...Juice Wars 'issue' and the meaning of love...

Apparently, there’s an issue with a win in the Juice Wars tournament. I will address it here, breifly (I hope):

Scott, my one and only blog partner on JW, closed the voting for the tournament on the “Joe B. vs. Corey” match, with Joe B. as the winner. Then, Joe (Shark) gave his vote, making the match evenly tied. As blog administrator, I opened the voting back up, to count Shark’s vote and to anticipate Vince’s. I also changed my vote to Corey. Joe B., posting as Sparkamus Prime, also changed HIS vote to himself. Then Vince voted for Corey, making the match 5-4 in Corey’s favor, and I declared the winner.

Joe was not treated unfairly. He got 4 votes to Corey’s 5; that’s impressive for a guy who’s never even FOUGHT in a ‘Juice environment before. Besides that, he’s going to get a chance to come back from it, due to the second tournament going on for the losers of the first rounds.

Unlike basketball and a presidential election, I AM THE MASTER OF JUICE WARS. I make the decisions for the blog, with Scott being the only one to palaver with me about it, being that he is a blog moderator. Andrea, I understand that you feel Joe was robbed, and that you really wanted to see him win; if Vince had voted for Joe, then Joe would be the winner. The decision stands. End of discussion. I congratulate Joe on having such a close vote to Corey, and he will get another shot soon enough to win the entire thing.

An interesting topic is on the Council right now, about the meaning of true love. Here is what I wrote on it:

To me, IN MY OPINION (disclaimer), love is known over time. Let me explain. You meet someone for the first time, you like each other a lot, and you fall "in love" and start a relationship. As time wears on, both of you change in varying ways and degrees. If you can love someone throughout these changes, then you are truly in love with that person.

Example: The person my wife fell in love with so many years ago is not the same person I am today. And vice-versa. In fact, both I and my sexy "Angel" have changed so much that those two people seem distant and foreign. However, we still love each other. That is how you know you are truly in love with another person, when you can love them not for who they are at the time, but who they are AT ANY TIME. It is because of this that I tend to chuckle a little bit at new relationships that declare ultimate love right away...ultimate love is something that cannot possibly be known at the infancy of a relationship, it has to be discovered over time. Sure, we all SAY I love you in the beginnings, but we don't truly KNOW it until much, much later.

Does this mean that week old relationships turned into marriages don't work at all? No, of course not. But, one of the best ways to really make sure if you are in love with someone is to see if your relationship can stand the test of time. And, that 'test of time' isn't the length of the relationship at all, because it stands to reason that if the person you're with stays the same all the time you would love them all the time. The 'test of time' actually refers to the fact that people evolve and alter over time, due to life experiences and trials they go through, and if you can really love someone through and through for who they are at all times, then brother, you have something really special right there. Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous...all that really is the truth. But love is also EXEMPT FROM THE EFFECTS OF TIME. "True" love is something that really is permanent, that won't diminish due to changes or troubles, that won't fade away as time wears on. That, my friends, is what I have with my wife, and THAT is how I know this to be true. I have loved before, and I lost those loves, and it hurt, a lot. But never before Heather have I had TRUE LOVE.

Quote of the Blog: “Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” – Victor Hugo