June 5th, 2005

[pulmike]

I joined this board exactly a year ago. For me its been a tough year dominated by nagging dismay. About the war, corruption, the environment, the future..aging....the damn war.

Nevertheless, this board has been a place of refuge and solice, a place to seek hope for us all, and find some. This is a place where I can walk among friends although I have never met a single one of you. I thank you all, and Janis most, for making this place what it is.

Yours in hope for peace,

Mike

[Agnes]

Keep coming back, my friend, you're a valued member of this community. :) Find a shoulder to lean on, be silly, have fun, laugh and cry with us - that's what friendship's about: sharing life.

And when peace seems so far away, may there at least be peace within.

A toast to many years of JIMB! :D
Agnes

[Cardiffgal]

Mike you give so much and have become a part of my daily routine.

Good to have such a good man on our team!

[david uk]

good to have you here Mike!

:)

[Denise]

I agree, you are an important part of this community, Mike.
I only beat you by 2 months and I feel like it has been a comfort at times to be here, but mostly, it has been a joy to meet fellow Rudies both here and in person!
I am so glad for that day that my daughter said "C'mon, Mom let's go see her! I'd love to see someone that you enjoyed when you were my age. Let's do it!" That was about 2 hours prior to Janis' concert in Kennebunk, Maine. And look where it led me!
Thank you, Janis!
Glad you're here Mike!!!

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

I joined this board exactly a year ago. For me its been a tough year dominated by nagging dismay. About the war, corruption, the environment, the future..aging....the damn war.

Nevertheless, this board has been a place of refuge and solice, a place to seek hope for us all, and find some. This is a place where I can walk among friends although I have never met a single one of you. I thank you all, and Janis most, for making this place what it is.

Yours in hope for peace,

Mike

Pulmike,

Betty & I have been around this board a bit longer yet like you its been a tough year. Like you we recognise the ongoing tragic and unneccessisary war which has nothing to do with our freedom and only tends to make our nation less secure and safe... We see the corruption of an administration that does things transparently for the world to see when it comes to the trials of lower ranking military yet when it comes to the war crimes committed by order of the administration we get an ongoing snowjob filled with the policy of the President which seems often to be if it don't work for me tell the people lies until they believe me....For a first time the "Ethical" politicians are making every effort to Federalize the concept of marriage by way of a Constitutional Ammendment.. I mean just think of it, all these years our great nations prized constitution was used to defend the rights of the people, now for the first time there are those that will use our most sacred legal document to limit the rights of people... go figure...Our politicians can find the money to fight a war in Iraq that we will not win... and nor will the Iraqi's.... The money is there for an ongoing tax break for the very richest in our nation while withdrawing funds from programs that actually serve a purpose to help people... The people of the nineth ward have no place to live, Homosexual marriages will cause the downfall of the institution of marriage but thank god the pharmicuticals companies are protected by federal law to assure they don't need to compete or even negotiate there drug prices... So where am I going with the cloud with the smog stained silver lining? Thats simple.... To agree with you that this at least is a place where refuge can be sought... And yes like you we are blessed to have found this place... Oh don't kid yourself... You never know where that pesky homosexual is... But certainly this is a far safer and better place then the White house or the Hall of Congress where those pesky lying and bigotted politicians are... I sometimes watch CSPAN and see what happens in the Chamber of Morons where those that have been elected protect our rights.... Oh wait this is the United States, A nation founded by the premise that "all men are created equal" according to old Honest Abe... But not to worry that may soon be ammended to say "All men are created equal if your rich, a politician, Kennedy or Bush".
Over the past year betty and I have had the privilige of meeting face to face with about 30 of the rudies here on the board... Yes it's true there are now witnesses that Betty in fact does exist and is not contrary to popular belief inflatable... It started with meeting Gemini, then the crazed pack of Rudies in Pittsburgh (18 strong) Then The Saxman, and another 8 Rudies and countless soon to be Rudies on our last trip. While it's safe to say we don't agree on everything as my friend Redjack will tell you we do all seem to believe in a few common threads that make you all so damn refreshing to be around.... We've been blessed to have been able to attend seven Janis concerts since March and plan on two more before the year is over... Mike your profile dosen't say what state your in but I would urge you to travel to a Janis concert... You will find far more there then just a concert... You will find a sense of wit, humor and brilliance sent to you from Janis on stage... You will find friendship, warmth and caring sent from Janis when you meet her after the show...And hopefully if your really blessed you will meet a gazillion Rudies which though you've never met them you do know them as friends....

Inclosing Mike thank you for your post and being a Rudie, which allowed me to blow off AGAIN...Thank you Janis for making this a better world.... Thank you to all the other Rudies which make this house we share truely a home....

Best wishes to you all

R. from Pa:o

[pulmike]

I thank you all for your kind responses.

One thing about this place is that it is humanizing, by which I mean: its ok to be imperfect here, in this place. You can let the mask slip a bit.

Every once in awhile Rudies warn each other of pretenders, - people who hold themselves out on the net as more upstanding people than they really are in person. For me it works entirely the other way around. In real life I keep up a bit of a front. I pretend to be better than I am, untroubled, immune from life, or at least from the parts that hurt and the parts I'm less proud of. Here I can hurt, or have little money, or be less than I should be in some other way, and its still ok. I feel accepted as is.

I don't know any other place that does that, and its a really cool thing.

Mike