Peredhil

This *is* neat. Taking the thought process based on years of experience, and then showing how it is able to suddenly do a 180 degree turn. That takes a strong person. So many would've fought the hands on the assumption they'd be just like all the others. When a person has been betrayed and wounded all their life, it's a miracle if they learn to trust. People who haven't been there tend to underestimate the bravery that takes. You really captured that well - well done! -P

Hugs a big welcome back hug At first read, I think it flows well and I definitely like it. Since I know you like nuts-and-bolts feedback as well as impressions, I'll try to reread it critically. Welcome home. -P

Personally, I can't think of anything I've ever done, or could possibly do that could earn the salvation God has already given me. That being the case, I don't bother beating myself up for my many frequent failures. Instead, I focus on what I can do for myself and others, into the future. Kinda Romans chap 8 stuff - no condemnation if you're walking after the spirit - walking, not sitting and wailing or beating yourself up. On another note, I was the youngest of 5 kids when I was growing up. I remember one occasion when a couple rushed into church slightly panicked - they'd see our stationwagon already parked and just *knew* they were late. We'd actually gotten there on time for once. Hugs

As Peredhil is out raking leaves, Elrohir slips in with the presents and puts them on the table. He looks doubtful as he pulls the cord on each of the two "Almost Dragonic Productions Produces (almost) Genuine Peredhil Hugs! Leave them lurking for YOUR friends! :D" , but is reassured to see the two filmy ectoplasmic forms mist up from the small cardboard containers. Vlad, Archaneus, he tells the waiting hugs, and then he slips out to help with yardwork for the rest of the day.

Taking the crystal ball away from Wyvern, Peredhil looks through the article for the catch. He looks a second time, trying to pretend he's Wyvern looking at the article, but starts to get dizzy at the reach. "Waaait a minute Wyvern," Peredhil says, raising a hand, "Let me look this over, and then I'll pay for your call if you'll do my message first." At the magic words, "I'll pay", Wyvern suddenly goes silent, except for small back and forth twitches of his tail, and the "I smell money" twitch of his nose. "Here's the message, here is the control number on one of my accounts - with exactly enough money in it to make two calls, and no links to any other account in my possession. The bank is just waiting for this account to close so IT can close. If the money isn't used, it will not accrue any interest or in any other way gain value." Wyvern scratches his itchy nose absently with one claw as he looks in vain for the flaw. He and Peredhil had been working together for quite some time now, but when it came to money, his hope welled eternally. "Now, this gig isn't for a few days. I'm going to be busy, but I can have Elladan start your training, "if he's not serious, that should weed this scheme out" he thought to himself, and then I can take over. What do you say?"

Peredhil sighed with annoyance and ran his fingers through his hair. There was nothing for it. He'd have to find someone to call for him. He didn't mind the expense, since Ashmin Alsim guaranteed message delivery throughout the multi-universes, but the difficulty of finding someone he could feel comfortable in asking to do a favor for him. He really REALLY disliked bothering people for small things. There wasn't anyone he could think of that owed him any favors of this magnitude. The little things he did were usually because he couldn't NOT do them and still live with himself. At times literally - the failures of his past sometimes rose up and ceased him by the throat, choking him with tears until he could raise up defenses of current good deeds. He broke off and laughed at himself, the irony of selfish giving. Wyvern. Win-win situation! He cared nothing of money, considering value of anything not living to be a delusion, while Wyvern valued trinkets like geld and jewels highly. He wouldn't be offended to be paid to send his message! He set off toward Wyvern's office. On arrival, he spent a few minutes chatting up Door, and then Melba, as he waited for Wyvern's door to open.

Ummm. I think you're pretty. I think you're pretty smart, pretty in looks, and pretty special to me. I'd care.

Snickers Funny, when I was asked to join, everyone outranked me (I was the first Quill Bearer), and I pretty much felt as Falcon does - I'm in a group with *who?!?* The reason it's funny is that I still feel that way. My muse is occasional and fickle, and she manifests in different ways than many of those here that I respect and admire. I mean - the songs Falcon writes. I don't write songs... I'm still amazed I'm on people's list. But yes, this place is in my comfort zone. I agree with Damon in a way, Those who are negative, aggressive, attack - you know the type, they only feel high when they've pushed someone down and stood on their head for a moment, those types just don't last long here. I've seen attacks - and I've seen Pen members ignore them, or reply with Bardic Satires - and the attacker just went away. The feeling that I feel here I associate with my birth family - it's a feeling of love. Such an overused and abused word in our society, but I use it in its correct meaning in this case. If confused, define it as "the Pen community feeling"...

This web site and the hosting was a Christmas present to me from Rune. I bought the URLs for the Pen, and recently Orlan renewed them for us. The entire time, Rune has provided our hosting for free, along with several other sites she's maintaining for various people. Her heart is like that. The current difficulties aren't only with the Pen, and are below the database level - they're the result of the hosting servers - something over which no one in the Pen currently has control. If we want to pay money for web hosting someone, Rune said she'd make the time to transfer the Pen to the new site and get it all set up and running. That's it to the best of my knowledge - Although I have to admit that was, and still is, the best Christmas present I've ever received. -Peredhil

raising three sons, completing my "four year degree" (only six credits to go, 25 years in the making. Transferring is painful - I have around 190 credits total over somewhere around seven universities), retiring from the Army (19 years down), trying to be a friend and make a positive difference in people's lives.

Hmmm. Biblical perspective: dead is three days and three nights. Prolly to rule out comas and such. background: Adam & Eve = body soul and spirit. died spiritually on the day they were booted. All until 40 days after J.C.'s resurrection: body and soul. spiritually dead (Ephesians.) soul life == living breathing creature. Obviously has a mind and choice. I think it's Leviticus that mentions that soul-life is considered to be in the blood - which explains injunction on not drinking it and makes the vampire craze really spiffy. also indicates that life is breath - "breathing one's last" and such-like. When body/soul dies, they are dead. The word most translated as hell is "the state of being dead". For afterlife options: the resurrections of the Just and Unjust. Current administration: born body and soul. opportunity to be "born-again" spiritually, which give the same choices Adam and Eve had - listen to spirit, or go by "common sense" and five senses. If die without spirit, same as above. If die with spirit: body dies, soul-life dies, spirit is "asleep" until zipped away when J.C. comes back to end this parenthetical note in the prophecies of the bible, avoiding the Daniel/John (revelations) "Wrath" prophecy stuff. Get a new body at this point, which is flesh and bone (spirit powered) instead of flesh and blood (soul powered). Prolly can do all sorts of the nifty things J.C. did after his resurrection, like ignoring locked doors and such. For those who hang around for the wrath and the stuff after, it's all pretty obvious from there. Anyway, that's a summation in a nut-shell.

Prolly my training in security, but I'd stick with email. This sounds like a nifty idea! I'm starting to get busy enough that I'm hitting the Pen once every four days instead of four times a day, and it looks to get busier. I'd like something like this. Hugs and whispers in her ear, "good speech".

Happy birthday. Don't ever forget to look at and chase your dreams. It's too easy to focus on the immediate and forget goals. May you swim with sharks...

Good catch Ayshela! I was away myself - Happy Birthday! 18... wow, it seems like such a milestone in my memory, but on reflection, so little about me changed at that point. I just gained the potential to choose on some things.

There will be society whenever two or more people gather, or one person populates the memories of interactions in their mind. society is interaction with others. It is the type of society, and the type of interactions which matter. The Pen is a society. If you search the Walls, you'll find its mission statement. If you read through old threads up to the present, you'll see the ever-changing variations on theme of how the mission statement has been implemented at that time. In my opinion, looking at the Pen (which I find exceptional), I am validated that all societies aren't innately bad. The problem with society, to loosely quote someone, is that it has people in it. oh - equality. I agree, equal doesn't imply identical. The sense in which I used it was that, when all the equations on both sides are resolved, the resulting value is equal. I just didn't see it in the locker room, summing up physical attributes - you might say I came up short in that equation. In some classrooms, I came up long. In others, equal to some, short to others, long to more. Now, building on that, it is easy to see that it depends on HOW you define the equations! If all human comparison were based solely on the physical, it would be rather easy to resolve, but unrealistic. I see an example of that in the media modeling craze. By taking the bodies of less than 1% of humanity and portraying that as the standard (models and supermodels), it sells countless cosmetics, surguries, magazines, pshrink appointments on self-esteem, etc etc. I'm sure the "winners" of that equation are comfy with that. It's human nature to want to be on top. Which is why I'm so careful with revolutions of any type - nearly all of them want to replace one social equation balanced against the revolutionist with another equation that has the revolutionist come up long. In seeking through life, the only actual equality I've found was Christianity - and the thousand various implementations and corruptions of those implementations I see tells me that its mission statement is misunderstood, or is being used by revolutionaries - as an excuse or justification for why they should be better than someone else. Meep, have to get my youngest out the door for school. Zips away

Peredhil, on vacation, wanders near enough to hear the impassioned words. Listening, he hears echos of the same pain that motivated Janis Ian, of his generation, to write her song, "At Seventeen." Nodding to some points, politely disagreeing but understanding others, he listens to the end. Hmmm, "fair" is what come to towns with ferris wheels, but humanity does cry for justice in my experience, it just can't agree on what it is. Although I don't quite agree all people are created equal, his hands unconsciously cup protectively over a lower part of his body, as my first view in the men's locker room showers after sports convinced me that statement isn't true...

Hi Brian, Welcome to the Pen! It's great to see you at last - I've heard a lot about you. And that's not a bad first poem - This is a place to grow. Oh- and if you break Arwen's heart, I'll sic her brothers on you... -Peredhil

Hmm. This could be a little Rude, but... A bus full of exceedingly Ugly people was traveling down the Interstate Highway when it was involved in a head-on collison with a large heavily-laden truck, which instantly killed everyone on the bus. In arriving at the entrance to heaven, they were met by Jesus, who, inconsideration of their life of Ugly-induced suffering, offered each of them one wish before entering. The first hesitated not a moment, but burst out loudly with, "I want to be GORGEOUS!" Jesus snapped his fingers and it happened faster than the eye can wink. The next person, on hearing the wish and seeing the result, said, "I want to be gorgeous too!" with the same results. This continued down the line, with each one stepping forward Ugly and stepping away with individual beauty beyond compare. But as Jesus granted the wishes and the line made its way to him, he noticed the man at the very end was laughing. As Jesus progressed through the Ugly, the closer he came to the end, the harder the man laughed. The laughter was contagious and the Ugly before the man started smiling and chuckling quietly, as the Ugly do when they didn't get the joke. Finally, the man, with aching ribs and teary eyes, stepped up for his wish. It took him a few minute to compose himself, while Jesus waited patiently. With only small irrepressible chuckles, the man laughed forth his wish. "I wish they were all Ugly!"

Hugs I can only speak from the impact on my life, but it seems that suicide hurts those who love the victim the most... And impacts the selfish or uncaring as much as putting a finger into a pail of water and removing it. A terrible terrible waste... (Well written and brought up some serious memories.)

Huggles I think... I think I'll just leave this as a very happy birthday wish, and saying quite sincerely that I'm blessed I've met you. AP-E, -Peredhil Law

hugs Welcome back. Fall is a busy time for many reasons, and the waning of the sun parallels the waning of energies in many of us. So don't worry about it- we're grateful (or at least I am) whenever you can grace us with your presence. After all, Pen family is were they *have* to take you in when you show up again You can pick your friends as they pick you But family is stuck as if by glue. -Peredhil

great mind images off that one. Reminds me of a weathered statue of a saint I'd seen in Europe - so worn by time, tears, and touches that the original saint couldn't be recognized. In "hoping that they home to hold some comfort" I'm not quite sure I follow what you say, although I think I know what you mean - they hope that they can find the same type of comfort at home holding the chip emblematic of the statue. Which of course, doesn't fit the rhyme! Huggles -P

[Elrohir] I hissed and just managed to override the mamba body's instincts before biting Orlan. The mamba is one of the few snakes that will charge a person and swarm up the snake-catcher pole to try to bite him. I started the Circle over again before the next one in could start to decay, but my tongue was flickering to test the air constantly. It smelled like Orlan, the D.E.P. was unmistakable. But Orlan's prowling graceful walk had been known to make jungle cats seek therapy for feelings of inferiority. Tripping? I refocused and concentrated on what I was doing - the mental constructs of Serpentine Rituals are its foundation. [/Elrohir]

That has roots in the past... Nice modern adaptation of ye olde Curse.