Here We Go Again.....

By popular request, The Village Blog has been brought back. If you have any topics or additions to this blog, please let me know. One of The Village regulars (zippyrn) has been working on a drawing of The Village, he was kind enough to share this link...... http://mph1977.deviantart.com/
So get with zippyrn if you would like something added to that artwork.

We are getting very close to the 3 year mark when I first set foot in The Village.
Thanks McCoyEVP for allowing me to shape The Village into something we all dearly love.

Until next time, MeMe44

Reunion In The Village.....

As always time goes by so quickly, I want to enjoy every moment I can. I sit here typing this and realize I have been doing this for about 3 years. Not promptly or consistently but still a long time. Let's go back a bit, I found kongregate through a fine young man that knew I loved to play games. Somehow I got dumped into CafeKong, and there I met valkyrie. We became friends, and the rest is history as they say. She saw potential in me I guess, and after a few months asked if I would help her other friend, Butterfly with her room "The Garden" and in that room I became a mod. After a month or so, I was asked to take care of The Village since McCoy was going to be absent. And here I am, it has been a wonderful experience these last 3 years. I have been thinking of all the people who have been in and out of my kong life; so in Celebration of all that time...... I would like to have a reunion party. So spread the word, tell all your friends; The Village will be the place to be on the 11th, 12th and 13th of February. I am sending emails to all past kong people, posting it on my FaceBook and writing this. If you know anyone who used to be on kong in the last 3 years who knew me, tell them to show up and say "Hi". Hopefully it will be the biggest and the best party The Village has ever had. Looking forward to seeing all of you.
MeMe44

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun....

Another year has gone by with many changes as always. People come and go, then come back again. The Village is always open to those who respect kong rules. What will the New Year bring us? We won't know until it happens. The past year has been rough for many of us, but we always hope for better things for our future. May the coming year be all that you want it to be. May it bring peace and happiness to all. So to all I wish the best of everything..........
Happy New Year!

Happiness & Sadness..............

Exactly two years ago I was asked if I wanted to be the room owner of The Village. Only having been a mod for a month, I was not sure if I was capable of this job. I said yes and the journey continued. There have been many ups and downs, but I am still here. Some days were harder than others to do the task assigned to me. This week has been one of those difficult times. qwertyrobot once told me I had a way with words.....words don't fail me now! It is with great sadness that I have to report to all of you the passing of a great friend and excellent moderator. Restlessfox is no longer with us playing the games and chatting. His life became too hard for him and he chose to end it. Some of us suffer from depression that is greater than we can handle. Please from the bottom of my heart don't ever get to that point in your life where life is so tough that you can not handle it. Ask for help.....go to a friend or family member. The pain you are going through is no greater than the pain that will be there for your family and friends that you leave behind. As a tribute to foxy we have changed our avatars to his signature fox for the rest of the month. He left behind so many friends, all who want to leave their own special message. We all have our own special memories of fox, I have so many I can not pick out just one single one. So I will just say....foxy I will miss you! MeMe44



djkittn.....restlessfox and I met on Kongregate and hit it off right away, becoming great friends. It wasn't long after that I discovered he had plans to move across the country to my state, Pennsylvania. It's a large state, but I asked him where he'd be moving anyway and was floored to discover that it was a short 10 minute drive from my home! We were so excited at the prospect of hanging out with one another and talked for hours about what we'd do once he had arrived- especially the irony hanging out under one roof to play on Kongregate. After helping him find a house, being there for him when he signed the deed and helping him move in, we continued down the road of friendship together. I know how many friends he made on Kong and I can honestly say that none of you would be disappointed to have met him in real life. He was kind, generous, fun loving and so special. Always smiling, happy, and outgoing, he was truly a source of light. We never parted company without a "glomp" or a "hug" to say goodbye, and he wouldn't have had it any other way. I will miss my dear friend, but I know that wherever he has gone is now a brighter place because of him...and our world is a lot more dim. I love you, fox. -kittn


barinski.....Restless had a huge impact on my life, not only on Kong, but in real life too. He showed me that not only could a person change, but that person could then take what he learned to help others do the same thing. I was nothing nice when he and I first met. But over a short time, he showed me the errors of my ways, and how to be something greater. I will never forget him for that. I just wish i had the chance to thank him in person. Its strange how much you can miss someone you've never actually met, how some words on the screen can change your life. I like to think missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will.
And for those of you out there taking this news hard, I will Quote my favorite author, Dr. Suess:
Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.


strawberry777 Restlessfox was an amazing friend, he was always there when I needed someone to lend an ear or to offer a hug.
He and I spent many a night chatting until the sun was beginning to rise, his awesome personality and views on life never ceased to amaze me.
He is one of the few people you meet in life whom you know you will be friends with till life separates you in a manner that you are no longer able to communicate with each other. Now that that seems to have happened I have a void that shall forever be there.I am not going to preach, but I have faith that Restless is looking out for us from above, providing a watchful eye over us as only he could.He is loved by so many, and is missed so very much. I lack the eloquence I wish I had to tell you all just how much he means to not only me, but to all of us who knew him well. Sometimes less is more, right? I leave you with some quotes that sum up how Foxilicous (as I called him)viewed friendship.

"A hug is worth a thousand words. A friend is worth more."

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk beside me and be my friend."
- Albert Camus (also attributed to Maimonidies).

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
- Anais Nin

Forever you shall be loved and missed Foxeh,

Strawberry777


Bdog2509 Contrary to my usual self, I’ll try not to babble on in a tl;dr fashion. Anyways. I wasn’t the closest friend to Fox, and I didn’t think it would affect me much, as this sort of thing normally wouldn’t, whether the person is a close friend or a stranger, but it has, and has made me think. Of what? I don’t exactly know. But it provokes thought and emotion. I hadn’t known him quite as long or well as most of the others. Only really connecting through talk of Mario, trolls, and an occasional chat and venture through RuneScape. One of those thoughts that comes to mind is that more than just the close friends we know and literally love, whether or not it carries out to real life or just virtually, the connection as a fellow member of Kongregate and your respective and even older rooms is just as strong, if not stronger. (As long as you’re not a level 1 spamming ASCII art, that is.[You know I had to say it.]) I can’t come up with terribly much to say, but I felt I needed to speak on this occasion as well, and say your influence will live on in a lot of our minds and hearts, and my next game of Mario is going out to you.

The Bearded One

Hello everyone......it has been a while for the blog.....but what a way to come back. The guys in the Village seem to be growing beards. So what better way to celebrate than by having a Beard Contest.
Rules:
Must be on you not a friend
Pics to prove
Any kind of beard
Will be voted on by room
Prize will be awarded to winner
You have one month from today
Get growing
Ok guys time to strut your stuff. We will be waiting with anticipation.

Happy New Year..........

Well it's 2010, and I hope that it brings everything to everyone. We always need this new start to get us going. I'm sure we will still face the same old things but hopefully we can look at them in a different way. We will always have problems that is life. And speaking of problems, one came up the other day in the Village and I feel I need to address it. We were having a lively chat and the topic got crazy. By that I mean we were discussing all our mental failures. And we all have them. It was brought up that the Village was a round padded room. Some took offense to all of this conversation. It was not meant to step on anyones toes or hurt anyones feelings. I made the Village a round padded room for a reason....no user could go into a corner and pout. The padding was there for our safety, I wanted the Village to be a safe place for all. I did not think that any of this would be offensive. Mental illness is a serious thing but we are all touched by it in one way or another. Not discussing it is wrong, we need to be open and honest with this problem that touches all of us. I am sorry that some were offended, but the mute button is there for a reason. Or the option to go to another room. If arguments start I am the first to stop them, but this was not arguing. Politics and Religion tend to start arguments, other topics do not. Please be understanding with those that feel the need to have this topic be discussed in open chat. Some of those that were chatting are the ones that have said they themselves have this problem or have family members that do as well. Remember we are like a family in the Village and are there to have fun and to be there for those that need that extra little help.
MeMe44

Happy Holidays...........

Can you believe another year has just flown by us? We are all in the midst of holiday festivities and the coming of the New Year.
There have been many changes this year in the Village, some good and some bad. But, we have managed to get by without so much as a scratch.
Some of the Villagers entered a story contest in the kong forums. We are waiting to find out if anyone from the Village won.
And I am pleased to announce that our newest mod is none other than kaosfury. What a wonderful thing to have happen right now when I am so busy to have that extra help to keep an eye on things. Grats kaos!
I also want to tell all of you Villagers how much I appreciate all of you. When I go on mod calls, I get to see how other rooms are and I am grateful to be able to return to our happy little home. The regulars in the Village are what make this room so great, I can count on all of you to be there with all your humor and your kindness.
My heart goes out to each of you at this wonderful time. May you all have the best rest of the year, and I hope that the New Year is all that we hope it will be.

MeMe44

Thanks.......

I want to say thanks to all of you who make The Village the wonderful room that it is. Without all of you it would be an empty shell. The mods who help keep the peace, the regs who are part of the whole picture and those who are just visiting are all who make it thrive. I hear stories of other rooms and the problems they have, and I am so thankful that The Village is such a wonderful place to be in and have fun. So to all of you I give my thanks, I am so proud to say that I am the owner of this room. Cheers to all of you.

Also I am thankful that The Garden was able to get a couple of mods to help out in there. Cheers to Lancer and R_I_D_D_L_E, take good care of it please it was my first room that I was a mod in.

And to all of you that celebrate Thanksgiving in November, enjoy.

MeMe44

New Mod In The Village.....

We welcome kiwibob as our newest mod to help in The Village. He has been around here for a year now, in fact his kongday is September 14. Congratulations kiwibob on modship and your kongday.
Yay to more mods in The Village, keep them coming.

Talk Like A Pirate Day.......

It's back....................oh yes on September 19, it's Talk Like A Pirate Day. We had so much fun with this last year, we are going to do it again. And our honorary pirate will be so proud to have everyone be like him. lol Get out the rum and the shiver me timbers and party with us that day!!!!!

Repeat Performance..............

Last year I posted this and it's time to roll it back out for all to see. Some users have a real problem with behaviour,might have something to do with lack of respect.
I guess they never learned it at home. Well guys lets try again. Also some have the mistaken notion that mods are paid employees. Hello guys, we are volunteers that give up our game time to keep chat nice for everyone. So what I'm getting at is please try to help us a bit by not feeding the trolls, they thrive on attention.
Try to set a good example by following the room rules. I love The Village and all of you that reside there, lets all keep it a happy place.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Yes, the word is Respect. We are not talking about a song that was written and released by Otis Redding in 1965. Or made famous by Aretha Franklin in 1967. And was recently listed as #5 on the Rolling Stone's chart "500 Greatest Songs of all time.

The word Respect means to hold in esteem. Someone mentioned this word to me this week. Which brought me to writing this post. Some of the young people today are not aware of what this word means.

We all need to show respect and appreciation to the Greers for creating this site, to Greg for working hard to see that we have fun games to play, to administration for their efforts to keep things running smoothly. Respect and appreciation go hand in hand.

But this is where I come in into the picture. As a volunteer helping to keep this site wonderful,I think the Mods need a lot of respect. We all work hard to make sure everyone is having fun. I can't count..... how many games I have had to restart, the nasty names I have been called, the phone calls put on hold because I am in the middle of a troll parade. The food that has turned cold also comes into my mind. And I am not complaining by any means. I chose to do this and I love it. The fun I have greatly outweighs the grief. I just want some of our new users to learn the word "respect" and to appreciate what we all have been given. A wonderful site, with wonderful people who care about everyone. So all you regulars out there who know this word, let's teach it to the new users. It will be interesting to see if they can learn.

Celebrate Good Times................

On Friday, July 17, it will be one year since I became the owner of The Village. A lot has happened in this year.Mods have come and gone.People have gone to other rooms. But all in all it has been a wonderful year. The Village has grown in many ways. We are a thriving online community that has a blog, a wiki,and a page on Facebook. But a lot of the old Village is still here along with the new. We have some of the original people still here contributing to all the fun we have. McCoyEVP still calls The Village home, and without him, The Village would not exist. I am so grateful to be the owner of this wonderful room filled with wonderful people who I consider my extended family. So cheers to another year of good times. Please join us on Friday as we celebrate all day.

Updates:................

We would like to welcome djkittn as our newest mod in residence. She has
been helping out in Ant Hill but calls The Village her home.

Also, I would like to repost The Village rules.

The Village has Boundaries..........
This notice is to list the boundaries (rules) of The Village. We are not
discussing the size or the kind of walls that surround the perimeter.
We are talking about what is and what is not allowed in this township.
Your behavior in The Village will show new users how to act when
they are here.
Please mute when necessary, this keeps it peaceful. The Trolls are
looking for attention and will usually stop if not getting that attention.
As always we would like to have no swearing, you can get your point
across without bad language. Spam and caps lock are not something
we like to see in chat. And most of all we hate to see insults of any kind.
All the users in The Village should be our friends and we should not say
anything that might hurt their feelings.
We don't want ours hurt, do we?
We have set boundaries and there are consequences. This meaning that
if you step out of these boundaries there will be consequences.
You will be banned from The Village and Kong for a set period of time.
Oh noes, that means no game playing; no friendly chat!
Life can be fun in the Village, so join us ......


These rules were posted in this blog on July 22, 2008 and they still apply today.
The only addition is the mods would like to be notified before you post any
links please. This really helps keep bad links from being posted. Thanks
MeMe44

A Big Party Week..........

This week we celebrate some important events coming up for The Village. The Village turns "One" on May 29. Can you believe it, how time flies by when you are having fun. And on May 31, BJBinty celebrates her kongday, another epic day for The Village. And she has been in The Village from the very beginning. So she is a real native so to speak. And she tells us a little story in the post right below. Winding up the week, MeMe44 celebrates her 1 year modversary on June 5. Please join us in the fun all week as we celebrate all these exciting events.
MeMe44

The Village is One......................

It seems like only yesterday that I followed a link and found myself in The Village; of course, it had to be Protector that brought me here. The Village was the room kong decided it would put me in and I’ve stayed ever since :) thank you kongbot for picking the most wonderful home for me.
It seems I had chosen the right time to join as The Village had only just opened and not many people knew about it. As the year has rolled on by I have watched The Village grow from a small room to the thriving community we now share. Yes, we have had our ups and downs, but underneath it all we are The Village people and stick together.
The Village has seen many changes, like the change over from McCoyEVP to MeMe44 and the surprising amount of mods that have sprung up from our regulars. It doesn’t matter if you are new to the room or a long time resident like myself The Village will welcome you in and smother you with huggles, it’s not just a room anymore its got a personality of its own.
So come on all you Village People join me in a toast to Our Wonderful Room!!! May it continue to grow in love and friendship.
(YMCA costumes optional)
BJBinty

Congratulations...................

The Village is extremely proud to welcome strawberry777 and bigstew17 to The Village as our newly modded couple. MeMe's Mod Squad only gets better and better. What an excellent way to start the busy summer season with a couple of extra mods on staff.
The Village is thriving with the addition of some new regulars that moved from other rooms. We welcome them and hope they enjoy their stay.
And how about our new chat? Wow what a difference,took a little while to get used to but improvements are still being seen. Thanks to those responsible for all their hard work.
If you would like to write something to put in the blog put it in my profile whispers and I will look it over and see if it is suitable for posting.
Thanks for being a great room.
MeMe44

Guilt or Innocence?…………..

I have had many rumors flung at me during my ownership of the Village, and I managed to fend them off with strong shoulders and a determination to fight. I consider the source and dismiss most of them. This time is different because it seems to be doing harm to the whole Village. The Village has been my home on this site since last July, and I would never do anything to harm it or the people that reside there. That someone would accuse me of that hurts me deeply. I do not pretend that everything has been smooth for the last few weeks, but I never thought that someone would hate me so much that they would make me look bad. In addition, my being silent about it is wrong. It is not my style, I am a very vocal person and not afraid of anyone or anything. My thoughts are with all the people of the Village, it is your choice to consider whether you believe these rumors or not. I have done nothing wrong.

MeMe44

Guest Writer...........

Hello Village,
This time I am turning over the blog to qwertyrobot. She will be adding her knowledge to our wonderful blog. Also we welcome Pwnzor1 to MeMe's Mod Squad. Congrats Pwn.
We also welcome Akasharoo who splits her time with us and Cafe kong, congrats Akasha. The Mod Squad is getting to be the finest on this site.
I appreciate all the hard work the Mod Squad does to keep the Village the
fine room it is.
OK, here is qwerty's post.......




One wonderful day, I somehow travelled to a site called Kongregate. Another wonderful day several months later, I found a home in the Village where I could learn and grow. I have done both. It is amazing that there exists a place where I can do that; Where I can make the most hilarious mistakes and be taught; Where I can make friends no matter who I am or what I do or what I think; Where people are included with open arms (often times literally!), not excluded; Where I can participate in a community that daily astonishes me with its fun, vigor, friendliness, openness, and large amounts of funny!



Selfishness is not what characterizes this Village. People can get far more concerned with their own narrow achievement than with the wellbeing of others. And when that spirit infects a community, the community becomes the weaker for it. So we have to ensure that spirit doesn't infect our community. All of the jealousies, recriminations, cutthroat competitiveness, and possessiveness are far too ugly for chat. Points or people, the Village is a place to greet people enthusiastically and to cheer then on, not to tear them apart. Splitting people apart, putting them in boxes, excluding them, that is not the Village.



A wise person once told me that on the internet everyone is purple. In the Village, we all deserve the same amount of respect, the same amount of inclusion, the same amount of politeness. Just because some individual, group of people, or the world in general doesn’t behave well is not an excuse to abuse chat or the people within it in any way. The Village is a wonderful place to be, where everyone, no matter their limitations or how much they are excluded in the real world, can be included. Time in the Village should be about this, not petty differences that break us apart. For inside, we are all the same. We are all human. And when we realize this, and choose to be positive, we can be great.



I have been thinking of a community like a piece of music – made up of individual parts, but it is the whole that absolutely transcends reality. There are solos that are shine and special people in chat, but the interplay between all the voices and personalities is what makes chat. All the same, if several parts suddenly go a half step out of tune, a joyous major chord can be turned into something very melancholy. But Villagers are better than that. Humanity is better than that.



So I am thankful that I can be a part of this wonderful community, thankful for the friendships I have made, for all the amazing people I have talked to, for the camaraderie, the spirit, the jokes. I am learning so much, and I hope that I will continue to do that in an environment where competitiveness, possessiveness and putting people in boxes is muffled by encouragement, generosity, tolerance and most of all fun!




~ qwertyrobot

I wannabe a mod...............

I hear this countless times every day. But a little clue guys and dolls, when you say it you are put back at the bottom of the list. Also some things that will put you back at the bottom are: different behaviour when mods are present, being overly friendly and trying to be their best buddy. When mods are looking for a new mod, they rarely do it while wearing their mod suit. They come as an alt and observe.
You will be watched over time to see how well you blend into the room. The users I have nominated, I have watched several weeks maybe months before they are chosen. So if you want to make a good impression, be yourself, don't go overboard to make yourself noticed. It really does not help you at all. And don't become a minimod.
If a mod is present let them do their job. You do not need to step in and help. We mods have been trained and were chosen because of our abilities to handle the trolls.Please do not feed these trolls and also please learn to use your mute buttons. This site is growing and they are looking for new mods everyday. But as they are looking they are weeding out the ones that will never make it. All of you are great users and someday you may become a mod.