Hello! As far as this site is concerned, my name is AvatarVecna. Essentially, the name suggests that I am a physical manifestation of the Greyhawk deity of secrets. Half the time, I think it sounds cool and mysterious; the other half, I understand it shows how big a geek I am. I have been ghosting through this site for years and finally decided to plague the internet with the unending ideas that come out of my head. Hope you can tolerate them!

I'm going to try and sum up my beliefs in writing as best as I can.

The world, the universe, is a place that seeks balance. Everything has an antithesis, a polar opposite. We understand the world in the equal, yet opposite ideas that make it up. Up, down, left, right, forward, backward, past, future, good, evil, order, chaos, yes, no, summer, winter, spring, autumn, hot, cold, simple, complex. Everything exists on a line measured between two extreme points that oppose each other.

Don't believe it? Republican, Democrat. Freedom, security. Tolerant, intolerant. Enemy, friend. You're with me, or against me. It's either the death penalty, or letting murderers walk the streets. We turn everything, every issue, every argument, into black and white, trying to ignore the gray areas, the points somewhere between the two extremes that make up most of the world. Some people think that listening to the argument's of others opens you to being "corrupted" by their ideas. It's not about that: it's about understanding.

"If you don't know your opponent's argument, you don't fully understand your own."

I've spent my life listening to the arguments of others. I've listened, watched, and waited for a chance to speak, while those who have never listened prattled on about subjects they themselves didn't fully understand. Ignorance and intolerance irk me something fierce. I try to represent multiple points of view in my writing, to present different arguments in the hopes of bringing others to some epiphany regarding their own beliefs.

I try to listen to the arguments of others, in an attempt to gain more knowledge, more understanding, so that I can try and find the truth of things as best as I can.

The universe seeks balance, and the only way to reach it is to argue the issues while only seeking the truth, rather than attempting to further our own agendas. We should be concerned with what is best for everyone; while screwing people over financially doesn't help anyone except big business, if we support everyone in every way, they never learn to take care of themselves, only learning to rely on others to make it through life.

Maybe those of you that read this agree with me. Maybe you think I'm nuts. Maybe you're right.

But what if we could all work together? What if we could embrace the differences that separate us, celebrate our diversity? What if we could use all these different view points to reach the Truth, to help everyone enjoy their lives financially, spiritually, emotionally?

I think that would be a beautiful thing.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates (an incomplete compilation)

1. Pillage, then burn.
2. A Sergeant in motion outranks a Lieutenant who doesn’t know what’s going on.
3. An ordnance technician at a dead run outranks everybody.
4. Close air support covereth a multitude of sins.
5. Close air support and friendly fire should be easier to tell apart.
6. If violence wasn’t your last resort, you failed to resort to enough of it.
8. Mockery and derision have their place. Usually, it’s on the far side of the airlock.
9. Never turn your back on an enemy.
10. Sometimes the only way out is through the hull.
11. Everything is air-droppable at least once.
12. A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head.
13. Do unto others.
14. “Mad Science” means never stopping to ask “what’s the worst thing that could happen?”
15. Only you can prevent friendly fire.
16. Your name is in the mouth of others: be sure it has teeth.
21. Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Take his fish away and tell him he’s lucky just to be alive, and he’ll figure out how to catch another one for you to take tomorrow.
22. If you can see the whites of their eyes, somebody's done something wrong.
23.The company mess and friendly fire should be easier to tell apart.
24. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a really big gun.
25. If the damage you do is covered by the manufacturer's warranty, you didn't do enough damage.
27. Don’t be afraid to be the first to resort to violence.
29. The enemy of my enemy is my enemy’s enemy. No more. No less.
30. A little trust goes a long way. The less you use, the further you’ll go.
31. Only cheaters prosper.
32. Anything is amphibious if you can get it back out of the water.
33. If you're leaving tracks, you're being followed.
34. If you’re leaving scorch-marks, you need a bigger gun.
35. That which does not kill you has made a tactical error.
36. When the going gets tough, the tough call for close air support.
37. There is no ‘overkill.’ There is only ‘open fire’ and ‘I need to reload.’
38. Just because it’s easy for you doesn’t mean it can’t be hard on your clients.
41. "Do you have a backup?" means "I can't fix this."