New Second Pride Bylaws Adopted

The new Second Pride bylaws were adopted by unanimous vote of the seated board of directors in a meeting held yesterday.

The new bylaws are the same as the proposed version and are linked under Documents in the site menu (url to the PDF). Minutes of the meeting will be posted soon.

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I could live happily without the silly and unnecessary term limits that are continued from the old bylaws. Especially considering the dearth of candidates the last couple of years.

The combination of seven directorships into three is understandable considering the dearth of candidates the last couple of years.

However, bylaws can always be amended in the future if the need arises, so I am grateful for the overhaul and clean up.

A Wonderful Beginning

The wonderful Tomais has completely swept me off my feet since he has come into my life. For a short while I have been contemplating whether I should propose to him or not, as my dear readers know I sometimes have  an issue with procrastination. This time I was not as slow as usual to make up my mind though.

Once I had decided on what I wanted and how to proceed, I discussed it with my son Guyke and my brother Dej, separately,  yesterday afternoon. I am happy to report that they were both enthusiastic and supportive of my decision.

During the New Years Eve evening yesterday I was thinking of how, when and where to actually go through with the proposal. If I should do it immediately or wait a little while longer - just to be completely sure... (Tendency to procrastinate remember?)

After the New Year had started in Sweden I just got so fed up with myself I knew I did not want to and could not wait any longer. it had to be now. I asked Tomais if we could take a break in our party-hopping and go somewhere to talk alone for awhile. Once we had landed at the terrace of Tomais home, I plunged into the proposal without further ado.

I cannot remember the words anymore as I was terribly nervous but I know that I told Tomais how much I loved, adored, admired and lusted for him and how much I wanted and needed him to be a part of my life.

I am certain I was rambling a lot but Tomais listened patiently and when I was finally done there was a short pause. It felt like a long time, but was probably no more than a few seconds. And he said "Yes!".

Glory halleluja, I felt my nervousness leave my body as happiness overflowed me and filled my body and soul. My soul was soaring around the skies and my feet hardly touched the ground the rest of the evening.

Thank you my sweet, darling Tomais, for making this one of the happiest days in my life!

My Men Make Me Proud

Well, I must say that 2013 has already gotten off to the most amazing start.

"Bobby kisses Cortez during a play-fight at the Korengal Outpost, Afghanistan" (2008)
Photo by Tim Hetherington

First of all I was reached by the news, in an offline message when I got up in the middle of the night, that Guyke and Dej had made up again. When I logged in-world immediately after reading this Dej confirmed the news. I love both of the guys so much and it makes me so happy and proud that they settled this dispute.

I like my friends to be passionate but reasonable and rational. They both proved that they measure up to that! Quarrels can and will occur among such hotheaded people with strong feelings. I must simply learn to trust in their wisdom and not worry too much about it. Usually they will work things out nicely without my meddling, once they get a chance to think about it when they are calmer.

The other thing that has happened already this year is that Ziggy has decided to make an honest avatar of Guyke, after first robbing him of his precious virginity (which had been surgically restored in a costly procedure at some obscure Mexican sim). During the night Ziggy proposed to Guyke, who of course knowing I would never forgive him if he did anything else, accepted the proposal! Woot! Woot!

2013 is going to be an exceptionally wonderful year, take my word for it and remember you read it here first!

GA Winterfest - The Opening

Saturdays in SecondLife have lately meant a lot of strange problems for me. All my remarks in Instant Message and local chat are repeated, any tip I give get repeated also until I leave the sim and my HUD´s and AO´s turn themselves off anytime I try to use them. Frankly it´s more than a little tedious!

If I weren't the most patient man in SecondLife I would complain and rant ferociously, as it is you just get this whimper instead.

Today I had one of my "have-to-go"-events lined up, the opening of the Gay Archipelago´s Winter Festival. My son Guyke was a grass widower (Ziggy was away in first life for one of his hellish weekend work shifts) so I forced the boy to accompany me.

Well, once I thought I was ready dressing and teleported to the party I landed in snow, which really shouldn't have been a surprise to me considering it was a winter festival duhhh! As a trendsetter and fashionista extraordinaire it was of course impossible for me to go to this particular party in a tee and capris, so back home I went to change a-g-a-i-n. I choose to blame it all on my bad cold and my fever, although I should think others will have alternative theories on the matter.

Mitch and Garth, the happy couple

We got there a bit late and missed out on George Michaels and Ricky Martins appearances, but were in time for DJ Avacar´s great set and in time for the two most thrilling events of the party, the northern lights show and my buddy Garth Raleighs proposal to his beau Mitch Underwood.

Luckily - and to Garth´s and the party guests great joy and relief - Mitch immediately and happily accepted whereupon heartfelt congratulations to the happy couple ensued, totally against the rules of the Winterfests ban on chat spam, but no one really cared about rules at that point.

Guyke and I

My Wedding Anniversary

Soon after I had logged into SecondLife on February 12, 2010, my beautiful Ars also logged in.

After we had said our hellos, he asked me to check my email. When I asked why, he told me "Just check it now, Bock!"

As I opened the mail a message popped up from SecondLife which read:

"Dear Bock McMillan,

You have received a Second Life partner proposal from Ars Northmead.

Please visit the link below to view the proposal:

https://secure-web39.secondlife.com/my/account/partners.php

This proposal will expire on Friday, February 19, 2010."

I was totally elated and hurried to go to the SecondLife website to accept the proposal. When I have done that I got the message "Congratulations Bock McMillan you have now entered into a partnership with Ars Northmead!"

I was both laughing and crying with joy when I came back to my Ars, because this had been a very surprising move on his part after more than two years together. Both of us had often declared a rather skeptical and dim view on SecondLife partnerships, after seeing some acquaintances going through a series of partnerships that never lasted for long. However, we both believed that with our long past together we would do a better job of it so we spent a very happy day together.

Not too long after this Ars went missing for a few days. I could not reach him either by e-mail or any of his phones. Those days were awful and I was very worried for him. When I finally got hold of him again it turned out that Ars´s father had found him in a very poor and weakened state and had taken him to the parents house so they could look after him.

Ars still had a fever and sounded very weak when I talked with him, but he told me he was going to the hospital for a check-up the next day. At the same time I talked with Ars sisters and they promised to keep me updated on Ars condition. 

The medical examination the next day showed that Ars had double pneumonia and was in a terribly weak state so the doctors admitted him for further care and treatment. Although the doctors were hopeful in the beginning this changed when complications set in and Ars passed away on March 12, 2010, exactly one month after we had been partnered.

About a fortnight after Ars had passed away I was asked (for the first time), "Do you think Ars married you because he knew he was going to die?" The question really surprised me because it hadn't even crossed my mind and was blurted out by someone not close to either of us. I just told the person "No! Please don´t talk to me ever again." 

However the question made me think if that could be the case. The following occasions I was asked the same question - in kinder ways and by people who mattered - I was better prepared. 

I have told those who asked, that I honestly do not believe that Ars knew he was even sick, let alone would be dead soon, when he proposed to me. After a few months of pain and agony due to a broken femur things had actually just started looking up for him again. He had signed up for a gym to get back in shape and we had also begun discussing some changes on the sim. At the time of the proposal Ars was happier again. More than anything I felt like I had passed some sort of test, by sticking with him and supporting him through the bad time that he had just gone through. 

We were happy together and no one will ever convince me of anything else. This was, is and will always remain a happy day for me!

The pictures of Ars in this post were taken in December 2009 by Kent Hutchinson of KH Photography.

The Sweetest Proposal

I caught this story on Joe.My.God and had to share it with you! Read the full story here Metro UK

Oooppps där halkade jag av glasberget...

När jag loggade in ikväll var jag helt oförberedd på det som komma skulle.

Strax efter det att jag kom "inworld" kommer Ars, min älskade sedan mer än två år, också in! Han frågar om jag har kollat min mejl.

Min vackre Ars

"Varför då?" frågar jag lite undrande.
"Kolla den nu, Bock!" säger han uppfordrande.

Jag öppnar genast mejlen och se där poppar det upp ett meddelande från Second Life;

"Dear Bock McMillan,

You have received a Second Life partner proposal from Ars Northmead.


Please visit the link below to view the proposal:
https://secure-web39.secondlife.com/my/account/partners.php


This proposal will expire on Friday, February 19, 2010."

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO jag nästan svimmar av chockblandad lycka!!! Jag har älskat min Ars i mer än två år, men trodde aldrig detta skulle hända. Vi har båda en minst sagt skeptisk syn på SL-partnerskapen

För att inte missa den utsatta tidsfristen - ja, ja det är en hel vecka kvar men tiden rinner iväg ibland - hoppar jag genast på länken och loggar in i SL. 15 sekunder efter att ha sett frieriet har jag accepterat det!

Second Life säger då till mig "Congratulations Bock McMillan you have now entered into a partnership with Ars Northmead!"


Eat your hearts out guys, I am off the shelf now!

Världshistoriska händelser den 12 februari 2010:
1. Vinter OS i Vancouver invigdes
2. Bock ingick partnerskap med Ars
3. Statens låneavtal för Spykers köp av Saab klart

Foto: Kent Hutchinson, KH Photography
Slurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pocasset/47/58/690