Hornets' Nest

Toto's Tidings

Hi All,

Welcome to Toto’s Tidings. I am pleased to share my enthusiasm for Internet Bridge and especially for the players I have met. I began playing in February 2000 and during that time I was a journalist for The Boca Raton News. I wrote a weekly commentary column and began to include stories about my experiences. They were well received by my readers, including non-players. I soon had enough stories to write a book, Playing Around…My Adventures on the Zone.com. MSN loved the book and sponsored me. I have also written articles for the MSN Community site.

Now that I play on BBO I have discovered even greater joy. I will begin with some highlights from the past, and add new profiles and articles of interest with the focus on fun. I shall leave the technical aspects of Bridge to the experts.

I have chosen a popular subject for my first tiding. I think many of you might find yourself included or know some of the players who are. Additional articles will be dated and appear in ascending order.

Toto_311        aka Dorothy Rosencrans

Playing Around...My Adventures on the Zone.com can be ordered through Amazon, Barnes & Noble online, or through local book stores. I have discounted it for members and for an inscription and autographed copy please contact me at dorothyr311@msn.com.

“In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes,” pronounced artist Andy Warhol in the 1960’s. It became a catch all phrase without much thought given to its meaning.

As a writer, I felt I had a modicum of fame for many years. I was known to my readers although they were most often not known to me.

Now we must remember that Warhol’s words were spoken before the advent of the Internet.  Had he lived after that, his statement would have been more appropriate or perhaps not made at all.

I achieved distinction when I moved to Boca Raton and wrote more frequently and began to meet many of my readers. Perhaps that was my fifteen minutes.

Then, in October 2003, my book about playing bridge on the MSN Zone Game Site was published. Microsoft loved the book and chose to sponsor me.  I appeared in an interview on the MSN Zone and the book was advertised there. I was sent on a five city book and media tour. I was interviewed by newspapers in several major cities,and appeared on radio and television.  By the time I was interviewed on CNN, I was known by a wider audience than ever before.

When MSN closed their bridge site, I switched to playing on a wonderful site known as Basic Bridge Online. Many players knew me from the Zone and began to question me about my book and myself. My favorite line was to tell them to look me up on any search engine and they will learn everything about me except my weight. At that time, I thought the online stories about me were limited to the book I wrote and the articles for MSN. I never checked it out thoroughly, until last week. I was showing someone how you find a person on the Internet and typed in my name as an example.

I was stunned by the amount of material about me.  There were reprints of  articles I wrote in the New York Times and other papers as well, dating back 40 years.   And others I wrote right up to the present time. There are recent columns which ran in the Boca Raton and West Boca Forum with headlines attributing the content to the Sun Sentinel and to Forum Publications.  

Now back to the true meaning of fame. We may never know what Warhol meant, but I appreciate what it means to me. I may not be as famous as Brangelina and DListed Kathy Griffin, but I feel tremendous joy that my fame has surely spread, and I will be known as long as the Internet exists.

Thoughts of Tournament 4/29 by

Dorothy Rosencrans

I never thought that I would see
A hand as bad as that given me
On Sunday Night in Hornet's Nest
I was so far from the best.

My partner did have a bid or two
I couldn't ever see her through.
We sat & watched the opps score
It was frustrating, it was a bore.

The only thought that cheers me some
Is that good luck is bound to come.
Keep on playing and hope for the best,
If not, I will just cope with the rest.

Playing every night with friends
I do know that bad luck ends.
So I toast the next time we play,
And after that the very next day.

When partner & I will rise above the rest
And play really well until we are the best.
AMEN

Feb 6, 2008

Abijoy: 'The Problem of the gene pool is that there is no life guard.'
 
Donut-Hole: 'Not good enuff for novice but lowest classification I could find.'
 
Hedy G: 'People will forget what you said, what you did, but never forget how you made them feel.'
 
Rixi: 'I love smiling people.'
 
Monalee2:  'I live by the Golden Rule.'
 
Aramesh:  'Men live in a fantasy world. I know this because I am one, and I actually receive my mail there.'
 
Jo123:  'If you utilise compassion, it will bring you tranquility & strength.'
 
rpmeans:  'I hate loving bridge.'
 
bablec:  'Everything in moderation, including moderation.'
 
rfulrabbit:  'will play weak NT for food.'

August 31, 2007

1. luvlee 2b: "I never make the same mistake twice...There are always new ones waiting for an opportunity."

2. nlzetia: "she said me or bridge, I call taxi."

3. neighsayer: "Play for fun. I make more mistakes than Partner. Don't worry about mistakes on the last hand. Try not to make any on the next."

4. flower1: "I put the FUN in disFUNctional."

5: Salty Mutt: "Lord, please deliver me from expert & world class partners armed with both spades and blackwood."

6: lenny K: "National champ of trashcanistan."

July 27, 2007

1. peggyva: "Everyone makes mistakes...fun!!"

2. stoppiello : "Sometimes I play well, sometimes I play bad...I'm human, what else do you want?"

3. bobh2:  "Hardest thing about bridge: Doing it right is not so hard. Doing it right at the right time is."

4. Tigger:  "Don't ever look back."

5. Chowdah: "No fault bridge - no sorries - No preachin - no teachin."

6. spacjis: "Perfection ripens slowly."

7. sipabITA: "It is impossible for me to define the level of game, but who plays with me, wants to play forever."

8. chiachit: "I let you be perfect, I am only advanced."

9. David 9T 002: "I may not like to say wdp or ntp. It doesn't mean you have not done so."

10. Kaja 1959: "I know, that I know nothing."

11: mbukala: "I can play better than this...I never HAVE but I CAN."

12. rain: "WOOF, GROWL, BARK - not scared? Then yeah, maybe we can play some bridge."

May 14, 2007

Aramesh "Laughter isn't just the best medicine, it makes a great Band-Aid too!"

brobo "Used to be WC, rust has reduced me to expert."

Misty8 "I took an IQ test & the result was negative."

cher2276 "My great hope is to laugh."

GSnap "Bridge is like a box of chocolate."

DrFreud "Experts don't make mistakes-we make judgment errors."

Ankutza "Be Nice Always."

1. Saconwp: "No sorries needed! FUN.

2. HedyG: "You can't control the wind, but you can adjust your sails."

3. Mary31: "I screw up sometimes, deal with it!"

4. AlejandroP: "Better to be kind than right."

5. lefty17: "The future is now and then again and again."

6.Yonita: "Don't worry_be happy " (actually she just had typed face but it wouldn’t type when I did it the smile face appeared.

7: Klozetia: "She said me or bridge. I call taxi."

9: cher2276: "My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have courage to return love."

10. Ankutza: "TOO MANY Experts on BBO."

11. O07: "le bridge est un jeu...pas la guerre!":

September 21, 2006

Jim Dandy: Have fun! Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It mean you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.

Marinda: There are many things in life that catch your eye, but few that catch your heaart, pursue those.

SallyMutt: Lord please deliver me from expert and world calls partners armed with both spades & blackwood !

Butterflyz: I asked her where Burkina Faso is, as that is the country she lists on her profile. She told me it is in Africa, but she is from Turkey. I asked why she chose Burkina Faso and she replied: "I thought their flag was so cute."

Harrymo416: Generally confused but I love to play. I do have a few master points, so sometimes I play OK.

PSimpleton: Flashes of brillance, spells of average and long period of pure dumb, but I have fun.
Cams8291: "Pease be patient! God isn't finished with me yet."

The Hague: "Play for fun@nothing else."

don_kapu: "Fool to be poor when alive & rich when you die."

SebastianL: "Self ratings are a bad joke!"

dahkman : "uplifted my skill level to advance recently coz too many permission denied these days lol"

Melinda: It is much easier to love and to like than to hate and dislike people and easier to live without anger and hatred.

I cannot get to read every profile, so if you would like to include your thougts here to share with others, please email me. dorothyr311@msn.com

September 12, 2006

By Dorothy Rosencrans

Prior to using a computer people had told me, "Don’t take the Internet seriously. The people aren’t real." I was told many stories of heartache. I was to witness pain, sorrow, and intense love. I would see peoples’ hearts printed out for the world to see, in hopes it will touch someone.

Yes, there were occasional glimpses into people like those described to me. However, one of the most important things I have seen is something I can best describe as a "Connection." I have found this connection by playing bridge on the Internet, where I was to learn it is far more than a game. It’s hard to imagine unless you have been there. When people get together, over the miles, state-to-state, country-to-country and they connect. Really connect.

It amazing, absolutely amazing. It’s a connection that is not about man to woman. It is about connecting as friend to friend. I’m talking about some people you have met that you would soon know were going to be important in your life. You have gotten to know them across the bridge table or through chats in the lobby, and then extended the connection through email, and with some by phone.

These are people you laugh with, joke with, cry with, and hurt for when they are hurting. They make you worry, or make you crazy, because they are the ones who touch you deep inside .You share a connection that allows you to do the same to them.

These are the ones whom you miss once they are no longer there, but you wish they were. You are thankful for the memories you have. If you have ever experienced this type of connection with someone you have never met, face to face, you have indeed been blessed. I know, that without a doubt that I have.

Therefore, every profile on BBO is important to me. Not just for the systems and level of play but the facts about the player. When I see the word private in answer to every question on the profile, I feel badly, not for myself, but for those who will not share themselves with others. They cannot become part of the connection.

The connection has room for all. Each new person I meet enriches my life and those who remain aloof, miss all I have described. Profiles can be changed, think about it.

August 30, 2006

What's in a Name?

Dorothy Rosencrans is the author of "Playing Around…My Adventures on the Zone.com. It is available on Amazon.com and through local book stores .She offers the book at a discount for players and for an inscribed, signed copy, write dorothyr311@msn.com.