User talk:Elkman/Archive1

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Contents 1 RE: Moab, Utah 2 Minneapolis meetup 3 Parks 4 Hey look! Something nice. 5 Question 6 AfD vote 7 LOL 8 I am no troll 9 Spanjo 10 SuggestBot says hello back 11 stress 12 I-35 13 RE: The Incredible Melting Man move 14 Esperanza Newsletter, Issue #1 15 I'm back from my break 16 Minnesota 17 Minnesota state highways 18 Thanks for the welcome! 19 Esperanza Newsletter, Issue #2 20 UFPpavilion move 21 re:Glacier National Park 22 Stressed. 23 Coldplay 24 High-C 25 Wikistress 26 One week 27 RE: Welcome note 28 ?? 29 Glacier 30 Old Skool Esperanzial note 31 ==Chess== 32 Wiki Minnesota 33 Two Things 34 not vandalism 35 Re the whole de-bureaucrating thing 36 thanks 37 Glacier National Park 38 Re:Vacation 39 Keep a watchout 40 help please 41 Esperanza Newsletter, Issue #3 42 Esperanza 43 Barnstar 44 EWS23's Barnstar 45 Areas of a city; proper names? 46 wiki rules 47 Photos 48 Re : AfD for Wuice 49 Rmrfstar's RfA 50 Your vote on my RfA 51 Questions from a vandal 52 What is this all about? 53 Your RfC 54 Glacier National Park (US) 55 EWS23's RfA 56 Jay Cooke 57 Re:Redwoods

• Thank-you notes for RFAs have been archived here.

[edit] RE: Moab, Utah

Howdy, thanks for giving the Moab, Utah article the twice over. I need someone to double check every article I work on. That being said, I do have a question:

In this sentence:

"The city got it's name from...."

Isn't "it's" a pronoun for "Moab", and singular "posessive" of the word "name"?

WikiDon 17:26, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Minneapolis meetup

Hello Elkman. I'm contacting you since you are listed at Category:Wikipedians in Minnesota. I'm going to be at a conference in Minneapolis and am plannnig a Wikipedia meetup for October 8. If you are near Minneapolis at that time, please see Wikipedia:Meetup/Minneapolis. Angela. 20:34, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Parks

Thanks for improving Miesville Ravine Park Reserve, I appreciate it! Its nice to see another person working on MN parks. -Ravedave 21:14, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hey look! Something nice.

I saw on the AfD circus around spinweb that you'd been treated a bit roughly. I'd just like to say that I'm sory that happened, and that I hope that you've found Wikipedia to be (in general) much nicer than that.

If anyone is rude to you, don't be shy to let them know that it's not on. And if you are to shy to tell them, tell an admin (like me) about it. Civility is not optional.

brenneman^{T}{L} 12:10, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question

Thanks for letting me now, i'll answer it tomorrow, i'm a bit tired right now. Karmafist 05:04, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] AfD vote

Hi, I'm wondering by here after seeing your Wikiquette alert on yourself. My opinion you were quite entitled to cast your opinion on the AfD, but probably should have declared any major personal bias that you may have had. This is based on WP:AFD#AfD_etiquette: "If you are the primary author or otherwise have a vested interest in the article, say so openly, and clearly base your recommendations on the deletion policy." Also worth noting is that AfD is not a vote (but more of a consensus building discussion, therefore the reasons given are more important than the delete or keep bit). Hope that makes sense, but don't worry about it too much, I think it's pretty clear that you haven't done anything particular bad :) Petros471 18:28, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] LOL

I almost gave you an NPA warning for this edit, but then I realized you were referring to yourself. Why do you think your vote is stupid? It is in line with consensus. --TantalumTelluride 05:06, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Because I didn't reveal my biases in the VfD -- namely, that I had previously had some bad interaction with the members of the group in question. As User:Zompist put it, I was a "disgruntled ex-contributor" to the site. I'd describe my ousting from that site in far less charitable terms -- mainly that I had become really, really annoying. In any case, I shouldn't have voted. --Elkman - ^(talk) 05:11, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

I understand. It's no big deal. --TantalumTelluride 05:14, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I am no troll

I am a real person who loves sandwiches and i cannot understand why anyone else would CARE this much to remove accurate information about something that someone (myself) obviously cares this much about. For some of us, to paraphrase Jackie Mason, A sandwich is just as important as a country.

This is my first real article on the wikipedia and i can't believe how people are acting. it really sours me on the whole idea of the wikipedia. Like I said: I am no troll. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Indiebass (talk • contribs) 13:49, 9 March 2006.

[edit] Spanjo

The sandwich that will live forever! Loved your comment on the Hawkeye vodka AfD! Too funny! -- Samir ∙ T C 22:46, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] SuggestBot says hello back

...thanks for the fix. He's okay at suggestions but a lousy speller. -- ForteTuba 15:03, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] stress

Howdy Elkman. I put your userpage on my watch list, so I'll be on the lookout for any future vandalism. I hope you feel unstressed soon! Cheers. --Fang Aili 00:06, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

I'll have to say, that was a rather well worded piece of vandalism -- its amazing that someone who can string something like that together has to stoop to such a level :( I'm left wondering what on earth you could have voted for/against on AfD. Hope things get better for you soon! I'll help keep an eye out just in case they come back. .:.Jareth.:. ^babelfish 00:32, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

I hope you are able to de-stress soon. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy some relaxing coffee. -- Natalya 04:42, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

From an Esperanza member - keep your chin up, being vandalized is a bit of a badge of honour really; when my page attracts vandalism, that means that I am keeping the vandals on their toes. Like with sportspeople, the better ones tend to cop verbal attacks from their opponents (see sledging), which means that their opponents are scared of them. Have courage,Blnguyen | Have your say!!! 02:50, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I-35

Hey, no sweat about the infobox additions on I-35—doubly since you read up a little, realized why they were left out and changed it back to the consenus style. (You have no idea how much backstory those infoboxes have, actually.) It was a well-intentioned edit, and I look forward to whatever else you have to share with us about the road. —C.Fred (talk) 01:05, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] RE: The Incredible Melting Man move

Thanks for adding the "The" to the beginning of my article! You doing that saved me the trouble of trying to change it myself so that it will appear as a valid link on certain Wikipedia movie lists. Thanks again! Geoff27 18:14, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Esperanza Newsletter, Issue #1

Reach out Reach out is a program aimed at allowing users to bring issues that they have had in Wikipedia to a listening, sympathetic and caring audience: "No one can know how we feel if we do not say. We cannot expect to get understanding if we do not ask for it. No one will dispute that sometimes life's issues are too much for one person. It is fair to say that sometimes Wikipedia's problems fall under the same heading. This is a place where you can bring the bruises that can sometimes be got on this project for attention." Stress Alerts The Stress alerts program aims at identifying users who are stressed, alerting the community of thier stress and works in tandem with the Stressbusters at trying to identify causes of stress and eliminating them. Note from the editor Welcome to this new format of the Esperanza Newsletter, which came about during the last Advisory Council meeting - we hope you like it! The major changes are that each month, right after the Council meeting, this will be sent out and will include two featured programs and a sum up of the meeting. Also, it will be signed by all of the Advisory Council members, not just Celestianpower. Have an Esperanzial end of March, everyone!

The last AC meeting (full log) Future meetings are to be held monthly, not fortnightly as before. Bans and Access level changes (apart from autovoice) in the IRC channel are to be reported at the new log. In the IRC channel, there is going to be only one bot at a time. The charter requires members to have 150 edits and 2 weeks editing. Why this is the case will be clarified. A new Code of Conduct will be drafted by JoanneB and proposed to the Esperanza community. The NPA reform idea is to be dropped officially. Charter ammendments are to be discussed in future, not voted on. The Advisory Council is not going to be proposed to be expanded by the Advisory Council themselves, if others want to propose it, they will listen. Signed... Celestianpower, JoanneB, Titoxd, KnowledgeOfSelf and FireFox 17:47, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I'm back from my break

Hey Elkman, I'm back from my break as the headline says. :) Thanks for the comments, though I do not plan on being very active for a while I am back. KnowledgeOfSelf 16:21, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Minnesota

You can write them wherever - moving doesn't destroy the article. --SPUI (talk - RFC) 20:58, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

How about "Highway X (Minnesota)"? From what I can tell, MNDOT uses "Highway X", and (Minnesota) is standard disambiguation. Read Wikipedia:Pipe trick for information about easy linking to these. --SPUI (talk - RFC) 21:01, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

I made this edit to your user subpage. I hope you don't mind. blameless 03:27, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Minnesota state highways

I have seen some places where you say that you are incorrectly making Minnesota State Highway articles. Where are you making mistakes? From what I can tell is that you are one of the few working very fervently on WP:MNSH. Oh, and thanks for the category hacks, I couldn't figure out how to put them in the right sections on the category page. --Station Attendant 21:08, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks for the welcome!

Thanks for the welcome to Wikipedia. --ONUnicorn 15:17, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Esperanza Newsletter, Issue #2

Barnstar Brigade The Barnstar Brigade is a new program aimed at giving more very deserving yet unappreciated users barnstars. It will officially start on 2006-04-09, but signing up is encouraged before this date: "Here in Wikipedia, there are hundreds of wikipedians whose work and efforts go un-appreciated. One occasionally comes across editors who have thousands of good edits, but because they may not get around as much as others, their contributions and hard work often go un-noticed. Sadly, these editors often leave the project. As Esperanzians, we can help to make people feel appreciated, be it by some kind words or the awarding of a Barnstar. A project the size of Wikipedia has thousands of editors, so there are plenty of people out there who deserve recognition, one just has to find them. The object of this program is not to flood editors with Barnstars, but to seek out people who deserve them, and make them feel appreciated." Stress Alerts The Stress alerts program aims at identifying users who are stressed, alerting the community of thier stress and works in tandem with the Stressbusters at trying to identify causes of stress and eliminating them. Information Welcome to the second issue of the new format Esperanza Newsletter - we hope you still like it! This week, it was delivered diligently by our new dogsbody. MiszaBot (run by Misza13): any execution complaints should go to him. Content comments should be directed at the Esperanza talkpage. Thanks!

The last AC meeting (full log) The next elections: Approval voting as before and, also as before, an previous leadership member can run. Please submit your name for voting in the relevant section of this page. Voting starts on 2006-04-23 and ends on 2006-04-30. There will be three places up for grabs as KnowledgeOfSelf is leaving Wikipedia. Please see the previously linked page for full details. The Code of Conduct is now ready for extensive discussion! Specific comments should go to the Code of Conduct talk page, discussion of having one at all should be directed to the main Esperanza talk page. The current process for accepting proposals for new programs has been deemed fine. All Advisory Council members and the Admin Gen are to endevour to be bold when viewing discussion. If they feel that consensus has been reached, they will act accordingly. A plea from the editor... The propsed programs page is terribly underused! Please leave any comments, good or bad, on the page, to help us determine the membership's thoughts on the ideas there. Signed... Celestianpower, JoanneB, Titoxd, KnowledgeOfSelf and FireFox 19:53, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] UFPpavilion move

Thank you for your assistance

[edit] re:Glacier National Park

I do want to bring it to FA status, but it may be a cuple of weeks before I am ready to get cracking on it. I am really busy in real life the next couple of weeks. I will get back to you when I am more freed up.--MONGO 04:58, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stressed.

Hope the stress will be gone soon. Stressed backwards is Desserts! Everyone from EA Wishes you the best! --Actown ^e 03:35, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Coldplay

Thanks for your comments on the Talk:Coldplay page regarding Madchester's ill-advised placing of a 'vandalism' warning on my talk page, it's appreciated that somebody else could care less about this unacceptable behaviour. PS, If you havn't heard Coldplay you havn't missed much - as dull as dishwater! Cheers quercus robur 00:52, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] High-C

Why are you trying to get the High-C page deleted? I thought the critera was two indy releases? High-C has two indy releases listed. What is the deal? Jason Gortician 22:23, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikistress

• The guy claims that my wide monitoring of the fighting game character articles amounts of vandalism. I see this happening a lot in Wikipedia to legitimate editors who monitor pages; people cry "vandalism" and then it mounts to personal attacks and things get out of control. So, yeah, I'm a little bit worried. I hope my record will speak for itself. I've made some mistakes (mostly regarding Mitsuko Horie), but I've tried to be objective overall. Danny Lilithborne 01:19, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] One week

In one week, I will assist you on getting Glacier National Park up to FA status....just an update for you.--MONGO 01:51, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] RE: Welcome note

Thanks for the welcome note, I appreciate it. The AfD is not a big deal. As a side effect, I actually know now much more about what's going on here than before --Bardak 11:16, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit]  ??

I only touched the guys page because he asked me to

[edit] Glacier

I've started the stubs related the Glacier National Park (US) and am commencing the cited references and other areas. I hope to have the history section updated by the end of the week and then greatly expand the glaciers, geology, wildlife and recreation such as hiking etc. over the next week or two...have a look and help out..maybe that will get you away from problem users elsewhere.--MONGO 06:09, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Old Skool Esperanzial note

Since this isn't the result of an AC meeting, I have decided to go Old Skool. This note is to remind you that the elections are taking place now and will end at 23:50 UTC on 2006-04-29. Please vote here. Thanks. --Celestianpower ^háblame 20:42, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ==Chess==

Hey! Recently, I begun my own chess lounge. I have started a game for us, located here. You are by no means required to play, but I enjoy it because it's fun, and builds connections and the sense of community. See you around, zappa.jake (talk) 04:25, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wiki Minnesota

So I joined the Minnesota Wiki project, thanks for the invite by the way! As you may or may not have been able to tell, I have begun to clean up, add and re-write the articles for various cities. My goal is to get most of them updated and have somewhat more information that just the geography and demographics section (although this may take quite some time, because i am a student). But, i have started with cities in the west metro area of the twin cities and will make my way east. I have a certain format that i would like to keep consistent with all the articles, because i think it not only looks good, but makes for a better article. So, i dont know if you want to add anything about this to the wikipedia MN project page so other can possibly get involved and contact me with questions and concerns, otherwise, that is what i will be working on to contribute to the MN proj. Thanks again!--Gephart 20:55, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Two Things

First, thanks for that Bloomington logo. I screenshoted it and got it up on the page. Also, i am going to be working on the Bloomington article until it is complete, so if you have anything that you want to contribute let me know. I think i am going to get the major hennenpin county cities done and then move to ramsey county. I think its more important to get the major cities done and then from their move on to the smaller cities (like excelsior for example). Secondly, i appriciate your response about the Ave picture fight i had yesterday. I guess i just got really frustrated because the other user was being very arrogant and would not respond in a satisfactory way to my numerous requests. I have decided to drop the issue right now, but thanks for the input. --Gephart 21:29, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] not vandalism

Umm...not to be up front, but you say you can spot typos and grammar errors at a moment's notice...but I see one in the first sentence of your user page. I think you mean to say, "I live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and AM into inline skating, mountain biking, and snowboarding." It hardly grants credibility to your subsequent sentence.--Josh Rocchio 22:28, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re the whole de-bureaucrating thing

Hi, I never came to thank you for the message you left for me a month ago when I stepped down from being a bureaucrat. Thank you for the things you said, it's good to know there are still plenty of good people about in this project. I do not see myself standing for bureaucrat again anytime soon though who knows what the future may bring! Thank you once again. -- Francs2000 09:41, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] thanks

Hi Elkman - I deeply appreciate your kind words and encouragement. Even though we have not previously conversed, I know you are a brilliant Wikipedian and I take a lot of inspiration from you. Thanks again, Rama's Arrow 18:05, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Glacier National Park

I will not be working on it a lot the first half of the week coming up, but will resume if I get the time. Maybe a minibreak from it will allow me to absorb some of the research I have read...good work on those stubs too...looks good.--MONGO 11:36, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Do you believe that we need to use the cite template for cited references? Take a look at Geology of the Capitol Reef area and see if you can explain to me what style he(Maveric149) used here...it looks okay, but I prefer full references in the csection below. thoughts?--MONGO 05:19, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re:Vacation

Thanks. My flight was postponed. I have to wait for another day to go to Italy. The League of Crazy Men 10:59, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Keep a watchout

Wikipedia:Peer review/Glacier National Park (US)--MONGO 09:18, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] help please

Hi Elkman, thanks for the tip. Merecat really needs help now. Can you help him, please. The spirit of a true Esparanzan is a helpful one.thewolfstar 22:51, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

• I'm not sure what I can do to help, other than encouraging him not to repeat the same behavior that got him blocked in the first place. In general, I'm loathe to reward breaches of policy just in order to help someone. I don't want to help an individual if it means hurting the rest of the Wikipedia community. --Elkman - ^(talk) 00:25, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Esperanza Newsletter, Issue #3

Administrator Coaching The Administrator Coaching program is a program aimed at preparing Wikipedians for Adminship or helping them understand the intricacies of Wikipedia better. Recently, changes have been made to the requirements of coachees. Please review them before requesting this service. This would be something like the Welcoming Committee, but for people who have figured out the basics of editing articles; they're not newcomers any more, but they might want some help in learning new roles. Some might like suggestions about how to learn vandal patrol, or mentoring on taking an article to featured status, or guidance with a proposal they plan to make at the Village Pump, for example. In this way, Esperanza would help keep hope alive for Wikipedia because we would always be grooming the next generation of admins. Stressbusters The Stressbusters are a subset of Esperanza aiming to investigate the causes of stress. New eyes on the situation are always welcome! Note from the editor As always, MiszaBot handled this delivery. Thank you! Also, congratulations go to Pschemp, Titoxd and Freakofnurture for being elected in the last elections! An Esperanzial May to all of the readership!

The last AC meeting (full log) Posting logs of the Esperanza IRC channel are explicitly banned anywhere. Violation of this rule results in deletion and a ban from the channel. A disclaimer is going to be added to the Esperanza main page. We are humans and, as such, are imperfect. Various revisions have been made to the Code of Conduct. Please see them, as the proposal is ready to be ratified by the community and enacted. All members will members to have to re-confirm their membership after accepting the Code of Conduct. Referendums are to be held on whether terms of AC members should be lengthened and whether we should abolish votes full stop. Admin Coaching reform is agreed upon. Signed... Celestianpower, JoanneB, Titoxd, Pschemp and Freakofnurture 20:29, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Esperanza

Argh, not you too... really, I hate seeing such good editors leave Esperanza over this dispute. Would you be willing to take some time to reconsider leaving? Richard hardly spoke for the group as a whole. Tijuana Brass^¡Épa!-E@ 04:01, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Yeah... seems that you and Nathan were the straws that broke the camel's back. I haven't been around long enough to notice the tension, it seems, but there's a sad irony in watch so many Esperanzans leave. For what it's worth, thanks for keeping the door open, along with taking the time to drop a note on my talk page. Hope you'll be back. Tijuana Brass^¡Épa!-E@ 07:21, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Barnstar

[edit] EWS23's Barnstar

Elkman,

Thank you so much for the barnstar. I can't realistically speak for the entire organization, but personally I will welcome back everyone who left with open arms should they choose to return. I hope your stress will go away over time. Best of luck in everything, EWS23 | (Leave me a message!) 18:37, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Areas of a city; proper names?

I noticed that you edited Nicollet Island to reflect the idea that Northeast Minneapolis is a proper name. Actually, the northeast part of Minneapolis isn't a separate city; it's just a region bounded (roughly) by Hennepin Avenue on the south, the Mississippi River on the west, the northern border with Fridley and Columbia Heights, and the eastern border with St. Paul. (Stop me if you're from the area and you know this already.) Since there's no city named "Northeast Minneapolis", I don't think "Northeast" is supposed to be capitalized. Then again, I'm not sure if there's a rule for this. Do you know if there's a specific rule? --Elkman - ^(talk) 20:03, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

I know that it's not a separate city. Like many areas within that and other cities, its name is nonetheless a proper name. The area called Southeast Minneapolis cannot properly be called southeast Minneapolis, with a lower-case initial "s", because it is NOT the southeastern part of Minneapolis. The name "Southeast Minneapolis" is a proper name and has official status. Similarly "Northeast Minneapolis". Michael Hardy 20:48, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

• Next time, I should look at who created the article in the first place, and make an attempt to figure out if they actually live in the city. Maybe I should have kept my grubby little paws off the article and not said anything about a subject in which I'm ill-informed. --Elkman - ^(talk) 14:52, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] wiki rules

just thought you should reread the rules you have posted before commenting on others' entries.

most notably:

Respect your fellow Wikipedians even when you may not agree with them. Be civil. Avoid making personal attacks or sweeping generalizations.

"this is wikipedia, not a lockerroom" is not an appropriate way to evaluate a user's entry, IMHO.

thanks. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.8.33.33 (talk • contribs) 20:40, 12 May 2006.

• I don't remember making any sort of comment like that. If this has something to do with Totse, my edit summary was "rm any mention of spamming; this is a forum war and not encyclopedic". I didn't say anything about Wikipedia not being a locker room. If you can actually point out the article where I said this, let me know; I'd like to see it. --Elkman - ^(talk) 02:59, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Photos

Thanks for the ideas! The weather wasn't the best for photos last week so I decided to do it this upcoming week. I'll do whatI can....that's a real project you talked about. That would be really fun to tackle...Rx StrangeLove 01:40, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re : AfD for Wuice

Done, apologies for the oversight. - Best regards, Mailer Diablo 06:48, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rmrfstar's RfA

Hello! Would you please respond to my query of your oppose vote in my RfA? You say I was "short tempered" with Speedway... what exactly leads to this conclusion? -- Rmrfstar 17:46, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Your vote on my RfA

Thanks for taking the time to comment; I've addressed your concerns (as well as Jonathunder's) on the page. Would you be so kind as to review them and let me know if there are specific things you would like me to attend to? Thanks, dewet|✉ 06:15, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Questions from a vandal

ELKMAN WHAT IS YOUR DEAL? DO YOU SIT ON WIKIPEDIA ALL DAY LOOKING FOR "VANDALISM"? ANSWWWERRR MEEEEEEEEEE —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 167.206.174.75 (talk • contribs).

• I spend mornings and afternoons looking for vandalism. During the evenings, I write articles about bridges. Thank you for your query. --Elkman - ^(talk) 16:30, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

HOW OLD ARE YOU MR. ELKMAN?

• Old enough to know better than to vandalize. --Elkman - ^(talk) 15:59, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What is this all about?

I seem to be missing something...what is this all about? Wikipedia:Requests for Comment/Elkman--MONGO 04:29, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Do what you think is best, but I think you've done nothing wrong...a troll is a troll is a troll.--MONGO 04:35, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Thank you (I think) for inviting me to comment on your RFC. However, I feel that I cannot endorse your description of events because I'm only familiar with events 2 & 5.

I think you took my comment as directed toward you when it was actually directed towards nathanrdotcom and, to a lesser extent, JCarriker and CelestianPower. Or, maybe my comment was just a convenient excuse.

I cannot attest to the truth or completeness of the entire sequence of events as I am only familiar with events 2 & 5.

I will say that I doubt that you singlehandedly caused Esperanza to self-destruct. First, I think that is overestimating your influence. If Esperanza did lose members, it's not just because of you. Nor, I hope, was it because of me.

Read this series of comments which was posted shortly after you left.

What the heck happened around here while I wasn't paying attention? Our leadership going on wikibreak, Pschemp leaving?, etc. What? — Ilyanep (Talk) 00:36, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Somebody said something nasty on IRC; and then, "For want of a nail..." ;-) Kirill Lokshin 00:52, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

What?! I see like five members that I respect leaving in the past few days >:\ — Ilyanep (Talk) 02:06, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

The community is trying to address their concerns. Please don't let the negativity get to you. :) -JCarriker 02:26, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Wuff. Is this really all from the IRC/bot discussion? I read part of that log and it didn't seem to be all that bad. Maybe I missed something. Seems to me there are deeper issues to cause people to start leaving. I apologize if my posts to this page have contributed to any of the discontent and unhappiness. I thought I was making a couple of relatively minor squawks but I seem to have unwittingly done so at a time when Esperanza was under a considerable amount of stress. I had no idea Esperanza was in such fragile shape. --Richard 02:32, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

A good assesment of the situation. It seems to be a snowball effect bringing longstanding and diverse discontent to the surface. I only wish these concerns could have been addressed before we got to this point. -JCarriker 02:49, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Don't be too hard on yourself. If you want to rejoin Esperanza, do so and try to cool it.

--Richard 05:19, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Your RfC

I am sincerely confused by your RfC. From what I've read from it, it seems like you're interpreting various events in such a way that you see yourself as having "single-handedly caused the collapse of Esperanza". First of all: yeah, I think you overreacted, but you definitely did not cause any collapse, if there had been any. I think you took Richard's comment too personally - and all that came after that had very little to do with you. Yes, there have been some stressfull things going on, and there was a lot of arguing going on, and yes, people decided to leave, but again: that was not caused nor seriously influenced by either your comment or your your leaving. Whether you decide to rejoin Esperanza or not, please drop the issue, for in cases like these, going over a conflict over and over again is far from constructive. --JoanneB 12:57, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Glacier National Park (US)

Glacier is now a featured article...congrats!--MONGO 02:00, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, I saw that Redwood National and State Parks was commented [1] as being the worst article in wikipedia, so I've started almost from scratch on that one. I'm kind of working it the same format as Glacier, but there are no glaciers, and the empahsis is the trees and ecosytem mainly...it should be a shorter article I think...still have to add fauna, climate, some mention about the seacoast, images...I know a good source for some of those, and recreation, etc. and the existing sections I have added can always use copyediting.--MONGO 03:49, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] EWS23's RfA

Hi Elkman! Thank you very much for your support of my request for adminship, and thanks again for the barnstar. I'm saddened to hear that you feel responsible for the recent problems at Esperanza- I assure you it was not your fault, and there were MUCH bigger underlying problems. If you ever feel like talking, feel free to leave me a message or send me an email. EWS23 | (Leave me a message!) 03:13, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jay Cooke

Thanks for the info! I plan on taking as many pics as I can there. Hopefully I can get a good one of a ladyslipper too for WP:FPC. I also plan to get verification that the park is infact named after Jay Cooke the railroad tycoon. -Ravedave 21:14, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Re:Redwoods

Don't worry about it...I will add sections as I have time and you can fix my usual typos and help as you feel interested...I haven't been to the park either, so it's kind of a learning process for me too.--MONGO 07:31, 25 May 2006 (UTC)