No one can choose the color of their skin, their ancestral heritage, or the cultural/ethnic climate in which they are reared. Being genetically predisposed to certain physical characteristics is no guarantee of success or failure, either.

For years I have shunned others' label that I'm "White." I don't even like the term "Caucasian." Nor would I accept designations of "Asian," "Hispanic," or even "Chartreuse" if any of those were personally relevant.

I was born and spent half of my life in the shadow of the U.S. capital. In the mid '70s when I was in junior high and my sister was just starting elementary school our mother, then legally separated, met and fell in love with a mystery man. For years Mom's sweetheart was known to us girls only as "Mr. X." Knowing the happiness he brought into her life, and subsequently my sister's and mine, we didn't initially question their secrecy.

Time passed as Mom and Mr. X's relationship deepened. By this time the late '70s were upon us and I had begun high school. My sister still went to the same demographically diverse elementary school I had attended years prior. Our family maintained the same middle-class suburban home in which I'd lived since I was a toddler. It was then that my sister and I were finally introduced to Mr. X.

Neither my sister nor I were phased upon the revelation that Mr. X was African-American. We had already loved and respected this man whom we only knew vicariously. From that point of introduction Mr. X was henceforth adopted by my sister and I, reborn as "Chocolate Pop." The four of us, Mom, C.P., my sister and I, could not have been happier. But all was not well in our slice of suburbia.

To this day I still can't speculate the identity of the sad individual who was compelled to repeatedly leave grotesque, venom-filled hate propaganda (KKK) on my family's doorstep. I lost count of the number of times I raced home from school to dispose of these cowardly droppings lest they be discovered by my sister. It wasn't until many years later that she, Mom and I compared experiences on such matters. C.P. wasn't yet even living in our home when these things occurred. The hateful actions of anonymous cowards were utterly baffling and disturbing on so many levels.

Mom confided that more than once she and C.P. were refused service at restaurants throughout the Capitol Beltway area. At school I was regularly cornered in the girl's locker room by groups of both Whites and Blacks who baited me with racial epithets. Their favorite was "wigger." Their assaults escalated from petty name calling to attempts at tripping me, strategically timed flying locker doors, and rat-tail towel attacks to gauntlet-style episodes of sucker punching. This is when I learned to fight- and fight well. I put an end to the attacks of my personal terrorists which school administration flatly refused to acknowledge.

To be continued @ Part Two...

Blanket Copyright © Disclaimer:
Displayed under Non-commercial "Fair Use" for purpose of review.
All copyrights © are retained by their legal owners and/or assigns.

- d i r e c t o r y -

It still never ceases to amaze me how so many people don't learn from their misadventures. When these gaffes develop into a pattern with no tangible proactive measures implemented on the part of the hapless afflicted, these situations qualify under the new definition of insanity:

insanity - repeating the same dysfunctional behaviors over and over,
yet each time expecting a different positive result

Case in point, a PM recieved from an individual whom I've helped - and attempted to educate - on various internet related personal matters for longer than I probably should have...

"Hi Honey, long time no hear from. I hate to ask you but I desperately need your help. I will even give you my phone number so we don't have to type back and forth. This is kind of urgent because someone is putting mine and [a close relative's] name all over the internet and I need to know the legalities, ramifications and if there is anything we could do about it."

I'm not going to waste my time with lengthy explorations of this individual's systematic self-sabotage. All I will say is that I've developed a mercenary attitude where such pleas are concerned. Want my skills? Fucking pay me. Guess what? Damned few could afford my fees to investigate, let alone clean up what boils down to other's he said/she said bullshit.

One can't seriously expect to consistently invite or perpetuate havoc-rich interactions online without putting themselves and others at risk, now can they? It's time some people got a major reality check. I'll break out my trusty clue-by-four pro bono. Otherwise, take the drama elsewhere.

Please bear with me. I'm finding this entry challenging to compose. I've been brooding lately over the Multiply networking equivalent of the Six degrees of separation. For years my modus operandi was largely based upon the "all-or-nothing" principle mostly because it's taken this long for a viable (note: not perfect) social construct to be incorporated into an online networking community. This is no longer the case.

Over the years I've been gifted to encounter many wonderful individuals both in the Big Room and here in Cyberia. I am grateful to know, on varying levels of familiarity, each and every one. However, this is where matters get awkward.

For those who can't or don't read the Multiply Staff Blog, separate Online Buddy settings are now available. There's been a great deal of discussion surrounding matters of "Friendiligence" on MUDS for quite some time. One reasonable concern is that of "contact demotions." Of course, when approached from a personal perspective, realistic assessment of any relationship can be measured within certain sets of variables. Now we're left with the conundrum of subjectivity vs. objectivity.

Individuals and the connections which may be formed with other individuals are not "objects." Rather, I prefer to view them as "subjects." But who wants to undergo such scrutiny? The fact is that everyone does, and some of us on a regular basis. I certainly know that I'm under simultaneous microscopes at any given time. So be it. That's my reality whether or not I like it.

Multiply member danbirchall summed up the concept of "Friendiligence" quite accurately...

"My thought is that in a theoretical ideal Multiply where people actually link to each other in ways that reflect reality (ha! ha!) my "network" consists of people I know and trust in real life, people they know and trust in real life, and people they know and trust in real life. It's a "web of trust" model to some extent."

So, how do we successfully address our online relationships to effect mutually agreeable connections? Where Multiply is concerned, changing horses in mid-stream shouldn't have to be a drama-laden affair. Please consider this entry as 1) an open invitation to publicly discuss Friendiligence in general, and 2) a means for my current contacts to privately (read: via PM- check "private"!) explore what setting works for us. As always, PMs received by me fall strictly under "Vegas Rules."

To flesh out upcoming changes a little better:

• existing posts: no access settings will be changed
• future posts: the majority (99.9%) will continue to be publicly accessible- that's just me ;oD
• contact settings: no one is being "demoted"- any changes are but pre-emptive adjustments
• updates: expect at least one followup to this entry
• anticipated timeframe: approximately two weeks +/-
• anticipated outcome: any of my current contacts that I haven't heard from within a reasonable period of time will be switched to Online Buddy
• recourse: of course, on a case-by-case basis

Blanket Copyright © Disclaimer:
Displayed under Non-commercial "Fair Use" for purpose of review.
All copyrights © are retained by their legal owners and/or assigns.

- d i r e c t o r y -

Blanket Copyright © Disclaimer:
Displayed under Non-commercial "Fair Use" for purpose of review.
All copyrights © are retained by their legal owners and/or assigns.

- d i r e c t o r y -

What most of us continue to vehemently deny
is that we are all freaks in some way.

Welcome to the human race.

[ wiki | IMDb ]

Apologies to any innocent bystanders who were taken aback by the replies section of the "100 Questions" entry. My handling of the situation was not a "reaction," but a prelude to an action. I make no bones about who or what I am, nor am I here to be any random element's punching bag because they don't like "fugi facet X". Screw the trolls. Screw the haters. Screw the stalkers. And mostly, screw anyone who's got some sick little notions of going after me or mine. It will not happen here on Multiply. Period.

"Okay, Chris. We got that part. So, the rest of your point is...?"

Maybe a few insights are in order as to what makes me tick. Borrow what you need and leave the rest. Namaste'

"Umm, okay Chris. But what's with the lists?"

Oh, it's just a little sump'n-sump'n I find beneficial to do every once in a while. There are numerous variations on this format. It's just one more way for this Dopeless Enigmaniac to maintain a realistic perspective. Any elaboration beyond that would probably have to fall under "Vegas Rules," quid pro quo. ;oD

For anyone who might want/need to contact me over the next few days, please see the notice in my guestbook, thanks. Now, before last night's pain shot from the ER completely wears off... The following is an exerpt of my reply re: my participation and/or personal interactions here in Cyberia. Word to the wise... Attempting to back-stab me or mine is never a good idea. ;oD

Well, my friends... That's about all the computer time my pain tolerance will allow this morning. Starting to get shooting pains down my legs again, and that ain't the half of it. Looks like I'm going to be doing a lot of knitting this weekend. Gentle {{{hugs}}} for those who want 'em. Ciao for now...