Hello to all of you wonderful people out there on the Internet.
Thank you for coming by our site. We want to take this moment to say
thank you to all the people who have supported us for these last six or seven years. We
don't know exactly how long it has been because we aren't quite sure how and when all this
got started. Back when P.Jay Sanford (our games guy) was just turning twelve. I bought a
computer. For several weeks it sat in the box. It cost so much money and I was afraid to
even open it. I was sure it would break if I even touched it! Finally P. Jay took the bull
by the horns and said, "I'm going to open it, Ma!" I knew it had to be done. So
with fear in my heart and $3000, the cost, in my mind, I let my only male child do what I
lacked the courage to do. In ten minutes, he had it up and running!
Thank you to Compuserve, a service now long gone, and the initiative
of my dauntless minor child, we were on the Internet!
I saw my first web site. And, oh, the colors! I loved those
beautiful graphics, laughed at those animations. I learned how to save them. And, I
started my own collection of all those wonders that appealed to me. I did not know
anything about copyrights or anything else at that time. I just knew what I liked.
And, I soon learned to make my own. But, what to do with them. I could not really use them
for much. Then, it came to me. Put them on a site for others to enjoy! But, how? Well,
P.Jay kept talking about HTML. What was that, I wondered. Well, we found a site that
explained it all. Really a simple page, but leading to all kinds of information. Miketag Tutorial We were off
and running with all this information. If you won't be unkind, you can see one of my older
efforts here. Hit
cancel when you see the ad! I was so proud at the time. If that doesn't give you
encouragement, what will??
Soon, .Jay was making all kinds of pages as well. He learned how to
zip files and save them to the Internet. Since he had hundreds of royalty free shareware
games, he decided to put them on the net for other boys and girls to enjoy. Oh, the hours
that child worked! The site has changed a lot over the years, but his games remain. They are a gift of the heart from a twelve year
old boy, now grown, to children everywhere.
Yes, I got my own site on a free server called Tripod. They were a very friendly place to have a
free site back then. Since, they have been taken over by Lycos. I think they have lost
that homey feeling but you might like them anyway. They're still free.
One of the graphics I really liked was of a little doggie. I never
had a dog, so I thought I would just adopt him. He had a little, hardly noticeable, spot
on his back and I decided to call him "Spot". I named that original site
"Spot's Gif Archive". I did not know then, that all graphics aren't gifs! And, I
thought it sounded like "gift" which is what I wanted the graphics to be. Today,
of course, "Spot's Graphics Archive"
makes more sense. I did not know if anyone ever saw my site or not. I just enjoyed doing
it and imagining in my heart that someone saw it. But, one day I found out that you could
see your site statistics. That was a real revelation. Of course, I decided to take a look.
Much to my amazement, I learned that 50,000 people had come to my site that month!!
"My goodness", I thought. So, I decided to get my own domain and Sanfords.Net was born. Today, we have about 5000 viewers a day.
And, in 6 or 7 years if operation, we have only had about 5 or 6 people ask us to remove
any graphic. Of course, we have done so when requested. The fact is, it is our belief that
most of the sites where our graphics originated have gone with the wind. They have
disappeared into cyber space. Our collection is all that remains of the talent and hard
work that went into their creation. Therefore, we are very pleased with ourselves that we
were able to save them.
Now, as I have continued to follow my heart, Sanfords.Net
has grown into many areas reflecting my growth as a person. The graphics and games
continue. We have developed into a news and religious resource for Pagans and the Pagan curious. We have
tried to give advise you young parents in the MOM
area. We have had fun with those public figures we have found laughable or despicable.
Yes, we picked on and laughed at Bill
Clinton. But we have also picked on and laughed at George Bush. And, we have taken
every opportunity to disparage Osama Ben
Laden. We have tried to honor other sites we find meritorious with our Top Site of the Week. We do not know
where this will lead tomorrow, but we thank you for your support and are glad you have
found something to enjoy here.
Please, come back often. You are the reason we have done all this.
Blessed Be,
SSanford |
