Please don't forget to read the bulletin board. Enter +read from anywhere.

Since there were no Earth shattering, Stop the presses, U. N. Resolution breaking, four star alert news stories this week, I thought I'd take the opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

In this season of peace and joy, I hope everyone will take on the spirit of the holiday and practice 'good will towards men' (And women, and of course all those who aren't exactly Human!).

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.
~Agnes M. Pharo

The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas.
~W. C. Jones

Whatever else be lost among the years, Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing: Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears, Let us hold close one day, remembering Its poignant meaning for the hearts of men. Let us get back our childlike faith again.
~Grace Noll Crowell

So, Christian, Jew, American, Canadian, furry, scaled, or neither, share with one another the good spirit and joy of this season.

May you have a most merry Christmas, and the happiest of new years.

Argon

Editor, @Action News

Hello, fellow Spindizzians! Adara here, with a note to you about the newly created Fuzzy Yarns Story Circle Guild! If you haven't already heard my annoying announcements, we will meet every Tuesday (unless announced otherwise) at 7:00 MUCK time (aka Pacific Time) in the Gaelic Ruin (S1 E1 from The Rose Garden). ANY AND ALL FURS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND! The more furs we have during our sessions, the more fun it is.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Story Circle idea, everyone meets in the Gaelic Ruin, and those who want to participate type 'join' (minus the quotations) to sit in the circle. Of course, if you just want to hear the story and not participate, that's fine too. Typing 'list' will allow you to see who's in the circle. Starting with myself or Tarka (the original creator of the Fuzzy Yarns and Story Circle), we will type up about a paragraph of an original story based on our weekly theme (last weeks theme was "Wild Wild West", this coming week's theme will be about Christmas and the holidays). We then pose or say "Pass" and the person who is next in line (again, type 'list' to see in what order the is going) and the next person will begin the story. If your turn is next and you want to type something, you must first type the letters 'st', and then continue the story. For example, if you want to put the sentence "Tarka went to the store" in the story, you would type "st Tarka went to the store" and it would show up as part of the story. If you do not want to contribute to the story at that time, you may simply just type or pose "pass", and the next person will take over

Story Circles will last anywhere from 2 to 3 hours, and you are free to leave at anytime (just type 'leave' to leave the circle). The story will end when,

• a) Tarka and I both have to leave.
• b) Furs are begging me "Please, put us out of our misery and and END THIS STORY!" (meaning there is no more interest in the story) or,
• c) Everyone has to leave, and we will continue the story next week.

For more information, or if I haven't been clear at all, go to,

• The Story Circle Rules,
• The main Story Circle page
• Or simply contact myself or Tarka.

Hope to see you there!

-Adara and Tarka

This past week, Butterfluff, local Fluff, was channel surfing in the Rose Garden, when it noticed a stylistic change in the popular TV program, "Martha Stewart Living." Gone were the non-threatening, neutral color schemes, and the summery off-white and denim outfits. They were replaced by a garish yellow on orange set, and a plethora of shades of black fabric. Stewart, former beauty contestant, current Greenwich, CT business tycoon, and probably soon to be Leavenworth, KS prison inmate, was heard to remark about this change, "Ve haff vays of makingk you stylish."

Among the other changes was the addition of a co-host: a ring-tailed lemur with a definite preference for German-speaking guests, and a violent way of expressing this preference. The lemur's attacks seem to signal the transition to the also-new musical portions of the show.

Television critics are split over whether the pressure has finally snapped Ms. Stewart, or if she is just setting up an air-tight insanity defense.

It's nice to have a room with a lot of details, but if you put them into the initial description, you could run into pages and pages of reading. That's what "look #edit" is for. I am going to make a wreath for the holidays. Detailing a room or yourself is very similar.

Butterfluff types @create Wreath <enter>
On the screen appears "Wreath created with number 10820."
Butterfluff types @desc wreath=A circle of greenery, with ornaments and lights fastened securely to the dark green wire framework. <enter>
On the screen appears "Description set."

Butterfluff types look #edit wreath <enter>
If you want to decorate a room, type look #edit here <enter>, if yourself, type look #edit me <enter>.

On the screen appears:

Fake Object Editor v1.3 -- by Jaffa Tamarin
Editing fake objects on Wreath(#10820)
Existing look-traps (_details) :
*none*

1. Make new or edit existing look-trap.
2. Delete existing look-trap.

Existing fake objects :
*none*

3. Make new or edit existing fake object.
4. Delete a fake object.

Enter '1' through '4' or 'Q' to QUIT.

"We are going to make a look trap called 'greenery'. A look trap is there, but doesn't show until you look at its specific title. A fake object would show up when you looked at the wreath."
Butterfluff types 1 <enter>.
On the screen appears:
Enter name of look-trap.
Note: look-trap names can have aliases separated by ';'.
To select an existing look-trap it is only necessary to enter one alias.

Butterfluff types "greenery;greens" <enter> It decided that someone might want to look at greens instead of greenery. Covering all the bases. Suddenly on the screen appears...
New look-trap -- enter description. Butterfluff enters "Pine boughs wired to the framework, some holly and a sprig or two of mistletoe." <enter>

On the screen appears
Fake Object Editor v1.3 -- by Jaffa Tamarin
Editing fake objects on Wreath(#10820)
Existing look-traps (_details) :
greenery;greens

1. Make new or edit existing look-trap.
2. Delete existing look-trap.

Existing fake objects :
*none*

3. Make new or edit existing fake object.
4. Delete a fake object.

Enter '1' through '4' or 'Q' to QUIT.
Butterfluff types Q <enter>.

On the screen appears "Done."

Butterfluff types look wreath's greenery <enter> and the screen shows:
Pine boughs wired to the framework, some holly and a sprig or two of misletoe.

That's the easy way. The fast way is this:

Butterfluff types @archive wreath <enter>.

[Start Dump]
@create Wreath=10=tmp/thing1
@tel $tmp/thing1=me
@link $tmp/thing1=
@propset $tmp/thing1=str:/_/de:A circle of greenery, with ornaments and lights fastened securely to the dark green wire framework.
@propset $tmp/thing1=str:/_details/greenery;greens:Pine boughs wired to the framework, some holly and a sprig or two of misletoe.
[End Dump]

Butterfluff points to the @propset $tmp/thing1=str:/_details/greenery;greens:Pine boughs wired to the framework, some holly and a sprig or two of misletoe.
"That's the same as the look #edit. To use it, you type:
@propset wreath=str:/_details/<name or names of details>:<Desc of detail>
If you have a word processor, you can do a lot of them in a hurry.
Butterfluff copies a bunch of the "@propset wreath=str:/_details/" lines, then fills them in:
@propset wreath=str:/_details/ornaments:gold and silver bells and globes, with some real oranges studded with cloves.<enter>
@propset wreath=str:/_details/lights;light:Tiny bright white lights, with a twinkle to them.<enter>
@propset wreath=str:/_details/frame;framework:Thin but sturdy, this wire framework is enamelled a dark green.<enter>

Butterfluff smiles and pastes the three new details onto the screen, then sits back to look at its new wreath.

Starting now, I will be calling attention to the new members of our community every other week. (Editor's Note; ...with the permission of each of the new folks featured, of course. Folks who don't want to be featured in this series, will of course, have that wish fufilled.) This is not to embarrass them, but rather I do it in the hopes that it will encourage everyone to give them a special welcome and friendship.

The following members are new to our community as of a week or two ago at most. Please give them a warm welcome and offer assistance if needed. Who knows, you might even make a new friend or two!

• SakuraSakura - Female Human
• Wild - Female Kitten
• Oshkshfox - "I'm Oshkshfox, an overall wearing foxyboy soon to be in Ohio! ::waves and goes back to playing with his legos::"
• Anidew - Female Centaur "I'm not much of a chatter, more of a Role Player"
• Wind-Dancer - Female Red Panda (Firefox!)
• BarterGarter - Female Garter Snake "Ask about our holiday specials!"

Argon told folks, "I'm doing a survey to be published in @Action News. The question this week, suggested by Cye is, 'What would you like most for Christmas?'"

• MaxSkunk says, "I would like more then any thing else in the world, to spend Christmas snuggled in front of a warm fire with my Abbie-Kat"
• Cye smiles. "50ft tall friends to have Christmas with n.n
• Lupinetiger hmm, a lady friend who has an athletic type bod...proprotional sizes...
• Wind-Dancer says, "I think the thing I'd like most for Christmas would be lots of hugs and snuggles. :)"
• Ba'ar growls, "Realistically Argon? My old job back at Express Scripts."
• Gina_Doberman says, "A better computer!"
• Slug clicks, "I want three more wishes."
• Butterfluff would like its friend the typist to be healthier in the upcoming year. And everyone else, too.
• PatchO'Black mews, "Happiness, health, and good fortune for all my friends and family!"
• Gilead chirps, "My twelve front teeth? No, they're still in me. Um... A cure for ferret adrenal disease."
• Gollum, as a Christmas wish, would like to have its Ring back, please?
• SakuraSakura says, "I slaready said. My own personal hot springs."

Dear Santa,

I have been a good boy this year. I have cleaned my plate. I have made my bed. I have stopped sniffing paint and torturing flies. I have only made one D and two F's this year in school. I would have done better but I was in jail for 3 months for that thing with the squirrels and the glue.

Here is what I would like for Christmas. A football. A Sony Playstation. The new C D by Dark Nemisis. A magnifying glass. A knife. A shotgun. A tank. An A-bomb. And a puppy.

I will leave some cookies and milk by the fireplace for you. Don't worry about rat poisin. I put it all in my mom's gin.

Your friend,
Jimmy

Dear Jimmy,

I think you need a present that Santa can't bring you.

Please call 1-GET MEA PSYC. You'll like the nice young men in their clean white coats.

Argon,
Editor, @Action News

Submitting a story or artwork for @Action News is easy! Just send it to newspaper@spindizzy.org or qmail or page Argon about it.
@Action News is published weekly on or after 12:01 AM Eastern Time on Sunday. Most any type of story or article will be accepted. Generally, we'd prefer things that aren't out and out lies or flames about other folks, and have a basis in the reality of SpinDizzy. Things that occur in public areas are fair game. The things reported don't have to have actually happened, (any more than anything that happens here does) but make sure you don't overstep the social boundaries and rules of interaction that we have. These are pretty broad guidelines, but we expect good sense to apply.

Thanks! Argon, Editor @Action News