Simon Says, Our Hero.

I met Simon many moons ago when I was barely aware of all the cool things that you can do here in AW. We were part of a very close knit (Alas, we have no time to get together anymore. You were sooo right PL) group of friends who got together every Friday. His gentle humor and playfulness immediately endeared me to him. He didn't waste words yet seemed to be the one who said the most. Maybe because what he had to say was always profound. We had a lot of laughs, a few tears but mostly, we enjoyed our time together in that period that all long term AW residents go through that I call the age of AW VR innocence. That time after you get comfortable enough to get around well & explore but still are mostly unaware of all the cool "Right-Click" things you can do here. 

I remember one particular instance with Simon where I had just seen my first bot here in AW. I went to him all excited about this thing that occupied an avatar like a person. It talked and answered questions and was just generally new and cool. He asked if I knew the site where a person could download one & I gave it to him. In less than 15 minutes he had a hambot walking around, barking (it used the "K-9" av so he programmed it to act like a dog) and patrolling the perimeter of his place. I learned that day that not only was Simon one of the nicest ppl I knew (and STILL know) but that he was quite the techie too, LOL.

Time has gone by so fast since then and we've pursued other avenues of interest pertaining to all things VR but I'm so thankful that he asked me to contribute to his fledgling online paper that we all know and love, AWWoS. It's given me the opportunity to keep in regular touch with him and it's even given me the chance to build something for him in AW, which is probably my greatest joy of all in AW, to create something for a good friend  : ) 

To this day he has remained on my contact list, one of the longest lasting contacts on this member's list. Heres's to you Simon! Congratulations on winning that little gold Cy, guy (LOL). You MOST certainly earned it! It's been a pleasure writing for you. Long life to you and AWWoS!