So you managed to summon up the courage to venture into the Coffee House, where anything goes. Well done! I?m particularly chuffed that you find the smilies amusing. (I?m sure I just heard Stevey groan). Certain people on here reckon it?s a sign of my deteriorating mental state , but really it?s just that they are jealous of my command over Smiliedom. It?s purely my way of bringing some colour and movement to the forum (being an arty crafty sort of person). When I first got hooked on smilies, the forum was IMO a very drab grey colour, so I set about trying to brighten it up a bit. It looks a lot better now in its new livery, but I still like to throw the odd few smilies in to liven things up.

The whole sad tale (or some of it, at least) can be found here if you get desperate enough over the weekend to need something dire to read. It starts off innocently enough, but you can see, as it progresses, that I?m not alone in my fondness for smilies and then, basically the whole thread dissolves into utter silliness. You have been warned.