Visitors' poll

I checked "other." The process of getting accepted or declined here seems to have some "kinks" in it, or maybe it's just me - I'm not certain.

I tried registering once a long time back, since I enjoyed reading the information here, and found threads that I felt I could contribute to. I have a great deal of experience in art and am a well mannered fellow, so I figured I could manage the decorum. Unfortunately, I never got a reply back of any sort to my attempt at registering, so I just assumed I was declined.

A few days back (I think it's been over a week now) I thought I'd just try again to register, but as of yet still haven't gotten a response - maybe it just takes more time. Those folks must be very busy with more important tasks, etc...

Also, since I never received a reply, I never bothered to try logging in, but just now I discover that I actually could log in and be recognized, unfortunatelty I'm still not allowed to enter replies, even to this thread. I had to log out in order to write up this entry.

I understand you're reasoning for all these obstacles, but it just amounts to a big pile of frustration, which in the end is not worth the effort. Plus, in all honesty, there's this slight taint of elitism on SOG's part at requiring new members to go through all the process, however well intended or necessary it may be. I feel your insistance at scholarship of your members is unnecessary, to be frank. Inexperienced people will be intimiated without that - just look at all the "too shy" responses you're getting here. It's only informal talk and opinions that we're sharing after all. If an inexperienced person speaks up, they can be politely educated. Maybe there's some history to your reasons for these restrictions that I'm not aware of, however.

When a bar has been set, there needs to be an obvious reason for a person to want to climb over it, hoping you understand my metaphor. As nice as this place is, it's not exclusive to it's content. There are other places to go to that aren't so tedious to enter.

Whew. I do appreciate the opportunity to finally speak. Thanks.