Happy Third Anniversary Caledon

This is the rambling toast of a drunken best man. A good number of thoughts, less organized than they might otherwise be, and meant to be read in a good-humoured tone.

Here's to us!
This past year seems like it has been far more tumultuous than it really was, I say.

The Bad and the Ugly went together, and it is easy to recount these because they are specific, and small in number(though of no small magnitude).

From my perspective, the low points of this year came in the form of the SL5B Child Avatar gaff, the many wonderful builds and fledgling enterprises that were dashed by LL's %66 price hike, LLs insulting spin and blame game, and the deaths of Sumie Kawashima and Kendra Bankcroft.

But these dark spots are simply unable to mar all the wonderful things that occurred this year. Not even speaking to all the wonderful things this year has brought into my life personally, this has been a good year for the residents of Caledon.

This year started with twenty-four hours of music and we even managed to get Des onto the dance floor. Our nation grew dramatically this year, both geographically and socially. We were given a new Anthem by virtue of Miss Rothschild taking the song "Caledon" and singing what most agree is the definitive version of the tune. We saw critical acclaim for our library, members of our artistic community, and a Relay For Life event that saw record donations. Between Oxbridge University and NCI's Presence in Caledon, we find ourselves better serving the many newer visitors to our land.

How is Caledon? Don't let the public meltdown the occurred at the end of December fool you. Look at the group membership of Caledon. Sort it by date of last login. Eighty percent of our members have logged in in the past two month, with Fifty percent having logged in within the past few days. Compare that to any other group on the grid this old.

Everyone lauds Des. Yes, He's a nice enough fellow, I guess, but if we didn't keep him busy with notecards, random IMs and land tissues, I would well expect him to have been ejected from SL within six months for pushing "Nip" on streetcorners and in back alleys.

No, Really, if anyone deserves a toast, it is us. We have stuck with each other, cheered each other on, put up with one another's BS, bickered like siblings, shared griefs (and griefers), and laughed with each other for hours on end.

Predictions for this year? I foresee returning to a subscription model for SL, or a Grid v2 that is subscription only and not built on legacy code. I predict the release of Flexible sculpts will come with a major overhaul of the client and physics engine, for better or worse. For Caledon, I hope to see Des finally get a bloody secretary that isn't just himself as an alt. With so many wonderful and talented residents, I see us losing some of the reputation we seem to have gained for being insular, and really connecting with other communities and activity groups across the grid. Closer at hand, I foresee strange occurrences in Caer Firnas.

So Happy Third Anniversary Caledon. May your flag wave higher than your tier, and may your hare never turn gray.