I don't think a generic web directory is very worthwhile these days. We are still keeping the old Open Directory Project going, now at curlie.org. But, now it is owned by one person who has their own idea of what matters. Software seems to matter more than getting people involved or helping them find it (again, or ever). One way or another I think the old directory is a bygone thing. Although I still like working on it and still (for some reason) can't leave it behind, I don't believe it is important any more.

But, I do think a list of links, better to think of it as a list of resources, about a specific topic, is a good thing and very useful. So I am still keeping and building my links for urban exploration and ASCII art and a few other things.

I have found that just an HTML list of links is a bit iffy. For some reason they end up a mess almost every time I have tried. Unless it is a very short list, three or so links. Larger lists seem to get muddled with HTML and one link gets the URL of another link and the original URL is lost, until you hunt for it again. It's frustrating. So I am using software, which has its own little battles and hurdles.

Here is my current list of useful software for keeping a list of resources (or web directory), specifically for WordPress and ClassicPress sites.

Link Library - I've tried others, may others, but I come back to Link Library. Not only is it steady, reliable and free to use (be kind and donate to support the plugin) but it brings out more features and is still in development and it works. It is huge when you first load it and try to work your way around. There is some help at GitHub, a wiki, which helps. Don't get discouraged or flustered, just keep working at it.

Simple Link Directory - I paid to use the pro version of this plugin. But, setting up links with categories is so confusing... I just wanted to stop spending so much time on just understanding how it works. I wasn't making progress, my links were sitting in text files waiting for me to add them but I kept having to add more categories that weren't categories because that's not how this works. Maybe its because I've worked in a web directory for so many years and got used to doing things in that way... but this never got simple for me.

Simple Links by Mat Lipe - This plugin is now closed, as of this month. I don't know why, likely assorted reasons. I still have my paid version. But, I never got it to set up my link lists the way I wanted them, even with the addons. It is a simpler plugin to work with than Link Library. If you can get, or still have, the paid version keep going with it.

Simple Link Library Plugin - Right now I'd say this is a back up plan. I did try it a little but it seemed to rely on the old core WordPress link plugin, which I already had. The screenshots look good and it says it has a broken link checker. It's one I'd keep a link around for.

Lastly, for people who keep lists of links I highly recommend Broken Link Checker. Although Link Library has this feature, others do not. Or, if you want to keep lists of links as regular posts to your site instead of using plugins, you really need something to help you keep track of which links have moved, changed, or bit the dust.

I had this domain almost 20 years ago. Let it go, or had it taken, I forget which really. But, it came back up on the domain search and I thought it would be fun to have it again. I might dig up my old HTML files and put up the old site again. (Minus the links to other sites, which will mostly be broken now). But, I have a lot of posts saved from so many sites I have written for or created myself. They could have a new home, a central location. An archive of myself for however long I last.

For those who want to know something about me, well, why? I'm no one really. Born and always lived in Ontario, Canada. Except for some years and months living in the Dominican Republic and the United States (married a US man and immigrated there awhile).  I really like Canada and being Canadian. Not perfect and there are things I would change if I were some kind of world domination ruler sort of person. Outside of my own fiction/ daydreams, of course. Overall, Canada is a good place to be.

At this time I am over 50 years of age. Not senile. Not especially physically fit but not near death. I can sew, cook and clean but I don't have an obsession with cleaning or germs. Some say I may be a hoarder but I think its lack of space. I live in a small house with my Mother, helping her for the last dozen or so years. I live in one room with a lifetime (or thereabouts) of stuff. So much I've let go of, had thrown out, lost, and etc. It's kind of nice to forget things, harder to remember them when they are gone. Like people.

Anyway, here we are. I've been online since 1996.

Laura Brown

I had an older account on Blogger but I deleted it (during my divorce) and the contents of the sites I wrote. I've tried to find them, no luck.

Blogger profile - one and two.

When did you last write something by hand. I'd even count a grocery list because people just seem to use their phone for even that small thing now. I miss handwriting. I still send greeting cards with short notes. When I was younger I wrote long letters, on stationary, to my Grandmothers and their sisters. None of them are still around and these days my handwriting is not quite so elegant, or legible, but I do my best and send out cards to nephews and nieces around the holidays. Not just Christmas.

I have postcards and letters I exchanged with people around the world when I was a teenager. Some from the Grandmothers and relatives who travelled and send a card to my parents, or even myself. Some postcards I bought just because I like the historical photos of places I know or would like to know.

Paper doesn't last forever, but it lasts a good long time, barring fire or other disaster.

Write someone a letter, why not?

Research has shown that the general act of writing by hand can promote quite a few physical and mental benefits, from improving learning abilities to fostering a more positive outlook on life. And when it comes to writing that is used as a form of communication between two people, namely letters and postcards, the impact of such messages lasts far longer than any alternative version offered in our high-tech world. From the careful intentions of the sender to the value experienced by the receiver, no true match exists for this old-time, traditional means of conversation.

Source - 9 Reasons Not To Abandon The Art Of The Handwritten Letter

It is a good idea to be friendly when there are dragons around.

My name is Laura. I was born in the year of the dragon, more than 50 years ago, in a large city in Ontario, Canada. I've been online since 1996, mostly meeting people in IRC. Later I began making ASCII art. I've published with and for various online publications and networks.

I don't know why anyone would want to read about my early years, my education, my career and all that stuff. My Daddy wasn't very nice to me. I attended Centennial College at the Warden Woods campus, the building has since been demolished. That's a far more interesting fact than anything else here, in my opinion. It's eerie to remember walking through those hallways knowing they no longer exist. Since not quite graduating college (I was working as well and ran out of money to support both college and my apartment) I have worked in factories, stores (cashier and customer service) and technical support. I have also built and maintained all my own websites while never quite learning enough HTML (in my opinion, few people making websites for other people really know enough, or much).

Now I should tell you my biggest failures and achievements. I failed to have children, I would have liked one to five of them. I had my fortune read once and I was supposed to have five children. Where did they end up? Just never born? Kind of gruesome to tell you where I really think they ended up. There are so many things people don't want to hear these days. Their tender little ears, their over sensitivity to everything. While ignoring things that matter. Have you ever read the story of The Emperor's New Clothes? Biggest achievements? How can I know, I'm not dead yet.

Do I sound mean? I'm not. I've always been very nice, kind, sweet, and have looked after other people a lot in my life. I don't like it. Being nice means you end up doing things you don't want to do, quite often. But, it does not mean you are stupid or a door mat. It also does not mean you get rewarded for it. A thanks is nice but I'm kind of past that too. When I am nice it is by my choice, not because I'm not smart enough to make some other choice.

The guide to writing your About page, which I have been following along with as I write this, says I should add social testimonials and proof now. I'm sorry but that's just not going to happen. I am not one of those bushy tailed young people selling stuff or making videos and podcasts online. No, my life is more like a modern fairytale. I always felt one of the worst things was to end up looking after other people and not really have a life of your own. How did this happen to me? But, it has. I did get married. I'm divorced, not a spinster. I'm the oldest of my siblings and I look after my Mother. She doesn't need a lot of help and she isn't senile or anything like that. Mostly she wants company and I'm an introvert with delusions of being the only person left on the planet. I've even picked out where I would live and planned how I would grow my own food and everything. Alone.

I tried to be a writer, horror, science fiction, mysteries and non-fiction too. I like photographing old houses, old buildings and things. I don't especially like organizing them, writing about them or sharing them. Taking the photographs is the part I like. The rest feels like an obligation. I make ASCII art. I wish I could get over this version of myself and make more of it. I used to draw stick figure cartoons which a few people (not related to me even) thought were good.

These days I've kind of given up on everything. If you one day say, or think, "it doesn't matter", know it is an unending sinkhole. If one thing doesn't matter where does it end? Does anything matter? Does a thing matter?

I don't want to write any more about myself. I used to be much more optimistic. I wonder if that will ever come back. Maybe this is just what happens to dragons as we get older.

Do you know the old song, The Cat Came Back? Written by Harry S. Miller, Christmas 1893.

I remember it as an old recording sung by a man with a deep voice and it was very haunting. People who went up in balloons never to be seen again. People exploding in mines in thousands of pieces, but the cat came back. It was one of those scary things you just seem to want more of, maybe to find out more, maybe to hear about survivors.

Turns out there are a lot of versions of the song. A lot of differences in the words. It’s a song anyone can add more verses to, because that’s how it has grown. I have found a good selection, some I remember from long ago and some new to me. You could (should) write more. Add to the legend of the cat that kept coming back.

Here are some of those I found, to inspire you:

The First Verse (Two Versions)

Now, old Mr. Johnson had troubles of his own. He had a yellow cat that wouldn’t leave his home! A special plan with deception as the key. One little cat—how hard could it be?

Old Mr. Johnson had trouble all his own He had a yellow cat that wouldn’t leave his home He tried in every way to keep that cat away Took him up to Canada and told him for to stay.

The Chorus

But the cat came back the very next day, The cat came back, we thought he was a goner, The cat came back, he just wouldn’t stay away.

Verses

Now the man around the corner swore he’d kill the cat on sight He loaded up his shotgun with nails and dynamites He waited and he waited for the cat to come around Ninety-seven pieces of the man is all they found.

Now the cat had company out in the back yard Somebody threw a boot and they threw it awful hard Hit the cat behind the ear ever so slight And down came a brick and drove him out of sight but

Gave it to man going up in a balloon Told him for to take it to the man on the Moon The balloon came down about 90 miles away Where he is now, I dare not say.

They gave it to a man going way out west Told him for to take it to the one he loved the best First, the train hit the curve, then it jumped the rail Not a soul was left behind to tell the gruesome tale.

Away across the ocean he did send the cat at last Vessel out alone today taking water fast People all began to pray the boat began to toss A great big gust of wind came by and every soul was lost.

On a telephone wire birds were sitting in a bunch Saw them up there & said he’d have ’em for his lunch Climbed softly up the pole until he reached the top Put his foot upon the wire & it gave him quite a shock.

At last they found a way this cat to really fix They put him in an orange crate on highway 66 Come a ten ton truck with a twenty ton load Scattered pieces of that orange crate miles down the road.

So I put him in a box and I tied it up quite well. I had some fellows help me and I paid them not to tell. We put it in a boxcar, the west-bound 7:10 The train pulled away and was never seen again.

So I took him to the harbour and I put in on a ship. I bid him bon voyage! for that oceanic trip! The captain was obligin’ and glad to help us out Tied him to the anchor so that there could be no doubt!

Some have an ending verse, like this. In some the cat lives and in others it doesn’t.

So Old Mr. Johnson’s story unfolds, A tale about a cat and the story is old. The reason why the cat just couldn’t stay away There were seven little kittens meowing in the hay, so.

My Verses (not as haunting as I’d like, something to work on)

Tied the cat to a brick thought that would do the trick Threw it down an old dry well The story he did not tell.

Sealed the cat in a specimen jar left it in the trunk of an old car The car went through the wreckers but he found him playing checkers