JABB 185- Sweet and Sour Valentine's Day!

This issue is really quite packed. First, those of you wishing for a Valentine’s treat can select from a couple of options. Whichever is mood appropriate for you! But then we also have the yearly State of the Androolers Address following those links. It’s been quite a year! Anyhow, I hope in all this you find something to enjoy.

So back when I returned from hiatus in JABB 178, I mentioned writing a “Dyelandish romantic-comedy. The hitch? Andrew must be the male star and yet remain unattached to anyone romantically.” Well, with some help from members of the JABB YahooGroup, I ended up with an eleven page story using that idea. It’s sweet, sappy, sad, and, I hope, funny. Like the romantic comedies I love. Only it only exists in print. And it’s not near as good. And it doesn’t really involve John Cusack. LOL Okay, so I tried my best! The plot is as follows: Nadia, a long time Dyelander, has been engaged for four years. Her fiancé finally agrees to setting a date and so she anxiously prepares for her Valentine’s Day wedding. But Nadia’s happiness turns to heartache when she’s forced to choose between fiancé and angelic friend. Will Andrew prevail? Will the Dyelanders be able to prevent their friend from turning her back on him? Read it and see! I hope you enjoy:

So, I think it's safe to say some of us are just down right nauseated by the heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, the schmaltzy jewelry store commercials, and cashiers' merry chants of "So are you here to get a Valentine for that special someone?" Whether you dread this "holiday" because you're single and not loving it or you just resent the commercialization of romantic love, I hope you enjoy this sour lil page:

This was truly the year of the DVD releases! Since my last address a year ago today, the third season of “Tour of Duty”, the second season and first half of the third season of “Touched by an Angel”, and John’s latest film, “The Heart of the Beholder” have all been released on DVD! This was great news for us John Dye fans even if it wasn’t such great news for our bank accounts. J I’m sure many of us are still waiting for further word about that “Lesser of Three Evils” IMDB.com has John credited with. May be by the time I do this next year we’ll know more about it than that John is “I.A., Officer.” Whatever that means…

This year also brought a lot of great new stuff to JABB. Thanks to my finally purchasing a digital camera, slowly but surely JABB is getting its own Photo Gallery. Right now it’s only home to caps from a few TBAA Season 2 episodes but I hope to add more as I find the time! Last issue, I announced the addition of the For a Good Cause page to JABB’s Store. I hope with that page JABB will be able to continue to aid others as we did this past summer when donations from the Store went to victims of Hurricane Katrina. The generosity members have shown in the past has been truly inspiring.

Speaking of members… this has been a banner year for our discussion list, the JABB YahooGroup. Last month we hit an astounding 337 posts! Last time we cracked 300 was back in March of 2004. Good job! Whether it’s talking TBAA, playing Dyeland, or commiserating about life’s troubles and celebrating its blessings, it’s been an exciting year for us! I’d especially like to note the addition of several new members. It’s always great to have new people join us and former members returning to our ranks. In the spirit of getting to know each other, some of us have been working on About Us pages so fellow JABBers can learn a lil about us and our Dyeland counterparts. We hope to have some of you who receive this newsletter join us on our discussion list in the future.

Finally, I’d like to say a few words about an event this past year that I think really touched a lot of us. In October, Charles Rocket entered into immortality. Like the passing of fellow TBAA angel-actors Paul Winfield and Ossie Davis, Charles Rocket’s death was very sad for many of us. We at JABB are continually grateful for the inspiration these talented men passed onto to us as Adam, Sam, and Gabriel (and also Erasmus). It is my continual hope that now Mr. Rocket knows how many lives he touched. I don’t think I speak for myself alone when I say I’ve never looked at turkeys or strapless dresses or hear the song “Sunrise, Sunset” in quite the same away since Adam entered my life. In light of the tragic events surrounding Mr. Rocket’s death, I’d like to provide some information. If you find yourself contemplating suicide, *please* call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your area’s local suicide prevention hotline or visit http://www.hopeline.com/ for resources.

Thanks to all of you for indulging my PSA moment. Thanks also to everyone who supported JABB in whatever way this year. Whether you donated to our charity efforts, contributed to an issue or the web site, or simply offered an encouraging word to another member: thank you. In keeping with tradition, I’d like to end this address for another year with a quote from Andrew: