Nothing says I *ever* have to 'fit in' with every aspect of the culture here. Nothing.
I see it as different levels of mocking. Sure, I poke fun at my friends, to their face. I'll accept it to my face from my friends. The distinction here is intent and motive. I'll do it because it's not building me up by tearing them down.
I see that as quite different then spending a lot of energy mocking someone I don't know. It does me no good, serves no purpose for me.
For. Me.
If you or someone else wants to, have at it.
As for me, I spend my energy on other things.
See the difference?
And hard enough, thank you. No reason to sharpen my edge on someone I don't know.
I poked fun at him via e-mail and poked fun at his shore team in person. He's well loved, has some incredibly good friends, and Soanya is not the idiot some make her out to be. She's no Abby Sunderland, but she's no naive idiot attention whore either; or not that....either.
I, like most of the other idiots here, spend a lot of time sailing and no one here, except for maybe Espo, lauds their talents publicly.
If one wants to be a part of the sailing fraternity (which I am currently pledging) , he/she should do something other than nautical pole sitting.
I appreciate your position, Blackjenner. I have a soft spot in my heart for Reid Stowe as well. But when sponsorship dollars for sailing ventures are so hard to come by, this bull shit "Mars Mission" fucks the rest of the pooches' dollars.
Night, mate. Check his website and toss it over a bit.
Sorry I used the word "idiot" so much. Makes me feel normal.
Anyway, I get the resentment on the part of some. I also understand, all too well, the path of making this guy a hobby. I've seen the websites mocking him to no end but, ya know, I don't know if he cares.
He's living some part of some dream that is his. So he drifted/sailed for 1000 days around the oceans of the world, navigating a heart in one ocean with his positions and a whale in another. He did that in a boat of his own creation. Slow and odd that his trip may have been, he did, apparently sail (slowly) at sea for a thousand days.
He's apparently in the company of a beautiful wife and a cute little kid, who he seems, from what I've read, to love very much.
Yeah, he's a weirdo to many, and he rubs some folks the wrong way. He's an artist and his art isn't to everyone's taste. I've had a lot of artist friends in my time and, I'll tell you, I've spent more than one moment looking at them a little sideways and accepting that their art is not quite my cup of tea, if not downright weird. And to that I say, "so what. it's their art. I don't have to like it."
Oh, I get what you are saying, especially him getting the attention/dollars that some of us think we deserve. It's kind of like that douche in high school or college who gets all the girls when all we one is one, maybe two. I mean, we aren't greedy.
It's tough when we know we are talented, deserving, and some other guy gets the promotion/sponsorship/role. There have been times in my life when I haven't gotten that promotion. That hurt. I auditioned and didn't get the role I was perfect for, dammit. That was hard too. But other times, I've had my day in the sun, gotten some attention I damn well deserved, and I'll be happy with that.
Back to the original point, I see no benefit to me, or anyone else in spending any real energy mocking the man.
He seems to be happy. He's sailed the seas of the world.
That's more than some.
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