Gopi's Christmas/Holiday Giveaway!

[Gopi Passiflora]

One RANDOM poster who posts in this topic has the chance to win L$2500 (or equivalently, US$10).

Rules and Terms:

-Must post in this topic to qualify. (Me and any of my alts are excluded from the giveaway)

-The winner will be selected at random using the website random.org (You are free to suggest a better randomizer though.)

-Giveaway closes the midnight (U.S. Central Time) of December 25 (the beginning of Christmas.) After that, I will not accept any new posts and this topic will be closed. I will start a new topic to give you info about the winner, though.

-I just ask this time that you put effort in your post. Post something positive about anything. Negative or low-effort posts will be ignored.

-Feel free to mention any loopholes and I will address them.

-Mods. just please let me know if this is okay as soon as possible. I assure everyone that I am the real deal.

[Mollymews]

being Nearly Xmas I was thinking about the relationship between belief and science, a topic which a good person reminded me of again today and how in the spirit of the season we can have goodwill toward people who have beliefs which can't be reconciled with science in any measurable rational way

h.o.w.e.v.e.r !! being Nearly Xmas I thought I would share a way how this reconciliation can be done

a way is to search out documents that have never been before seen ever. The discovery of which can open up all sorts of wonderful things to indulge in at Nearly Xmas other than scoff the chocolates before anyone else realises that we got some

like Flat Earth belief and Round Earth science. I found this never been before seen ever (and not ever likely to again ever either) document which reconciles Flat Earth with Round Earth. I was all like O.M.GOSH !!!  And I j.u.s.t have to s.h.a.r.e

as you can see, the Flat Earth believer stands upright on the flat part. Anndd the unbelievers  Round Earth people walk around upside down in space on the roundy bit

 

 

[Gopi Passiflora]

Well @Mollymews, it looks like your have no competition in the giveaway so far! Pretty cute and awesome post you made there, too!

[Beth Macbain]

Eh... never mind. 

I feel like my post came across as pandering for $10 now. 

Edited December 24, 2019 by Beth Macbain
Felt dirty.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Gopi, I often enjoy your threads: you ask some interesting questions on occasion, and you often get good take-up on them because they are interesting.

But this one is just . . . weird.

I am glad that both Beth and Molly posted the stories that they did, because they were both good reads, but holding a contest for positive posts seems really sort of odd. Why is the monetary reward necessary? It seems to me to cheapen the positivity somewhat. I don't recall ever seeing anything that offered financial compensation for posting before (even if it is a random draw). Or if you feel the need to be generous (which is a laudable thing, certainly), why not find other ways to do so that don't involve making people jump through hoops?

Why not just run a regular, good ol' fashioned thread, asking people for positive stories? People would comply: we like telling positive stories, mostly, I think.

(And no, this doesn't count as a "positive" thread, so I'm not in the running!)

[clone00345]

Its not weird, he had the best intentions in his heart. The guy wants to gift $L2,500. But there are so many people on the forum, if he split it up into tiny bits to give to everyone it would be laughable amount. So he came up with a brilliant idea. 

[Beth Macbain]

58 minutes ago, clone00345 said:

Its not weird, he had the best intentions in his heart. The guy wants to gift $L2,500. But there are so many people on the forum, if he split it up into tiny bits to give to everyone it would be laughable amount. So he came up with a brilliant idea. 

I agree... Gopi has never had anything but kind intentions from every interaction I've ever had with him. He wanted to do something nice but, as par for the course around here, it got ruined fast. 

[Seicher Rae]

I had to go to the grocery store, either yesterday or today. I figured yesterday would be a better bet to beat the crowds and selected a time that is usually low volume. Off I went. The store was a zoo. It was packed to the gills, with check out lines snaking all over the place. Because of an injury I sometimes have to use the motorized carts, which can be quite amusing but NOT in a crowded store that is laid out with strange angles and difficult to maneuver on the best of days. The aisles were crammed, and people had to stop and wait for other people to find what they were looking for, traffic going the opposite direction AND the poor staff with THEIR carts who were restocking shelves. The stress was evident on people's faces.

Guess what? Everyone was polite. Everyone. We patiently waited (and waited and waited for some little old people to decide), didn't scream "for the love of god, move!" to someone standing in a bad spot zoning into their phone. People gave me room on the motorized cart (somewhat for their own safety), but we smiled and joked about driving. For my part, I saw a young woman who was dressed in the most wonderful black, edgy, Japanese-esque outfit, and when I said "excuse me" she looked all baffled and tried to move out of the way, and I then told her "I just wanted to tell you that you have the most marvelous outfit on and you look great" she looked momentarily confused and then her face just lit up and beamed and she thanked me and it made me feel great to see the look on her face. 

In the checkout lines people chatted pleasantly with total strangers. A young mother with kids and two shopping carts was helped by complete strangers. Jokes were made. The little old people were helped with their goods. No one grumbled at the cashiers, many people praised them. 

WAY TO GO NEW ENGLAND! 

 

[Selene Gregoire]

At last Christmas came. It was a bright, frosty day; the icicles that hung from the iron railing, sparkled as the sun shone upon them, and the little boys in the streets made sliding ponds of the gutters, and did not mind a bit when they came down on their backs, but jumped up and tried it again; and a great many people were hurrying along with large turkeys to cook for their Christmas dinner, and everybody looked very happy indeed.

After these children, about whom I am telling you, came back from church, they were dressed very nicely, and although they lived in three different houses, they all got to their Grandma's very nearly at the same time. The first thing they did was to run up to their Grandma, and wish her a Merry Christmas, hug and kiss her, and say that they hoped she felt quite well. Then they did the same to their Grandpa and Aunts and Uncles. Then they all hugged and kissed each other, and jumped about so much, that some kissed noses and some kissed chins, and Sarah was almost crazy with delight, for she had never been to so large a party before.

"Grandma," said William, "I hung up my stocking last night, and what do you think I got in it?"

His Grandma guessed that he got a birch-rod.

"No," said William, laughing, "I got a doughnut in the shape of a monkey with a long tail; I ate the monkey for my breakfast, and it was very good indeed."

The children all laughed at this, and Bella, William's sister, who was the oldest of all the children, said she thought William had a monkey-look about him. So he went by the name of Monkey Eater for the rest of the day.

Soon the bell rang for dinner, and they all went down stairs; for the children and grown people were to dine together. It was now quite dark, and the chandelier that hung over the table was lighted, the curtains were drawn close, the fire burnt brightly, and the tablecloth was so white and fine that it looked like satin.

The happy party sat down at a large round table, and the children's eyes looked so bright and their cheeks so rosy, that it was the pleasantest sight in the world to see. Sarah could not help having a great many little laughs all to herself. She could not keep them in. She was only four years old, so you may suppose she could not look very grave and stiff on such a delightful occasion.

When William saw his little cousin Sarah trying to hide her sparkling eyes, and her funny little laugh behind her mother's arm, he felt just as if somebody was tickling him. So he pinched his lips together very tight indeed, and casting his eyes up to the ceiling, tried to look as grave as a judge. But it would not do; he burst out into such a fit of laughing, that everybody else laughed too, and it was a long time before they could get their faces straight enough to eat their dinner.

Would you like to know what they had for dinner? Well, I will tell you. After their Grandpa had asked a blessing, they had some very nice soup. The children did not care for soup. Then they had a fish stuffed with all sorts of things, and stewed, and the grown people said the fish was very nice; but the little ones did not care for that either. They then had some roast beef and a boiled turkey with oysters. The children all took turkey; William asked for a drumstick, and his cousin Mary said he wanted it to beat the monkey he ate in the morning. Bella chose a merry-thought; Sarah liked a hug-me-fast; Carry took a wishing-bone; Thomas said he would have the other drumstick to help beat the monkey, and Fanny thanked her Grandma for a wing, so that she could fly away when the beating of the monkey took place.

But this was not half the good things, for they afterwards had some delicious game, such as partridges, and woodcocks, and some fried oysters. All this pleased the grown people most. The children saved their appetites for the dessert. Well, after this, the tablecloth was taken off, and under that was another tablecloth just as white and fine as the first.

Then came something that was quite astonishing. What do you think it was? It was a great plum-pudding all on fire! it blazed away terribly, and William thought they had better send for the fire-engines to put it out; but it was blown out very easily, and the children each had a very small piece, because it was too rich to eat much of, and their parents did not wish to make them ill.

After that there came ice-creams, and jellies, and sweetmeats, that were perfectly delicious; and then the other white cloth was taken off, and under that was a beautiful red one. Then the servants put on the table what the children liked best of all, and that was a dish of fine motto-kisses, and oranges, and grapes, and other nice fine fruits.

The children sent the mottoes to each other, and had a great deal of sport. Someone sent William this:—

"O William, William, 'tis quite plain to see
That all your life you will a monkey be."

He thought his cousin Mary had sent it, because he saw that she was trying very hard to look grave, so he sent this to her:—

"Dear Mary, you are too severe—
You are too bad, I do declare;
Your motto has upset me quite,
I shan't get over it to-night."

Mary laughed when she read it, and said she had been just as cruel to Thomas, for she had sent him this:—

"The rose is red, the violet blue,
The grass is green and so are you."

They had a good laugh at Thomas, but as he laughed as hard as any one, it did no harm. Little Sarah had a great many mottoes. Her Mama read them to her, and it pleased her very much. She said it was a very nice play, but she was tired with sitting such a long time at table, so her Mother let her slip down from her chair.

Very soon all the rest got up, and went up stairs into the drawing-room. But what was that in the middle of the room? It seemed to be a large table covered all over with a red cloth. What could it be? William said, "Grandma, that table looks as if something was on it;" and little Sarah said, "Grandma, I guess Father Christmas has been here."

"Yes, dear children," said their Grandma, "Father Christmas has been here, and this time he looked very much like your Grandpa. He will be up soon, and then we will see what is on the table."

Oh how the children did wish to peep! They could not look at anything else; they danced and jumped round the table, and were in a great hurry for their Grandpa. In a few minutes he came into the room, and all the children ran up to him and said, "Dear Grandpa, do let us see what you have got on the table."

He smiled, and went to the table and took the cloth off. The children were so astonished that they could not say a single word; the table was covered with beautiful things, and under it was something that looked like a little red-brick house.

"Well," said their kind Grandpa, "my dear children, you did not think you were going to be treated with such a fine show as this; you may go up to the table, and see if you can find out who they are for." The children gathered round the table, and William took from the top a fine brig with all her sails set, and colours flying. His eyes sparkled when he saw written on a slip of paper which lay on the deck, these words; "For my dear William." The children clapped their hands, and nothing was heard, but "How beautiful!" "What a fine ship!" "It is a brig of war," said William: "only look at the little brass guns on her deck! Thank you, thank you, dear Grandpa. What is the name of my ship?"

"Her name is painted on her stern," said his Grandpa. William looked, and saw that she was called the "Louisa." He blushed, and looked very funny, and the other children laughed, for William knew a very pretty little girl whose name was Louisa, and he liked her very much; and that was what made them laugh when they heard the name.

After they had all admired the brig, they went back to the table, and there were two beautiful books, full of engravings or pictures, one for Bella and one for Mary; and next to these was a large wax doll for Carry, and another for Fanny. Carry's doll was dressed in blue satin, with a white satin hat and a lace veil, and Fanny's doll was dressed in pink satin with a black velvet hat and feathers—their eyes opened and shut, and they had beautiful faces.

How delighted the girls were! They hugged their dolls to their little breasts, and then ran to hug and kiss their Grandpa. Carry said, "My dolly's name shall be Rose;" and Fanny said, "My dolly's name shall be Christmas, because I got her on Christmas Day."

Well I must hurry and tell you the rest, for I am afraid my story is getting too long. Thomas found for him a splendid menagerie, and all the animals made noises like real animals. There were roaring lions, and yelling tigers, and laughing hyenas, and braying asses, and chattering monkeys, and growling bears, and many other wild beasts. Oh, how pleased Thomas was, and all the children!

Little Sarah did nothing but jump up and down, and say, "So many things! So many things! I never saw so many things!"

But who was to have the little house under the table, I wonder? There was a little piece of paper sticking out of the chimney, and Sarah pulled it out and carried it to her Grandpa. He took her up in his arms, and read it to her. What was written on it was, "A dollhouse for my little darling Sarah."

"Why, I guess this must be for you," said Grandpapa.

"Yes, it is for me," said the little girl; "my name is Sarah, and it must be for me."

Her Grandpa put her down, and led her to the table. He drew the little house out, and opened it. The whole front of the house opened, and there, inside, were two rooms; one was a parlour, and one a bedroom. The children all cried out, "What a fine dollhouse! Look at the center table, and the red velvet chairs; and only see the elegant curtains! Oh dear! how beautiful it is!"

Sarah did not say a word. She stood before the dollhouse with her hands stretched out, and jumped up and down, her eyes shining like diamonds. She was too much pleased to speak. She looked so funny jumping up and down all the time, that she made Willy laugh again, and then everybody laughed.

At last she said, "There is a young lady sitting in the chair with a red sash on. I think she wants to come out."

"Well, you may take her out," said her Grandpa. So Sarah took the young lady out, and then took up the chairs and sofa, one by one, and smoothed the velvet, and looked at the little clock on the mantelpiece, and opened the little drawers of the bureau; and then putting them down, she began to jump again.

There was never such a happy party before. The children hardly wished to dance, they were so busy looking at their presents. But after a little while they had a very nice dance. One of their aunts played for them; she played so well, and kept such nice time, that it was quite a pleasure to hear her.

It was now quite late, and little Sarah had fallen fast asleep on the sofa, with the young lady out of the dollhouse clasped tight to her little bosom. So they wrapped her up, doll and all, in a great shawl, and the rest put on their nice warm coats and cloaks; and after a great deal of hugging and kissing, they got into the carriages with their parents, and went home happy and delighted.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Selene Gregoire

[Gopi Passiflora]

Well, those were some pretty interesting posts made since I last responded! I wanted to address a few things.

@Scylla Rhiadra The primary purpose of this topic was to hold a random giveaway. I got the idea from another board. I am aware that positivity can be accomplished without financial compensation, but I feel like you are thinking too much about the intentions of this topic. I ask posters to put a little effort (even just a sentence or two) in their posts mainly to avoid spam (I apologize if it seems blunt, but that's how I can explain it.)

Eligible posters so far (thanks for the stories by the way! They were enjoyable! Keep it up!):

Mollymews

Beth Macbain (I saw your post before your edit and it was great. I'm leaving you in the list unless you truly opt out)

clone00345

Seicher Rae

Selene Gregoire

 

[Beth Macbain]

19 minutes ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

(I saw your post before your edit and it was great. I'm leaving you in the list unless you truly opt out)

I am going to opt out, but thank you. I think there are others who will put the lindens to better use! 🙂

[Selene Gregoire]

Ease up on Gopi a bit. Gopi is one "alien pink fish" that does admit to blunders and apologizes for them. I've read Gopi's posts on more than one forum for several years now. It's not hard to see that there is no harm intended in any of the threads they start. And like I said, when Gopi blunders and it's pointed out, Gopi always admits to not seeing the problem initially and apologizes for the oversight. 

Granted the intent is to stir things up a bit, but, not to be harmful or insulting. Some of Gopi's threads (the ones that weren't complete duds like 99.99% of mine are) have lead to some heated debates, others to lively discussions and still others to lots of laughs. It's the last two that Gopi is aiming for, but, like all of us, sometimes we miss the target. At least Gopi will apologize for their gaffs.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

22 minutes ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

The primary purpose of this topic was to hold a random giveaway. I got the idea from another board. I am aware that positivity can be accomplished without financial compensation, but I feel like you are thinking too much about the intentions of this topic.

I think people may be misreading my response to this a bit, but to be honest I knew that many or even most people would disagree.

Gopi, I'm not at all questioning your motives or intentions. I like your posts, generally. I like you. I have not said a word impugning your motivations for this: I am quite sure they are of the best. The words I used were "weird" and "odd," not "nefarious" or "evil" or "mean." (I reserve those for Maddy.)

This isn't about your intentions: it's about the appropriateness of the particular way in which you've framed this. What I am suggesting is that a contest offering "Valuable Prizes!" for posting in a community of equals strikes an odd or foreign note. It's a little like showing up to a family reunion, opening up your wallet, and throwing a fistful of bills at the assembled people. Probably it's meant well, but it's not the way colleagues and equals behave with each other, and, in the context of this forum it seems to me weirdly inappropriate.

But, I'm not overly exercised about it: it's not a big deal.

I would be delighted to post any number of positive stories, or whatever it is you are asking us to contribute, in your next thread. And I hope you continue to get interesting contributions here. But I think I personally will wait until the vision of a cash prize isn't dangled before me.

In the meantime, everyone else should feel free to have fun with it.

[Beth Macbain]

If my relatives threw fistfuls of cash at me, I might actually show up to my family reunions.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Beth Macbain
Accidentally a word.

[LexxiXhan]

On the assumption that i won't win, I could be consoled by being coerced into giving the lucky person my undivided attention, adoring them with gentle love and affection, in whatever form they need that to manifest, creating the environment for them to experience every last niggling itch of identity that they can no longer ignore, facilitating their submission to bliss and self-acceptance..even if that just means hanging out and feeling intimately comfortable.

PS ~ I'm hoping it's me.

PPS ~ I really mean it. I totally want to ethically ***** myself. At myself. You don't stand a chance.

PPS ~ although..

[Luna Bliss]

The forgotten Solstice story of the air......

WHAT A MYSTERY IS THE AIR, WHAT AN ENIGMA TO THESE human senses! On the one hand, the air is the most pervasive presence I can name, enveloping, embracing, and caressing me both inside and out, moving in ripples along my skin, flowing between my fingers, swirling around my arms and thighs, rolling in eddies along the roof of my mouth, slipping ceaselessly through throat and trachea to fill the lungs, to feed my blood, my heart, my self. I cannot act, cannot speak,cannot think a single thought without the participation of this fluid element. I am immersed in its depths as surely as fish are immersed in the sea.

Yet the air, on the other hand, is the most outrageous absence known to this body. For it is utterly invisible. I know very well that there is something there—I can feel it moving against my face and can taste it and smell it, can even hear it as it swirls within my ears and along the bark of trees, but still, I cannot see it. I can see the steady movement it induces in the shapeshifting clouds, the way it bends  the  branches  of  the  cottonwoods,  and  sends  ripples  along  the  surface  of  a  stream.  The fluttering wing feathers of a condor soaring overheard; the spiraling trajectory of a leaf as it falls; a spider web billowing like a sail; the slow drift of a seed through space—all make evident, to my eyes, the sensuous presence of the air. Yet these eyes cannot see the air itself.

Unlike the hidden character of what lies beyond the horizon, and unlike the unseen nature of that which resides under the ground, the air is invisible in principle. That which today lies beyond the horizon can at least partly be disclosed by journeying into that future, as that which waits under the ground can be somewhat unearthed by excavations into the past. But the air can never be opened for our eyes, never made manifest. Itself invisible, it is the medium through which we see all else in the present terrain.

And this unseen enigma is the very mystery that enables life to live. It unites our breathing bodies not only with the under-the-ground (with the rich microbial life of the soil, with fossil and mineral deposits deep in the bedrock), and not only with the beyond-the-horizon (with distant forests and oceans), but also with the interior life of all that we perceive in the open field of the living present—the grasses and the aspen leaves, the ravens, the buzzing insects and the drifting clouds. What the plants are quietly breathing out, we animals are breathing in; what we breathe out, the plants are breathing in. The air, we might say, is the soul of the visible landscape, the secret realm from whence all beings draw their nourishment. As the very mystery of the living present, it is that most intimate absence from whence the present presences, and thus a key to the forgotten presence of the earth.

[Mollymews]

like Beth I actually don't need the money.  I only posted something because I noticed that after about 6 hours nobody had posted anything.  So I thought I will start it off in the spirit of the season Which is the way sometimes. Somebody has to go first into the unknown and get things started. And I am always quite happy to throw myself off cliffs and try to leap tall buildings. At least in SL that is

if I do win the draw then what I would like is for you Gopi to donate the money to a real world charity that buys presents for children. $10 is $10 right. And some child somewhere in the world will get a present which they never would have otherwise

[Luna Bliss]

21 hours ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

The winner

If I'm randomly chosen I will double the amount and send to my favorite charity, Saint Joseph's Indian School:

https://www.stjo.org/

[Gopi Passiflora]

Eligible List:

Mollymews (charity for kids)

clone00345

Seicher Rae

Selene Gregoire

LexxiXhan

LunaBliss (charity: Saint Joseph's Indian School)

 

In less than 3 hours and 30 minutes I will stop accepting entries and will post the results of the giveaway here soon after (again, we will be using random.org as the randomizer.) Thanks again for the great posts!

[Gopi Passiflora]

Just wanted to inform you that one hour is left to put in an entry for the giveaway. After that point, I will not accept any more entries. 

Eligible List remains the same as last post.

Edit: It's midnight, so I'm not accepting entries anymore. But stay tuned for the drawing! Again, we will use random.org's third party drawing service for the drwaing.

Edited December 25, 2019 by Gopi Passiflora
It's midnight, so I'm not accepting entries anymore.

[Gopi Passiflora]

Results of Drawing:

https://www.random.org/draws/details/?draw=106489

@LexxiXhan is the winner! Congratulations! Please provide your Second Life username so that I can send you the Lindens.

[Cindy Evanier]

1 hour ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

Please provide your Second Life username

Pssst Everyones forum name is their username.  Display names don't work here

[LexxiXhan]

6 hours ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

@LexxiXhan is the winner! Congratulations!

*turns bright crimson* !!!

Aww, thank you Gopi! xx

And there are sims I want to donate to - including a memorial one that had me in tears reading other peoples' tributes to their loved ones recently ❤️

[Gopi Passiflora]

39 minutes ago, LexxiXhan said:

*turns bright crimson* !!!

Aww, thank you Gopi! xx

And there are sims I want to donate to - including a memorial one that had me in tears reading other peoples' tributes to their loved ones recently ❤️

 

You're welcome!

So, as Cindy said, your SL display name is your forum name? If so, I will have those Lindens for you as soon as possible!

Edit: Okay, the Lindens have been paid! Let me know if you received them! Happy Holidays!

Edited December 25, 2019 by Gopi Passiflora
Okay, the Lindens have been paid!

[Cindy Evanier]

40 minutes ago, LexxiXhan said:

*turns bright crimson* !!!

Aww, thank you Gopi! xx

And there are sims I want to donate to - including a memorial one that had me in tears reading other peoples' tributes to their loved ones recently ❤️

That is a really lovely idea