The Story of The New Wall ....



Back in 1996, Ronald Trang began this project 

with a little bit of web space and a lot of brilliant 

ideas. A perusal of the many pages of games, 

graphics and works contained within this site 

will attest to this. It is a masterly job of 

inventiveness, and a clear stroke of genius. 

All who visit here will find this so.



When I first visited - on March 3rd, 1997 ... 

I was dumbfounded! The sheer genius 

behind all of it showed in everything 

Ronald had touched. ... Being a poet - 

I was particularly interested in both 

Ronald's poetic work and everything 

which had been posted on "The Wall" - 

now known as Old Walls Number 1 thru 7.

 

I became a constant visitor 

in the following months, 

and - eventually - posted close to 

300 works of my own 

- first - just sayings of mine, 

and a scattering of free-form 

verse on Old Wall Number 6, and then 7.



On March 16th, seeing my constant 

visits and additions - 

Ronald chose to initiate The New Wall - 

which was designed to set the scene 

for the more serious work myself (and others) 

chose to post - instead of the graffiti 

which The Old Wall seemed to attract. 



During the following months - 

The New Wall attracted 

many visitors, and eventually 

caused posting problems. 

The original server was 

overwhelmed with the space 

demands needed to keep it going, 

and it soon became 

apparent both myself, and - eventually, 

Ronald too - were no longer welcome.



In the month of July, therefore - 

I initiated my own site - 

The Tristram Home Page, 

and proceeded to write

my work there. 



http://www.erols.com/tristram/public_html/index.html



I also posted about a dozen of my works 

as audio clips, as well as text. Unfortunately, 

these "broke the bank" as-it-were, and so 

it became necessary for me to 

withdraw my audio renditions.



This caused me to lose interest in 

maintaining my own site, 

and I started to look around 

for another place to post my work. 



Right after I vacated this site 

and started my own in mid-July

... Ronald - feeling the same pressure 

I had experienced, had chosen to change 

his Internet Service Provider, 

and rerouted everyone 

from his old site at Erols to 

this new one at Naweb. 



Following this, he then wrote me a very nice letter 

in August - informing me of his move and asking me 

to "come back to the fold" as-it-were. 



I visited once or twice, 

as can be seen by my posts, 

but found the new workings 

to be unsatisfactory, 

and the climate not entirely comfortable. 



Also, The Book of Writers filter took me away from the 

collective pool of The New Wall's many visitors. 

Although I did come back from time to time - 

I was not entirely comfortable. 



The filters which tended to send humorists 

in one direction (to the Joke Wall) 

chatters in yet another direction 

(to the Chatting Wall) and writers 

in yet another direction 

(to the Book of Writers) divided us, 

and many of us wondered 

now why The New Wall even needed 

to be there still ... 

if we were all being routed 

in different directions. 



Basically, The New Wall had become 

a dinosaur of the past, 

and only there as a reminder 

of how we all got to be - 

where we are now.



Interest waned, and the constant stream 

of visitors diminished - in part as many 

had gone on to other things 

(myself included) and because Ronald 

no longer had the Cool Sites hotlink 

direct access from Erols' Home Page - 

which had brought most of us here 

from the beginning. 



Now - it is apparent the sheer genius 

which went into this site 

will be overlooked by many. 

As you read this - please realize 

this page is only part of a magnificent site 

with many dimensions, 

along with wonderful entertainment.



After finishing this - go and visit 

the other pages contained 

herein. Enjoy the brilliance, 

and the creativity which went into 

all you will find here. 



And then bookmark it, 

and come back again and again, 

in order to be presented with the new thought 

which will be continually posted here. 



Look at the other sites within The New Wall itself, 

including The Joke Wall, The Chatting Board, 

The Book of Writers, AND Old Walls Number 1 thru 7 

- which can be accessed from the top right-hand corner. 



Go to the bottom of this page and press on 

Previous Postings ... 

this will bring up everything 

which was posted from March 16th

to July 16th - the date upon which Ronald 

transferred the site to his new server. 

This page reflects only posts made since the transfer. 



If you like poetry - there are some wonderful pieces 

posted here - and I don't mean just mine. 

Initially, the concept contained here 

laid out the welcome mat to some truly inventive genius, 

and they came - en masse. ... If you have the time - 

read everything ... as much of it -

will open your mind.



If you came here to The New Wall just to read Tristram's work 

(then please be aware much of it was a reflection of other posts - 

some with good intent, and some with bad) - but all of it - 

came from the heart. 



Christopher W. Thomas

10:25am EST Tues 10/14/97