TheHighWay

Yea, if I remember correctly, the regular full-time Way Staff would get put into coordinating/overseeing positions during ROA, so they were somewhat "hidden". The folks they were coordinating were either corps-in-training or folks from the field so those are the ones most of us interacted with on a daily basis.

I've looked at those ads, but always been afraid to try one... good to know you CAN get a good deal that way!

I'm just realizing what moving around the country, twi-style, can do to your team loyalties... I have ties to the Jayhawks, V-tech, LSU, and Ohio State!!! Who the heck do I root for????? :blink: (actually I have been impressed by LSU this year, and not so much by Ohio... can't give you details, just my gut feeling... so I'll root for the Cajuns this time around)

I have to say that I have also joined JR's site. I am sorry he limited it to corps, but I guess he felt that he could only handle "so much" traffic and maintenance, and I understand his position. These web-boards require massive amounts of oversight. ((doffs hat to Paw and the Mods)) But that site is completely different from this one. That one isn't about presenting information. It is purely a non-opinionated social networking thing. So it attracts a different crowd. And I like that... I've gotten in touch with half a dozen folks I was glad to hear from who wouldn't dream of showing up over here either because they still have fond memories of their twi experience, or they just don't want to jump into the fray. That's their choice and I won't fault them for it (and I'm a big girl so I can simply avoid the people that I think are just great heaps of dung, lol). While that site is fun, if I had to choose between the two, I would pick this one... let's face it, I'm one of the dinosaurs who has been here since the beginning and probably will never completely leave. This place is too important!! And while I may not post as much publically, I do PM folks if I feel I have something valid to say directly to them. It's just that so much of what I have to say is already in the archives, I don't usually repeat it unless it is a newbie asking.

Danny, It's my understanding that right after the win last night, WVU called a press conference for today... to announce they were giving the head coaching position to the interim guy. I wish him well... WVU's head coach walked away right before their bowl game, and sat in the stands watching his new team play their bowl game a few days ago, and this guy still got those boys to focus and win a game they weren't expected to win??? My hat's off to him!! THW PS-- Belle, I'm SO jealous!!

That's exactly how I feel... I stop by most days but find fewer topics move me to comment (phooey on those of you applauding).

I have also found this to be the case... it takes a big weight off your shoulders when you tell that first person and they don't condem you right off the bat!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!! When I first left twi, I decided that I was going to re-install all the forbidden words into my vocabulary so I went out of my way to actually say (out loud, --gasp--) things like Merry Christmas, and creative, and Easter ... it's a wonder I wasn't burned to a cinder where I stood!!

It thrills my heart that you've found this place. Can't wait to read your book. Please let us know where/when we can order a copy!!! THW

Oh Dooj... you inspired me: OCD Paradise (sung to the tune of Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise) As I walked through the valley of the shadow of death I took a look at my life and realized there was nothing left ‘Cause I'd been preachin’ and reachin’ so long that Even my mama thought that my mind was gone Though I ain't never disobeyed the leadership’s orders I was treated like a punk (you know that's the Word of …) “You better watch how you act now, and where you lack now Or you and your fam’ly might be spiritually whack” I really hate to leave, but I gotta drop They say cop-out cuz they just don’t know how to stop, fool (They say) They’re the kinda Leaders little homies wanna be like In the Word every day Sayin' prayers in the twi-way [chorus] Been spending most our lives Living in OCD Paradise We thought it made us wise Living in OCD Paradise Believing all their lies Living in OCD Paradise We’ve really paid the price (for) Living in OCD Paradise Forget the situation, they got me facin’ I can live a normal life, tho I was raised at the feet They said I had to be down with twi’s God team Too much abundant livin’ watchin' got me chasin’ dreams I was an educated fool, with the Word on my mind Had the Book in my hand and a gleam in my eye I was Advanced Class, Wow Vet, and even went Way Corps, And my homies was down, so it was all paid for, fool (But now) Life seems nothing but a heart beat away I'm livin free do-or-die ah, what can I say? I was twenty-three then, but now I’m forty-fo! Oh, how much I have changed and I’ve grown… Tell me why are we -- so blind to see That the ones we hurt -- are you and me [chorus] Power and the money, money and the power Minute after minute, hour after hour Everybody's running, but most of them ain't lookin What's goin on in the kitchen, they don't know what's cookin They say I must be weak, won’t let nobody teach me If I refuse to understand it, how can they reach me? I guess they can't -- I guess they won't I guess they frontin that's why they think my life is out of luck, fool [chorus] Tell me why are we -- so blind to see That the ones we hurt -- are you and me Tell me why are we -- so blind to see That the ones we hurt -- are you and me Tell me why are we -- so blind to see That the ones we hurt -- are you and me Tell me why are we -- so blind to see That the ones we hurt -- are you and me ah ah ah ah ah ah

Man, I feel stupid... I didn't know there was a right and wrong way to put on fitted sheets... Guess I wasn't listening that day... I just put them on whichever way seemed to fit best...(I think some have the stretchy part on the ends and some have the stretchy part on the sides). ---------------------------------- Well, okay... maybe the grass thing makes sense if you are talking the first few frosty mornings as fall turns into winter, where the grass is still not dormant?? But hey, once winter sets in (especially in NK,OH) that grass DEAD GONE people. It's ALL brown!!

I left twi seven years ago. I believe I've pretty much unraveled the bowl of spaghetti and figured out what I do and do not believe on the big issues. So what do I find bothering me now? Silly little things! Those practical little life lessons that I now wonder about... For instance, this morning I walked across a patch of frozen grass and Howard Allen's voice popped into my head admonishing me that I had just crushed that grass and that when it thawed there would be brown footprints where I had trod. He would tell us this every winter to keep us from crossing the fields at HQ. Does anyone have a clue if this is true? I grew up in a Northern climate and for the life of me, don't remember seeing brown footprint marks on the new spring grass!! It makes no sense to me: the grass goes dormant in the cold and brand new blades grow up in the spring... what the heck was Howard talking about??? What (if any) stupid little teachings bother you these days?

After giving it some more thought, I've realized that I had a quest to be RIGHT, not just out a fear of being wrong, but because I believed the Bible TOLD me I should be questing to be right in God's eyes (study to show thyself approved). And after reading WD's comments, I've also realized that deep down, I do still quest to be right as much as possible. The difference is, I no longer think there is only ONE "right". And I no longer think that I am the only one who might come up with the best solution to any given situation. I am far more willing to have my eyes, ears, and heart open to the possibilities, rather than already having my mind made up about what I think is definitively right and definitively wrong. One of twi's big mistakes was it fell into cookie-cutter theology and one-mold-fits-all practices. All corps on the field had to dial in to Craig's rantings in order to be like-minded, everyone needed to be completely out of debt, everyone had to be an advanced class grad, no one should have family pets, all marriages should be fashioned after Craig and Donna's, everyone had to listen to the SNS tapes and teach on them that week in fellowships.... I could go on and on and on... I think that life is complex enough that what is right for one situation may be totally wrong for another. And while twi "SAID" that's what they believed, anyone who lived through it knows they certainly didn't practice it !!!

WG, now that you mention it, I remember thinking how very wonderful she looked in her later years... but it was too long after VPW's passing for me to put two-and-two together. It certainly makes sense! I certainly had a lot of folks tell me how much younger/better/happier I looked when I left twi, spouse, and most of the stress in my life in one swift stroke.

It makes a lot of sense! Thanks for the insight... it certainly applies to what I went through. THW

Well, in my case "needing to know" was a natural result of transitioning between childhood and adulthood... standing on the brink of who knew what and being afraid to give it a try 'alone'. I was looking for a crutch and they gave me one. I think my current "not needing to know" is a result of experience and maturity that comes with just living life. Let's face it, you can't get to be (cough) our age (cough) without experiencing some highs and lows and realizing that life keeps on going, and its okay. That knowledge is my crutch now, when things get tough.

Oh, my, gracious... that was the FUNNIEST thing I've seen in a long time!!! (I just wonder what folks who have never heard of twi will think???) Big thanks to whoever put that together. Good parody is hard to do. And this was good!

Ditto, Belle. Having all the answers (or even most of them) just isn't very critical to me anymore.

Well, here's my uninformed opinion: If it was a parody of AOS, it might have been yanked because that particular site doesn't want to get into debates and opinions about twi, just wants to be a way for folks to reconnect. If ti was truly done in a "Rocky Horror-esque" manner it might have been pulled if the content was a bit too 'much'.

Great post Skyrider!! Edi, I wish I'd had the sense to spend a season with twi and get out when I knew it was no longer beneficial... I got involved in twi when I was attending college. At first, it was the knowledge of God and the Bible I was after... being a bit too involved in school and a bit too remote from a regular fellowship to get too attached to the people or entangled in twi. But after I graduated and realized I held a degree that was a "wrong fit" for me I was really looking for some kind of counsel and direction in my life, and twi filled that role for me. I think if I had stayed single, I would have left twi in less than five years. Unfortunately I got married and transferred my willingness to be led to my spouse (who did anything and everything twi told him to do). By the time I realized I no longer had any input into my own life and was profoundly unhappy with the direction it had taken, I had no idea how to extricate myself and was afraid of the consequences of trying. I had to get to the point of not caring about the consequences before I could make the break. That was 20 years after joining twi.

I guess I'm saying I don't have a clue what you meant by that statement, and I'm trying to figure out why they would "up and leave" a site that was intended to be a place free of negatives...

So are you saying people were leaving negative posts on their page?

Hammie, I love your strange, sick, sense of humor!! THW

Not sure where you got THAT idea... To which I say, THANK GOD!!!

Well, growing up as a flatlander, I wouldn't have known the difference, either... What does a valley look like? \_/ What does a holler look like? \/ Flip those upside and you'll see the difference between a hill and a ridge. And you haven't lived until you've been in a car while the locals do what's called "ridge runnin'" which is driving way too fast on a narrow, winding, two-lane road that is reminiscent of a roller coaster, with the terrain going downhill on both sides of you, lol. By the way, I have a friend who adores possums and has hand-raised ophans to re-release into the wild. I've watched her hand-feed them grapes and other bits of fruit. They are actually cute, until they open those long mouths and you see a solid row of very pointy, very sharp little teeth!!!