in Georgia. Did you know LabLady who was also a Georgia teacher?
1967--Have a great time in Cancun! Glad to see that you sent in your postcard. How about sending one from Cancun as well? That'll spice up their day! Joanne
Posted on November 11 at 8:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And BTW, I didn't mean to ignore the people in other countries when I mentioned that we wanted the staff to know how many people come on this site daily from so many different states. I do know that there are people from many other countries as well. Just in case you are not familiar with USA holidays, we celebrate Thanksgiving on November 27th this year.
Mark...it would indeed be fun if the NewsMiner would snap a photo or two and post it...or maybe even do a Thanksgiving article on how thankful people are for this site. Local readers might find it surprising.
Posted on November 11 at 8 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Janet...I would hate to think that you all didn't get to see Marty's posting about the cards, so here's a copy:
Hi All,
I work here at the News-Miner and I have to tell you, it is GREAT to see all of the warm cards that we just started getting last week! They are being posted on a bulletin board in one of the main hallways that is dedicated to "kudos" for all to see.
Thank you for the warm wishes and sending us such nice notes. I think it is especially fun because they come in via the mailman and get shared with the whole company!
I look forward to seeing new additions. Arctic Camsters Rock!
Marty
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Posted on December 1 at 7:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
In case you haven't seen this in your newspaper, here is a post today from spaceweather.com. (It's good to be on their emailing list!)
"When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look south. Beaming through the twilight is one of the prettiest things you'll ever see--a tight three-way conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon. The event is visible from all parts of the world, even from light-polluted cities. People in New York and Hong Kong will see it just as clearly as astronomers watching from remote mountaintops. Only cloudy weather or a midnight sun (sorry Antarctica!) can spoil the show.
The great conjunction offers something extra to Europeans. For more than an hour on Monday evening, the crescent Moon will actually eclipse Venus. Astronomers call such an event a "lunar occultation." Venus emerging from the dark edge of the Moon is a remarkably beautiful sight. Sky watchers across Europe will be able to see this happen."
If any of you in Europe are on here today, let us know how it looks!
Joanne Minnesota
On /arcticcam/ -- ArcticCam