Can this site continue?

[Bongo]

Everyday, I look at the site and try to post something that may start a thread or at least add to an existing thread. Yet when viewing the site, I notice that there may be 4 or 5 posts per day. Recently I asked if a Kratom thread was possible but it was deemed a non starter. That is cool also but, new blood or at least more of the old blood is necessary to keep this site going or people are just going to stop even visiting it to see what is going on, let alone contribute. If search engine submission is a problem I could possibly help with that. Or perhaps we need a more diverse site discussing our old green friend or perhaps even newer green friends? I am not knocking the site, I am simply concerned for the future as I see a lot of old SPF people posting on other sites such as http://www.entheology.org/forum.htm which seems to have a more spiritual approach to SD than SPF ever did. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to knock this.
They are for the most part really nice and genuine people, however for my personal liking the site seems to be rather too spiritual in its nature and by that I do not mean to detract from their aims as the aims themselves are basically good, if the term good can any longer mean anything other than not bad.
It is hard to really describe what I am trying to say, however I always felt that from first joining SPF, people would advise others not based on a particular framework, theology or philosophy but in a more pure unrestricted and perhaps less geometric manner which was always refreshing. There again, this could well just be my personal paranoia but I really hope SPF or the sphinx of SPF can continue.
Perhaps I have an aversion to placing a handle on that which does not require one but, may in itself be the handle.
This may well be the case as I have always preferred pure chaos over the organized version.

[Stonehenge]

We are getting posts every day. It takes time to build up. We lost a lot when the old site went down. As for a kratom thread, you can start one if you like. I posted a pic or two of my kratom plants. I posted on a bunch of sites about the new url for spf. I see people posting asking where it is not even bothering to scroll down to see the exact same subject that was discussed already. The old spf wasn't always really busy, it had slow periods and active periods. I think this site will build up unless people get turned off by something or other. I have noticed a few members stopped posting.

[Bongo]

Thanks for the prompt reply stoney.
I know you and others are really trying your best to make a go of this.
I also am aware that the old SPF site was as you say sometimes a little slow.
However, it was never as slow as this and as I said, former SPF members including myself are making more posts on other sites than here.
As I mentoned, I can help with submitting the site via a program I use for my own small business, if indeed that is one of the problems, please PM with the details and keywords and I will submit it to the search engines for you everyday till it gets in the search engines.

[sunsebb]

I'm doing a hell of a lot more learning here than teaching... I usually just sit back and absorb the wealth of information rather than trying to add anything, since usually the very little I know is common knowledge... regardless, you can expect me to be here for the long haul... perhaps one day I'll be one of the wise elders

[judih]

yes, it's kind of quiet round here.
but that's okay. Post what interests you, nag if you need to and see if people come round.

Life attracts life. Enthusiasm attracts more.
no point waiting for the next guy to say something - she'll talk if i do.

speaking of which, i guess i could post a little something

thanks for the wake-up, bongo, stone and sun

[dissident]

forgive me if I am misinformed or typing something stupid, as I have only skimmed this thread.  You guys know me by now anyway, I barely know what I am talking about most of the time.  But the way I see it, this site is not supposed to be about spirituality, this is about the plants themselves, identification and discussion.  All that spiritual stuff is best left to the experts, we here are just a bunch of outlaws, hippies and botany geeks.

[sunsebb]

hehe... outlaws, hippies and botany geeks... I think I'm a combo of the first two, slowly absorbing the last... but ya can't deny there is usually a hint of spirituality in most the posts... and that's just how I like it, and why I'm sticking around here

[dissident]

yeah, a hint, for sure.  hard to describe the sky without calling it blue.  its just an innate characteristic that cannot be seperated.  But we here, by and large, are fans of the plants that carry this spark of otherness.  Let the other forums deal with what the spark is or isn't, we are just here to trade, talk about, and grow plants, and whatever else is said here, is just icing on the cake.

[dissident]

oh yeah, my point?  SPF'ers have always posted on other forums, sometimes a lot more than they post at spf.  Sometimes this place is kind of quiet.  But its consistent here, the site is not dying, and I cannot remember a time since I joined (well maybe the guest chats era) that the forum was hopping with activity.  Its not a site, its a virtual home, quiet, comfortable, and familiar.  Ask any SPF member hanging around those other sites where they belong truly, and they will say 'SPF'.  Well, if they don't say SPF, then fuck 'em.  No, I'm not mad, they know they are welcome to crash pads here anytime.  Remember, God loves you, and don't believe anything the mantids 'say', they tend to lie in my experience.

[VajraPirate]

I am an spf man at heart, but it doesn't prevent me from posting at other forums. Almost all of which I never would have found if it wasn't for this green and happy place.

Long live SPF!!!


Why was the Kratom thread deemed a non starter? There are more than a few of us growing that plant and it is perfectly legal to do with as you please here in US of A. I would've happily contributed to such a thread.

[Bongo]

Maybe it is just the winter gloom, nobody is making cuttings & not much is growing right now. So, I suppose there is naturally less to talk about anyway.
Spring will come people and with it let’s hope SPF continues to Bloom!

[cenacle]

hey there...

this site got off to a bumpy start, just appearing after the old SPF simply disappeared...then there was all that fuss with LW that made it difficult to community-build...i think it's more or less settled now...i dont post to every forum, but i do post regularly, about as much as the old SPF...

the only thing i can add is that it would be nice to try out some new forum themes, as we did at first, but apparently too much...a dreams forum, a research chems forum, a journeys report forum...even a law forum...and perhaps someday people will be brave enough to try out an mj forum again...

and i am not sure we resolved for the plants forums what people wanted...

i can't be here too much at a time but i do come each day, and read many posts...

other than that, it will take time...many dead links to the old SPF still exist...people who'd come here if they knew it...

oh and another thing, i wanted us to have a database of research articles and what-not...

blah blah :lol:    :twisted:

[CJ]

You know,cenacle,I wish the best to SPF, whether i`m here,or not. I`m a minor player,anyways.

      But I wouldn`t lay on Lw`s shoulders the difficulty in 'community biulding'. let`s just say you two didn`t agree,and obvously,he isn`t around to 'fuss' with you anymore. The grounds for whatever conflict was how to aprroach things especially if they were manifestly 'illegal'.

      Research Chemicals...There has been debate on other forums whether to even acknowledge them, for the fear that the grey area protection would dissapear. And now,due to popularity, and tongue dippers,they have gained the attention of the DEA. I do not see the need for a research chemical forum anymore,might as well have a LSD forum. It is not my choice(gawd knows) but LSD is also illegal. research chems prolly will be....(at least the present ones)

     As for the brave discusion of MJ,where again is the line drawn at self incrimination? Hell,for the public record,ah don`t even know what the stuff looks like.

     To me, the 'brave' individuals were those who openly expressed their dismay over the MJ appearance,and wanted to leave,because they were oriented towards the legal entheogens,and how to protect them, something the research scene could have used a lot more of. To it`s credit,BL in it`s adolescent way tried,and another forum or so understood the importance.then apparantly,there were those' how to/how to get' sites. you could hear the fat lady singing.

     But mostly I wished you hadn`t mentioned personalities. I  have a understanding of Lw`s position,and it cirtaintly was a position to protect the site.

     I was going going to say something to Bongo,and in shortened form, it goes like this. Do not worry about the posting count. You like the site,continue posting. There are others like you. see what happens. My personal stance is i always want to see SPF continue. Continue posting in the forums,and share your knowledge. I`ve seen many other intelligent posters,many,whether they agree with me or not. Be positive, and remember,you are posting for the record. If nothing else,that drives one to try to be accurate.

     That as opppossed to what nonsense,or worse,someone may say in some 'room'. It may be on you, and your`s... shoulders anyway,since some individs. prefer to stay in chat. Nothing really wrong with that,as far as personal preference goes. But I myself jus do not have time for that kind of thing,and am leery of it anyways. Posting in the forums,with established rules, never bothered me. PM`s of course have their function.

     All I personally needed ,or had time for.

[Stonehenge]

This site is young in many ways. It's a lot like a cutting that just started to root. Don't expect it to take off like a house afire right away. Lots of the old members haven't found us yet. Those that have, might be like me and wait for interesting posts to answer. Give it some time and it will take off.

Speaking of the forums, are we going to do anything about defining the role of rain forest and garden? Right now, they seem to both be for general plant discussion. If we designate certain plants to each forum it'll have to make sense and be reflected in the description of the forum. We could do general entheos in rain forest and edibles in garden. Or we could do that and rename them or put them all in one forum and do away with the other one.

[cenacle]

what was not said at the time was what LW was sending to me and others in private messages...i chose til now to keep this matter under wraps, and had he remained to continue the work of this community i would not be saying it now...but am...to make matters clear...LW said some things to me in private message that were blatantly harmful, insulting, intending to get me to lose my cool...he baited me and i did not take it...at the old SPF i hardly remember him at all, but at this new one he went after cassie and nitro in the forums, and me more privately...i do not miss him, i do not regard him as one who was helping, and i hope he finds his peace...elsewhere...

i've said it before and i'll say it again now...it is cowardly not to speak up about matters of prime importance like entheogens and their status in the world...there are brave souls who have fought to get psychedelic research back into the public arena, at harvard and elsewhere...there are those who have worked their asses off to get medical MJ on state ballots and have WON...it's not just weekend stoners who benefit from scoring a lid somehow...it's deeply ill and pained people who can find some relief without fear of being busted...

this is about freedom, simple and complex as that...i will never regret that i had a major hand in putting up those new forums, and wish they had received more positive response...they didn't, and the feeling of the admins was to back off, let the matter go for another day...but that day will come...

i believe in freedom of all creatures to live their lives as they choose to...i feel strongly that what opposes that, the power mongering motherfuckers in DC and the multinational corporate sphere, have succeeded in moving the discussion to such a low level that most people cower before the idea of speaking out...

if we hadn't spoken out, bush would have marched american troops into every last middle eastern country in existence...

if we hadn't spoken out, kerry would have been a prickless piece of shit instead of the still-disappointing-but-not-embarassing candidate he was...

i think some people here simply are not interested in activism...they love plants, love community discussion of plants...for this they have my respect and affection...

that said, there are those here who want to rally against the forces of control and order that are fast diminishing our rights to find out the fuller extents of our souls because, simply, we are feed for their beast...fodder for their end-time rapture...

i am not willingly going to be anyone's feed...the thought of it angers me way way down...i advocate psychedelic freedom, sexual freedom, environmental right conduct, and respect omnilaterally for all living beings...i advocate immediate legalization of all psychedelic materials and this includes marijuana and LSD...i believe that a society driven by the soul-withering addictions to alcohol, chemical-laced tobacco, patriarchal notions of commodity exchange and nation-states is one destined to fall and fall hard and fall for good...till another arises from the black depths of the human soul...

judging another by his or her skin color, sexual orientation, economic status, ethnicity, or spiritual beliefs and practices is an iniquitous thing and not something to be mildly rebuked and lived with...

we who are able to be online and build up cyber communities are inestimably lucky when compared to the many in the world who don't have clean drinking water or adequate schools muchless acceptably high speed internet connections...

if we want a community here that matters, we need live up to the ideals that it can possess...whatever LW's good intentions at any point, by the end he was burnt out and bitter, and ready to move on...but his actions left their effect...

you want a community that matters? work on it...contribute, come up with new ideas...i didn't take on admin to be some kind of boss...i did it when the old site went down and it was me and irish andy talking about how to deal with it...that's all...this community can be as powerful as any, a really inspiring place for many...but it's up to every person to decide how much he or she cares, and how much he or she will contribute...

i offer up what i have, and others do too...there's always more we can give...there are always ways to do that next or extra thing...

any community will ride its highs and lows, and some will move on, and some will not...i've been around SPF for nearly four years...i like it more than most, and as Dissident said, even if i post elsewhere, this is my hood...

so i urge not thinking too long on my words here but conjuring your own contributions...just more yap about whether SPF can or should or does exist is pointless...irish andy has gifted this community with its renewed existence...what can each of us offer up to make it better, more, deeper, welcoming, fun, a site that matters?