one year at the TD

All,

One of the very first things I did when I got my first computer last
Christmas was join the tuning digest. And as I've stumbled -- often
painfully and awkwardly -- my way through trying to learn how to both
use the computer (email etc., *etc.*) and best participate in this
(very new to me) sort of a public or group discussion I feel that I
have learnt a lot (even if it doesn't always show the way I might hope
that it would).

I had found out about (and joined) the TD on the advice of Neil
Haverstick, and up until that point I had only the slightest smidgen
of a perspective on tuning theory and tuning history, and I personally
think that the daily back and forth of this forum is a wonderful way
to accelerate an understanding of this topic: If you have specific
questions, ask... your bound to get some useful feedback. And if some
(or a lot) of what is discussed here seems difficult to get a handle
on, and you don't quite know how to best formulate questions about it,
stick around... most topics are repeatedly (and somewhat cyclically)
gone over and over again, and it has been my experience that most all
of them are easy enough for most anyone (who desires to do so) to
eventually get a handle on.

I had a pretty good heap of tuning ideas and ways of going about
things long before I joined the TD, and though these are still my
primary interest and ways of going about things (rather than a
thoroughgoing understanding of tuning and it's history), I'm really
very grateful for what I've been able to technically pick up and
better understand from the frequent theory oriented postings of folks
such as Erlich, Keenan, Lumma, Monzo, Hahn (and anyone else I'm
forgetting to mention) here at the TD.

I've also (hopefully...) learned a fair bit about better interacting
with such a large group of fairly diversified opinions and interests
in this (sometimes difficult and often curious) interactive
communication medium... and as I've always been more than a bit
stubborn and never much of one to shun a good fight, it took me a
couple of regrettable yelling and yapping fits (my belated apologies
to Pat Pagano and Ray Tomes...) to learn that this was not the way I
that I either wanted to interact with people or conduct myself...

So as I wrap-up a year here at the TD, I'm mostly just thrilled to
know that there is indeed an active place that I can turn to keep my
hand on the microtonal pulse so to speak... a place to satisfy my own
curiosities, get a better generalized picture of what's going on, and
occasionally roll out my own ideas, music, and whatnot to what is
probably going to be one of their more receptive audiences... It's
been a joy and a continued learning experience - my thanks to everyone
who's made it so.

(looking forward to another productive year at the TD), Dan