My own MC memories with Bill

[MartyMuppets]

Marty: Hello everybody. I would like to say....

Bill: Hi Marty. What are you doing?

Marty: Oh. Hello there Bill. I was just about to begin sharing a little bit of my thoughts about my time spent with MC. Would my favourite muppet friend like to join me in it?

Bill: I'd like that very much. You're most kind Marty. Please begin.

Marty: Well when I first discovered MC forum I found it at random while surfing the net. I was living with my dear sweet Mummy and my Grandmother and Aunt on her side. We all shared a house together.

Bill: What was that like Marty?

Marty: Very good Bill. Mum and I had moved from our small country town Biloela to the city of Rockhampton to help my Aunt support my Grandmother in her advanced age.

Bill: That was very thoughtful of you both Marty.

Marty: Thank you Bill. Well to clarify my story I didn't have a computer when we first made the move. I had only had little bits of experience with the Internet trying it out while visiting my brother in the bigger city of Brisbane on his computer. To be honest a computer of my own was way, way, way out of the budget.

Bill: How were you able to get one eventually?

Marty: I'll come to that soon Bill. Anyway we settled in very nicely. Mother and I became involved with an Anglican Church across the road from the house though the others were not interested. We enjoyed the weekly Sunday morning meetings and I enrolled in theological studies run externally by the Church through Monash University. My mother was a big support in helping me get through them. They were lots of fun.

Bill: Did you pass Marty?

Marty: I sure did Bill. I received a Certificate in Biblical Theology. Mum and I were so proud.

Bill: Congratulations.

Marty: Thanks. Then I was considering doing further study, but there was talk that they were going to move the studies completely over to online. Thus cutting off the ordinary correspondence access I was previously doing. Well I wondered what the future would bring and I met a Christian man who was really into computers and from time to time he felt that God led him to people in need of a computer. So he always put together old second-hand computers making sure they worked well, so that he could give them to such people generously free of charge.

Bill: Wow. That's incredibly generous indeed.

Marty: It sure is Bill. So that's how I got my first initial computer. But I never had it connected to the internet. I just used it for typing up letters and other special documents and for playing Solitaire and other games. Eventually I was able to get a brand new computer from another source. Then I started getting involved with the Internet.

Bill: What happened Marty?

Marty: Let's take a little break Bill. I'll continue my story later on.

 

[wwfpooh]

That's very good. A very good start, indeed.

 

[D'Snowth]

Very interesting indeed Marty, this is certainly a VERY original way to carry out a retrospective, can't wait to read more!

 

[wwfpooh]

Same here. Can't wait for the next installment.

 

[MartyMuppets]

Marty: Okay Bill. So we were up to how I got a brand new computer.

Bill: That's right. What happened?

Marty: It was kind of tragic Bill. My oldest Aunt on my Dear Daddy's side passed away after battling with cancer all throughout her body.

Bill: Oh I'm so sorry to hear that Marty! Was she in a lot of pain?

Marty: I'm afraid so Bill. She suffered such dreadful agony coupled with slowly losing her ability to remember things and keep in touch with reality. It was such a shame but I know she had a strong faith in God and knew where she stood with Him. It was really a divine mercy when she finally departed. Anyway in her will she had given instructions for half her income to be equally divided among her brothers and sisters and the other half among her nephews and nieces.

Bill: So that's how you were able to buy your computer?

Marty: Correct Bill. My father who's divorced from my mother took charge of helping me manage my share and he suggested that I buy a computer. Mum and I explained to him I already had one, which I was considering looking at getting connected to the Internet. But he said that it would be a good idea advisably to get a new one while I had the money for it because with the second-hand one you don't know for sure how it'll function. It could work for you well for years and years. Then again it could suddenly die on you the day after you get it connected. And it would be much cheaper in the long run to shell out for a fresh machine, than paying to get the other one repaired every time it breaks down.

Bill: That does make logical sense Marty. So what did you do with the old computer?

Marty: I gave it to a friend of mine to see if he can make any use of it. He seems to have had pretty good luck with it since he's been able to use it to surf the net ever since. I'm very pleased for him.

Bill: So you found MC while exploring the net on your new computer eh?

Marty: That's right Bill. I tried various search topics to see what I could find including Muppets or Muppet Show. I checked out the articles at MC and their season 1 and later season 2 episode guides. I also browsed the forum often. I saw other types of forums also. It didn't take me long to realize that forums were sort of like special "clubs" where browsers of the Internet could gather together and talk to each other about special topics or themes, such as the works of Jim Henson, or the James Bond movies, or whatever theme each particular forum majorly centered upon.

Bill: Had you ever thought much about joining one of them Marty?

Marty: At that point of time, no Bill. I was quite content to just look at websites including forums, but there was no specific motivation for getting actually involved with any of them as such. But MC was definitely the forum I most often looked at. There was just something about it that was attractive even as a mere guest.

Bill: Did you have any favourite threads to browse?

Marty: I probably favoured to check out the fan fiction of a member by the name of David Ebersole known on the boards as Gorgon Heap. He has made a hobby out of writing fictitious outlines of Muppet Show episode scripts, and I always admired him for his cleverness and ingenuity. When I did eventually register as a member I told him I had always been such a big fan of his outlines. It was he who started the trend among members of doing Muppet Show outlines.

Bill: So when did you feel that you really really wanted to register Marty?

Marty: In a little while Bill. Some other things happened that weren't very pleasant and changed the course of my life before I made that decision. I'll share them with you after another little break.

Bill: Okay Marty.

 

[D'Snowth]

That's so sad and tragic.

 

[wwfpooh]

Agreed. 'Tis sad and tragic indeed.

 

[MartyMuppets]

Bill: Marty has asked me to say thank you to Snowth and pooh for their kind words of sympathy. He appreciates it very much. He will be back to share some more retrospection later on.

 

[wwfpooh]

And you should be thanked, Bill, for sticking with Marty through all these times!

 

[ISNorden]

I'm so sad to hear about those painful memories and setbacks, Marty...Here are a few big, extra-soft hugs just for you! {{{hug}}} {{{HUG}}} {{{*HUG*!}}}


P.S. to the board owners: It's times like this that we need an "awww!" or "love you!" smiley; using "flirt" has given some of my board buddies the wrong impression.