My Heart is Heavy

“I just wanted you to know that there’s no board war going on.”

These words were spoken to me by a tipsy young woman at the New Orleans House of Blues as I attempted to purchase my Taylor Hicks shotglass (I have quite a collection of shot glasses) and magnet (for my Mother) after the concert in early August. She asked, “You’re AmyH, right?” On my response of “Yep” she grabbed my hand and shook it up and down. She said, “I’m Strawgirl.” She noticed the utter lack of recognition on my face and followed that up with, “I know you don’t know who I am, or who we are, but I post on TMS and I just wanted you to know there’s no board war going on.”

All I could think of to say was, “I never thought there was.” She seemed satisfied with that and I proceeded with my purchase.

The thing is, my response was entirely truthful. You see, I don’t often visit other Taylor Hicks message boards/websites. My home is The Boogie and I also “work” there, so my “Taylor time” is pretty much eaten up by Boogie activities. Any news or information or media that I could want is either posted on The Boogie or there is a URL for where I can go get said “stuff” (those would be the rare times I do venture off Boogie territory). While I maintain memberships at several Taylor Hicks sites (don’t we all?), I don’t see the need to visit them often.

I would gather this is the case for a lot of Taylor’s fans. Wherever your first home was is where you have likely stayed. This is probably partially due to loyalty to the site owner, but more likely I would guess it is because that is where your friendships have been forged. That is where your first times occurred: the first time you saw Taylor, you discussed it with these people; the first time you heard the Open Door Cafe Set or the heartbreaking Atlanta Set, you squealed and wept with these people; the first time you attended a Taylor concert (AI or otherwise), it was probably with many of these people.

I don’t see why such loyalties and friendships have to equal dislike, distrust, or hatred of other boards.

I know people who go back and forth between boards and I have no problem with that. After all, the whole point of the boards is to support Taylor Hicks and to spread his music to the masses, right? As long as people adjust their behaviors according to whatever Board they are visiting at the time, why should there be any issues at all?

I will admit – I have problems with some people in the Taylor Hicks Universe. There are some real assholes, some jerks, and some just plain WHACKOs, but I don’t hate an entire board because of them. Just because I had to restrain myself from getting in a fistfight with someone does NOT mean I have a problem with her “home Board.” Just because a person has multiple “crotch shots” in her personal photobucket does not mean I have a problem with her home Board.

Quite frankly, the very idea of a “Board War” just strikes me as childish, petty, and downright silly. I mean, of all the shit that is going on in the world today, I am going to waste my time and energy on an Internet War?? WTF, man?

At any rate, no I don’t believe there are any Board wars going on. Does that mean there aren’t any? Probably not. Does that mean other people’s perceptions of events differ from mine? Almost certainly. Do I care? Marginally (obviously their realities are going to impact my own online life in some way, large or small).

For me, I have no problems with “you people” (that would be the Internet community and the Taylor Hicks community as a whole). Despite her obvious tipsy state, I found Strawgirl to be perfectly pleasant and coherent and have no reason to dispute her assertions. All in all, it was nice to meet you, Straw. Perhaps we will meet again in the future and we can get tipsy together. Or not. Who knows? Since Taylor is going to be around for a long damn time, I’m sure we will find ourselves at a show together at some point.

Salud!