Hello Fellow Travelers

Hi all.

Between ‘17 and ‘20 (or thereabouts) I posted on ATS as DictionaryOfExcuses. I made some friends here in the community of short story writers, and remember my time posting here as a time when I was fortunate to be able to work on my craft quite a bit. Lots of fun.

I wandered away from ATS for multiple personal reasons, and shortly after that, I stopped using the email address associated with my ATS account. (I logged in via Google, you see.)

Last night, as I sat at my desk in the dark puzzling over The Story (read: desperately seeking a distraction), I was overcome with the sudden and ineluctable urge to see what was happening back here on ATS. Within minutes, I was logged in to this new account (the username of which is a transliteration, as it were, of my name).

It seems as though some things have changed quite a bit. It seems quieter. The acronym thread, which I always relied on to sweep the cobwebs from the dusty corners of my mind? All but boarded up. The Shed, whose citizens’ company I enjoyed? Derelict. Some of the more charismatic members from my previous time here? Evicted. My impression so far? I am reminded of the famous Thomas Wolfe quote:

“You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood, back home to romantic love, back home to a young man’s dreams of glory and of fame, back home to exile, to escape to Europe and some foreign land, back home to lyricism, to singing just for singing’s sake, back home to aestheticism, to one’s youthful idea of ‘the artist’ and the all-sufficiency of ‘art’ and ‘beauty’ and ‘love’, back home to the ivory tower, back home to places in the country, to the cottage in Bermude, away from all the strife and conflict of the world, back home to the father you have lost and have been looking for, back home to someone who can help you, save you, ease the burden for you, back home to the old forms and systems of things which seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time—back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.”

Speaking of memory: I need to remember how to ATS.

Cheers.

Welcome aboard the "Gravy Train".

a reply to: musicismagic

Hi MIM,

I remember you well because your username enshrines one of my deepest held convictions.

At a glance, I noticed that you posted a thread about torrential rains in your part of the world. Hope everything’s OK for you and yours.

Thanks for stopping in. I’m sure I’ll see you plenty in the forums.

a reply to: QRST4

"The one constant in the universe is change."

Welcome back!
I know how you feel.

a reply to: QRST4
Welcome, again😎

a reply to: QRST4

Of late, I went "home" again to my childhood home, Catholic School, High School.

It's true....still there, much much smaller than remembered....and everything's the same...but nothing is...

Welcome back

a reply to: mysterioustranger

I remember you! We U2U’d a little bit and you told me about your former life. I don’t remember how much of that was privileged info, so I’ll stop there. Hope all’s well for you.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Thanks DTOM. Hope all’s well for you.

a reply to: QRST4

See, friend! Life is stranger than fiction...I'll try n dig up old communication...Stay well...holler back as before, same pm..