4/23/2008 6:25:04 AM: Life...it sure does take a lot of twists and turns.  There are days I find myself looking at the next bend in the road with anticipation.  Other times, trepidation is more like it.Still, every life passage, every mile of road along the journey, can be an asset.  Even the most painful ones.  True, we generally have to travel down the way a bit before we can see the benefit in the pain, suffering, or difficulties, but eventually it becomes evident.  It's a great life, if ya don't weaken.One of the more interesting questions to ask oneself is, 'Were the things that hurt the most, worth the pain?'  If yes, in time the tears will be mixed with smiles.  If no, then perhaps the criteria for making decisions and choices needs to be tweaked.  Holding on, and letting go, are not exact sciences.  Living, loving, and dying, follow no rigid script.  Sometimes, I wish that they were, and did.  Other times, I realize that if they were, life wouldn't be the grand adventure that it is, and much of what makes us human would be absent.It has been a rather challenging several months, in a very challenging decade, in a life that has never been placid, uneventful, or boring.  I recently had what I'd call a 'really bad day'.  And out of the blue, was contacted by someone I hadn't seen in ten years.  Long ago, and far away, she'd been dealing with a rather classic, and excruciatingly painful, life event.  One I'd been there, and done that, and already had the t-shirt for.  And there I was, so much further down the road, gaining a boost from our brief conversation.  Turn about is fair play, no?  Even though I didnt' tell her about my 'really bad day', I found that her words made it a little less grim, and a little easier to shoulder.  She served to remind me that there are good things up around the bend, and then once I've walked on for a while, I'll look back to the spot I'm standing on now, and see the good stuff that I know is here, but that I can't see or feel clearly at the moment.Gotta love the way that life, and people, flow...and circle.Yeah, it truly is a great life, if ya don't weaken.  It truly is a wonderous journey, if ya just keep on, keeping on.Doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy a bit of anesthetic right now.....

10/18/2007 8:12:24 PM: I've come to enjoy the Gorean board tremendously, and appreciate those who participate there.  For those who may wonder, no, I don't consider myself Gorean by culture.  I'm still learning about the philosophy of it, and there is a good deal there I can agree with, appreciate, and/or relate to.  For the purposes of interaction there, I've come to consider myself to be of FC status, that being the one that is the closest fit for me.