showdown.

It was like a pressure cooker in the Speakeasy. For days the tension had been mounting, nasty twitters messages, underhanded tricks, dirty dealing.

It came to a head today at the house meeting.

After the usual rigamaroll, the topic was breached. "My Life with Skip" was tossed out into the open, critiqued and assaulted. Sensitive subjects were brought up and examined. Feelings were brought into the public spotlight.

The Skipper and company were offended by the blog. They thought it was a personal attack, a spying eye into private world - focusing on the foibles of an underdog, kicking a man who was already down. But the proponents of the project maintained their stance - Skip is an incredible find. A free spirit, unencumbered by social norms. He is a wild man, untamed, and in such should be an inspiration. There is no shame in his game, and thus, the Skipper is more free than most people.

Still, the institutional feel of the meeting wasn't leading to any conclusion. The Skipper was obviously agitated by the blog and threatened to break any camera used to take his picture. Teri kept insisting that the subject should be dealt with by the individuals involved and asked to talk to the offended parties one on one as real people instead of through the screen of authority figures. It was decided that we'd try this approach. The meeting adjourned.

Back in our living space, Skip approached, ostensibly to help setup internet. A bottle of Gentleman Jack was sitting idly by and as it passed around, people opened up. No one had intended to make personal attacks. And no one wanted to infringe on anyone else's right to express themselves. There could be a middle ground.

The Skipper wasn't against the project exactly. He found aspects of it very appealing, but after a long history of ridicule, he was afraid that this was another slight by people who were close in his life.

Everyone else wanted to celebrate the glory of such a free spirit. Every individual that has Interaction with Skip is welcome to contribute. This is not meant to give a one sided look at the issue, nay, we want a holistic view of Skip. We want to hear about magical, romantic, passionate moments with him just as much as fail moments. We want to know his bravery, his strength, his essence. All sides of the man, the myth, the legend... the Skipper.

In the end, Skip is now on board, approvingly of this project. He doesn't want it to be a string of slights against him, and he also wants the world to know, without a doubt... He is a skilled programmer, well versed in 14 programing languages and he does not like Joomla. Joomla is crap, and Skip knows this.

Feel free to add your comments to the blog, helping to paint a full picture of Skip. You can also send messages via twitter to @mylifewithskip.