TotallyOz Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 The staff and crew at GayThailand.com wish all a very happy holiday season. Thank you very much for making our first year a great one. We appreciate all the support, help, advice and assistance. Over the last year, I have been blessed to meet many wonderful people from the board and it has really made Thailand even more special to me. A special thanks to Gaybutton and Rainwalker for the dedication they have given as moderators. I hope all have a great holiday season and a Happy New Year! GT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaybutton Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 And a special thanks to you for providing this web site. Happy holidays to all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rainwalker Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Let it be said, this is an awkward season. Today is Christmas Eve. Tomorrow, Christmas. Around this time, we give and receive a lot of "happy holiday" wishes. Safe. Generic. Non-committal. As though the cure for variety among cultures is self-imposed ignorance. It doesn't appear to be working. What happened? I can't help but wonder if, perhaps, it's our clinging to caution that has gotten us where we are today. Somehow, the world at large has become, at best, bittersweet. Somewhere, meaning was lost. We are cynical. We are worn. Sentiment makes us uncomfortable and the unknown leaves us terrified. U.S. school textbooks, says a recent report, are rife with historical censorship and inaccuracies. Villains treated as misunderstood heroes. Heroes characterized as opportunists. Photos of record altered to be non-controversial. I won't preach wrong or right. And certainly, I don't mean to offend. I know only that the pursuit of beauty is the pursuit of truth. So without further ado, my friend, and regardless of whether you celebrate Christmas or Kwanzaa or Hanukkah or Las Posadas, regardless of whether you are sitting down to a laufabrau with a family in Iceland or munching on bizcochos in Mexico City, regardless of whether you're waiting for Hoteiosho in Japan or wishing each other "Afishapa" in the streets of Ghana... Tomorrow, I wish you more than just a safe, generic "happy holidays." I wish you -- I hope you're sitting down -- a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS. There, I've said it. And by that, I don't mean Santa blowing whiskey-breath on crying cherubs in a shimmering shopping mall. I mean something more; a kind of Christmas peacefulness unrestrained, unqualified, and not copyrighted by Hallmark, Kmart, or Federated Department Stores, Inc. Mystical in origin. Universal in application. In the still quiet of the morning, Peace to the Muslims. Peace to the Jews and the Buddhists. Peace to the people who believe in Christ. Peace to the Agnostics and Atheists. Peace to the Shintoists and Shamanists. Peace to the compulsive posters. Peace to the tow truck driver who towed my car even though I was only a minute late. Peace to the guys who broke my heart in high school, and the ones who did it more recently. Peace to our enemies as well as our friends. Peace to you for suffering a year of my sentimental musings and rambling analogies. Peace to my colleagues. Peace to our families, of birth or of choice. My Thai friend, Wan, he of delightful smile and ready laughter, will spend his Christmas in Bangkok wrapped in his warm loving family and my partner of 20 years, Rick, and I will spend the holiday here in Vancouver, together, warm in our home, talking and laughing, watching movies and reading our books. We are blessed. And we are fortunate enough to know it. Others will not be so lucky. Still more will not understand what all the fuss is about. I wish you no such ambiguity. A long time ago, Charles Dickens wrote a story about another man searching for meaning. We remember the central character, Ebenezer Scrooge, as the paragon of anti-Christmas spirit. And yet, he ends his tale -- and redeems his life -- as anything but: "Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him." Tomorrow, may we all find such alteration; such goodness and light. May you spend time with family and friends, either in person or in memories. Like Ebenezer, may you find laughter in your heart. Merry Christmas, Harold aka Rainwalker adapted from a variety of sources Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MikeGeorg Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all members from the cold Pattaya;-) Many many thanks to my boyfriend Nai for the best time in my Life. Nai I love You. U r great Dicksch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jason105 Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 No Matter what tradition warms your heart during this season, may you find that which gives you peace! GayThailand: Thanks for providing a link to glorious Thailand! Happy Holidays! Gaybutton: Thanks for providing a consistent voice of reason and goodwill! Happy Holidays! Rainwalker: Thanks for saying so eloquently what your heart dictates! Merry Christmas! To all of the Board members and visitors: Peace and Goodwill now and during the New Year! all the best, Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GaySacGuy Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 I would like to thank GayThailand and all the staff for providing this great board. It provides a lot of good information to those of us who are new to Thailand. I also want to thank GayButton for all of his help, transportation, great restaurant, and companionship. I look forward to seeing you upon my return to Thailand in January. Rainwalker, thanks for a great party at Memories. It was a great chance for some of us to meet a lot of people that we might well have never met. And to everyone on the board...the very best of the holidays. Have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ReneThai Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Happy Holidays with Christmas ,and a happy and good 2007/2550 for all of you. http://net.clubs.nl/gayholidayinthailand Rene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
