A CG Editorial: Things Are What They Are     Life plus complications, plus obvious differences can bog modern vampires down, into equaling a belief that we / they need to know all the whys and wherefores that create what makes we as vampires,  different from our other more mundane humans friends and family.  I'd like to say here and now, that sometimes, “Things are what they are”! I believe that all the history, origin theories, cultural outpourings, politics and social niceties, have, without a doubt, their place in most of our communities.  But sometimes it comes down to basics, and knowing ALL that stuff, even if we knew ALL the answers, even if we could actually understand ALL the ins and outs of our condition, will never change the truth about who and what each of us are! We come together, not over what has been, or what CAN be, but over what is.  We are vampires, and, in the midst of a personal crisis, brought on by our need, its not about how we spell, or which origin theory we believe in made us this way.  When you're enduring cravings or rage or an overwhelming sense of estrangement from the rest of the world, its not about who disrespected you in a forum, or which social clique has outcasted who, or even about what rank you hold in which community!  Its about the here and now and how we deal our personal crisis' when we are in the midst of one. Sometimes we need to set aside ALL the rest and remember what brought us together, as vampires, in the first place!  The bottom line, what brought each and every one of us to “the communities”?  We all came seeking individual ways to deal with a mutual set of problems.  THAT is the bottom line.  Not the social stuff, not the theories, not what science might discover about us via medical testing,  not the “fun stuff” or even the sensuality or the sex!   What really brings us together is what happens to us when we are alone, and afraid and sick and lonely, and trying to deal with a set of circumstances beyond the comprehension of most.  Its about hoping to find a way to make it stop hurting. And its about working on that together, since alone, none of us have the answers. Sometimes… Things really are what they are.  And sometimes the rest just needs to be given lower priority in favor of the mutual good. Carpe Noctum! Lady CG.

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Life and Death (or… how Community REALLY works when the stars line up) On January 25th something truly miraculous happened. People from at least 3 online vampyre communities, two states, and spanning two countries worked together to save a life. Its not that the life was saved, though that in itself was miracle enough. The miracle was in the fact that if even ONE link in the chain of events had been broken, a young man might have died. That he didn’t die, is a testament to how Community can work when everyone works together for good. Without naming names or embarassing the very exellent man, the entire incident revolved around, I’d like to tell you the story. I’m a little foggy on the exact time all the events went into play. I’d arrived in the chat room of my message board where I hold “Coffee Chat” early most weekday mornings. I’d checked the board and was chatting with friends when I was asked by “Akasha” if I’d seen “ Marcus” recently. Now what amazed me about that question, is that Marcus was not a member of my board, though I knew who he was from the board of a dear friend. I was interested enough to ask what was up and at 6:27am I received in my email, part of conversation from the night before, and directed to his online Blog. It seemed Marcus might have been pushed past his limit, though we didn’t know why, and the man was suicidal. What frightened me was that he had already said his goodbyes and that no one had heard from him since midnight, the night before! Nothing on the message board he moderates on.. nothing on his blog but his obvious desire to end his life. Akasha had his address and his real name… so we tried a reverse lookup to find his phone number… to no avail. We each asked friends we knew, where we might find him… NOTHING. I shot off notes to people who were not online at such an early hour, hoping someone would contact me when they got up and know how to reach Marcus, to check on him. I stared at his address till I thought I”d go blind and then it hit me! I knew someone in the city where he lived! I dragged out my Vampyre Contact list… who was in his city… I tossed off an instant messenger note to “Countessa” whom I knew was local to him. Countessa was up.. but quite ill and very pregnant! She didn’t’ know him, but she’d look in the phone book for me and see if she could find his number so someone could call him to check up. There was no name in the book that matched the addy. I knew there was a Vampiric House in the state and city where Marcus lived. I also knew that Countessa was a member. The leader of that house is “Morgana” so I asked Akasha for Selwyns phone number, which she gave to me. Morgana was home! I quickly explained the situation. Morgana was all ears… Would she go over and check on Marcus? Of course she would! She’d go now and phone me with an update. Twenty-five minutes is a long time when you are waiting to hear if a friend is dead or alive. We waiting in my chat room, jumping when people came on and off our IM’s or came and went from the chat. Finally my phone rang. It was Morgana. “He isnt’ answering the door. What do you think I should do?” We discussed it and finally made the decision to call in the Cavalry. Morgana called the local Police. She called me back about 15 minutes later. “The policeman has the same last name, that can’t be a coincidence, can it?” I bit my lip… In a city the size of theirs it almost HAD to be a relative… but was that good or bad? The police asked Morgana to leave so she fired up her truck and left. Now we were ALL sitting biting our nails and waiting! Finally we got word. He’s ALIVE~! Akasha had finally received word on his IM that Marcus was OK. They found him before he’d had time to hurt himself, and the police were watching him, now. THIS is how Community SHOULD work. It took people from three different communities, working together to pull it off, but we saved a life. WHY shouldn’t it be like that ALL the time? Think, for just a momment, what we could accomplish, if every vampyre community,worked together for the good of us all. On January 25th we saved a life, and not just for a few minutes while he rethought it. We were able to put him in touch with an exellent Vamp House in his city. Friends, local contacts. We let him know he is NOT alone and that we CARE about him, even if we only know him online. He is real to us. Real enough to go to great lengths to save his life, because we CARE about HIM. This is Community, folks. This is FAMILY. The is what it is and should be to be a Vampyre. Lady CG.