No hugs, I don’t know you well enough. I’ll certainly pay your subscription renewal.
I fully understand that you are in flux right now. Maybe you won’t have the desire or time to post much now. What about in a year or two? You’ve obviously enjoyed the board for some time, and have become a poster whose posts are looked for. Perhaps this frustration and, well, maybe anger is the best word, will wear off.
Obviously, it’s up to you. You are the only one who can decide if the trade-offs are worth it to you. I can only hope that the respect that has been shown to you in this thread can warm some part of your heart in your future. Best wishes to you for your life in the real world.
Sorry. I had to do it. I can never resist a threat like that. If you hadn’t brought it up in the first place, I wouldn’t 'a done it.
Please don’t hurt me too badly…
Seriously, I know you feel you have an obligation to fight ignorance, but with all of my nonexistant authority I declare that you’ve fulfilled any and all such obligations. As you said, it happened more than half your life ago. In my eyes you aren’t even a transsexual, since you’ve lived so much of your life as a woman.
Those are just my opinions though. I don’t know what it’s like for you, so they don’t really matter for much. If I was in your situation I might agree more with you.
Everyone needs a break now and then. Everyone needs to spend time on something else for a while. Everyone drifts away for a bit, spends less time on here than they used to. And that’s fine - but whenever I do these things, I end up not leaving entirely or coming back. I hope you guys do too.
If Eve leaves, I’ll be in such a funk, and how can I explain such a profound funk to people who have never heard of an online community as strangely, tightly connected as ours? At least answer that before you meander off into the real world.
Also, I’m an unlearned, uneducated, uncouth and un-classy 19 year old college student, and I need lady lessons. I could learn some of it from my mom, but she tried to walk into an art museum without paying, so obviously I need some guidance from a real classy lady, and no one else on the boards is such a classy lady as you.
If it weren’t true, I’d barf at how fawning that was…
Just found this thread. What can I say, Eve, I have a really special reason for looking up to you. You’re my inspiration, my guru, my guiding star. This isn’t fawning, you really are that important to me. Even if you take an extended break, just knowing you’re out there will continue to inspire me and get me through the bad times. Thank you so much for all you’ve contributed.
Compared to our more seasoned dopers, I haven’t been here for very long, and since I don’t frequent GD, I just haven’t seen much of the crap that’s been thrown your way. I’m so sorry that you’ve been harassed. I would surely understand if you feel the boards aren’t worth the effort, with everything you’re tackling. As an admirer, I would hate to see you go and I’d miss you immensely. But by all means, do what you need to do.
I just wanted to pop in and communicate a thought I’ve never had the opportunity to share. Starting or hijacking a thread was entirely inappropriate, and I wouldn’t be so gauche to email to you even if I had your addy. I sense this is my last chance. I still feel it’s uncouth to say it now, but please know I mean you no harm.
Even before I saw your photos, I had developed a mental image of you. I knew you were/are the height of femininity and style. You display such grace in your writing, that I was quite certain your physical characteristics would match your words. When you posted a link to a recent photo, I was surprised to see how correct I was! My god, what a gorgeous woman! You are the very definition of the word lady. I believe I told you that your complexion was as creamy and smooth as “butta.”
And you know what? This was months before you were “outed” to me. And since then, my opinion and admiration hasn’t changed a bit. Well, if anything my respect for you has grown. I realize that your transformation is “old news” and you may be as weary of admiration as negativity. In fact, you may be rolling your eyes at my use of the word transformation. If I’m causing you any ill feelings, I do apologize.
In short (too late), I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate your contribution to this community, as a woman and a writer. And I want you to know that you earned my respect and admiration as a witty woman first.
I wish nothing but happines and peace. Oh, and all the hugs and mushy crap you can tolerate.
You know something? I never even knew Eve hadn’t been born a woman until a few weeks ago. Somewhere else, I saw her say something to the tune of “There’s a thread on the SDMB where I am being told that people like me are delusional schizophrenics.”
I thought “Huh? Not all great authors are crazy. What the hell is she talking about?”
So I went and found the thread and imagine my surprise.
Eve, you are not a transsexual. You are a woman. That’s all I see.
A bright, witty, beautiful, funny-as-hell woman.
And is anybody gonna enlighten me about the odd-strand pearls thing?!?
Eve, gobear, don’t leave! We love you! Would you abandon us to the jerks?
If you’re sick of the Boards, just take some time off. Or maybe you should just check them once a day instead of clicking on a new link every ten minutes or so like I do.
An observation from an infrequent poster. You can see from my join date and number of posts that I lurk more than I contribute but I must join the chorus singing Eve’s praises. She is one of the few posters that I always read.
Eve, while real life has you in it’s stranglehold, I hope that you’ll find time for occasional visits here. Some of the silliness here is just what one needs for a few minutes of escape from time to time.
I don’t know if I have mistaken your post, but if you think that we started paying attention to Eve after she was ‘outed’ you’re sadly mistaken. As in real life I am always the last to find out about these things. Before that I knew she was Jewish, and an atheist, how comes that didn’t change my opionion of her (to some people it would, my real life friend on The Dope is also Jewish and atheist), an accident of birth would not do that. I see her as a lady because she is, I never met anyone like that in life (what’s up with the odd strand of pearls?) and my admiration for her is genuine, she’s a *published *author for god’s sake! And she probably knows what fork to use when.
It’s getting embarrassing. I am not stalking off in a huff, I’m not really even leaving. I’m just overwhelmed and overextended and overwrought (and 20 pounds overweight), what with work, school, homework, researching and writing the new book, taking care of my ailing mother. Oh, and this weekend I am fixing the C train, and next week I’m settling the Mideast crisis
I am exhausted by the recent flux of transgender threads, though they might be helpful and interesting to the Younger Generation. But that’s all so far behind me that it’s like being confronted by a photo of yourself with Farrah Hair from 1977. There are and always have been a tiny handful of Dopers whom I intensely dislike, whose opinions appall me, but I would never leave because of them; they make the Board more interesting.
I am sad at Gobear’s leaving, because he always said everything I wanted to but didnt have he nerve, because I wanted everyone to like me. But I trust Gobear and I will keep in touch via e-mail?
So thank you to all the lovely things said here, and can we please close down this Love Fest now?
I’m gonna get my ass flamed for this, but if Eve really wanted this thread closed, she would’ve reported the thread or emailed a mod instead of posting the request.
A mod not having acted to close this yet, I want to chime in with my ten cents.
First, the board will emphatically be the poorer for losing either Eveorgobear. Losing both is truly tragic.
I’ve written to gobear privately.
But to both of you, I have a couple of things to say publicly:
I have learned more from you two than from almost any other combination of Dopers. Thank you.
“Those who care don’t matter; and those who matter don’t care.” Said to me many moons ago; you’ve both heard it a million times before. But believe it.
Nothing obliges you to “take point” every time a topic regarding your hot-button issues comes up. There are others here willing and able to deal with 'em; relax and let them handle the problems for a while.
You’d be doing us all a favor if you let someone sponsor you, stayed, and posted as you have time and inclination – and doing what you enjoy, not necessarily seeing it as your required duty to fight ignorance on homosexuality or transgenderism. If you feel like commenting, fine; if not, we have skilled people informed on both topics that haven’t been fighting as long or as hard as you (here at least; I can’t and won’t judge their lives off board).
If you feel it necessary to leave, go with our love and, if you’ll accept it, the prayers of those of us who do pray, the Workings of those of a wiccan belief, and the caring of everyone else as well as them.
**Eve ** and GoBear, you guys gotta do what you gotta do. It makes me sad to think that a few can drive you out, when so many want you to stay. But I surely see your point that the dope is *supposed * to be fun.
Stay or go, whichever you end up deciding, I wish you well.
