Good morning, all. I've now been a member here for 11.5 years!  Wow. Hard to believe. When NOTH first started, all I knew about Cloudeight was its Stationery and newsletter.  I learned about the Hill from the newsletter--and joined only 6 weeks after NOTH was formed.  The best thing I've ever done online!   I've learned so much from them. 

One of the  first things I do in the morning is open my NOTH account. Well, as 'staff', I often log in whenever I wake up at night--to check for possible spammers, etc.  Then I log off & go back to bed.  Hard to remember back to when I could actually sleep through the night! But since I do wake up frequently, I figure it's no big deal to 'check in' when I do. And, of course, I do log in frequently during the day as well. 

Since Admin is busy with a full time job & other Cloudeight duties, as Staff I'm the 'middle person'--I take complaints & either do something about them or pass it on to Admin, etc.  It's my 'job' to remind people of the Rules here.

What I have always liked about the Hill is that we can  be 'ourselves'. Yes, at some point, I did try a competitive site. Not only was it 'impersonal', but it was rather risque--definitely not for me.    NOTH is a 'family site'. We have members' grandchildren also 'visiting' and some even have accounts here.  And our median age is probably in the 60's. Or higher, lol. (I haven't done any 'checks') 

As I just posted in a Bulletin: with me, what you see is what you get.  I see no reason to hide who I am.

My name is Dianne...which all the 'old timers' know; and I usually put Altara/Dianne on my 'sigs' (signature tags).   Even though I don't "take" a very good photo, I almost always use my picture as my Profile Pic.  Of course, since I have a 2nd page, I sometimes use an 'avatar' there, just to be different, lol.   I guess I'm in the minority of a recent poll: who said they prefer a 'photo' of their  friends.  I like to know 'who' I'm friends with, who I'm talking to, etc.   It's fine if you prefer an Avatar; but I don't.  As I said, with me, what you see is what you get--and I want people to 'know' me. When I answer forum posts, it's nice to be able to use a 'real' first name--so that people realize I do "know" them.

My personal preference is an open page where everyone can leave a comment; however, I've had to monitor that because some people simply don't pay attention to what we've 'suggested' over the years.   Most of us 'old timers' prefer maybe 1 graphic per comment (yes, even those like me who really love graphics!)--and 'smaller' (not HUGE) graphics, which stretch out a person's page if they aren't using the 'limit code'.   While I appreciate all comments, I still prefer a 'limit'. Some of us even prefer a private message, rather than a bunch of graphics on our page.  And many of us now use Bulletins rather than leaving individual comments.  

I  believe our actual 'oldest' member is Billie, who is now  98 years old! That's amazing. Billie actually joined NOTH about 8 days before I did--so she's one of the Originals.  I treasure her as one of my Friends, for many years now.   Now, that doesn't include people who 'say' they are over 100, lol.  But I'm going by 'real age'.

Now, anyone who has looked at either of my pages will see that I 'limit' friends. 
I wish I had time/energy to visit each friend daily & leave a comment; but between health problems & all I do here, I just can't.  That's why it's extremely rare for me to add 'friends', on either page.  

I'm looking forward to actually doing a Christmas page this year--and visiting friends to leave greetings. Last year, I was in the hospital (twice!) during November--so I pretty much skipped Christmas! In real life as well as online. I'm really hoping this year is so much different!  Knock on wood: so far, so good.  I had a scare in September...but I'm much better now.  

PS--I do recommend not putting the names & ages of all your children/grandchildren on your page! Or going into detail about all of your life experiences. But otherwise, I see no problem in listing your 'likes, hobbies', etc.   I look at things like that, to decide who to invite to different groups. I made a 'graphic' that shows my basic info: 2 kids, 3 grandkids, and my main hobbies.    In order for anyone outside of NOTH to 'see' your info, they'd have to do a 'search' for your username. So it's not very likely to happen by 'chance'.