What kind of person yells "move faster, you f**king fa**ot!!"

[ForrestGump]

(the latter a homophobic term, in case you're trying to figure it out with those asterisks concealing its ugly identity)

to a man with no legs?

If you answered "subhuman scum," you'd be right. If you answered "Forrest's work partner, and erstwhile friend," you'd also be right. Emphasis on erstwhile, too.


This is the same person that I vented about maybe a week ago (and asked a question about -- whether he was truly a misogynist of the most extreme, woman-hating kind, the upshot being that he is most definitely a racist, homophobe, misogynist, and alcoholic, a bilious ball of hate for whom combat service in Vietnam is not excuse enough). I got the impression that some people who saw that post of mine, even if they didn't outright say so, probably equated me somewhat to a battered wife (not to minimize that, my discomfort and being poisoned by this man's staggering negativity paling beside systematic direct abuse) who refuses to leave the situation. I had and still have some practical constraints on totally walking out the door on this creep. But I'm not going to work with him any more. Not unless a lot changes, anyway, and even then I will have severe boundaries because he's gone and lost himself the best friend (best for him, I mean) he probably ever had in his miserable f***ing life. If all goes as it seems it will, we'll be working at different times and hardly see each other, anyway. Going it alone in my current gig is going to be a challenge, but now I am compelled to pick it over working with him any longer. We almost came to blows today and the very fact that he took it that far says a lot.

I could have utterly destroyed him in a fight, but I walked away. What did almost compel me to backfist his scowling face was when we left for the day and he yelled that stunning piece of ugliness in response to a young man on crutches, who clearly had two prosthetic legs, not making it across a driveway quickly enough to please the fat pig in the big black Cadillac. The windows were up, so I'm sure nobody but me heard this, but I did hear it. I don't even want to be in the same neighborhood when this piece of sh**'s karmic debt is ordered to be paid in full. And he won't have me to run interference or be his bodyguard any more when it does come due.

So, for me, it's a happy ending, I'm sure. For him...well, who gives a flying f***, anyway: he's determined to live in misery so I hope he gets exactly what he wants.

He's an ugly person, through and through. He can f*** off and die, for all I care now. I'm going on to better things.








P.S.: I'm not looking for confirmation that this man is an evil slime or that I am not -- I already hold these particularly truths to be self-evident (though, sure, please feel free to confirm or even challenge either or both characterizations) -- but write this post in part simply because there are quite a few people here on DU who I feel are almost a kind of extended family, with whom I do not necessarily correspond regularly, and this is likely a fairly crucial turning point for me in terms of my current vocation. Also -- and I know this because I know it of myself -- sometimes it is a little staggering to be reminded of the hateful swines who walk among us...this is not a Jerry Falwell or a David Duke, but some anonymous citizen who quietly (and often not-so-quietly) seethes with red-hot hate and intolerance for just about everyone who crosses or comes near to his path. I've known his hate and negativity for too long now, and the crisis that I guess just mounted has been a long time coming, but even I was pretty much shocked speechless and senseless by what he yelled at the young man with no legs, and just that he could utter it, or even think it. A**hole. :grr:

[ForrestGump]

1. Bleh....I felt like I just handled cyanide

even thinking about this again.

Here's a song by the real Elvis that this clown has the nerve to sing along to, as ugly irony -- it's called "Walk A Mile In My Shoes."

Hopefully this is the yin to that yang up above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGvkJEKCrhg

[Shakespeare]

8. Aw, Forrest.

No matter if it's a work partner or a spouse, I know from recent personal experience what it's like to deal with that kind of poison. Extract yourself from it any way you can (even if it means just working at different times). Being in close quarters with that kind of ugliness darkens the soul, so take care of yourself, okay? :hug:

[ForrestGump]

9. I hope that

you are free of that poison in your life, entirely, and if you are I am very happy that you are. I've had a few people in my life so far who've had some of the hallmarks of this character but none even a fraction as severe or hateful. Yes, even without direct negative action (violence, sabotage, hurtful lies, etc) being around that kind of staggering negativity from anyone can be a real soul-crusher, and one danger is that the longer you endure it the less capable you become to escape it or to even recognize that you're absolutely immersed in it. :hug:

Thank you. Very much. :hug: :hug: :hug:

[Shakespeare]

10. I am.

As of August 1 last year when I moved back to LA, I was officially, relievedly and happily out of the relationship.

You're welcome. Very much. :hug:

[ForrestGump]

17. Good!!!

:D

And I am sure that LA's blue skies (well, okay, sometimes they're kinda brownish, depending on where you live) have been that much more blue since you came back. No blues, just blue skies.

I fled to LA when my marriage went south and my site-specific career commitment was over (hell, I walked on the whole career, in the end). I was on an island, in a sick society with a wife who went off the rails there, and getting back to Los Angeles became an obsession. I even built a whole library of songs about California -- there're so many! -- and a certain Doors song became kind of an anthem:

Well, I`ve got the running blues
Running away
Back to LA
Got to find the dock on the bay
Maybe find it back in LA

:-)

Sounds like you've got your dock in the bay, even if it's not the same location Otis sang of.

:hug:

[REP]

2. Best Wishes

You're doing the right thing, getting away from that vile piece of trash. If he can say shit like that to a disabled stranger, I can only imagine what kind of hell he put you through.

[ForrestGump]

3. Thank you

What he did to that young man, even if it wasn't heard by him, is far worse than anything he's done to me. He's toxic, and the poison's beginning to really leach out and affect me, but I have controlled my exposure to him and I really cannot complain too much about being put through much of anything other than him affecting my earning potential by losing us opportunities and lots of work time through his drunken binges and his anger at tourists. His negativity is affecting me more and more so I've got to deal with that within myself.

What he's done to me is mostly the result of me choosing to stick with him and be loyal, a commodity decidedly rare in this town. When you get right down to it, at this point in the game that's all ultimately a consequence of my conscious choices. What he did in saying what he said about that young man today, and the other terrible things he's before said to and about people who did not deserve his scorn or hate...well, that kind of thing is what is truly unforgiveable.

[REP]

5. It's Wearing To Be Around That Kind of Vileness

Even if it wasn't directed squarely at you (hard to believe; then again, he sounds like a coward and you sound like you can defend yourself) it's wearing to be around that kind of chaos and nastiness. Just acting that way around you all the time is inflicting it on you, even if he doesn't aim his spew specifically at you. Cutting him off isn't disloyal; it may help teach him that what he's doing isn't acceptable to anyone human plus it gets you away from being drained like that. You're a good man for not stabbing him in the neck, which is better than he deserves!

I know you're not looking for sympathy, but you sure as hell deserve some. You also deserve a big pat on the back.

[ForrestGump]

11. I don't think he's really a coward (though he's a bully in some ways, and I've never

seen a bully who was not a coward) as much as he is just a belligerent ball of hate-filled violence waiting to explode at any moment. He blames his hair-trigger (actually, no-trigger) temper, and his drinking, on his Irish heritage. Yeah, right...but I guess it gives him an excuse rather than forcing him to confront his demons.

But you sure nailed the rest of it. :-)

And thank you for the pat...yes, it helps a lot to get a good backpat, sometimes. :hug:

:yourock:

[REP]

14. You Do Know Who My (Distant) Cousin Is, Don't You?

Of course I rock. My hair's naturally black, too! :)

[ForrestGump]

18. Well, yeah

:D

Yes, it is no wonder thou rocketh!

Man, I wish my hair was naturally black, just so I didn't have to use that nasty dye all the time. :-)

:headbang:

[mykpart]

4. I know! Ann Coulter!

[ForrestGump]

12. No

Well, okay, yes...she probably would, too. :P

Idi Amin, maybe, too. Not too many others, though.

[u4ic]

6. That - HE - is beyond vile

He won't change - you know that, unless somehow he's visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.

Things will change for you, though, by cutting ties. In a very positive way.:hug: :hug: :hug:





:loveya:

[ForrestGump]

13. Funny you should say that

The first part, I mean.

Someone recently told me that he could use a visit from those same ghosts. I think he'd shoot them, though.

As for the second part...yeah, it is -- to borrow from Sir Paul -- Getting Better All The Ti-i-i-iiiiime. :hug:

:loveya:

:*

:hug: ....∞

[Danger Mouse]

7. I'm glad to hear you say that.

Now you can move on, without that trash to hold you back.
Can't believe he could be so brazenly CALLOUS.

[ForrestGump]

16. Thank you, mi amigo

You are entirely right.

And, no, it's hard to believe that he could be so bad.

Got another one for you: the other day he was angry about something (there's always something, in his warped universe...there has to be) and he yelled, out the window of that f***ing Cadillac limo to a woman on the median who was holding a "homeless and hungry" sign, "get a job!!." I just sat there, again, stunned and totally at a loss for some kind of response other than just reaching over and killing the bastard with my kung fu grip buried in his jowls. Sure, as he was today, he was acting out of general rage (again, almost invariably caused by trivial or nonexistent provocations) and not necessarily a rage incited by the object of his scorn but there is still no excuse for that utter vileness.

He's trash, as you say. That's a kind of a sad admission for me, I'm afraid.

Thanks.

:hug: :hug:

[marzipanni]

26. Here is a book, might be a good present for him

the other day he was angry about something (there's always something, in his warped universe...there has to be
Prisoners of Hate: The Cognitive Basis of Anger, Hostility, and Violence
http://www.amazon.com/Prisoners-Hate-Cognitive-Hostility-Violence/dp/0060932007
Customer Review
Amazing, April 24, 2007
By Army soldier (Baghdad, Iraq) - See all my reviews
This book has given me a new perspective on my life. Being a person who has often spells of intense anger. I have managed to refrain from physical violence for a long time now. This book helped me take the "edge off". It has also helped me with border line personality disorder and depression by highlighting, what I interpreted, as causes of both. I highly recommend this book to anyone who gets angry or would just like a good book to read.

[ForrestGump]

29. Thank you!

I read the reviews on Amazon and it sounds like a really interesting read, even if it may not apply to absolutely every molecule of negativity in the universe.

It's interesting, too, that the soldier in Iraq wrote what he did in the review: the man I'm dealing with here is undoubtedly terribly messed up at least in part by the Vietnam war (PTSD and clinical depression) but he is resistant to doing anything about it. He basically doesn't read and he'd never read a book like this. His only hope would be if Bill O'Reilly synopsized it for him (and that freakish O'Reilly's synopsis would undoubtedly be "bullsh**!!!").

I will check it out, though, at my friendly neighborhood library...it sounds interesting, to say the least.

Thanks! :headbang:

[anarch]

43. there's this one, too

not sure if it's still in print...



A**Hole No More! : A Self-Help Guide for Recovering Assholes--and Their Victims
Paperback (Trade Paper) (Large Type)
Author: Xavier Crement

[Heidi]

15. .

Sounds like you found your answer to my mom's question. Congratulations, my friend. :hug:

:loveya:

[ForrestGump]

19. Thank you, my love

Oops...Mr Wesley doesn't know about us yet, right? :D






:hide:





As for that question, John Lennon was right: yes is the answer. Yes to good things; no -- in fact, good riddance -- to bad rubbish.

:hug: :hug:



:loveya: <--- really, Wes, it's utterly platonic, I swear (I know he wields a large sword, no innuendo intended even though he probably likes it) :P


:hug:

[Heidi]

20. Not to worry.

CMW knows I have discerning tastes. :7

[ForrestGump]

21. Well, THAT is good to know!

:D



Wait a minute.


Did you just insult me?








:P



:hug:

[Heidi]

24. No way.

:hug:

[ForrestGump]

25. Darn

'cos it was kinda turning me on. :D

[Adsos Letter]

22. one that is gonna' find his life/health curtailed

if he gets in the wrong situation with that attitude...or, something as simple as a stroke.

Not everyone has your clear thinking, or self-control. :thumbsup:

[ForrestGump]

27. I wish _I_ had my clear thinking,

sometimes. :D

Thank you.

I was thinking kind of the same thing about him finding himself in a similar situation, with some physical injury or ailment (I hesitate to say 'impairment' because (a) some of that can be very much up to the person afflicted' and (b) he's already severely impaired, as a human being), and seeing the ugliness in people like him. If he had met the young man face to face he almost certainly would have acted with compassion, but the very fact that he can say what he said even out of misdirected anger makes me wonder if, indeed, he would have been acting some of that compassion.

Yes, if he keeps going as he has and is -- and from my perspective I'd say he's getting worse and picking up velocity on a downhill rush (a perspective I am fairly sure is not the result of cumulative exposure to him and its effects on me) -- he may well end up in serious physical distress as the result of picking fights with the wrong people or smashing himself and his precious limo up while driving drunk. At this point, that's just going to have to be tough-for-him...I just hope nobody else suffers injury because of his need to self-destruct.

[SeattleGirl]

23. When I first read your post, I thought of the man with no legs who

sits in front of the souvenier shop between Harrah's and The Imperial Palace. But I've never seen him with prosthetic legs, so that's not who you are referring to, correct?

To the main point of your post, I think you are absolutely justified in how you feel, and how you reacted. I know you are not the type of person to be okay with this kind of hatefulness.

Good on you for your decision. :hug:

[ForrestGump]

28. Nope, he's not the one

(this fellow was a young man, I'm sure just visiting, who was flanked by two buddies who were also probably 20something...looked like decent dudes) but I do know that man. he makes a ton of money, too! Well, he can. But he's also hassled by a couple of the violent street types. I won't say 'homeless' people here, 'cos most of these men -- who the casino security types know by name -- have apartments and at least one is the wealthy son of a wealthy family and just happens to be violently insane and chooses to live mostly on the street (Vegas, by its nature, tends to breed and attract a different type of street person or vagrant than other US cities I know of).

My work partner -- well, I guess he's not any more (yay!) -- has contempt for such people, in general, but he's also interceded on that old man's behalf when he was being pushed around by thugs. My ex-buddy is in many ways a nasty man, but he's also got a lot of goodness going on, even if it's not expressed too much and the other side of him is expressed WAY too much...it's not totally black and white, though it's these days fairly close to it.

Thanks, Ms Seattle.... :hug:

:loveya:

[SeattleGirl]

30. I knew you'd know who I was referring to.

We get some of that around here, too: useless sons of wealthy parents whose favorite sport is attacking gays and homeless people. :grr:

Sounds like your ex-partner does have a good streak in him, but unfortunately it appears to be overshadowed by the mean streak. Oy.

And, you are most welcome, Forrest, my friend. :hug:

[lildreamer316]

31. I just saw this.

Sorry dear. I am glad you are moving on, and I wish you a speedy and easy transition.
Breathe deep the air of positive, eh?
:hug:

[ForrestGump]

32. Thank you, Ms dreamer....

And, yes, I will breath deeply of that air. After all, I'm still holding that coupon you so kindly gave me for a free lapdance...it's hard to feel too bad when I'm holding that card. :D


:hug:

[SarahB]

33. It's time to go.

I saw in another reply, you talked of going back to LA. Perhaps looking into doing what you're doing around there (or where you are) or keeping your eyes open to something in the profession related to your Ph.D. wouldn't be half bad. Even doing this and part-time lectures as an adjunct faculty type thing? This guy is a mess and a nut and it needs not be your problem anymore.

[ForrestGump]

38. Thanks, Sarah.

You're probably doing or have already finished that final exam, and I know you know better than many how it is to start over and to change direction. I am open to a job or jobs in science (I have not been in the mood for two or three years, but I can certainly always write, too, as part of my career mix) but it'd have to be on my terms at this point and pretty perfect. And, yes, I can certainly do both what I'm doing (or something equally odd, even) and some aspect of work related directly to my PhD work. My brother's got an equally eclectic career that consists of two very, very different pursuits and it'd be just another case of we too very different lads converging on basically the same kind of thing. :D

Thank you, and always my best wishes for you in every aspect of your life...including congratulations on your inevitable trouncing of that exam! :hug:

[SarahB]

44. I'm awaiting the grade being posted as I type.

:scared:

Anyway, it sounds like you're about ready to hit a big transition yourself. I hope it works out (though if that guy is out of your life, I'm sure it will be much improved).

Here's to finding the perfect blend of art and science in your future. :toast:

[BarenakedLady]

34. A complete and total asshole

I don't even know him and I want to pound the crap out of him. :grr:

A purely toxic person who you would do better to stay far away from. You are a good guy Forrest.

[ForrestGump]

39. Thank you, Ms NakedLady...

:hug:

I believe you could do it, too, even though we're talking about a lot of crap that's asking to be pounded. :-)

[NewWaveChick1981]

35. Wow. What a total sack of crap.

:grr: You're right to minimize your association with this total asshole. :mad:

:hug: :loveya:

[ForrestGump]

40. It still kind of amazes me, how bad he is...

It's going to amaze me from a greater distance, starting today. He's already off to work and I'll go in later tonight, well after he is through. I really don't know if he can keep it up, though, at this point. And I really don't care. :D

It's not, by the way, natural for me to minimize personal associations just like that. So, you wanna do some maximizing?

:* :hug:

:loveya:

[raccoon]

36. Hope you don't have to work around him any more.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

It's emotionally and spiritually draining to be around such a person. If one were his nurse or bodyguard or whatever, and getting paid to be around him, he'd be hard enough to endure, but to have to put up with such crap when you're not getting paid for it, is too much.

IME, people who spew out venom at anyone and everyone will one day do it to YOU. Who needs that?

[ForrestGump]

41. That is exactly what happened

He turned on me, for the very first time, two weeks ago. Yesterday was the third time that he's directly attacked me. He was way out of line each time, but more telling is that he did it at all. It was all leading up to this, I guess.

I am utterly convinced that things suddenly got worse precisely because they were getting better and he couldn't handle it. By that I mean that since the beginning of the year (though we actually started back to work on January 16, because of his drunkenness and unwillingness to get on with things for two weeks) things have been going incredibly well for us in that we basically, much of the time, showed up and started shoveling money into our pockets...we are on to a great thing where we are now, probably the best opportunity he's ever had, and people were offering us new opportunities left and right (I mean, we didn't even have to try to convince them; they approached us). I am certain it's the best he's had things in many years, or perhaps ever, and it was also the best I've had it in a long time, especially fiscally. Things were looking better and better just a month ago -- not only would we each bring in from four hours' work what we made in a 40-hour work week while doing the same kind of job for a casino but it was all just so smooth and filled with promise of bigger and better things.

It is fairly apparent to me now that he cannot handle things being so good. He knows, with absolute certainty, that the universe is out to get him and I think he'd rather prove himself right in that conviction than to be happy. So he felt compelled to ruin it all, though his monumental capacity for self-sabotage (he's been drinking more often and more heavily since the beginning of March than at any time since I've known him, for example, and we've missed a lot of work because of it), and the problem for me was not only that he was sabotaging me, in the process, but that things still weren't going badly enough for him such that the reality matched his vision of a malevolent universe out to destroy him so he turned on me. I don't especially like being taken down by someone I've knocked myself out trying to help, but I sure as hell was not about to let him blame me for our declining fortunes and I have absolutely zero sense of humor regarding people who threaten me with physical harm. :grr:

Well, okay, notwithstanding the fact that I would have almost certainly broken some of his bodyparts if he'd actually swung at me yesterday, I guess I do have some sense of humor regarding physical threat. By way of example, when he said something along the lines of "if you keep this up we'll have to take it outside," all redfaced and shaking, I couldn't resist pointing out to the dumb bastard that we already were outside. Predictably, this did not go over all that well. :D

The difference in what followed is that he is a posturing macho a**hole and I am the quiet and goodnatured 'intellectual' person who could have quite literally killed him with my bare hands but who almost certainly would've settled for rendering him incapable of further offense without one of his sloppy swings connecting with my pretty face. Good thing I am essentially a peaceable type and can control the reptilian portion of myself, 'cos he's got a gun and, as it was, for the first time I slept with my door locked last night. Gotta look out for number one, now (and he is decidedly a big tub of Number Two). :-)

[JitterbugPerfume]

37. you did the right thing by cutting him loose

I had a "friend" kinda like that , and I cut her loose a couple of years ago.

My life has been calmer and much less stressful since then.

[ForrestGump]

42. I am glad

that you ditched that dead weight, I am sure very much an unwanted and unnecessary weight emotionally. I guess there's a point at which, no matter the good qualities of the person, it's time to say byebye. I probably should have done it before...I wasn't ready to be alone in what I am doing (and, also, if all was well we WOULD be making more money and having a more pleasant experience by working together as we have rather than each working separate, as we did up to about a year ago) and I can handle a certain amount of exposure to his negativity, but that's now no longer true: it reached critical mass.

Unfortunately -- this seemed a good idea at the time, when things were going exceptionally well, all we did was work, and we both needed new leases -- he's sharing a condo with me on a year's lease. But I guess this wouldn't be the first time I've lived with someone with whom there's no love lost, and where it really matters -- inside me -- he is cut out of my life as much as I can excise him. Besides, a lot can happen within a year...

[cwydro]

45. a very sad person.

[ForrestGump]

46. An update...

I worked last night alone, despite pretty much dreading it beforehand. It was wonderful. I felt free. I even sang an improvised "Burning Love" with a hair-metal band, who were great dudes (the lead guitarist knew the chords and told the others the progression and we basically just jammed and faked it, but it was almost flawless even if it looked like Elvis singing with Spinal Tap or parody bands thereof, like Poison), and it was very well received. I made a ton of money, too, something we haven't done together in five weeks. Partly because of insistent winds, but mostly because of his drinking and other self-sabotage, we'd only worked three days (plus one hour, on a very abbreviated day) together this month and brought in a pitiful amount that, a month before, we could have made in two good four- or five-hour shifts. In fact, in four hours last night I made fully half of what we'd each made so far this month, working together, even though it'd always been apparent that we each made more when working together than apart...I think it's changed, with his increasingly poor attitude (a very visible attitude), such that this guideline no longer applies. And it was a slow night on the Strip, too, especially for a Saturday, so I was doubly surprised when I counted the proceeds.

I just loved it. I was free to do things my way, which is not the impersonal assembly-line, replete with impatience and insults, that marks his approach. It paid off, too...I made a fair bit of money from people that I know with absolute certainty would not have given it to him, because he'd have been rude to them or (in one case) started a loud fight. I had a little interlude with a pretty drunk Irish girl, who he would have scorned as a w-word of one kind or another, who insisted on giving me $20 just for being there and being nice to her ("I'm just a gigolo...." :P ).

But I really wouldn't have cared if I'd made a third of what I made (I was surprised I made as much as I did, and half of it was in denominations that are usually more scarce when we're working solo) or if I hadn't sung with the band, it was just a great night. The lack of a fireball in the sky helped, too -- it was hot, but not searing, and I could've gone for hours more.

Indicative of how much his aura of menace and hate has affected our fiscal fortunes, not only did I do well financially but people there who I assumed just did not like us -- one supervisor, who seemed the odd one out in that she didn't ever take to us -- suddenly began talking to me and we got on very well. I mean, it was just magical, the night, free of his hate and intolerance, and his negativity about every tiny thing (including things that do not exist). It started with the ride in to the Strip, for once a peaceful one with nobody screaming at 'Mexicans,' 'lesbians,' 'f-words (the second kind),' and 'n-words.' Even though my car's AC does not work, as I discovered on our first hot day here, it was a metaphorically cool ride that heralded a supremely cool night.

I am so much better off without him than I ever expected, and free to go on to bigger and better aspects of this thing I'm doing. I knew it was bad, but just how bad it was -- and even how detrimental to my 'bottom line' -- has only became totally apparent now that I am free of it.

A happy ending. :D

Happy beginning, I mean.

[supernova]

47. I'm glad you got to work solo!

:D

It was probably noticable that you were enjoying yourself more, ergo the bigger $$$. I'm glad things are going well for you. :-)


"even if it looked like Elvis singing with Spinal Tap" -- :rofl:

I need the same mojo. I'm trying to decide if I can do what I do as a solo artist. :dilemma:

[ForrestGump]

49. Thanks!

You're right, I'm sure, that my fortunes (as well as my spirit) were enhanced precisely because I was by myself and feeling so much the better for it.

You definitely have the mojo to go it alone, I know. It takes a little leap of faith and, depending on the circumstance, some risk. It's easier and less stressful if you do it with a net, though (either have put away some money as a hedge -- unfortunately, it really does usually seem to come down to money being the limiting factor -- or know that you can return to not being a solo act if you had to). A lot of it might depend on contacts you've made already, and if they like what you do then you're more than halfway there. I wish you the very best, Ms nova, in weighing the possibilities, in the timing of any action you take, and in what follows. :hug:

[BarenakedLady]

48. Are you in Vegas?

I may be going there soon. Just wondering.

:hi:

[ForrestGump]

50. Yep

Bright light city, and all that. :D

You could even walk around bare and naked here and nobody would comment, I swear. But, once you left my place, of course, all such bets would be off... :P




:hide:

[lizziegrace]

51. I'm so glad to read this

Beginnings *are* scary and exciting and liberating and intimidating and full of hope and promise.

To beginnings my friend. :toast:





"In the moment that one thing ends
Is the same time that one begins"

[Shakespeare]

52. Aw, that's wonderful news!

Here's to new beginnings. :toast:

Isn't it a wonderful sensation of freedom? Freedom you kind of forgot you had available to you as an option?

Hope the good things continue. :hug: