Change

Greetings my loyal subjects!

There are changes that have happened in my imperial life, and sometimes these changes happen so fast. Some things have ended, but lots of things have also begun.  I have been hurt, but my future looks brighter than it had ever been before.

Because of these changes, there are things I have learned that I will share with you now.

That one shouldn't converse with someone whose eyes they never see or whose voice they never hear, lest the words be misinterpreted;

That just because the message was not heard, doesn't mean the recipient refused to listen; it could be that the message was too ambiguous to understand in the first place;

That in order to end the cycle of pain, one must be prepared to stay their hand and turn around, instead of striking back; and to be prepared to be labeled a coward for it;

That people who hurt others are in terrible pain themselves;

That there are people who derive happiness from other people's misery, but that is not true happiness;

That there are people who derive power from other people's weakness, but that is not true power;

That it is so easy to go along with other people's opinions, and so hard to find out the truth for yourself;

That it is perfectly fine to hate someone, but it takes a certain finesse to treat them with respect;

That no sentient being, no matter how evil, deserves to be treated dishonorably;

That different people have different opinions on what "right" is, but "right" is always hard to do regardless;

And that the truest friends come to you during the saddest point of your life, unbidden, and from the most unexpected places, not to help you fight, but to help you heal.

Meanwhile, my imperial life goes on, and there will be more stories to tell. I hope to continue making you laugh, sometimes at others, but mostly at me and my amusing misadventures ^_^

Signed,
Her Imperial Majesty

Java Forever

Greetings my loyal subjects!

Obviously, work has eaten me alive, so I am now sneaking a blog update before I return to my daily eight-hour worship of Java ^_^

In the meantime, I shall leave you with a video that my officemates used to indoctrinate me into the cult of Java ^_^

(Warning: Requires programming knowledge to appreciate)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9JIiCkDyMQ

Signed,
Her Imperial Majesty

P.S. My officemates are NOT geeks >< (or so they say)