Help Me Wish Darcy a Very Happy Birthday!
Some of you know her as EB, some of you know her as Darcy, and most of you know she’s a very special lady. She is the one who makes sure that everyone every order gets filled, and everyone with a computer problem who has a Cloudeight Direct service key gets scheduled. And she makes sure that we answer every single email we receive.
Without her, I doubt Cloudeight would be around anymore.
She’s a fighter and she cares. She’s the one who takes the ideas I come up with and makes them work. My head’s always in the clouds — which is why we are called Cloudeight…not really. She makes this our business and our site work. And she comes up with some great ideas too – like Cloudeight Direct, just to mention one.
Her birthday is today, Sunday, July 30th. What I wish most for her birthday is good health and happiness.
You don’t know this, but she used to own a bar, and that’s where I met her – in a bar. The bar was called Michigan^Tavern. Honest! I stumbled into her bar and started fighting with her right way (and that is the TRUTH!). Of all the gin joints, in all the world, I stumbled into hers.
For some reason, despite my arrogance and contentiousness, she became my friend. I was a helpless nerd who knew almost nothing about computers back then. My son was in a rock and roll band — and I made him the world’s worst website, but I was proud of it.
I showed it to Darcy. Rather than telling me that it looked like a pile of garbage, she redid the entire site for me— she took the time to make the first website I ever made look great! This was back when she barely knew me and didn’t know my son at all. What she did with the junky-looking website was amazing — yet she never took any credit for re-doing it and making it look nice.
The year was 1997 and the bar Michigan^Tavern was virtual — it was a chatroom that EB and some of her friends had created. So, we met in a virtual saloon, and it was there that Cloudeight was born.
In 1998, after she took me under her wing and taught me a lot about making websites and creating graphics… we collaborated on and created the first Cloudeight site. It was called “Thundercloud and Eightball’s Christmas Graphics and you can still see it here.
Above: A screenshot of Eightball & Thundercloud’s Christmas Graphics created in Autumn 1998. This was the beginning of Cloudeight
We both worked other jobs back then. Every day whoever got home first would check the visitor counter on the website to see how many people had visited our website that day. I can remember the day we got fifty visits and we were sure we were on our way to Web stardom — ha! You know there’s something beautiful about naivete. The excitement of having fifty visitors encouraged us, kept us going, and kept us working together.
Then one fateful day, Darcy sent me an email with a scrolling background — and music playing. I thought she was magic! “How did you do that?”, I asked.
It did not take long, and we figured it out and we started designing and making stationery. It was then we created Cloudeight Stationery and it became wildly popular — at our peak, we were getting three million visitors a year and our stationery became the most famous stationery on the Web.
Above… a screenshot of Cloudeight Stationery, May 8, 1999.
Above: The Cloudeight Stationery “Visions” Stationery Collection for Outlook Express – October 18, 1999.
We loved our new business, and we were so excited when we worked together on a new stationery collection. We’d show each other what we had designed and couldn’t wait to release it to our subscribers and website visitors. Cloudeight Stationery grew and grew – and Cloudeight became a business as well as our life’s work.
In 2002 we started Information Avenue and later InfoAve Premium (now InfoAve Weekly) to pass along some of the computer tricks and tips we learned over the years. It’s a good thing we did because when Microsoft introduced Windows 7, it came without an email program, and Windows 7 users couldn’t use our scrolling-musical stationery. We could see the future and it didn’t look bright. Scrolling, musical stationery was our bread and butter. We had to completely reinvent Cloudeight and trying to keep our small business afloat became (and still is) a continuous struggle.
I do not doubt that if it weren’t for Darcy’s kindness and caring, we’d have gone belly-up many years ago. But she never gave up and we came up with some other ideas and. as you can see, we’re still around.
Cloudeight Direct Computer Care was her idea, not mine, and it really has helped us keep our small business going. And just as importantly it has helped us get to know many of the folks who helped us through some very dark days.
Whether you know her as Darcy or EB, she’s quite a lady and I’ve always felt lucky that, despite my sometimes cantankerous nature, she has always been able to see beyond all of that; she has always been able to the real me — the part I never show the world — the compassionate, generous, gentle person I really am.
We’ve been friends since I walked into her virtual saloon twenty-five years ago, and I’m a better person for it. And any of you who have had the chance to know her are blessed too. She’s one in a billion.
Darcy and I have had our difficulties and disagreements like everyone else. But we’ve been partners now for twenty-five years. She’s always been the one I’ve counted on when things weren’t going so well.
She is my partner, she is my friend – and if you’ve ever had any dealings with Darcy, then, no doubt, she’s your friend too.
She’s the best partner anyone could have. I poke fun at her in many of our newsletters, and she laughs along with everyone else. I am incredibly lucky to have her as my partner, but I’m even luckier to have her as my friend. And I hope you feel lucky that you know her too!
Help me wish Darcy a very Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday, Darcy! May you have many, many more!
Have a Super HAPPY BIRTHDAY and REMEMBER you have LOADS & LOADS of Friends and Admirers out here in the Net.
John (DAFUZZ) Foster
Happy Birthday Darcy and thanks for all the tips I got from you through the years. May the new year be very blessed and keep up the good word.
Wishing you the very best on your birthday Darcy!
Happy Birthday Darcy. Thank you for being there for all of us. May you have many more birthday celebrations.
Doug
Darcy, wishing you a very Happy Birthday! Thanks for all the hard work you do, it truly means so much to all of your followers!
Sue
Birthday wishes for you, Darcy! https://bmacards.com/so5Yv3
Happy birthday, Darcy! I hope you have a wonderful day including everything and everyone you love.
Happy birthday Darcy.
Happy Birthday Darcy, have a great day, you’re the best!!
Happy Birthday, Darcy! You are the best and we out here in computer land hope that your Birthday is awesome. Keep up the good works on Cloudeight. It has been a life saver for me.
Wishing you a very Happy Birthday and thank you for all you do.
happy birthday Darcy. i love your computer cloudeight site. you have taught me many great things- you make a great team and may you work together for a long time. have a wonderful year ahead.
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Here’s wishing you many many more. Thanks for all the help over the years!
Happy birthday Darcy. I wish you the very best this year and beyond. Thank you for the help you have given me over the years ❣️
Wishing you Abundant Health, Peace, Happiness, Joy, and Finances this birthday….
Thanks for all you have done over the years to help us!!! 🍰
Wishing you all the best, Happy Birthday Darcy.
Thanks for all of your help through the years.
JM
Have a wonderful Birthday Darcy.
Happy Birthday Darcy (EB)
Hope you have had a very nice one. Many more to come too. I have been around for a while reading and learning lots of good things about computers from you two and enjoy all the tips that come our way.
Keep up your fine work it is appreciated by many.
What an honor to wish you a most wonderfully blessed birthday – and many more to come! Thank you for everything you and your friend/partner have done for all of us all these years.
A very very Happy Birthday, Darcy. We love you. The visit to your stationery site brought back lots very pleasant memories. There’s been nothing like it since. and never will be. I’ll never forgive Microsoft for abandoning Outlook Express. God bless you.
Happy birthday Darcy. Hope you have a great day and many many more. Thank you for all the help you give people.
Darcy, I pray that you’ve enjoyed a very Happy Birthday with an even better year ahead. Happy Birithday. (Chase)
It’s now July 31st here in the UK as I type this and it’s completely grey and it’s wet and it’s windy and I’m sure we’ve somehow moved directly to November and ignored August, September and October completely! But that note is a sparkling charm among all the greyness! I hope you had a great day yesterday Darcy and that the birthday fairy was truly generous.
Thanks for all the help and guidance in the past.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Darcy. Hope you have a wonderful day! 🎉🎁
What a great story that was of how you both met, great friendship. Hope it continues for many years.
Since it is Monday, the day after your birthday, I will wish you a belated Happy Birthday Darcy. I have had the pleasure to have been in touch with her when I needed help. Thank you and I hope you had a great day!
Happy Birthday DARCY (Eightball), I hope you have a very great and blessed Happy Birthday. Love Always. Jim Bono
Happy Belated Birthday to a very special lady and many, many more.
Happy Birthday Darcy. I live in Michigan and hope someday to actually meet you in person and get to know this wonderful person. Thank you for all you do. It is greatly appreciated.
Hope you had a blessed birthday Darcy. Been a fan for many years. Pray that there will be many more. The information that we get from you has helped so many people, especially us older ones. May God bless you and keep you safe.
Happy belated birthday Darcy, hope you had a wonderful day, thanks so much for your help for so many years.
Happy belated birthday Darcy, hope you had a wonderful day. thanks for your help for many years.
Dear Darcy, What a pleasure it has been to have stumbled onto Cloudeight so many years ago with you and TC at the helm. You have been such a boon to so many. I hope that you will be able to continue to have many, many happy birthdays to share with us. And thanks to TC for letting everyone know of this special day.
Happy birthday Darcy! I really miss the Cloudeight Stationery! Please bring a stationery program back! It was so much fun to send emails back then with Outlook Express. I miss Outlook Express too for many other reasons. You have a great birthday Darcy. You’ve been a great help to everyone of us over the years. I’ve been with you since 2000. Cheers!
Hope Your Having a great Happy Birthday Darcy
Happy Birthday Darcy!
A Very Happy Belated Birthday Darcy! Hope You had a Very Wonderful Birthday! You are so appreciated by all of Us Computer People so Much!! Thank You for helping us! Linda
I hope you had a great day yesterday, Darcy, and that this year will be filled with joys and blessings beyond your imagination. Over the years, I think I’ve begun to recognize when your fingers are on the keys and when your partner is on. It’s not that one is more correct than the other but that one is kinder and gentler.
So sorry I’m late! A belated Happy Birthday to you, I hope you had a wonderful day!
Didn’t read the newsletter until today, but wishing you a belated Happy Birthday, Darcy! I hope you had a brilliantly lovely day that was everything you could have hoped for 😊 🎂🎈.
Have just read that it was your birthday on Sunday, Darcy – I hope you had a Happy, Happy day! I’m sure you were wonderfully spoilt. I love Cloudeight and the personal interaction – was introduced to it at my first computer club meeting! Every good wish over the next 363 days and beyond … Edith B. (I am also EB!)
Happy Birthday Darcy!! I hope you had a great day.
Even though we are a bit late, We hope that you had a great birthday, and we wish you many more. You have always been of help to us, and we would not know much about computers withot your and TC’s help.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Don & Terri
Happy Belated birthday Darcy! I wish for you another super year without any problems of any kind! Hugs and take care of yourself!
Dawn
sorry this is late, I just saw you had a birthday. I was just on your home page checking out the changes, and additions. TC just finished a session on my pc with making my start page the home page, a new screen saver, and sprucing up my computer. I love what you guys do for us. Hope you had a great time celebrating your birthday!!
Happy Belated Birthday, Darcy. You Have helped so Many times over the years. I truly appreciate it
Happy Birthday Darcy!!! You’re the very best ! You both are so very appreciated.
Very Happy Belated Birthday wishes Darcy, I hope your special day was filled with happiness. And a big thank you for all you and TC do for us every day of the year!!!
Happy belated Birthday Darcy and many more. I have learned a lot and been helped by you many times over the years.
A very happy birthday to you, Darcy! I just read this a little late but the best wishes are forever,
Thanks for all you have done through the many years.
Happy Belated Birthday, Darcy!!