A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....02-28-03....Anatomy of a Finest Thread

Billie | Billie

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest.....
......Every Day

FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues; salute and support our military and our leaders;  tell a few jokes;  learn a new word;  write poetry;  pray for those in need;  and congratulate those who are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which we can express ourselves.

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   I can remember lurking when there were only a few regulars who posted, and now there are over 60,000 who have registered for posting privileges. The forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest November 11, 2001

So many people have written me since my original Veteran's Day Tribute, asking how they, or a loved one, could be included in that tribute. Since I can no longer add the photos to the body of the thread, I've been including them in additional posts as I received enough to make another collage.

Still that doesn't seem to be enough. I think there's never been a better nor more appropriate time to keep the faces of our own Veterans and Active Military in front of FReepers--every day! That's why I wanted to do yet another Daily Thread .....ABOUT FReepers .....and FOR FReepers. But not only about our Military FReepers; for all FReepers! Wouldn't it be nice to get to know a few of the other FReepers as well? That's why, in addition to seeing FR's Finest Military Personnel every day, I thought it might be fun to feature a different FReeper (or FReepers) each day. If you would like to be pictured, or know someone who would, please FReepmail me and we'll turn the spotlight - on YOU - for the day!

And do let me know if you'd like your picture added to the groups of Veterans/Active Military below. I will keep this page updated, and continue to add them to the comment section of the original Veteran's Day thread as well.

<

TOP:  g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett.
MIDDLE:  fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick,Leroy S Mort, Mark17.
BOTTOM:  Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau.

TOP:  ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam,
dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony
BOTTOM:  rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang

TOP: ohioWfan's son, MamaBear's father-in-law, MamaBear's dad, ladtx
MIDDLE:  The Mayor's niece, M.Kehoe, Beach_Babe's son-in-law
BOTTOM:  deadhead's dad, HiJinx, Severa's hubby, viligantcitizen's granddad.

TOP:  spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68.
MIDDLE:  FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797
BOTTOM:  usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack

We now have eleven groups of veterans/active military; we will post each group of three or four twice a week, with thumbnail/links of the remaining seven or eight groups on each thread. Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the group full-size.

         

GROUP 1A: TOP: Logos, SwedeGirl's hubby, Neil E Wright, FallGuy, 1John, Sneakypete MIDDLE:  T'wit, COB1, LadyX, Dick Bachert, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub BOTTOM:  YankeeinSC, Delta21, JoeSixPack1

GROUP 2A: TOP:  Bosniajmc, AFVetGal, Archy, A Navy Vet MIDDLE:  4TheFlag, Aeronaut, 68Grunt, Xinga BOTTOM:  Codger, AAABest, Clinton's A Liar, Duke809, dcwusmc

GROUP 3A: TOP:  mc5cents, Norb2569, LBGA's son, VanJenerette MIDDLE:  Jim Robinson, KJenerette, davidosborne, KG9Kid BOTTOM:  gwmoore, Equality7-2521, SAMWolf

GROUP 4A: TOP:  porgygirl, Phil V., MudPuppy, NorCoGOP MIDDLE:  RaceBannon, OneidaM, rdb3, jwTexian BOTTOM:  USMC Vet, TheMayor, Vineyard, rhododogma

      

GROUP 9A: TOP: Q6-God, Scan59, Mama Bear and JKPhoto's son, ofMagog. MIDDLE:  Big'ol_freeper, JustAmy's great uncle, Prodigal Son. BOTTOM:  JustAmy's husband, JustAmy's brother-in-law, JustAmy's brother.

GROUP 10A: TOP: dakine's wife, MeeknMing's dad, Auntbee's nephew, MilitiaMan7, AlasBabylon. BOTTOM:  Joe Brower, Temple Owl, Temple Owl's wife, dutchess' dad, Aomagrat.

GROUP 11A: TOP: ladtx #2 son; DiverDave's twin Don; petuniasevan and husband poorman; Mustard; ladtx #1 son. BOTTOM: AlamoGirl's brother Floyd; AG's dad; AG's brother Jim (inset); WVNan's husband; ladtx' Aunt Eva.

                     

Please don't adjust your monitors....this really is in black and white. :) No colors, no pretty backgrounds, no fancy fonts, no pictures....not just yet anyway.

I know that many of you don't understand who does what, when, and why on our threads (of course you may not care either! LOL), so today, because we need a filler this week, I'd like to explain what goes on behind-the-scenes at the Finest and what it means when you see different names as author and/or source, and why my name is always there, even when one of the other hostesses prepares the thread for the day.

The reason you always see my name included with the other hostess' name at the top of the thread information is simply because of the top part of the thread, which relates to the introduction, and the veterans' photos. I prepared this part at the very beginning of FR's Finest in order to picture some of our own Veterans and Active Military every day; and with the exception of a special thread on occasion, we always use the top part in addition to the ever-changing daily profiles or essays, which ARE prepared by different ones of us.

There are five of us who write and/or prepare and post all the threads: DaisyScarlett, Dansangel, Dutchess, Mama_Bear, and me.  JohnHuang2 writes an essay every week for us; FreeTheHostages writes two profiles each month for us; Ladtx writes two essays a month for us. Occasionally, we have another Guest Writer. These writers all do just that - WRITE! (And may I add...do it WELL!) It looks exactly like what you're seeing now when they send it to one of us. (well, except for the colored names) It looks like most other threads on FR. It's very interesting to read, but on the Finest, we like to make it interesting to read and pretty to look at as well!

That's where your hostesses do their thing. :) We take the information from the profilee OR the writer, and transform the words into colorful and visually pleasing pieces to read. Many of the photos we receive via email attachments from the profilee must be cropped and resized and often lightened a bit, and then uploaded to our own servers. We also search for additional graphics that might 'fit' the profilee, and in the case of the essays, we provide ALL the illustrations.

Probably the first thing we do is get the photos edited and uploaded. Next we're ready to decide the 'mood' of the thread, so we choose a Title for the Profilee (though our essays' titles are usually furnished by our writer - as are Free's profile write-ups), and background, colors, font, etc. (the "layout"):

Anatomy of a Finest Thread by Billie

Aha! We have a background, our colors determined, and a title! The rest just falls right in place...a piece of cake! (sorta)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that piece of cake above is very pretty, but the white background is just not good; likewise, most of the photographs are 'not good' just sitting on the background alone, so we dress them up with 'tables'. Sometimes they look best at the left or right of a paragraph instead of centered, like the cake on the right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We sometimes like to break up different sections of the essay or profile with bars or dividers or lines. (I'm partial to that squiggly line above....the others usually like to divide the sections with a pretty or patriotic divider/graphic.)

Perhaps a nice one to use with the plaid borders of this thread:

Sometimes, in the case of a profilee, another table is used to set off "In their own words":

My Story, My Life on FR by Freeper So and So

This is also a good place for pictures of rallies, etc.

Picture goes here

And more text, some more photos, more dividers, maybe some links, etc, 'cause we love getting to know you : )

Even more text, another picture or two, a divider....we know all about you now. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Congratulations, Freeper So and So!
You are One of FR's Finest!

Quiz at 10 PM to see if you've learned anything. :) Now it's time for Freeper So and So to take his/her bow.  Diver, the Atta Boy if you will!

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THIS WEEK'S THREADS 02-24-03 MJY1288 02-25-03 NUTMEG AND ZELIG 02-26-03 AERONAUT 02-27-03 JOHN HUANG2 ESSAY

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me an FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[dutchess]

Hi Billie....lovely sistahs.... Tried to post this morning before leaving for a meeting....wouldn't take it. Just got back...Sorry you've been solo Billie! (jury still out ;o(

[Dubya]

Dog Applicant

A sign was hung in an office window. It read:

Help wanted.
Must type 70 words a minute.
Must be computer literate.
Must be bilingual.
An equal opportunity employer.

A dog was ambling down the street and saw the sign. He looked at it for
a moment, pulled it down with his mouth, and walked into the manager's
office, making it clear he wished to apply for the job.

The office manager laughed and said, "I can't hire a dog for this job."

The dog pointed to the line: "An equal opportunity employer."

So the manager said, "OK, take this letter and type it." The dog went
off to the word processor and returned a minute later with the finished
letter, perfectly formatted.

The manager said, "Alright, here's a problem. Write a computer program
for it and run it."

Fifteen minutes later, the dog came back with the correct answer.

The manager still wasn't convinced. "I still can't hire you for this
position. You've got to be bilingual."

The dog looked up at the manager and said, "Meow."

[Billie]

Are you sure that's a waltz?! LOL! So cute! Thanks, Amy! FR seems to be running smoothly now after a very slow start.

[JustAmy]

I missed everyone yesterday!!
Hope FR keeps running today.

[Billie]

THANK you, Sistah! Gee, I'm having to pass this tray of goodies around all by myself - I'd get LadyX to help me, but she'd probably spill it on someone.

It's (FR) running pretty smoothly right now.

Actually, I've heard from daisy and dansy privately (and you, too of course):).

Happy Birthday to Mr.D!

[JustAmy]

"Are you sure that's a waltz?! "

Hey ..... the way I dance, that's a waltz. LOL

[Billie]

LOL at your bilingual dog! Cute!

[dutchess]

The dog looked up at the manager and said, "Meow."

LOL...great joke!

[Mama_Bear]

Sistahs, where are my sistahs?!

Here's one of them! :-)

Just came in from doing my nursing duties over at JK mom's. I can't stay, but want to say hello to everyone. Please don't forget me while I'm gone - things will calm down soon and I'll be back fulltime.

Thank you, Billie, for posting this today...even though it was supposed to be my day. Giving me the weekend to finish my post has taken such a weight off of me!

Hugs all around.

[Billie]

Yesterday was pretty bad - this morning was every bit as bad - it tends to turn away a bunch of people! Maybe they'll try again this afternoon. ;)

[dutchess]

Amy. We all missed you yesterday too! Will be thinking of you tonight. Thanks for your dedication every Friday night!

Dear sistahs...a PIECE OF CAKE?????? I've only been at this a month and all of a sudden I have gray hair! (I think Billie is showing some too having to train me LOL)

[dutchess]

{{{{{{{{{{LOUIE}}}}}}}}

[LadyX]

Afternoon, Captain.

Pleased to report the witch doctor pulled out the 16 staples on the right arm incision - healing nicely - and even applied a fiberglass cast in a color to go with that of the Mobius Triangle.

With the resin reinforcing it, it is impervious to salt water, and in hand to hand combat, or backhanding a certain swabbie out of control again, should serve me well.

MeeknMing thoughtfully went to the Baja Wal-Marta and purchased in the Sports Department a genuine Exercise Ball (prescribed by the witch doctor) to strengthen the bound hand. He is due reimbursement of the $ 2.74 expenditure.
I of course am using it with the left hand, too, to maintain my typing skills..:(

The Crew thanks you for the Mardi Gras leave.
They will report be rounded up in time to sail tomorrow.

Aquamarine, after WVNan's sailing blessing, will lead us in a Special Sailing Song to set the tone of the voyage.

jwfiv will unveil a portrait he did of Baja Dawn.
He met her upon rising out of a fog.

< /report >

[JustAmy]

Missed you yesterday, Bro!
I don't like missing my Finest Fix!!
Billie ..... I"ll bet this one isn't a waltz either. LOL

[Mama_Bear]

a PIECE OF CAKE??????

Yeah, what's she talking about??

(Keeping my fingers crossed for you husband and his case.) :-)

[Mama_Bear]

Make that "your", LOL. I'm out of here. TTYL.

[dutchess]

Just got the call...jury is coming in....Heading to the courthouse...(conveniently it's across the street from my office) FINGERS CROSSED!

[Dubya]

Faced With Threat of War in Iraq, Many Marines Turn to Religion

LIVING SUPPORT AREA 7, Kuwait -- While hundreds of Marines with rifles slung over their shoulders looked on, eight young men in green shorts and T-shirts approached the altar during last Sunday's church services at this military camp in the northern Kuwaiti desert. One by one they received blessings from a chaplain and plunged into a freshly dug pool to be baptized, emerging to raucous applause.

[ST.LOUIE1]

Afternoon, Ms.Molly!

Nice to see your cute little mug. : )

[ST.LOUIE1]

Finally, we ALL are 'showing up' on the thread...:))

I thought Billie had banned wolfie. : (

Nice to know I was wrong. : )