"It's My 15th (Chat Room) Anniversay!"

(Written 9/27/11 by ChristopherK2 for the Uglier Marylanders blog)

Although I can't be certain of the exact date, it was this time of the year in 1996 that I first entered the Marylanders (its name back then) chat room. So, I'm counting today as my official 15th anniversary with this chat room group. Yeah me!!!

I had joined AOL in the summer of 1996 mainly to read various magazines and newspapers online. A few months later I read about the chat rooms and thought they sounded interesting. I was living alone in Scottsdale, AZ, far from my Maryland home. So I thought it might be interesting to try chatting with folks from my old stomping grounds.

That small decision has led to 15 years of ups and downs, but mostly some great memories and outcomes. A few of them follow...

Great Women: Not only did I meet my wonderful fiancée thru AOL, but a lot of others who were "just friends." Ladyhawg (Nancy), for example, was not just gorgeous, but also intelligent, educated, tall, funny, and she lived life large. There were many others, like Lady Exec, ZimaGal, VickiSue, and (pre-Zombie) HamOnWry. Some I've remained in touch with, much to my delight.

Social Functions: These were very popular back then for several years. The second one I attended, for example, was a semi-formal Valentine's Day dinner dance with about 200 people. I went to many of the nightclub events, but that wasn't really my thing. I mostly enjoyed the family picnic atmosphere at Clark's Restaurant... good food, sports, swimming, music, etc.

I Rediscovered Photography: That interest had been dormant since my marriage ended eight years earlier. But self-pics were rare on AOL at the time. So I bought a flatbed scanner after I returned to Maryland, and began taking pics at social functions. I photographed hundreds of AOLers, and my interest in photography in general took off.

I Rediscovered my Interest in Creative Writing: I hadn't written anything creative for many years. But in the early years of AOL, message boards were quite popular. So, I joined several and began again to write poetry, fiction, editorials, and much else. And I obviously still do a lot of writing.

The Chat Rooms: They've always reflected the overall group, so they've gone from several large rooms to two small ones, from nice adult chat to predominantly ugliness, and from crowded and dynamic to near-empty and often moribund. I don't hold out much hope for the future of our chat rooms; they are both below critical mass at this point and I see no hope of the factions combining. I see them fading away, sooner rather than later.

But no matter what happens in the near future, I'll still have left from my AOL experiences a few friends, and all those wonderful memories... oh... and a LOT of pics!