by Aldus Marius on Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:48 am
Salvete, amici Romani!
Three years ago next month, conditor Gnaeus Draco announced his semi-retirement. I've only just recently realised that it may be my turn to pull back a bit. All work and no play has made Marius a very dull boy, at least to himself. I also have some rather pressing macroworld matters to take care of, most particularly the denial of my veteran's pension. All things considered, I thought it'd be healthiest for me to go on sabbatical for a while...maybe four to six months.
I'm not actually planning to be all that "gone". The newbies will be enrolled, the Spammers run off the premises as they always have been. Tibi Draco and others will continue to patrol when I'm not in town. I'll still be by almost every night; like many here, I've found the Societas to be one of the more congenial Roman hangouts on the 'Net; I like it here. About the only things that will change on a day-to-day functional level are that I won't be quite so omnipresent; I'll be AWL ("absent with leave") from the Curia, for one thing, and things like the Fasti and birthday announcements will be, as they are already, in other hands.
So I'll go do my appeal and other errands; travel a bit; hop online just often enough; post a little; read a lot; thumb around the rest of the 'Net at will, uploading some things, downloading others, exploring, playing. I'd like to run barefoot in the virtual grass for the summer. I need to rediscover what I like about a lot of things. I may very well tweak the site while I'm "out"; I have a couple of ideas for some low-key projects that I may take up, the kind that can be done one nibble at a time, and I will be as free to pursue them as I will be to do anything, anywhere, for anyone.
Meantime I'll be able to work on Mons Aventinus and the Roman Outpost without feeling like I'm cheating the Societas. Or I may just spend the summer 'Netsurfing and roleplaying and making 3D graphics for my gallery. Or beading. Or writing articles about Pokémon. Or teaching the Little Dog to swim. Or conditioning my lorica while waiting for my paperwork to come through. I may even finally sign up for some RomanSpace--I wouldn't put it past me; Life and Marius are just full of surprises!
As I also said to conditor Draco way back when, "In a healthy society, there are no indispensible men." I submit to you, omnes Sodales, that we are a healthy Society. I thank you all for keeping it that way, enough so that even the Webmaster can spend a season "at play in the fields of the Lord", and return with all of us stronger for the experience.
In amicitia et fide,
Aldus Marius Peregrinus.