Bill Ryan's personal Question-and-Answer thread. Pile it on. :)

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by lunaflare (here)
Dear Bill,

Is your knowledge about souls/reincarnation a result of your direct experience?

I am most interested in the story around your own reincarnation to planet earth (as Bill Ryan). Can you please go into greater detail?

Do you believe in concurrent lifetimes? (if there is no "time" as such). Have you/do you experience this?

A light body simply means just that ...you feel lighter and more at ease in this vessel.
There is a shine also, less density, a spark in the eyes. Usually, this is in tandem with good health: eating well, exercising, states of loving kindness. You are not bogged down by negativity. It is not about being "special" just congruency with inner light--perhaps what can be named as soul (my unscientific explanation). So too babies, children, and oftentimes the elderly as they approach the veil of Death.

So do you have an awareness of this? Or if you still have no idea what I mean, that is cool too...

Thank you again, Bill

Is my knowledge about souls/reincarnation a result of my direct experience? Yes.

My own reincarnation to planet earth (as Bill Ryan)? Well, I don't actually remember when or under what circumstances I first arrived here. (Maybe you intended a slightly different question?)

There's a twist to that, inasmuch as at one point I left, and then returned. That whole complex incident is so more than very highly strange that I'm not ready to share that yet, as it there's no way it's believable — and despite being supported by over a dozen hours of recorded regression, it's barely believable even to me. So that's a story for later that I might kind of slowly creep up on in the months or years to come.

Many thanks for your explanation of what you meant by the light body... yes, of course I do recognize the kind of thing you're describing. I'd not really put a definitive descriptive term to it.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by christian (here)
Hey, Bill! Are you ever gonna publish a book about your life and adventures?

Probably not! But as I write more and more on this thread, I do have to say that I realize that I maybe do have quite a lot to say about quite a few things — if anyone out there is interested.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Ron Mauer Sr (here)
Bill have you made a plan for what you will do when croaking time gets here? Will you avoid the light tunnel, maintain a strong intention to return to Source and look for a hole in the electronic fence overhead to make your exit?

Well, what an interesting question. I was talking about this (in part) with a friend just a few days ago. Based on all the regression information available, death in itself does NOT appear to be a traumatic experience. It's always the events preceding death that contain residual emotional charge (if there is any) — like a distressing illness, a major loss, a serious accident, a battle situation, etc.

As best I can see and understand, death in itself (i.e. the spiritual being leaving the body) isn't a problem in any way.

As regards what happens after that, my best guess is that a kind of reflex kicks in. We've been there so many times before, it all happens more or less automatically. We've got nothing to worry about! After all, here we all are, one more time.

But in that process, there do seem to be conscious choices that can be made to override (or augment) the reflex. It's not like we have no influence at all on the way it all goes.

I'm not 'going back to Source'. I couldn't, even if for some reason I wanted to... there's too much unfinished business. That applies to every one of us. Even the Dalai Lama. He returns for more each time, as well.

I'm coming right back here. This is where the action is, where the fun is, where the enjoyable experiences are, where the learning can be had, where my friends will be, and where the unfinished personal goals and projects are all to be completed or continued. In comparison, 'Source' sounds like some kind of retirement home: maybe really pretty boring and unfulfilling.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Rachel (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
But regarding how we operate as a moderators team, almost everything we do is by genuine consensus. It's a myth that I somehow make all the calls and everyone else follows in lockstep... the others in the team will all confirm that! Between us, we have a wide variety of opinions about many things, but I feel we're always able to work well together to make good decisions between us.

Confirming.

What keeps us working well together is mutual trust and respect, which is easy coz they’re a bunch of sweethearts. With that foundation we can be open and direct with each other without risk of offence, and there’s no pressure to agree with anyone or everyone. We don’t argue much because each voice is valued as a different view, so differing or even opposing opinions aren’t felt as a conflict, most of the time. This might be why some people get the impression that we just all follow Bill? I don’t think he’d like that anyway.

Well, this isn't really a question. But yes, no-one 'follows me', not for a moment. We really do work as a consensus, with sometimes widely different opinions about everything one might imagine.

Once in a blue moon, I'll say: "Listen up, Folks: we're going to do THIS." Because that happens so infrequently, the others will always willingly agree. That's entirely because I don't abuse what 'authority' I might (theoretically! ) have to throw my weight around inappropriately.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Valerie Villars (here)
Bill, are you afraid of snakes?

Yes. Fortunately, there are none at all here where I live. Like, none at all. The snakes in Ecuador are all way down in the jungle, which is completely fine with me.

The Amazon, of course, is home to the world's most enormous snakes, which are rarely seen and too heavy to move easily on land. The most extreme reported instance was an anaconda measured to be 115 ft long which was killed by 500 rounds from a French machine gun post in 1948 on the Rio Oiapoque, on the border between French Guiana and Brazil.

It's body was as thick as an oil barrel, and the soldiers (understandably!) pushed it back into the river, rather than waiting for the local veterinary surgeon to come and take a good look.

[Antagenet]

Followup to post#19 https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...=1#post1260924

Hi Bill,
Thanks for your thorough and revealing answers and here are MORE questions!

1. What was it about Thailand that you liked so much and where did you visit? Food? People? Temples? Landscapes? Culture?

2. If there was a nuclear blowout/blowup, probably in the northern hemisphere, would you want to move further south?

3. What is your opinion of a possible grand solar minimum (they say being at the equator would be the best place for
growing food).

4. DO you experience your various intelligence levels rising or falling or staying the same, as you get older?

5. How important is sense of humor? Is it necessary for happiness or fulfillment? Have you ever known anyone relatively happy who didn't have much of a sense of humor? Do you think people with high emotional intelligence may have a different type of humor than those who don't? Have you ever experienced any animals that seemed to be amused?

6. What kind of Heaven would you want to go to if you could design a perfect one for you?

7. Do you ever have inner dialogues with different parts of yourself/yourselves?

8. If you could design a future or imminent social or political landscape, how would you resolve things... take this anywhere
you want to. How would the world, peoples, cultures, countries evolve at their best?

9. What do you want to ask us?

[Valerie Villars]

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

[Gemma13]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by christian (here)
Hey, Bill! Are you ever gonna publish a book about your life and adventures?

Probably not! But as I write more and more on this thread, I do have to say that I realize that I maybe do have quite a lot to say about quite a few things — if anyone out there is interested.

Looks to me like this is the perfect autobiographical book

BILL RYAN - UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Replying with bold text of the question and then your response makes it much easier to read with the volume here and for what is yet to come.

That would be all that was needed to be extracted and collated into THE BOOK, imho

[petra]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Well, this isn't really a question. But yes, no-one 'follows me', not for a moment. We really do work as a consensus, with sometimes widely different opinions about everything one might imagine.

Once in a blue moon, I'll say: "Listen up, Folks: we're going to do THIS." Because that happens so infrequently, the others will always willingly agree. That's entirely because I don't abuse what 'authority' I might (theoretically! ) have to throw my weight around inappropriately.

I'm glad you said this, but you might be a little bit wrong (sorry!). I'm willing to bet some people do "follow you". You might not even realize how strong your "voice" is. EDIT: I took this out of context, sorry again - I'm referring to everyone and not just moderators.

Bill, you're somewhat of a celebrity. I just figured someone should tell you, in case you did not know Don't mind the death threats (hehe)

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Alberto e Daniela (here)
Dear Bill, friends at Avalon,

We took an involuntary leave in the last months, due to Daniela’s health problems, with a very bad Ulcerative Colitis, which got us to spend some weeks in hospital in two different episodes. Luckily, she could avoid the colectomy, but we have seen the heavy side effects of cortisone… so she is now investigating natural cures to use in parallel.

By the way, she was in the hospital in serious conditions when we received a PM by Chris, offering us a free treatment by the Inanna entity including soul extraction (you may remember that curious thread by Chris).

We think this new thread by Bill is a great invitation, which we accept and respond to with three questions...

thank you very much!!
Alberto and Daniela

1 - About Switzerland! We had mixed feeling about this country, but we have recently discovered that it has positive, advanced, institutions, (like Dr. Bircher’s nature cure clinic). Now we learned also Bill lived there, and considers it such an interesting place to live in (having a good job, of course).

Bill, what have you found in Switzerland to make it so attractive? For example, is it a place where positive, constructive initiatives, like your conferences, or the development of man’s interiority find a fertile ground, and interested people?

Switzerland is an astonishingly beautiful country: every little corner of it, whether it's on obvious public display or not. And the Swiss are perfectionists in everything they do. The infrastructure works perfectly: one could set an atomic clock to the exact day-in-day-out punctuality of the trains and buses.

The trust of the people is also refreshing and inspiring. At the road entrances to many small farms, there's a little open shelter, totally unmanned, with home-made farm produce just sitting there: bread, cheese, fruit, all beautifully fresh, straight from the farm kitchen. Beside it, there's a small honesty box for people to leave their money.

There were several times when I didn't have the cash, or the change, and so each time I drove back there the next day to complete the payment for what I'd taken the previous evening. It was a delightful, traditional system based on community spirit and pure trust.

Very sadly, when I was last there (early 2011) I heard that some farmers were stopping doing that because of the influx of refugees, at that time mainly from Turkey or Kosovo. They would just steal what was apparently there for the taking. Trust and generosity are the hallmark of a mature, sophisticated society, and not everyone in this world is like that yet.

It was a delight to live there. But it's VERY expensive, as I think most people know. If I had a million dollars in the bank (or even half that!) I'd be back there in an instant.

2- On Inelia Benz! We had got in contact with Inelia Benz and attended some of her conferences (in Barcelona), and while we believe she is a well meaning person, we could not avoid noticing some contradictions in her arguments and deeds. Also, we had always wondered what has happened to the initiative which Bill had launched with Inelia a few years ago. So now, hearing Bill talk of the “booby traps” around her we wondered if together we can make sense of “puzzling” facts about her mission.

Bill, is there something you can share about those “booby traps”, to help sincere spiritual searchers to avoid unnecessary trouble or wasting years of their time?

Well, I get the feeling I should maybe say no more about Inelia just now.

A few days ago, almost certainly having read some of what I'd written on this thread in response to questions, she asked senior admin Ilie Pandia, who she knows personally, for her account to be hard-deleted.

Ilie did this, also hard-deleting his own account at the same time. There was no consultation with myself, Paul (his fellow-admin, with whom he'd always worked very closely), or any of the other moderators.

I can say a little more about this incident later, because more deserves to be said. Ilie was a friend, and was implicitly trusted, both personally and with the safety of the entire forum. What happened was a massive, out-of-the-blue betrayal of that friendship and trust.

All this happened in the early hours of 7 December, US time, and we knew nothing about it until after it had occurred. Three and a half days later, Ilie has not yet responded to messages asking him to please, please explain why he had done this.

Inelia's posts are all still here (and so are Ilie's), but it's now impossible to search for them. (Her username, and Ilie's, are now no longer recognized by the forum search function.) She and Ilie are both now automatically listed as 'Guests', and not 'Retired Members'.

As soon as he discovered what had happened, Paul spent two fruitless hours trying to figure out if there was any way he could undo this. But a hard-delete is exactly that — an irreversible deletion. Paul concluded, I think wisely, that to try to repair and restore this stood a risk of damaging the Avalon database.

Ilie, being the software specialist that he is, knew all this — of course.

3 - Finally, our purpose in life, and its possible connection with that of other souls, some of them orbiting around Avalon...
We pursue inner knowledge, and on a small scale (meetups/website) are spreading what we have learned, or created, like new didactic methods based on self awareness (conscious learning).
Of course it would be happier and more productive to work on something common, side by side with other souls who want to evolve and help evolution of mankind on a spiritual level. That may go through a closer collaboration, or even co-location at some point.

Bill, based on the experience learned, and thinking of the next few decades, do you consider you’d want to give a second opportunity to the community (in Ecuador or elsewhere) ? Perhaps it could be a base for outreach activities, where information is spread along with practice, on psychic and physical health, spiritual awareness, etc., to help not only members of Avalon but everyone, to develop both “legs” (Knowledge and Being) in harmony?Think of Kamar-Taj, Dr Strange’s initiation temple

Unfortunately, a community here (on the very beautiful 75 acres of land which I jointly purchased in Ecuador, and where I still live) just isn't possible. The 7 co-title-holders are now scattered to the four winds (I don't know where any of the other 6 are now), and there's no seeming way to bring any of this back together even to sell the property, or to formally divide the title so that I could sell my own little piece if I ever wanted to.

So personally, I'm in the strange position of living in a beautiful place, in quite a large old farmhouse with 7 acres of fields all around, which is 100% totally paid for — but which I have no means of selling. And there's no formally workable way for anyone else to buy into any of this, either. It seems almost inextricably log-jammed; but in the meantime, it's a very nice place to be.

[Rosemarie]

I love a challenge. Everybody can be found in this age. ( or almost anybody )

[charlesfrith]

I find him overly verbose. Like a sophist.

Mod note from Bill: Who?

If that was a reply to to a post, do please 'Reply with Quote' so we can know who you're referring to. THX!

[scotslad]

Been thinking...

1. have you ever been inside a UFO (and have a recollection of regression of it recorded?)
2. What's the most secret/above top secret/hidden/government location you've had access to/been in?
3. What's the scariest/most life threatening experience you've had?
4. If you could improve projectavalon or add a new feature - what would it be?

Cheers.

[Bassplayer1]

Hi Bill, I remember you a couple of weeks ago talking about 'doxxing' or being 'doxxed' and I'll admit I had to google what that term means as I didn't know! Anyway, this thread has grown into a large resource of wonderful info that I wouldn't know where to begin to find the post/comments about this. However, I DO remember it having something to do with Corey Goode. It's not my intention to bad mouth anyone or start gossiping, but I think you said he'd made a vicious attack about you - was this to do with a Picasso painting I think you've spoken of before? (Sorry my memory is a bit sketchy). I hope I'm not prying but would you care to share that experience with us - or more to the point, would you like the opportunity to get your side of the story off your chest? Once again Bill, thank you for your generosity and insight. xxx

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Antagenet (here)
Followup to post#19 https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...=1#post1260924

Hi Bill,
Thanks for your thorough and revealing answers and here are MORE questions!

1. What was it about Thailand that you liked so much and where did you visit? Food? People? Temples? Landscapes? Culture?

I passed through Bangkok a few times (and always as fast as possible!), but was really only ever on Koh Samui, a small island to the south where a very good expat friend has lived for many years. I loved the sea, the climate, the markets, the food, and the very gentle and friendly people. On Koh Samui there are also a number of inexpensive but world-class spas, where I spent some time.

2. If there was a nuclear blowout/blowup, probably in the northern hemisphere, would you want to move further south?

Interesting question. I don't know for sure if Ecuador (which is ON the equator) would be safe from radiation, and the wobbling jetstream now makes this all more uncertain. Given my circumstances, I'd probably stay right here and just take a lot of potassium iodide. (I have a bunch all stored away. )

3. What is your opinion of a possible grand solar minimum (they say being at the equator would be the best place for
growing food).

I think the evidence is overwhelming for an imminent mini ice age. That doesn't mean glaciers all over Europe and Canada and woolly mammoths everywhere, but it does mean a reduction in temperatures on average, very significant impact on crops of all kinds (and global food supplies), and a great deal of weather instability, including unseasonably warm patches and LOTS of rain and storms in many places. The mainstream media (and scientists) have to start noticing and reporting this in the next couple of years... it'll be in-our-faces obvious.

4. Do you experience your various intelligence levels rising or falling or staying the same, as you get older?

Well, my intellectual IQ might not be quite as sharp as it was when I was 20. But my EQ and SQ (emotional and spiritual intelligence) have certainly grown as I've matured. I think that happens with most people.

5. How important is sense of humor? Is it necessary for happiness or fulfillment? Have you ever known anyone relatively happy who didn't have much of a sense of humor? Do you think people with high emotional intelligence may have a different type of humor than those who don't? Have you ever experienced any animals that seemed to be amused?

What a great question. I think humor is REALLY important. (For happiness, fulfillment, and also in friendships or every kind. The mods here enjoy a great deal of humor in all their ongoing communications.) Personally, I very much enjoy and have a lot of fun with subtlety, and I hope it shows.

Yes, people with a high EQ do enjoy and display a different humor. For sure. It can be just as funny and sometimes clever or quirky, but never unkind, sarcastic or mocking. That's the difference.

Sarcasm has NO place in genuine humor of any kind. That's just egotistical, one-upmanship, I'm-cleverer-than-you, put-down finger-poking. That's why I come down hard on that in the forum sometimes. It's not funny, and it's an indicator of immaturity and/or personal insecurity. It's quite easy to show humor without making anyone else feel bad.

Animals that are amused? Well, some animals play a lot, and that counts! And they get surprised and then react, like children do by laughing. But of course their humor (if that's what it is!) is reactive, not proactive. They don't try to be funny to create reactions in others, as humans do. I may be wrong, but I don't even think dolphins and chimpanzees do that.

6. What kind of Heaven would you want to go to if you could design a perfect one for you?

One which contained interesting challenges, deep connection with others, fun, and creativity.

7. Do you ever have inner dialogues with different parts of yourself/yourselves?

Yes. I spend a lot of time sometimes figuring things out, or figuring out what best to do in certain situations. Quite often, I don't have anyone to bounce ideas off (online, that is: there's no-one else around here physically), so I bounce them off myself. (Silently! )

8. If you could design a future or imminent social or political landscape, how would you resolve things... take this anywhere you want to. How would the world, peoples, cultures, countries evolve at their best?

Well, this'll be a simple answer. No greed, self-serving, exploitation, manipulation, cruelty, or malevolent control. And featuring compassion, equal opportunity, and kindness. A world in which genuine spiritual values are held dear, the natural world is understood, respected and honored, and where material possessions and facilities are understood to be necessary, but unconnected with ego or posturing.

It was rather like that in Tibet for hundreds of years before the Chinese invaded and destroyed the culture, and still is quite like that, to some degree, in Bhutan.

9. What do you want to ask us?

I'd like to ask those members reading this who've never posted apart from just once on the Welcome to Avalon thread: please join in the discussions and say more! And if you have any questions, issues, or difficulties navigating the forum, just ask (in any way at all, even by e-mail), and we'll help all we can. Everyone is truly welcome and valued here once their membership application's been accepted.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Valerie Villars (here)
Do you have any brothers or sisters?

No, I'm an only child. After my mother passed in 2007, there was no-one in my family left. I'm here on my own, with not a single living relative anywhere in the world that I'm aware of. (A very interesting experience, by the way.)

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by scotslad (here)
Been thinking...

Cheers.

1. Have you ever been inside a UFO (and have a recollection of regression of it recorded)?

Yes, I was abducted in September 1948 (last lifetime). I was a young trainee architect living in Hamilton, Ontario, and one Sunday afternoon I was taking my parents' dog for a walk in the woods.

I came across a silver disk just sitting there on the ground. The dog went nuts, and ran to attack the three ETs that were there (small, but human-looking). The dog instantly died (or was killed), and then the ETs told me telepathically that they were so very sorry and that it was an accident.

They invited me on board the craft, and they took me high above the atmosphere where either they showed me a kind of utterly realistic movie, or the sides of the craft became transparent and there was a time-travel thing as well. What I saw (and was deliberately shown) could only be described as the Earth's atmosphere burning. It was a terrible, terrible sight. Even now, I feel emotional when recalling this.

They returned me to the same place, with my memory intact. The intention was that I should warn other humans of [what I believe was] a possible future. Shocked and stunned — an understatement! — I returned to my parents' house with their dead dog in my arms. That was actually just the very start of a huge story that I'll not tell here, but which could easily be quite some Sci-Fi movie.

I can't prove a thing, of course, but all the above is supported by 8 hours of recorded regression.

2. What's the most secret/above top secret/hidden/government location you've had access to/been in?

Well, I'll tell a funny story. In Switzerland, in 2008, I was told by some Swiss friends the location of an entrance to a top-secret Swiss underground facility. So I had to go take a look.

It was an enormous traditional Swiss barn, with no windows, huge wooden doors, not a person around, and no other buildings. No farmhouse! And not an animal in sight. It was at the end of a long dirt road in the middle of rural nowhere.

It was perfectly disguised. But the giant doors were so wide and high (I have a photo somewhere) that very heavy vehicles could easily have entered, and there was a large flat gravel turning area outside.

I'm sure I was captured by surveillance, of course. I was aware of that, so I just acted nonchalantly, and rather confused, like a hiker who'd got a lost. Hilarious. Of course, no-one would suspect a thing without thinking about it a little.

3. What's the scariest/most life threatening experience you've had?

This story. Do read.

• A day in the mountains: a tale of forgiveness

4. If you could improve projectavalon or add a new feature - what would it be?

I've often thought of creating a little 5 minute intro video, like an animated how-to feature, with a friendly commentary and a moving mouse pointer, showing people how to navigate the forum, start new threads, reply to posts, embed photos and videos, get help, and so on. It'd be far better than hundreds of words and screenshots (like in the Welcome to Avalon message on my post #1 there, or in the dozens of FAQs).

If anyone would like to take this on as a project (motion screen capture is needed, and I can't easily do that on my slow, ancient system) it'd be very much appreciated. Do PM me! And I could storyboard it out.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Bassplayer1 (here)
Hi Bill, I remember you a couple of weeks ago talking about 'doxxing' or being 'doxxed' and I'll admit I had to google what that term means as I didn't know! Anyway, this thread has grown into a large resource of wonderful info that I wouldn't know where to begin to find the post/comments about this. However, I DO remember it having something to do with Corey Goode. It's not my intention to bad mouth anyone or start gossiping, but I think you said he'd made a vicious attack about you - was this to do with a Picasso painting I think you've spoken of before? (Sorry my memory is a bit sketchy). I hope I'm not prying but would you care to share that experience with us - or more to the point, would you like the opportunity to get your side of the story off your chest? Once again Bill, thank you for your generosity and insight. xxx

Yes! The Picasso story. OMG. I've posted about this before somewhere, but here it all is again. It's actually really interesting.

Many years ago, when I was a child, and we were living in Ghana, my father did a great personal favor for a wealthy art collector who was visiting the country, whose name was Emile Wolf. He was one of the patrons of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

(If you Google ["Metropolitan Museum of Art" + "Emile Wolf"], you'll see him come up in a number of references.)

In return, he gave my father a Picasso charcoal drawing, which he said "would pay for my education someday". Here it is:



And here's an enlargement of the signature: "P. Ruiz Picasso". This is how he signed all his early work. (Dr Enrique Mallen — a Picasso expert, see below — dated it to around 1903.)



Eventually, long after my father had died (and I'd completed my education!), I asked permission from my elderly mother to sell it. It was uncataloged (i.e. it was a previously unknown work, which sometimes happens in the art world), so I needed a certificate of authenticity from a respected art authority. I sought out Dr Enrique Mallen, of the On-line Picasso Project, and paid him $2,000 to examine the drawing. He pronounced it authentic, gave me a fornal certificate of authenticity, and placed it in his catalog.

Armed with that, I sought out an interested art dealer, and the drawing was sold — for something like (from memory) $120,000.

But then the buyer tried to sell it on. The buyer's potential client consulted Maya Widmaier-Picasso (Pablo Picasso's daughter), who said it was a fake. Then all hell broke loose.

The then-owner of the drawing wanted his money back (from the art dealer), and then the art dealer wanted her money back from me. By that time, I no longer had any of the money, as I'd used it to pay off debts. And besides, we'd conducted the sale-and-purchase in agreed good faith, supported by a certificate of authenticity that was actually just as (if not even more) valid than Picasso's daughter's personal opinion.

But the problem here is that in the art world, if a work gets 'burned' (by any authority at all stating it's not genuine) — then from a collector's point of view, it becomes worth far less on the market. It's all about money... it's not about art, at all.

Then they took me to court. The art dealer's lawyer recommended that I should be sued for 'art fraud'. That happened in California, and I was then living in Switzerland. I was served papers in the mail that I (naively) signed for.

I'm really a child in these matters, and so I just called up their lawyer on the phone and told him the truth. Just like he was a friend over a cup of coffee. OMG. He was a nice guy, but of course he was contracted by his client to sue me. He was no 'friend' at all.

The case ground on, and I never understood any of it. I consulted a lawyer in the US, but was told I'd need to pay $25,000 as a down payment. That wasn't going to happen... I never had any of that kind of money. In the end, I asked a friend of a friend who was a paralegal to take a look at what the heck was going on. I paid him a mere $3,000, which I could afford.

He did something, but it wasn't enough. Next thing I knew, without ever having attended the court, I was convicted of fraud in absentia (and was ordered to repay the proceeds, plus substantial damages). Of course, I never have. That public record still stands, and it's quite easy, by omitting most of the facts, for someone harboring ill-will to make all this look pretty bad if they choose to.

The art dealer was compensated by insurance, of course. So no-one actually lost out.

From time to time this surfaces, and enemies of Avalon gleefully get hold of it and try to shoot me with it. I have a few unpleasant personal experiences of sneering enemies using this to taunt me. I did nothing illegal or unethical, and none of this is anything dreadful in any way. But it's all a little embarrassing, for sure, as I was simply so dumb about how I handled it all.

[onawah]

SO true!

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Yes, people with a high EQ do enjoy and display a different humor. For sure. It can be just as funny and sometimes clever or quirky, but never unkind, sarcastic or mocking. That's the difference.

Sarcasm has NO place in genuine humor of any kind. That's just egotistical, one-upmanship, I'm-cleverer-than-you, put-down finger-poking. That's why I come down hard on that in the forum sometimes. It's not funny, and it's an indicator of immaturity and/or personal insecurity. It's quite easy to show humor without making anyone else feel bad.

[Spellbound]

Bill, you lived in Hamilton, Ontario in a past life?? That's 45 mins away from me (by car). I sign off as Dave - Toronto...but I actually live in a suburb of Toronto (just west) called Mississauga...and Hamilton is just a bit further west down the highway.

Small world, indeed. I hope you enjoyed Canada.

Dave - Toronto