From: 
no one in particular

Message:
I'm an artist and not afraid to say so.  No, I 
don't feel the need to wear black and look morose
all the time.  It's just my job to take a idea 
and find a way to express it so that other people 
feel SOMETHING.  You are, without question, an 
artist.  These pages are what the web SHOULD be 
like.  Everything here has a place and it's all 
exquisite.  I can only hope that someone, someday 
will feel the same about my HTML art that I feel 
about yours.  Your site has inspired me want to 
work harder, create better.  This is definitely 
my new favorite site.

Hey - thanks. It's not that I've got something against artists. It's just that sometimes I have a hard time knowing what to do with my own.

--DMP

From: 
liz lopez

Message:
I LOVE YOU MAN.
I MEAN THAT.
IS THERE ANY WAY I COULD TALK TO YOU DIRECTLY.
I KNOW YOU HAVE SOME OTHER LOVE, BECAUSE I 
READ THE LOVE LETTER.
I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE DEEPEST THING THAT I 
HAVE READ.
I JUST WANT TO GET TO KNOW YOU A BIT MORE 
DIRECTLY.

Um, thanks Liz. But I hardly know you. Besides, if you want to talk, leaving your email address would help.

--DMP

From: 
Bijou

Message:
I found your site one day when looking for 
interesting pictures on the web....

I find the emotion and idealism in these
pages moving, and ... vital.

Yes, its hard for idealism to survive out here,
I have often found it so, but it can and we
must try (this in reference to your "1996"
new year's story).  For people like us, there
can really be no other way, so we might as 
well "resolve" ourselves to this path.  After
all, perhaps trite but true, all our lives are
journeys and not destinations, so the 
satisfaction must come from the attempt and 
not the outcome.

I wish you well.  Stand strong but gentle.

P.S. 

A question:  Does your idealism extend to 
people of different classes, and if so, do
you have anything reflecting this facet of 
idealism in your site?

Thanks for the kind wishes. And I'm not sure what you mean by idealism extending to different classes. As far as I can tell, hope is hope.

--DMP

From: 
Kristen Jones

Message:
I'm in a training seminar for work and I found you!
Kind of like finding that cute little puppy dog
that you just can't resist.  I had to take a peek.
I won't be accessing this again.  At least not any
time soon.  

Hope you have a fantastic day!  Hope you continue
on your journey of looking outside the box and
realizing who you really are.

Woof! Woof!

--DMP

From: 
Matt Rependa

Message:
I just stumbled by your site today, and I think it's 
just about the best site I've seen. I work on the net 
(8 hours a day - way too much), so I've seen more 
than enough crap. 

Your photographs are truly impressive! Now I'm not
an expert in photography, but I think most of your
pictures are truly beautiful. Unfortunately,
(I think) you didn't take the one I decided as my
favorite (your girlfriend kissing you - FANTASTIC!!)

When you see most people holding hands, and being
all romantic - it's just so tacky, but once in a
while you see something that in your mind and heart
looks and feels like real, true, selfless love.
Maybe it's just a good picture, but I believe it's
more (not that I'm some kind of "Luv Docta").

Thanks so much for the nice words. You made my morning....

And, actually, I did take that photo. The camera was on a timer, on a table. I had no idea that drue was going to kiss me, so that look on my face is a mix of suprise, happiness, and just a little blushing.

You know, I wasn't sure about putting that photo up (hence, the gif animation where it fades in and out). Now I'm glad I did.

--DMP

From: 
Terri Bates

Message:
It had been a while since I'd visited the 24 Hours of 
Democracy page, and it being a quiet Sunday afternoon, 
I decided to drop by.  I wondered what effect the recent 
judical overturning of the CDA would have.

I remembered that your page has all the links to places 
the zealots would ban, so I thought it would be an 
interesting place to start.

To my surprise and horror, I found that many of the pages 
you had linked to are now gone.

Isn't it sad that they won after all?  The mere threat of 
censorship and punishment has frightened people into 
retracting the words they spoke freely just a few months 
ago.

I just wanted to share that with you.

You're so right. This thought had occurred to me too. It's scary ... and it makes me want to do something about it.

But what? Got any ideas?

--DMP

From: 
Sara Thompson

Message:
I'm listening to a young rebellious man called Bono 
yell about what people have done in the name of love. 
I am brooding about the ordeal of packing in order to 
move. And I have that quesy, before-a-dentist-trip 
feeling that I get when I have to go job-hunting.  
But in the midst of all this, I stumble on your home 
page.  

Now, I have a little more hope in people than I did 
before.

Lately, I haven't liked people very much.  I see 
idiots in traffic, unhappy middle-aged adults, 
stupid screaming kids at the supermarket and all I 
want is one lousy carton of milk.  

Well, you know.

Just wanted to say, I got some... "warmth" from 
your stories.  You've squeezed a bit of optimism 
out of a cynic.  Thank you, Derek.  I needed that. 
 
"Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination"  
-Walt Goodman    

Wow. Thanks.

I have to admit, I've been feeling a bit estranged from the web lately. It used to be fun for me ... now it's a job. Working at HotWired 10+ hours a day ... well ... I was losing my faith in the web's ability to connect people together.

Then, on an outrageously hot Monday morning, I get your email.

Thank you for reminding me why I got in this business in the first place.

--DMP

From: 
Greg

Message:
just to send a nice note...I remember that
McHenry protest, but never heard the fallout
afterwards.

UCSC was a great idea. Too bad the fascists ruined it.

Indeed.

--DMP

From: 
Laura Felstiner

Message:
2:30am, Toronto

I am working the graveyard shift on a film so
I took the opportunity to try and find your site again.
You have even improved it since the first time
I found it. I don't know how, but you did.

Your words from 2.5.96 are so personal I wonder
if they are for her only because I feel
like I am invading your time together.

Anyway...back to work.  Check out www.shift.com/shift.home
(I volunteer for them, I think you would get along)
and Electronic Frontier Canada (EFC) for some intelligent
information with a Canadian feel.

Thanks for keeping me awake - Laura Felstiner

Thanks for the compliments. Sometimes it's just nice to know someone's listening.

The words you mentioned just wouldn't let me sleep. I had to write them down. But make no mistake - they're real.

And you're not invading. My friend Julie has this idea about the web ... about giving yourself over to it ... about living in it. It's hard to explain. Just like it's hard to explain why I posted a love letter on the Net. It has something to do with identity, something to do with risk, and everything to do with love.

--DMP

One of the best stories I've heard yet comes from Elana - who found my page by doing a search for "unrequited love." Of all the ways to make contact with someone on the web, that's the best I've heard. Nice to meet you, Elana.

--DMP

From: 
just another midnight marauder

Message:
i want to tell you what a fucking genius you are. 
really. your words are so precise, so bloody
poignant sometimes they just blow me away. and
your photos are exquisite, even in 16-bit. and i
want to tell the chief hoohahs at hotwired that
they're gonna be damn sorry when you leave for
greener pastures... (but of course i won't. let
'em learn the hard way.) 

Thanks. But I don't want to leave HotWired - I want to fix it. The folks in charge have been making a lot of decisions that I can't understand lately. Have you seen Allison recently? Have you noticed that some channels seem to be doing a lot less than others? There are lots of reasons for this, I'm sure. But nobody's bothered to clue us low-level employees in on them. And, in the end, that is HotWired's greatest tragedy.

--DMP

From: 
Fuck You

Message:

Well, Mr. You, the least you could have done is leave a message along with your name.

--DMP

From: 
ADAM CHEN

Message:
HI:DEAR FLOYD:
   I AM A CHINESE.I LIVE IN TAIWAN.I LOVE MY 
COUNTRYSIDE,SEA,FOREST,MOUNTAIN..
   YOUR PHOTO VERY WELL.I LIKE ANSEL ADAM.
I HOPE YOU MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.
BYE!!BYE!!!

                      ADAM CHEN.1995,12,12

Thanks Adam! My gallery was a labor of love. You should take some photos of Taiwan and put them up for everyone to see.

--DMP

From: 
David Van Virden

Message:
I'm the geek with the flower in his hat 
in the web protest photo.
Thanks for the pretty picture.
Visit my web site sometime. We're working on an
ongoing net protest page. Queers are still
the downtrodden masses of choice EVEN in 
cyberspace.

David Van Virden
Publisher
The U Report
featuring everything for the modern homosexual
http://www.ureport.com/ureport
email: yoohoo@ureport.com

Nice to meet you. And thanks for being so damn photogenic.

--DMP