why did you send us all your Puritans?

I was talking with Mak and I was lamenting how much fuss is being made over our Governor - Elliot Spitzer - and his being "linked" to a "Prostitution Ring" - well  - no - he is a customer - a john - he wasn't linked to a ring - he was a dope who got caught hiring prostitutes when

1.   He is married and

2.   He is the Governor of New York and very visible and

3.   He was the State Attorney General and prosecuted people for what he got caught doing and

4.   Tried to hide that he was doing it and paying for it (DUH!!) and

5.   Tried to hide the payments (DUH!!) by "structuring" his bank stuff - DUH DUH DUH!!!

6.   Might be charged under the Mann Act - oh give me a break - transporting a prostitute across state lines for illegal purposes - oh brother -

And no one has anything better to do?  or anything better to think about? 

Mak said that over there - where you were smart enough to get rid of the Calvinists and the rest of the Puritans and send them here to help kill natives and destroy a truly lovely culture - so that instead of honoring the Great Spirit - and honoring two-spirit beings (which is what the Native Americans called gay people whom they honored and if you don't believe me see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-Spirit)  the Puritans and the Calvinists and the moral right have managed to turn it all into this nonsense .  And the rest of the sensible world can't believe we are making such a fuss.  Well - the British and the European Press are not without their own ability to make a fuss, but

Aren't there lots of important things to think about?

Don't people think maybe this isn't one of them?

The Governor is guilty of one major crime - being an out of control idiot.  (that's worse than being and in-control idiot- at least you don't embarrass yourself and everyone else).

But this much fuss?  There hasn't been anything else on the news for three days.

Does the phrase "free bread and circuses" mean anything to anyone anymore?  Slight of hand?  Misdirection of Attention?

That's right everyone - think about poor Governor Spitzer and where he put his you-know-what and into whom.  Don't think about the increasing erosion of our personal liberties - which he helped to fight against.  Don't think about the growing awareness that the country is becoming "not a democracy".  Don't think about anything.  Be good robots. 

And to top it off - why did they catch him?  A Homeland Security sting.  Oh really - that's how we protect the country - follow the trail of penises?

Sheesh.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

That's it - no fanfare - no fuss - just

Kiss your sweetie

Kiss a stranger

Love someone you know

Love someone you don't -

It will go around the world.

Smooochies -

Love, Gabe

Makeover - New Look, Hair, Skin, Clothes

Well, I haven't had a makeover in a year.

So a number of people have now made me over -

they were - (in chronological order):

Esmie and Nicho

Steph

Mak

so - here is the old me at my ?best? (Esmie's photo for my profile and blog photo)

Now here is me as I am today after the makeover:

Well - which is the real me? Let me know what you think.

Thanks - i have to admit to being confused, although, in all fairness, i should ask esmie to do a photo of the new me with the same effects as the old photo so that we can compare.

The Wednesday After - What Happened?

OK  - Super Tuesday is over.  And what happened.

For the Republicans - nothing much.  McCain appears to be a clear front runner - Romney will have some clout at the convention, but McCain is going to head the ticket unless there is a major upset - so- what does/could that mean to us - if he wins - or even if he doesn't

-----Nothing----  it is really no change at a deep level - more of the same politics and back stabbing and war mongering that we are used to.

Now - the political pundits are all over the Dems - omg they say - not a clear victory - not a clear race - OMG they say - if McCain takes the Rep nomination early on and the Dems go into the convention without a clear winner - they start the campaign for the presidency so much later.

What do I say to that - - such CRAP!!

The Democrats are bringing out the voters in record numbers - this is an election which matters to us and to everyone.

there is a clear winner - the Democrats. God we have the numbers out there voting.  and there is another clear winner - The American People.

The ticket is clear - Clinton - Obama - it covers everyone - and they need to start campaigning as Clinton-Obama NOW!  Record numbers - a close, close race -  the message is clear - open your eyes.

What did Nike say - ?

"JUST DO IT!" - and they sold a whole lot of shoes with that one.

What did Obama say on the campaign trail- ?

"YES WE CAN!" - and Cesar Chaves got farm workers rights and pay with that one - and we can elect a Hilary - Barack ticket with it too.

Sure it is a bit of a disappointment to Barack supporters but - for crying out loud - he is young - he is only 47 now, 48 when they win and take the over the White House - eight years from now he will step into the  presidency at the age of 56 - young enough to make a huge impact for his 8 years.

Yes We Can!! together - clearly Hilary and Barack have supporters in equal numbers who don't want to quit.  And add all those supporters together and we sweep into the White House.

Wake up Hilary and Barack - start now - Do it together NOW.

Yeah - it is rough.  OK everyone - back to sleep.  They can't announce it - no one will go out and vote then - so they have to keep the pressure on.  And the two front runners together - it isn't the usual way - but but but - WE DON'T WANT THE USUAL WAY

-  OK, they can't announce it now - but - think about it - but maybe they can -

whoever gets the greater number of votes - President

the lesser number of votes - Vice President -

Commit now !!

Hilary and Barack - or - Obama / Clinton.

Think about it.  The supporters will come out in record numbers - and the campaign begins today - either way - either ticket - it means we get to have America back - compassionate- ruled by the fairness of the constitution - checks and balances back in the government - a good economy - and an end to this war.

Do it together - wow - what a novel idea for American politics - cooperate.

Wow - what a team.

SUPER TUESDAY

Ok, so people are disaffected, disenchanted, and feel disenfranchised. The big power interests have taken over the country, the world, and the government.

They didn't take it over, they always had it - but -

Your vote does matter. Yes it does - because if it didn't, there wouldn't be such a fuss. No - it is not all a sham - a play - it is not done just to fool you.

Sure we have come close to dismembering the constitution - yes, I certainly do despise the current administration and what it has done to civil liberties and human rights.

Sure - there is money and power on both sides, and the one thing that we know about money and power is that money and power likes to stay the holder of money and power.

But - there is - in my mind - a big difference between the two sides running. Yes - your vote matters.

Well, you say, between the candidates in each party - who cares? My answer is - you should. Your vote sends a message - not only between Hillary and Barack - (I could care less what Republican wins) - but the number of votes casts sends a big message.

Hillary and Barack both represent real change for Washington from the horror of the past 8 years. Both - together - represent the best we have to offer in terms of compromise and moving forward. Both - together - stand a chance of stopping a major war.

They need to stand shoulder to shoulder and fight the Republicans - and they will I would hope. But they need to hear from you - they need to know that whichever of them takes the most delegates to the convention, that a huge voice yelled across the country - I have had enough of this - I won't take it anymore.

Hillary or Barack - it needs to be an overwhelming vote - not an overwhelming victory of one of them over the other - that isn't the point and it doesn't matter - but we all need to hear the sound of the feet of the people moving - walking - running - to be heard. Yes - you - the people - you on your computer - you in your chair - not some American companies and their flight to offshore havens to hide their profits from American auditors, not the insurance industry which hires thousands of lawyers to avoid paying health claims, not the oil companies with record profits and soaring prices, but you - sitting there - with your real spending power eroding and your protection under the constitution slowly leaking away.

Please - if you live in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia , Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho Illinois, Kansas Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana New Jersey, New York, or Tennessee - then get your butt out of your chair and vote.

Be heard - make a very loud noise - say - NO - no more war no more destruction of the lives of the middle class no more moving profits and accountability offshore to protect the special interests. No more packing of the courts with toadies who will vote not their judicial consciences but their political interests. No more no more no more.

Please help everyone be heard and respected. Bring America back to its people.

Please vote.

Well, I have decided to put a new section in.

Ok, here is the deal.

I have decided to start a new section of my blog - I don't want to start a new blog so it is a section here.

It is called - THINGS THAT DON'T F&*K*NG WORK!!

I encourage everyone to post about things that don't work the way they are supposed to, and then I forward the comments on to the manufacturers.  So here is one to start.

IPODS!!!!!!

Why do I have to keep re-initializing and restoring my IPOD to factory default because it won't turn off anymore.  It is a known problem - the instructions for what to do with the IPOD when it won't turn off are on the Internet.  So - Apple - ummm- well - you know it is happening - so - ummm - FIX IT!!!

What's the big deal Apple - just make it work.

So post things like this - and I'll find the email for someone at the manufacturer or the company and send it along.

Of course, we could fill the whole blog with LL SL things.  Post a few if you want :)

Gabe

Christmas Post 2 - Becoming Friends Again

 

Well - Chesie and I are friends again.  It took a couple of weeks to get comfortable with each other - that's not surprising - there were a lot of emotions running around through both of us.  It was an intense relationship and so it needed some time to find a new balance.  I am very glad though- I love Chesie and want us to be friends - I am happy we are.

Chesie is building a new house for himself over on Maupiti - one of our islands - a very nice house since Chesie is a great builder.  It is nice to stop over now and then to say HI, give him a kiss, get his opinion on my latest shopping for myself disaster, see how he is doing.  This morning I showed him my "return to neko island" look - it is rather a disaster i think - and Chesie was very nice.  He said - "well it is a bit extreme - sort of "bang - I'm here - but nice."  Hmmm - i think i should tone it down a bit.  I'll put a pic right here so you can advise.  Let me know what you think.

 

Speaking of love affairs and partnerships finding their way back to friendships, it is in the natural order of things - when something stops, there is a bit of a throwing around of stuff inside.  think of a car hitting a wall and stopping.  it is a jolt.  but hopefully the air-bags deploy and everyone gets out safely, hugs and kisses and makes sure no bones are broken, and then gets on the bus after the tow truck pulls the car away.

As Christmas continues to draw near, it is nice to reflect on that.  Love is what is important - not how you express it but just that you feel it and show it to the people about whom you care.

The fourth Sunday in Advent is coming - Christmas is almost here.  Can't you just taste the egg-nog :)

More on Love and Partners, Family and Friends as Christmas Draws Near

 

Let me not to the marriage of true minds (Sonnet CXVI)

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
   If this be error and upon me proved,
   I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

	-- William Shakespeare

I never took anyone out of my picks - or out of this blog,  just  because we are no longer together as lovers or partners.  That's not what love is about. 

Love does not disappear.  The people whom I have loved are still the finest people I have known - they are there for me when I need them.

And they are dear to me - as dear as anyone in my life.  They are the beating of my heart and the pulsing of my blood.  I would never want to be without them, even if love changes its form.

As life develops and as we grow, the people with whom we have shared passion and caring, love and concern, they don't leave us.  We may have had our problems, but in the end, I know that they will be by my side if I need them.  And they know that of me.

The people I have listed in my posts over time - Esmie and Nicho and Micah and Mak and Simon and Kat and Masa and Jamie and Celty - they are the true wealth that sustains you.  Their love moves with you through troubles, through hard times.  Even if life changes, their love does not.

As we move towards Christmas, as we traverse the journey that Advent represents, as we await like children the coming of the light and presents and food and eggnog and sweets and celebration, it is good to remember the real gift we celebrate  - the love of friends and family. 

Like the aphorism over the doorway of the Chapel by the Sea in SL that Mason Fredriksson built - "Unbidden, the Lord is present" - so too without having to ask, the love of these friends is given.  They are the manifestation of what the love of God would mean to us - in their hearts is the true meaning of spirit and divinity. 

If you are lucky enough to have that in your life, it's not something  you give up or toss away.  It is something you cherish for as long as you live.

Some thoughts on the question of ex-partners and friendships

 

Well first off people need to know that Chester and I are not partners anymore.  He told me a couple of days ago that he needed space, and it turned into our dissolving the partnership and him moving out.  Oh well, but I am still his friend and wish him the best - I hope he continues to do well and to be happy.

That led me to thinking.

People wonder sometimes about what happens when someone you love cannot, for some reason, be your partner or your spouse any longer.  This is a common problem in Second Life, where relationships don't always last. 

And friends and family also rush to the aid of one or the other partner, and so animosities build up.  This is not good.  Ugly breakups are just that - Ugly. We should try to keep them from being that.

Sure, when our feelings are hurt, we sometimes take pleasure in seeing or hearing those close to us challenge the person who is hurting us.  Sometimes those hurts are horrid, and intentional.  Sometimes they are unavoidable.  Sometimes they are just a personal sadness that things didn't work out.

In the midst of it we are not very clear.  We forget in those moments sometimes why we partnered in the first place.  Hurt gets in the way.  Or the pain of having to do a hard thing.

I have had two ex-partners.  One was formally a partner, one not.  One was with me for two intense and wonderful weeks, and one for 8 months of excitement and pleasure.  When each relationship broke up I was devastated.  I couldn't believe I would survive, and my family and friends had all they could do to hold me together.

They are both two of my most important people now - both of them people I love and cherish and would never want to hurt or see hurt.  Interesting - no one knows you like an ex-lover.  No one has the key to your heart in the same way.

Esmie was my first love in SL, and he is my best friend now.  When we split up I truly thought I would die.  I was so shattered.  I love Esmie now - I couldn't possibly live my life without him.  He is there to pick me up when I stumble.  He is there to hold my head when it hurts.  I love him, I love his partner Nicho, I love them both together.  Without Esmie I would be lost.

Micah was my second love.  I lived and breathed Micah for 8 months.  When Micah left I was so depressed that it was all I could do to breathe.  My friends and family all held me together and slowly I was able to work it through.  And in the end, I can say truthfully that I love Micah more than ever now, but in a different way.  He is there for me and I am there for him.  The love between us is stronger.  I would be lost without him too.

In this most recent time, my family has gathered round me and I am so grateful and feel so fortunate to have them. 

Mak and Simon - my SL brother and my brother-in-law - or my two brothers - are there with their arms around me in good times and in bad.  Where would I be without Simon and Mak - lost somewhere wandering.  Kat - my adopted SL mom - never fails to love me and to guide me.  Nicho and Esmie fly to my side, and care about and for me without stopping, and Micah holds my well being in his heart and is there when i am down- lifting me up. 

Mak and Simon, Kat, Esmie and Nicho, and Micah - they have formed the bedrock of my support - they love me and I love them, and they are allowed to yell at me when I am stupid and to hold me when I hurt, and they all do it with love and caring that is amazing.  I love them all, and couldn't live without them.  They keep me sane.

We learn from these experiences.  And we grow from them too, and the hurting doesn't last forever, even though we think it will.

That's all I can think of to say at the moment.  I am still more or less in the middle of my feelings about this.  But I wanted to let you all know. 

Chesie and I are friends now.  And over time I hope he will be as close to me as Esmie and Micah are - when the dust settles and when we both realize that love doesn't stop, it just changes.

My Goodness - It's been a long time

Well, it has been a long time since I posted to the blog.  Exactly one month, actually.  Chesie put up a post to his blog so it got me thinking - time to update the news.

Since Chesie and I were partnered exactly one month ago - November 7 - a month ago yesterday - life has been wonderful.  Chesie is the sweetest and warmest partner - I love him very much and spend hours with him while he builds.  We sit together and I do my work - and he does his - and we cuddle and keep company together.  I have more or less given up my neko look, but I love kissing Chesie's neko ears - and licking his nose - and rubbing his tummy.

Here is Chesie:

 

I can snuggle with him for hours.  :)

 

So here is the news:

1.  Chesie built us a new house - he got tired of the old one so he built a new one - in less than 24 hours.  He is amazing.  It is very South Pacific - a style he likes - the house is in many different buildings - you walk on wooden walkways from one part to the other - it is very outdoors.  I love it - I haven't bumped into anything in a long time :) although I do still get lost trying to find the kitchen.

2.  Chesie is building full time for CNDG.  The newest project is almost done - Mak and Chesi and Nicho are all building, Esmie is the assistant manager - helping Kat who is the general manager, and the builders are working under RJ who is the master builder and designer.  I just watch - having no talent - and keep the bank :).  it is awesome.

3.  Christmas is coming - Esmie and Nicho are having a party, our house is decorated for christmas, and the season's spirits are starting to rise.  It's too early for a formal Christmas post but there will be one soon.

Here are some recent pictures - i hope you like them.

 

Sitting with Chesie while he builds the new house

 

Construction Equipment in the build sandbox

 

And here are some of the new house all set up for Christmas.  I don't know if you can see the trains under the tree but they toot as they go around :)

 

 

 

More to come -

Thanks Chesie - it is a really wonderful house.

I love you Wallaby.

:)

Our First Night as Partners :)

 

 

Chesie and I spent a lovely day together today - it is such a joy to be his partner.  We got rings - which had bling which we didn't want - and Celty came and took out the bling. Celty can fix anything.  :)

We gave Simon a present - Simon passed his Master of Fine Arts in Music examinations yesterday - his recital was a great success and he passed with honors.  We gave him a mandolin and a guitar - lovely instruments from Bill Havercamps Guitar Palace - and he liked them a lot.

Chesie decided to make a mock combat space - like a paintball field - for game playing - he and Esmie love to run around shooting each other LOL.  Here we are sleeping in it - he was building and got tired so we just crashed up there.

Altogether a lovely day. 

This is a picture done by my wonderful Chesie - and I think of it more or less as our signature picture - :)

 

Altogether a wonderful partner - I love you Mr. Howley sir - :) - my wallaby.

Today Chesie and I became Partners

Becoming partners is an important step. 

To me, it means we are there for each other, through anything and everything, for as long as we breathe the same air.  It means we do life together, we plan together, we decide together.  It means we love each other, and are there for each other.  It means we are loyal, we are devoted, and that we are, for each other, the one who comes before all else.

It means I love him.  It means he loves me.  It means we share.

Every day I get to know Chesie better, and every day I find that I really don't want to be without him.  Every day I find that my time with him is more alive, more real, than is my time away from him.  Every day I love him more and more.

Every day I find I wake and rush to him.  Every day I see I won't sleep well if he doesn't hold me.  Every day I want to be with him more and more, and every day I find him more beautiful, more handsome, more interesting and fascinating and sexier than I could possibly imagine.

That's what partner means to me.  It means I love you wallaby.  It means I want to be with you for as long as I can see into the future.

I love you Chester Howley.  It's the the ground on which I stand.

Well i am using the new Windows Live Writer

For any of you who haven't tried the new Windows Live stuff - it is awesome.  It is a bundle that works with Hotmail, Blogging, photos, Live Messenger, and Live Search.

You download it from here - it is free:

Windows Live betas

and it all integrates.  so far it hasn't turned my computer into an anchor and my HD into a Frisbee.

 

try it i think you'll like it - this post is created with it.  LOL

let me know what you think.

Chesie built us a new house. That in itself isn't so amazing. But it is a beautiful and big new house - made totally from scratch by my Chesie. And - he built it in about 10 hours. That is amazing.

It is big and cosy and lovely and wonderful - like my Chesie - and he built it for me because I told him I was tired of bumping into walls when I walk and not being able to open doors and go up stairs. So it is wide and open - and has no doors only archways, and the stairs are wide enough for two at a time.

Thanks Chesie - no more bruises - yay - LOL.




Here are some more photos - they are really cuddle pic's but the house is where we are. Maybe Chesie will do some architectural photos and give them to me to post.

Chesie will be putting his build stuff up on SL Exchange. Anyone looking for anything like it should check out Chesie's listings - just do a search for Chester Howley. It is amazing. (not to mention comfy and cosy.)

Chesie is most happy when he is building. I sit with him for hours sometimes while he does - we snuggle on a flying cusion or blanket (hehe) and he zooms around with his camera angle getting things just right. When Chesie goes into the zone - time stops.

Pretty soon we will have a commercial SIM through CNDG - and then all Chesie's stuff will be out for viewing, as well as other stuff done by our designers - Mak and Nicho and Esmie and, of course, RJ. I'll let you know when it's ready.

Chesie

So - Here is Chesie. His full name is Chester Howley. He is wonderful. Chesie is the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man. He is sexy and funny and always fun to be with. Chesie and I can sit for an hour and work - each on his own projects, and say 3 words during that time and be perfectly happy and content. Or we can do things intensely together, and just meld as a team and enjoy - and we can explore and dance and, of course, make love.

For example, right now, as I am writing this entry, Chesie is building us a new house. Our third in the past month. (Chesie loves to build). He is totally involved and "in the zone" - I stood in front of him for minutes tonight before he realized I was there. I love it - he does what he does with total engagement - including, hehe - including - well including making love with me.

Chesie lives in Australia. Time zones are a challenge - he is 14 hours ahead of me - when i am going to bed - at 11 at night- he is hitting the begining of his afternoon - 1 pm. Chesie cuddles me when i go to bed.

When I wake up Chesie is there - sometimes at my side in bed - sometimes off building or working on his magazine (Chesie is the editor-in-chief of Dirt- a gay fashion magazine in Second Life). He is there to say good morning to me, and to hold me and wait for me to wake up.

When Chesie goes to bed (about noon or 1pm my time) I hold him in my arms, and when he wakes up (about 8 or 9 or so my time in the evening) I am there to greet him and hold him. I love it. And I love him.

We are boyfriends. We are taking it one step at a time - Chesie has moved in with me in Safe Harbour and we live together in the houses he builds. We are faithful to each other - absolutely - we have promised each other that and more. And each day my love for Chesie grows - and I tell him so. Each day i am more and more sure - that I want to be with him all the time - for all time - because - well so many because'es - but when I am with Chesie I am filled with a wonderful sense of peace - calm - love - safety - truth - and, of course, desire. I love him and he makes me feel whole and complete.

I have inserted pictures of him - and of us - here in this post. I will put up more posts very soon - things we did and do - houses - constructions - things about our life.

But this is an introduction - not a biography. So let me introduce you to Chester Howley - my man - my love - who makes me feel so right and sure.

I love you Chesie - and each day I love you more.

Thanks for loving me my wallaby - it means the world to me.

Ok, so here's the truth

Ok, So here's the truth - sometimes love hurts. Sometimes it hurts a little bit, and sometimes it hurts a whole lot. In any life - Real or Virtual, First or Second, call it what you will - it doesn't make any difference in the end. We are who we are, and when we love, sometimes it hurts.

Sometimes the hurt is because the people we love are hurting - or were hurt - and we can't stand not being able to fix it. Sometimes the hurt is because we can't contain the love we feel, and it spills out over us and our emotions run away with us. Sometimes it is because things don't work out, and the pain of separation is unbearable. But - sometimes it hurts.

The antidote for that pain and hurt must be here - we just need to find it. And the antidote has to be - forgiving. It is the Jewish New Year now - Rosh Hashana - and the "10 Days of Awe" end with Yom Kippur - the Holy Day of Atonement - and the end of the atonement is - Forgiveness. I am a Catholic - which means that actually I am Jewish - think about it - Jesus was, umm, exactly what religion again - oh yeah - Jewish. He was called Rabbi - oh yeah, remember?

In Yom Kippur the community - the whole people beg for forgiveness, and as a part of that process all debts must be forgiven first, all imagined wrongs done to us forgiven. Jesus taught that - good Rabbi that he was - remember -?? -"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Sound familiar?

Not - I'll forgive if you forgive - no bargains. Not I'll forgive if I can figure out what I was pissed about in the first place and justify it. Nope - much simpler - let it go. Just let it go. I have to let it go if I want to find forgiveness for myself - if I want you to love me, I have to love you. If I want you to forgive me, I have to forgive you. I can't start it with "you" - it has to start with "I", "me", I have to start. And if you don't forgive me, I still must forgive you, it is all I can do.

What a season - 9/11, Yom Kippur - what a time.

I once wrote a blog piece about "sometimes we don't tell the people we love that we love them often enough". It is still here in the blog somewhere - you can search for it.

There is only one cure for what ails the world - the simple statement - "I love you. I forgive you. I love you."

Try it. It might feel good, and stop the hurt.

Happy New Year 5768 everyone.

As The World Turns

So it isn't September 11 anymore. It is September 12. We remembered. We stood together in silence, in prayer or in just thoughfulness, we had special memorial services, we had masses and we sang. We heard bells. We lit candles. We saw the faces of the children who had lost parents on TV, and the faces of the parents who had lost children.

And the war goes on. Car bombings, homes destroyed, civil war. Darfur. Iraq. Destruction. Chaos. Death.

What did we learn, from standing silently? What did we do, to make the world change? How does remembering help?

The simple answer - it helps to remember so we will act. It helps to remember so we will DO.

Shakespeare had Hamlet's uncle say "my words rise up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go." He was praying for forgiveness or for guidance. It was useless - he was not really interested in understanding, or so it would seem. Is our government, is Osama Bin Laden, are any of the terrorists, praying for understanding? Or for victory.

Make a difference - today. Help an old person carry packages - deliver food - smile to someone.

It is all we can do and it is what is needed. We don't believe that - we believe we have to do more - so we don't even do that. But if we all did that, there would be no more.

Once again, it becomes quite simple - it has been said a thousand times in every language, in one form or another- treat others as you would be treated. Love others as you would be loved.

9/11 isn't a day- it is a call - it is a reminder that we dont' treat others as we would be treated.

In the end, it is all have - remembering.

September 11, 2007 - 6 years later

Today is September 11 - a day that will always be remembered as a day that the world as we knew it changed. After you read this - please go to Esmie's blog - there he talks about this also in a moving and caring post which brings tears to my eyes.

Today all over the US and in many parts of the world people will observe a moment of silence at 8:46 am Eastern Daylight Time - NYC time for me. My grandfather used to talk with people and say - "Where were you on Pearl Harbor Day, do you remember that December 7?" And my father would say - "Do you remember where you were in November, the day that Kennedy was shot?" We now have our own "Do you remember.." for our generation. I don't think we really wanted one. But we have it now.

I was in school and we received news that something had happened - it was chaos because no one knew what it was. At first we thought it was a terrible accident, and then the second plane hit and we all realized that it was not an accident but a terrible event - a terrorist attack of surprising and unbelievable brutality.

I knew two people in the building, and about a dozen in the surrounding buildings. No one I knew was killed, but my cousin and others I knew ran through the dust and smoke, one of my family friends carried a co-worker out on his back.

It was terrible - and the terror lastedl. The smell filled NYC for months. The first three days the skies were empty - all flights grounded, and it was an awesome and frightening silence.

For a long time I wouldn't fly anywhere, and refused to go anyplace that I could not, if i had to, walk home from. It was months before I could look at an airplane again and think of getting on it.

That's my story - there are millions of stories. Couragous men and women and young people helping, digging out, comforting. Thousands of people who lived and worked there - businesses which closed, people who lost their jobs. People who lost their fathers, their mothers, their sons and their daughters. And for what? For an idea- an idea that was worth more, to some people, than other people's lives.

And so the world goes. We wander through trying to make sense of it, and look for God, or reason, or sense, or randomness - we look for meaning. But there is only one meaning I can see.

We are more than one - we are here to be with each other. Every death is a tragedy. Every person is me.

If we do not learn to live together, we will surely die together. And so what is the result of 9/11 for everyone? It is Fear. It is War. It is Death and Destruction. It is Loss of Liberty, loss of Freedom, and loss of Hope.

To those who did this there is nothing to say - fanaticism is a disease for which we as yet have no cure.

To those who suffered - who lost loved ones, their lives, their possessions, their minds, their hope- what can we say?

So at 8:46 am EDT we will stand in silence for a minute and hope - hope to remember and hope to do better.

It is all we know.

Jesus said it best- "love one another, as I have loved you." It is all we need. Too bad we haven't learned to do it yet. Perhaps someday we shall.

Love,

Gabe

Griefing

Ok, it is time for this to stop. The question is, how-

All of Dreamland was griefed yesterday - here is how it looked at our home - Safe Harbor -

For those who don't know griefing is the harrassment of others - especially by trying to make life unlivable on their land. sometimes it is a specific hate crime - griefing gay people, sometimes it is just general - griefing everybody.

Don't know what this was - seems to be griefing gay people - it was pridelands that seemed to get the brunt of it.

the problem is, how do we stop it? this particular individual - if we can call him/her that - created an account, griefed, and deleted the account all in one afternoon.

So it is hard. So long as Second Life is open to all griefing will be a possiblity.

But there is a way to stop it - it is risky but it can work. Linden Labs knows the login IP address of the griefer - it is in the login logs. So the griefer's rl identity is known.

Think about that griefers - what if it were published- Joe Moake at 3293 Asshole Drive is a griefer. Phone number. Where you work.

Do we want to see that happen - no - we don't. But maybe that it can will help to stop the griefing.

Esmie made a hideaway in the sky

If you haven't seen pictures of it, go to Esmie's blog (linked on the right). He put it up in the sky over Safe Harbor. It is awesome - so mysteriously romantic and beautiful in the moonlight, hanging in the sky with the lighthouse light moving across it rhythmically.

Esmie and I hang and talk there - he put a wonderful cuddle from Pillow Talk in the crook of the tree - here are some pics.

The garden itself is shown better on Esmie's blog. It is a wonderful place.

Thanks Esmie- I love you. here are the pics