(Written Mar. 29, 2001)

...by the way...
Have you seen my blue sock?

Preston passed away in October 2005.

(Written Mar. 7, 2001)

Actually, much hasn't changed since the days of the BBS. I'm still a leech, I still program, I still drink Dr. Pepper, I still make music, and I still play RPGs. However, I now have a fiancé and gray hair if that makes any difference! :-)

Kevin passed away in March 2017.

(Written Mar. 20, 2001)

Since the dissolving of those bastions of wonderful iniquity, AR and Software Syntax, the good Doctor has been busy. In the interim between then and now, I have been a college graduate, a bookseller, a computer services co-worker, a pre-order specialist for an RPG distributor, and now I'm a graphics director for a small marketing firm here in Memphis. In my free time, I game with other former ARers, help out with SF conventions, and spend far too much time at the Cafe Apocalypse.

(Updated Apr. 24, 2001)

Since the BBS days, I've been building web sites for a living, going to school, and tinkering with my own web sites (at least one of which, which was borne of a certain attraction of Artificial Reality, is somewhat wildly successful, which is too bad 'cause I don't make a dime off it :-P).

At one point I was working for 92.9 WMFS (back during the time they didn't suck), first as Paul Marshall's intern, then as Paul Marshall's intern and MFS' scarcely-paid web guy. (By the way, no, I was NOT [any of] the person[s] responsible for the wonderful MFS web site hack, though getting credited for it was awfully flattering, as it was quite an exceptional and not-totally-adolescent piece of work.)

At any rate, I had my fill of MFS after the umpteenth firing of some good, qualified, talented member of the on-air staff (do I sound angry?), so since I had been working part time with Crap Jackson (also building web sites) anyway, I ditched MFS. Then when he quit to move east, I took his position, and that's where I am today.

Also, I haven't broke a cheese shaker in a very long time.

Mr. Distant

(Written May 15, 2001)

I called my first BBS (a FIDO board, I do believe) in 1985 on a 1200-baud modem. My, how times have changed. I miss the boards - they were somehow far more personal than this Internet business, and they were the proving grounds for some lasting friendships. And I miss TradeWars. :( Geez, what I wouldn't give for another chance to tow old mean what's-his-name's ass out into space and nuke him! :)

I am still working, still married, and still WAY older than you. ;)

(Written Jun. 7, 2001)

After surviving the angst of high school, I moved on to the University of Memphis and graduated with(seemingly useless) B.A.s in Anthropology and English. After studying abroad in Iceland and Germany, I decided to stay here in Bavaria, where I now work and live.

I started on Artificial Reality as my first BBS (the name was actually different when I first logged on) when I was about 15 years old. I became fast online buddies with Kilobyte Knight (whom I met only once), Specter of Death (whom I never met), Slaytanic Doomstar, and Ghetto Onion. I enjoyed posting with everybody on the board and am really flattered that they all put up with me. :) These are times that I really do remember fondly.

Artificial Reality expanded my life beyond the people I met through school. I will always remember Kris's beautiful green hair and van without brakes, watching B-fantasy movies with Francis all night, and chatting with Brian.

See Stormwind.

Francis passed away in 1998. See Slaytanic Doomstar's entry for more information.

(Written Mar. 23, 2001)

Everything and nothing has changed since the good ole bbs days. I have experienced allot of life's little "growth lessons" and matured (yeahh right) After High school I went to work at Premier Fish + Reptiles and explored a carrier+degree in biology. I had hoped to become a research biologist. I realised I would more than likely work my butt off and have nothing to show for it so I have since decided to keep biology as a hobby and interest and obtain a carrier+degree in computer networking. (Go figure) other than growing up and changing carrier interests, nothing has changed but my age.

Quote "This BBS is for elite users only, we should not allow access at speeds under 1200 BAUD." would the current equivalent be DSL or Cable? :)-

(Written Mar. 8, 2001)

In the past few years, since I haven't been on the old C-Net BBSs, I've been on the Internet quite a bit, usually IRC, occasionally USENET. I'm now an engineer intern at a small business in Bartlett. As for quotes, I have only this to say, "I'm pure...EAT ME!"

(Written Mar. 16, 2001)

Im looking for my old traks if you can find them you will be rewarded! Man I wish I had my Amiga!

(Updated October 1, 2012)

In San Diego area with kiddo, critters and partner.

Website updated regularly with the latest and greatest.

(Written Jan. 30, 2003)

On Artificial Reality I went by Jayah or Jehah, I mixed the spelling up a lot. I ran a poetry forum there called "Raw" and I cheesily signed everything "The Poetry Lady." *snicker*

Now, I'm 24 and a Criminal Justice student at the U of M. I do improvisational and sketch comedy with a professional group and we perform around town and in Tunica. By day, I'm a bookkeeper and secretary extraordinaire!

That's about it. So there.

(Written Jun. 10, 2001)

This is not my beautiful house. This is not a beautiful wife. Why am I wearing a blue sock? Why am I wearing it there? A bit of advice: Don't test 220 with your tounge.

Well, since the days of the BBS I have gone through 5+ years or marital hell, and 4+ years of parental pride. I spend a lot of time watching plastic snakes eat Matchbox cars, building Lego robots, watching cartoons, playing DigiMon with the Kilobyte Squire, and pondering why the pool is always just the right temperature while the bath never is.

Who's sock is this?

(Written Apr. 21, 2001)

....I looked and beheld a green Ghetto Sled and he that sat in it was the King. The Ghetto Sled stopped at my feet and the door opened, In a cloud of smoke the King strode up to me and I fell upon my knees, not worthy to stand in his presence, He held out his hand to me and asked, "Hey man, got a light?".....

Quotes:
"anybody got a cigarette?"

(Written Mar. 17, 2001) - a.k.a. Ragantzi

As for Kit the sex kitten, if anyone wants to know, she is still working on getting a book published, slaving away as an office assistant, and the proud mother of an incredibly cute little kitten named Rhane. My purity test score has dropped from 66.something to 48.something... What can I say, the college years were exciting. I only with I could post this message in black and red text... just for old times sake. Later!

(Written Nov. 20, 2006)

Quotes:
"Please no more 'Major Kira fan clubs' and no more Billster"
"I love you more times infinity plus one"
"DOOGIE, THE GREATEST PERSON ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

(Written Feb. 16, 2003)

Hah! I found yer AR page a few links away from a slashdot story on the first bbs. Been awhile. Anyways, I was Nightbreeze on AR, banging away on my bedraggled Mac Plus and then Mac Classic II...it's seems terrifying that I can still recall so much from those years.

Nowadays, I'm a freelance omnigeek with a lovely wife(who missed the BBS era, sadly) and am just the sickening image of "all grown up". If you disregard the 2 bookshelves and small fridge devoted to gaming in the den, that is.

(Written Jun. 18, 2002)

I found somehow by accident a new Artificial Reality site on the web , and I was looking through some of the old posts there , and found my old handle in a list of blackmails along with a comment that I am a "bastard" ....I'm not a bastard!!! I think I know who my real dad is!!

That wasn't what peeved me though.... I was mentioned in the same sentence as "Bi--ster" (must not speak his name lest he show up) I mean , wouldnt you be offended if you were mentioned in the same sentence as the ex-sysop of Khamp Kidmolester????? Fortunately , the last time I heard of him was when I.. err.... someone I know slashed his tyres and egg-bombed his house for being a pervert..... ( nothing like running from the police to get the adrenaline pumpin yanno?? )

Well here's whats been up with me since I was a regular of AR...
I got a little taller (heh)
cut all my hair off
gave up poetry (lucky you!!! =p)

well its hard to sum up several years in a few sentences but those are probably the major things that anyone would notice that had seen me at any ARGH's

oh .... and my purity score got a LOT lower
peace pplz'

See Kit's entry, sucker.

(Updated Apr. 25, 2004)

In 1998, I moved out of the mid-south to Bucks County, Pennsylvania to try to escape Memphis. Unfortunately, like a bad train wreck, Memphis kept calling me back. I have escaped once more, this time finding myself a home in Marin County, California where I live with my husband Jason. I am happily employed with LucasArts as a compatibility technician and I'm enjoying every stressful minute of my dream job.

Nowadays, most of the people honored with my virtual presence </sarcasm> know me as KageNeko (if you know Japanese, you figure it out). I spend most of my time at work these days, but occasionally you can find me in IRC (irc.magicstar.net).

Anyway, when I'm not working, IRCing, or striking fear into the hearts of mortals everywhere, I can be found in EverQuest, sitting on the sofa with my Nintendo Wavebird in hand, or driving somewhere up Highway 1 along the coast enjoying the view of the ocean. I'm also known to spend hours trying to design the perfect webpage (I still haven't succeeded) or fiddling with Photoshop.

I still don't have much of a social life.

(Written Sept. 19, 2001)

(re: the handle..ugh..what was I thinking)

Ok..where to begin! Right now Im going into my 4th year of being married(which I LOVE!) and NO KIDS yet!

Man, I remember my VERY first BBS I called up.. KLICK BBS! (I THINK I still remember the number!) and of course the next was Operator Headgap. Sigh. A much better time in terms of computers!

(Written May 30, 2001)

First of all, my website hasn't been updated in about a year. This will change as I am to post a new version in a few weeks. That probably means "check out doomstar.com after July 4th."

Next, word-up to all my possee in the "Deleters", including Ghetto Onion and Spock.

On with ${$blah} {

I began BBS'ing in 1984. The end of AR was pretty much the end of my BBS days. I particularly remember being a Global War fanatic and mindlessly harrasing people for fun. I think we all harrased each other for fun. lol

After AR, In '95, I started working for an Internet Service and worked there for 5.5 years. Meanwhile, I was drumming for a lot of bands, including Shindig, Opium Dream, 68 Comeback, and 3-6 Mafia.

In 1998, my life made a major turn. My best friend/roommate/guitarist for my band/AR user Ghetto Onion, Francis Casteel, passed away in a fatal car crash a week after my birthday. Many of you may remember G.Onion from the board and when we threw an AR gathering at our house downtown. He was a monster guitar player and a great friend. Ironically enough, my grandfather died that same day. Needless to say, it took quite some time to swallow all the realities and, unfortunately, these were not artificial.

I quit the ISP in 2000 when I got a record deal and moved to Los Angeles, Hollywood, CA. to play drums for former Geffen artists "Rock City Angels", of which Johnny Depp was once the guitarist for. (blatant name dropping - sorry - and no, I did not meet him. I dont think he even lives in the US anymore.)

At any rate, Hollywood is a nice place when a record label is paying your rent, otherwise it is a cess pool stuck in the eighties. Silver Lake was cool. The freakiest thing I saw was some guy holding 12 people hostage with a shotgun on the Santa Monica pier.

I moved back to Memphis a few months later, after completing the recordings at Paramount, and started my own company. I do backend programming, unix server support and administration, etc., etc. I dont do much chatting online, as I am usually just too busy.

Aside from working, I still play drums but avoiding being in a band right now. I am doing a lot of songwriting, guitar strumming, and 4 track recording. I have a couple of labels interested in publishing my material but I'm in no hurry and generally they end up ripping you off, so.. no hurry at all.

Other than that, I spend my time hanging out with my girlfriend or I'm busy in my new hobby; sports cars. I bought a 1976 BMW 2002 a few years ago, and recently bought a 1987 Porsche 924s. The old BMW is SLOWLY being restored. The 924s just got a new motor and pulls 265HP!

Thanks again to Crap Jackson, old and dear friend of me and GhettO, for the donuts, milk, and $10 bucks, and the three other people whom brought us a generous amount of groceries when G.O. and I both lost our jobs on the same day in '94.

Slaytan

}

Eric passed away in December 2001.

(Written Mar. 13, 2001)

What am I doing these days? Well after Stream fired me for trivial reasons I'm doing what everyone expected I would. Nothing. I've been married and divorced. Shadowcat and I finally made up and we can speak to one another without yelling and actually hold a real convo without the assistance of felons. Though I still do hold a grudge against Mars.

I've not changed much, just got older and wear glasses now. Hmm does this mean we're going to have an ARGH reuniuon now.. the concept in itself frightens me.

Quote: %&$#$!!!!!!
Quote 2: Give me a gun and put Billster, Mars, and Kit in a straight line. I hate wasting bullets.
Quote 3: I do NOT have a period!!!!!! (Let's see who remembers THAT one)

Stormwind (Times may change, but who really gives a rat's ass?)

(Written Mar. 7, 2001)

Since the end of the BBS era, I've mostly been up to working full time at Kroger, dabbling in phone technical support (NEVER AGAIN!), and playing Magic, D&D, and Diablo II. Nothing else notable really comes to mind.

Quote: "..." (I was the quiet one at the meetings. :) )

(Written May 15, 2002)

Gosh...

I haven't even thought of the old BBS days in Memphis. Things have certainly changed for me.

I'm now living in Wyoming, working for Uwyo's Info Tech department. I just moved here after living 6 years in Oregon, working for Intel.

I don't really get to Memphis much these days.

(Written Mar. 15, 2001)

I suppose I have changed a lot since the Artificial Reality, although my interests are still pretty much the same. It's really too bad; I could have probably contributed a lot more to our little community if I had been a slightly older or more mature or whatever. So how about some 'then and now' action.

THEN: I was in high school.
NOW: I am a math/computer science double major in college.

I graduated before Columbine, and before a lot of the teenage-hacker bad press. This is a good thing; these days I would be expelled and/or in court for the things I did in high school. Maybe JonKatz would have written about how I was misunderstood, etc.

THEN: Denim answered my questions about QBasic and Pascal, and wrote a C++ primer so I would have something new to bother him with. =^)
NOW: In college we pretty much stick to Java for general purpose implementation, and I picked up Python from Jason (Denim) and Stephan at CBU.

So I still like programming. I started having a personal webpage in the BBS days, and I still do, but (and I wonder if I speak for most people with websites) keeping a homepage up and current is a major hassle. One of these days I will get mine straightened out and back to its original URL (I'm sure W3 and probably Denim appreciate URL persistence).

THEN: A lot of my friends were either in a ska band or otherwise involved in the Memphis punk scene (such that it was).
NOW: A lot of my friends are either DJs or otherwise involved in the Memphis rave scene. Some of them are the same people. =^)

I guess punk lost its novelty when they started playing Mighty Mighty Bosstones on MTV. PS - I justify this affair with electronic music with nostalgia of MODs and soundtracker on my Amiga. Speaking of Amiga...

THEN: Amiga 500 with JRComm, ca 1980s. Compaq Presario 425 with Telix, ca 1994.
NOW: Apple iMac DV SE (graphite) ca 1999.

Of course, I first got into the BBS scene dialing Amiga-support boards on my dad's A500. Except for the little scripting language in Amiga OS 1.3, I didn't start programming until my brother got a PC with DOS (free QBASIC) and Windows 3.1. Since then, I have had a couple of desktops (Intel DX4 100MHz and AMD K6 200MHz). By college I was more than tired of Windows; I had tried Linux and Litestep, but they weren't really finished products. When it came time to upgrade again, I got a Mac. I don't know why they aren't more popular.

THEN: Purity test score around 97%.
NOW: Purity score 66.6% (!).

You know what they say, "college is a time for new experiences".

(Written June 15, 2001)

Since AR went down, I have done the college thing and probably done more mental and emotional growing up after 20 than I ever did before 20. I guess I've mellowed out a bit, gotten more worldly and more experienced. I still don't smoke, drink, or curse but I like to think I'm a little less naive, annoying, antisocial, and intolerant of others. Other things I have discovered: the Internet, D&D and Amtgard.

Favorite quotes:

The ever-enjoyable Yellow Ping Pong Ball joke!!!
"Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you."
"I have an accident and I'm not afraid to use it!"
"I reckon I ought to kill you now ..."
"I'm not evil, I'm just misunderstood."