• Perspective. The number one reason I post on any Internet forum is to get perspective. As I just noted, here there are people spread out across the globe, most of whom can provide a new way of looking at any given topic that will provide new insight into it. In the heart of suburbia, this is just not possible. Insulated in upper-level classes where I see the same 40 or 50 students over a week, there is relatively no variety in opinions. The Internet in general provides some intellectual stimulation in this regard that I simply cannot get from the "real world." But still then, why MT? Why not some international forum where even more views would be present?
  
  
• Interaction with other music-lovers. Duh. Not only is there no diversity in perspective where I live, but there is also a very limited amount of music-lovers. Most of the people that claim to be music-lovers have never done any active listening or searching for new music. How can anyone with such a small appetite for music be considered a music-lover? MT provides me with a connection to others who live and breathe music. But yet again, why MT? There are plenty of other music sites on the web, many of which could provide me, again, with greater perspective, being larger and reaching a bigger audience. Why don't I flock to one of them?
  
  
• A sense of community. I like to think I had something to do with the tight-knit community here, lol. It's true that we might not be as tight as we once were as many people have moved on and with more advertising we're not as insulated from the rest of the Internet. But it's still nice to not only interact with other genuine music-lovers, but with people I actually enjoy talking to. MT has been blessed in a way with having a very low percentage of stupid users. Stop laughing. It's true. People here aren't idiots. They can hold intelligent conversations. But most importantly, and what I rate most highly, is that they don't just accept things at face value. Most people here think. Considering the dearth of people in the world that actually do that, it's quite something that I've managed to find (I won't use the word "build" ) a community of such people here. I've truly had a good time getting to know you all, which is something that you should give yourself a pat on the back for, because usually I don't give a crap about other people.
  
  
• Expanded musical horizons. I'm kind of backtracking here but in my time here, I have become much more appreciative of music in general and my tastes in music have expanded greatly. Not all of my favorite bands were necessarily recommended by MTers, but most of them I would never have even listened to if the diverse music tastes of the community here hadn't inspired me to diversify my own musical taste. And I think that's worth having people stare at me blankly when they ask me who my favorite artists are.
  
  
• Improvement in my writing. If you're bored and this post has you feeling just as pathetic as me, an interesting exercise might be to wade through the Writer's Corner and look at my recent topics versus the one's I made toward MT's beginning. The difference is really night and day. I've all but abandoned everything I wrote 3 years ago because the quality of my writing has improved so much, partly from the crits I've received, but mostly from just reading pieces but some of the other fantastic writers here. Without this site, I am confident that not only would my writing still suck, but I would definitely not have the interest I have in writing that I do today. I went from someone looking at careers in mathematics and accounting to a person locked in on a career involved with writing where I can exercise my creativity daily. In that way, I guess I can say that MT changed my life.
  
  
• Improved knowledge of music theory and guitar playing. If it wasn't for Blake's million articles about music theory, I would definitely still know jack shit about music theory. Now I've got the foundations down and I will definitely take classes when I get to college to build on that. I also became a lot more driven in playing guitar once MT got started, which I'm not sure I would have kept up with otherwise.
  
  
• Improved Spanish! Nunca habría tomado la clase de español AP sin tu ayuda, Ana. Mi español ha mejorado muchísimo pero también he aprendido tanto sobre los idiomas en general y ahora tengo un gusto genuino en los idiomas. Y es más que ser una puta de gramática. Mil gracias por tu ayuda con todas esas tareas interminables, Ana. Pero, por favor, no corrijas este post.
  
  
• Coding knowledge. This one was a weird side effect, but I've had to learn a bunch of coding languages in addition to all the weird ins and outs of domains, hosting, FTP, forum softwares, and everything else that goes with running a website. I've also had to work with graphic design and a bunch of other things that I would have never dreamed of previously. It's something that I've really come to enjoy. I find that one of my most satisfying feelings is the accomplishment of figuring out how to code something. I love the analytical problem-solving aspect. And I surely would have never found it if it wasn't for this place.

Attached to this post:

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R0CKER1220

Apr 5 2009, 10:17 PM

EDIT: Aww, how touching . I was able to understand that section in Spanish .

Ryth

 

Oh, Morgan.

ana

 

that's a lovely 10,000th post, Morgan. me alegro de que MT sea algo más que un mero entretenimiento para ti, porque todo lo que es MT y todo lo que hemos aprendido los demás ha sido gracias a ti.

y por cierto, ese post no necesita ninguna corrección.

rockon1824

Apr 5 2009, 10:08 PM

Oh, and in before Dante makes some stupid comment that I ban him for. XD