Aloha Ninjutsu. :( Aloha MAP!

I may be remaining active here longer than I intended. What I will not be doing, now or in the future, is providing further ninjutsu advice in the subforum. Please respect this and do not ask for my input on the topic again. That chapter of my life is formally closed to MAP, which is unfortunate, because I have been here since the early days, and I’ve come to feel a great deal of respect for the moderators, primarily in accidentally ****ing them all off by merely kicking a few puppies. Viscous puppies though, I assure you.

My reason for reconsidering is due to a very horrible tragedy that happened to someone I was trying to help locally. This person is very small, and very vulnerable. I unfortunately couldn’t act more efficiently because of my gradually failing health. I have already reached out to a local martial artist and am negotiating structuring some local assets to further improve community outreach awareness and education about the underlying issue. There is initial enthusiasm from the local martial artists and social service professionals I’ve spoken to. Between the two of us, we hopefully know enough teachers to make a meaningful social impact. Anyway, my time will be further divided away from MAP and far, far less frequent, though my need for this site as a resource more solidified.

Before this tragedy, what I wrote (approximately three weeks ago) as my goodbye message, is as follows:

Eventually I will get around to emptying my MAP inbox. I’m afraid I have far more pressing concerns presently--some of them involving possible testimony in criminal proceedings. I only ask that if you need anything from me, please, just direct your questions through Ero’s MAP mail account exclusively. Use lavender font, as he has privately assured me it fills his soul with joy and a sense of communal love. He also prefers scented candles and rose pedals in his bathwater. Thank you.

 

Im sorry for any tragedies in your life, but what an odd, confusing post. People were seeking ninjutsu advice from you? You're mad because of some questions people asked you, and you think THEY were trolling? Do I have it?

 

Sounds like you're a very busy man!

Best of luck with everything you've got on your plate, John.

 

The Ero I mention is Ero-Sennin. I have linked his MAP profile for ease of mailing services.

 

Nobody ever messages me about you. I don't think anyone loves you John.

 

Yes, several. The friends I've made here over the years have historically asked for my input on topics in the ninjutsu subforum even after I've asked them, repeatedly, not to direct me there anymore. It's not always obvious to them why I dislike trying to give advice there as much as I do.

I'm not mad, no. I "was" annoyed originally, then I got too busy to care, then I got even busier.

 

Yeah, that opening post is a little confusing. My apologies. It could have been edited much better, but I only got around to posting it today because I'm making myself take a sick half day from the mountain of crapola I need to do. I figured if I didn't post it now I was never going to get around to it.

 

Ero, why do you like scented candles in your bath...oooooh. :O


John, I don't know what is going on in your life but I wish you all the best.

 

Sorry to here about your tragedy in your personal life John. All the best for the future. You made some kind comments when I posted about a self defence incident a couple of years back when I was suffering alot of stress and alot of regret, that sort of thing is never forgotten.

Good luck with the new career!

Dan

 

Actually, I think in this case it was justified. I think that making his beef public did improve behaviour in the Ninjutsu forum somewhat... for the time being at least.

This is a public forum, so why not state your reasons to the whole community if you decide to take a hiatus?

I could just as well ask you why you chose to question his actions on the forum, when you could have PM'd a few people you may have built a relationship with. Why all the public drama?

It didn't seem like a "dramatic" announcement to me. In this case, I think that drama is in the eye of the beholder.

 

That part was a little misleading. I only like Crisco scented candles.

 

Best of luck man. Can't say I understood a lot of that post but all goodbyes are confusing.

 

I'd like to think that I'll leave MAP in a blaze of passive aggressive glory but realistically I'll probably just get banned after speaking truth to the religion subforum.

 

seriously I'm sorry your life has difficulties right now, (as we all have at times) but that doest excuse you labeling me a troll and going off on a self indulgent passive aggressive rant about it, repeatedly, month after month.
post or dont post, but can the troll labelling its getting old quick.

 

I reread what I wrote, and realized why it was so confusing, so I'll try to clarify a few things.

The point of this thread was to address a few things.

#1. I've been coming to MAP for a VERY long time, off-and-on (mostly off), disappearing for years at a time. This most recent block of "on" is by far my longest, in duration and frequency of use. I wanted it to be clear that while I don't have the time for MAP right now, I wasn't going to be gone forever.

#2. I called out the mods for their own casual silly/snarky remarks made about ninjutsu outside the subforum as I left, but that was unfair towards them and I wanted to be clear that I "completely" understand where their frustrations come from in having to police that part of the forums. When an insider like myself can't stand to even attempt to offer advice there, which has been a long-term issue for me, not just a recent one, I can't even begin to imagine what they go through as outsiders trying to Internet police everyone into behaving and treating each other with mutual respect.

#3. When I announced I was leaving, I started getting private messages about it immediately, and about two deep I let my inbox fill up (good thing I kept that damn thing so close to full) so I wouldn't be "more rude" in not replying to them. Since I have no way of knowing who else tried to message me but couldn't reach me, I wanted to offer a public thank you and explain my circumstances more clearly.

#4. If you see me around, please respect that I don't intend to participate in the ninjutsu subforum again. As far as I'm presently concerned, the first rule of ninja club is you don't talk about ninja club. I sincerely doubt that will ever change.

(It has been a long-term issue for me that my friends off site don't understand why I have no interest in being directed to that subforum just because something "entertaining" happens there. I have to be in the right frame of mind to even read that part of MAP, let alone participate, not unlike a monk willing himself to receive an unflinching kick to the testicles.)

#5. Now, after I wrote the original message, something happened to a person in my personal life that has even the police investigating the matter rather shaken up. I figured I would put my eight years of behavioral science and neurobiology training to some practical use, and provide additional community outreach services in areas greatly underserved to prevent it from happening to others. I'm hoping to get some social service volunteer cooperation from local martial artists in these efforts, and am presently networking with them to make that happen. There is one local martial artist in particular I am working with, and we're in the investigation and planning stage of this process. I "may" utilize MAP as a resource in the future in some unforeseen way with that community project.

Lastly, I'd like to point out that I don't feel the repeated use of the term "passive-aggressive" in this thread is either fair or accurate. I consider my approach to have been more aggressive-aggressive in nature. Originally, I briefly considered formal invitations for free enthusiastic sparring sessions followed by covert ninja throat punches and smoke bomb deployments, but that seemed a tad too aggressive-aggressive-aggressive, so I dialed it back a notch. If I've somehow crossed into the realm of passivity, then I feel both dirty and ashamed.

[I'd appreciate some feedback on how to place a user on ignore on MAP. I've actually never done it before, or even attempted to do it.]

 

Never mind, it was under the cryptic title of "edit ignore list." It's like they speak a different language in England.

I'll check this for a bit, make sure my intentions were clearer, and then I'm going to be offline for awhile. I've got some traveling to do, ideally I'll be moving soonish, and I'm going to explore more of this weird thing called "real life." It's mesmerizingly isometric, occasionally allergenic, and I think it even has smells that aren't coming from me!

 

That is a lot of writing over a few lines of debate months ago.

I wish you well (as I always have done) but for the record, you completly baffle me.

 

I get the feeling he can't hear you

LA! LA! LA! LA!