Someone quite rightly asked how it is possible, if Open Space re-opened just this week, that I could be listed as having joined in September 2002. Time travel? Bilocation? No, not exactly.
Actually, as some here will remember, TZF's Open Forum used to be on Arborwood.com's server. Shortly after we closed it, I came across phpbb.com, which provides the software that drives the current Open Forum. It's free, and so I downloaded it, and installed it on OLM.net's server, where TZF itself is parked. That was back in 2002. It took me a while to figure out how to use the software, and then, one thing led to another, and the next thing I knew, it was 2005. And here we are.
While I was learning how to use the software, I created several personalities, in order to discover how posting, replying, private messaging, and so on, worked. I'd log on as one of them in Netscape, another in Internet Explorer, still another in Opera, and have them post, reply, and message each other. Each had its own username, of course, and avatar. Over the months, it became a little family, and last week, when I had to do them all in before turning on the lights and opening the doors, I almost felt a brief pang of regret. "Bye, guys."
How quickly discarnate, lifeless forms can seem (can be?) real. The mind is an extraordinary phenomenon.