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A Tarn’s Eye View Tal! Welcome to the 74th issue of The Gorean Voice. In this Issue The Art department spotlights BKHOOK, who gives us a moving view of the High Seas. In the Booknotes department, Socrates begins the adventure that will take us to equatorial rainforests as he opens Explorers of Gor. Mishel’s creative Crossword Puzzles continue to complement the Booknotes department with Explorers of Gor. A new department, Pleasure Garden, is inaugurated in the hope that people interested in gardening and landscaping will share their knowledge and advice. This month features a presentation by Turian Gardener on colored and other Ornamental Grasses. I offer the second of two Editorial pieces giving warnings about roleplay. Last month, the first offering discussed inanities and their consequences. This month, online Gor is spotlighted as an environment for cyber-predators. In the Philosophy department, Nyre speaks about Courage, emphasizing that actualizing courage means taking action. The Poetry department is pleased to again feature Kitiara Shellfish in an untitled poem describing what it is like to be trapped between a reality of dissatisfaction apart from proper relationship and the knowledge deep inside that proper relationships await the taking of the right risks. A poem by me recognizes that there are many forms of communicative expression and declares itself to be In Praise of Sign. As summer draws to a close, prism offers final encouragements for Jump Start 2004 in the Health department. This sensible approach to healthy eating and opportunistic exercise continues to share ideas that can easily be put into practice to make a difference not only in how healthy we are but in how we feel about ourselves. Over the course of the summer, kaylee{G} has been asked by a number of people to address the inevitable issue of comparing one’s self to others. This devisive, distracting phemonenon recurs and is important enough to need revisiting from time to time. A while back kaylee{G} wrote the definitive commentary on the topic. I have determined that our readership would be well-served by reading her thoughts, so in order to give the subject a wide audience, her essay is provided in this month’s Slave Heart department.
Meditation: Walking the High Bridges One of my favorite Normanisms is “Let those who fear to walk the high bridges not walk them.” I take it as a metaphor applicable to many things in life. In the Books, one characteristic of “cylinder cities” is their namesake architectural design in which multi-story buildings are constructed as cylinders rather than as oblongs, as they usually are on Earth. They are more than towers. They are huge, complex, specialized structures. Often, they are connected by bridges at differing story levels. The bridges, often festooned, are walkways that have no railings. To walk the high bridges is to risk falling, whether by mis-step or winds. Rather than make them safe, which would be the expected Terran attitude if faced with such situation, the common Gorean attitude is that those who fear to walk them should not do so. So many things we do in life involve some sort of risk. The concept of risk surfaces in several departments this month. There are foolish risks and important risks. The Editorial department presents the foolish risks associated with roleplay, and the Kajira Korner department highlights foolish risks of staying in abusive relationships. Nowhere does Norman praise fools. In contrast, the Philosophy department is all about taking the important risk of courage, and the Poetry department displays yearning for the opportunity to take the right risks. Risk takes many forms. For some people, contributing words in public is a risk, and in the online medium, words and the occasional picture are all we have. By sharing words, we risk rejection or criticism. The lifestyle / philosophy we subscribe to is sometimes called “alternative.” and is not universally accepted. Faced with having a social minority status not known for getting (or even wanting) support from the “pc” crowds, we can, if we choose, “be true to ourselvespc” only in private. We can stay so private that we remain irrelevant. If we never go beyond our own immediate issues or shift our focus beyond ourselves alone, we risk never making a difference. Consider contributing helpful words to The Gorean Voice as a way of taking the important risk of making a positive difference in support of the Gorean community.
Watch for This The Interviews department will make its reappearance under prism’s care, Xerxex and I will be back with more Geography notes, maps, and landscape images, and the Free Woman and Reviews departments will return.Because there are always proposed contributions in progress, The Gorean Voice is preparing other really nice surprises for you as well.
Possibilities for Contributors There are many possibilities for contributors. If any of these departments appeals to you as a place where you might find a writing or other artistic niche, and of course, if you have ideas for a new feature and are willing to help, then read the guidelines for authors and let us know! Although some possibilities are more appropriate for one person to manage over time, many departments benefit from many contributors. Even if you are thinking about contributing only once, say, through Gorean humor or a book review or perhaps a poem, you should still contact me.
I wish you well, Hersius
TGV Editor mail to:
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gorean_voice@hotmail.com
TGV Editor