Here are some of Lois’ experiments with having an on-line presence … mostly out-of-date and out-dated … but still there if anyone wants to take dive deep into the depths of the web …
- My personal website — GoTouring.com — was created about 1998. This was originally with the company we created (“Mother.com”, since sold to “Davis.com”), then it was housed at “Davis Community Network” (until my site kept getting bigger), then we moved it to SeaGull.net (there for many MANY years!), and recently moved to PowWeb.com (when Seagull’s owner retired).
- Originally GoTouring.com was just a place for me to play, house client websites, and test designs. Later it became a place to house my brother Jim’s travelogue, journal, and photos. (That was after Jim and Jamie retired in 2001 and went to live on a sailboat in the Philippines.) While Lois designed and built this portion of the website in 2000, she then taught brother Jim HTML and he kept it updated and expanding through 2011.
Razzle Dazzle with Jim and Jamie Richter
Revised many times over the years as HTML changed and improved; and Lois experimented with various styles. The current iteration — a living room with clickable pictures hanging on the wall — has had this design for at least 15 years. The secondary pages have changed and the “pictures” been rearranged; but the living room idea remains in place.
Several OTHER websites were housed on GoTouring within separate directories — created by Lois for some groups/companies and then removed when they got their own domains.
- My first blog — Lois – stories, haiga, ATCs. — begins:
“Why have a Blog??? This started as an attempt to get a ‘Gmail’ account so that I could play with the new IUG [Internet Users Group] Blog. But that process actually walked me thru creation of my own blog.
“Hopefully, I can practice both here AND there. I’ll probably delete this soon.
“In the meantime, maybe I’ll write about my ATC experiences.”
It was created in 2007, used last in 2016.
- “Lois to you – love living life” (2016), my first WordPress site:
- welcome to my world … [history and inspiration]
- something 4 you 2 ku … [a haiku/haiga challenge section]
- Richter, Jerred, Rosenthal, Sheeks … [genealogy]
- My long-time photo site on Flickr was created in August 2008 and is still being used as of 2024. It contains only a few of my many photos; also records some artwork (mostly ATCs).
- One group I curate on Flickr is called “Looking UP !! [Upwardly-photo]” and contains images from many contributors; all from a particular perspective — looking UP a vertical object into the distance.
- Lois created, produced, and hosted cablecast television shows (and several series) from 1992 to 2003 on DCTV [Davis Community Television]. A few personal recordings remain on Lois’ computers.
- Lois’ first project at DCTV “Kathak: Dance from Northern India” was created in 1992-3 and was a finalist at the next WAVE Awards. This does not look very impressive by 2024 standards, but at the time — using the tape equipment we had and doing all the cuts, fades, and camera direction in person — it was a pretty amazing first result!
- Lois has since also hosted for other shows on DCTV. Here for a 2014
“In the Studio” episode. - Lois co-hosts the Davis Garden Show with Don Shor. We have been on KDRT since that radio station began. Our show recordings have been archived on the KDRT.org website since 2017 and on our own website — DavisGardenShow.com — since we began.
This came about after Lois stopped doing her TV shows (on which Don was an occasional guest) and we agreed to move our chats over to the radio side when KDRT was first created in 2004. - My own separate radio show, That’s Life, is also archived on the KDRT.org website. Plus on KDRT you can find a bio and an old blog.
- Lois gives a summary of some or her art making. (This 7 minute video was created to be used by the Whole Earth Festival during the 2021 “virtual WEF” when we couldn’t meet in person. It is now on Youtube.)
- Since the 1990s, I have been a docent with the UCD Arboretum and I have led different tours in various areas of the Arboretum. For many years no tours were done during the winter months and I eventually questioned why they didn’t schedule indoor things — like their workshop on botanical drawing. Their response was: “So. Lois, what are you going to lead this winter?” I thought about it and said “A slide show of ‘Winter Birds in Davis’.” And so I did for many years. None of that was online — just a slide show followed by a bird walk. Then the pandemic hit and UCD cancelled all docent-led events. After that I did a couple slide shows on zoom without Arb sponsorship and it was ok.
- In Dec 2021, I asked folks in the Office Hours community if they had any suggestions to ‘jazz up’ my annual slide show. Boy did they!!! Their enthusiasm, suggestions, pushing, and crew volunteers led to a new WEEKLY video project — shown live and archived on YouTube. So “Birding With Lois” is a project begun and produced through 2022. It also spawned a marvelous website — BirdingWithLois.global — which was created with lots of help from folks at After Hours. This project was put on hiatus when I had my heart attack (Feb 2023) and then laid down altogether after I broke my hip (Nov 2023).
- “What’s a Hero?” — a short piece created in 2001, published online in 2023. (This is me reading the essay I wrote just after 9-11.)
… happy web-diving!