December 4, 2020

• I'm Absolutely Speechless

   

  

   

  There's something I've known for a while, but out of respect, I've kept it silent.

  Things like this take time, like addressing bouts of depression or dealing with an extreme amount of grief.

  I've been a liaison for Xanga, which really isn't saying much.  My task many years ago was to serve as a means to pass along more official information from John regarding Xanga.  This means that most of what I've done is try to keep folks updated on anything Xanga-related.  But when there's no real update regarding Xanga itself, what can one do but state the same things over and over again.  I've never been an employee of Xanga.  The only money I received from Xanga was for my work on Autisable, which was rather meager in terms of earnings (anyone up for a cup of coffee and/or a happy meal?), and that was at most a 1099 status so I could get paid for ad revenue that Autisable generated. But a Xanga employee I was not, and still am not. I'm not even a 1099 worker anymore, haven't been since Autisable was shut down during the Xanga 2.0 switch.  Just been a liason, because quite honestly, someone has to stay close to the fray of information and pass that along.

  Now, as those who follow this blog on Xanga know, there really isn't much to update on the site itself.  So allow me to pass along what I do know, to help bring some things into perspective.

  I won't drone on about why the change to 2.0 was necessary.  The fact is, it was.  Financially, as well as functionally.  The intention to bring Xanga back, but on a WordPress site, was and is the goal.
  However, life has impacted many xanga employees, who no longer work for Xanga anymore.

  Marc, a former executive at Xanga is now doing something else entirely.
  Eugenia is no longer an employee of Xanga but does try to help with people's accounts as her time permits.
  Many of the other Xanga employees are now employed elsewhere.

  To say that Xanga is a shell of its former self is not just an understatement - it is the statement.

  But, what about John?  What is going on with John himself?
  After all, his intention to get Xanga revamped has been stuck in limbo for such a long time, why would this be?

  This blog post is to answer this question... and it's time to share a sobering update...

  It needs to be stated first that it's through a series of unfortunate and tragic events that have led to where Xanga is now, and it starts and stops with John.
  To say that John won't start again is up to him, but for now, we remain in limbo.

  Read on further and you'll understand why...
  Let me also express something very clear here - at no time was Xanga to be where it is now for so long. The intent was to keep things moving forward.

  I've read many other people's blog posts that went on about various conspiracy theories.  But I have no evidence to any of those theories, and after you read further and see what I'm sharing, you'll realize just how ridiculous and frivolous those theories are.

  What I will share is what I do know, and after several years of silence, I'm sharing this with you now:

  You see, up until a couple of years ago, I was getting rather frustrated with not hearing anything from John.  Eugenia and I had set up a form of communication to address people's accounts.  Addressing simple things like people obtaining their archives, or renewing their account.  Even after Eugenia left Xanga, she'd pop in to help from time to time to assist in making sure y'all were able to blog, and generally to keep things going.  In short, Eugenia and I were to keep the status quo while we waited for more word from John and the rest of the team.  This, for the most part, worked.

  But still, no word from John and what we were to expect in regards to Xanga itself.

  Marc shared with me that during the last year or so prior to 2.0 being launched, he really wasn't involved in Xanga.  He was helping me with Autisable, acting as a liaison of sorts between John and Myself, until we got Autisable initially launched.  So his involvement with Xanga wained more and more each passing month/year.

  I respect both Marc and John immensely, and they both have been consistent in following up with me regarding Autisable time and time again.  They both answered a variety of questions and made things happen.  Much of their work and their efforts in helping me have impacted Autisable and my online work in many ways.

  All this said, a couple of years passed, with little to no word from John.  Then, all went completely silent for months.

  I became very concerned, as this was not normal.  I'd at least have a response to an email every now and then.  But now... nothing.

  So I started reaching out to John through all of the contact methods that we set-up. Text messages, phone calls, emails...

  Still...Nothing.

  Then, after several weeks, and with a comment to Eugenia - we both were in shock as to what we discovered.

  After 2.0 launched, John was ready to get things rolling on the site.  We chatted about who to reach out to in the community to make things happen, and what to focus on first.  It was still his baby, but he wanted Xanga to be more community developed.  He was excited about working with everyone.  He also wasn't big on open-source plugins, for security reasons.  He always believed a better set-up could happen by working with Xangans and keeping the programming in-house.  Privacy and people's safety were often a topic of discussion with John and I.  He wanted it to be membership based so there wouldn't be pressure to monetize through advertising - which often meant selling of members data. As Autisable grew I learned more about being in the crosshairs of people's criticisms. I could understand the amount of pressure John could be receiving from everyone expressing their anger and frustration.  Suffice it to say, in spite of all of this pressure - he was up for the challenge.

  That is, until these unfortunate and absolutely tragic events occurred.

  You see, John and his family went to visit his parents in the Philipines.  This was a planned trip, and not entirely uncommon.

  While there, his Dad passed away.  There were underlying issues and the visit was a planned one.  But death, in any form, changes things.  It changes perspective and priorities.

  John's parents owned a small hotel in a very rural area of the Philipines.  Internet is spotty at best. And so his 70+-year-old mother needed help.  Suffice it to say, whenever a parent dies, it can take up to a year to address any financial affairs, while at the same time helping other family members go through the grieving process.  John had to take the helm on family matters, as well as with helping to run the family hotel with his mother.  This meant the family went from visiting the Philippines, to moving there.

  This was back in 2016-2017.

  If you think 2020 has been crazy, this was just the beginning for John... as it gets worse...

  Now, while John has been helping his mother manage this family hotel and making sure his mom and family are taken care of... a brutal and horrific tragedy struck John again in May of 2017.

  John found his mom stabbed to death in the early morning hours in May 2017.

  Here's the link to the news article about this tragedy: https://www.philstar.com/nation/2017/05/10/1698728/american-stabbed-dead-el-nido-home 

  Several months later - on September 11th, John shared his story here, on his wife's website: https://www.hellobee.com/2017/09/11/my-final-parent/

  This is the article that Eugenia saw and shared with me.  We were both mortified.

  With this tragedy, nothing really mattered, except to make sure John and his family were going to be safe.  Life in the rural Philippines is much different than it is here in the United States.

  This was why I remained silent.  Silent to ensure his safety, and silent to allow him to grieve and to get things in order. I've also kept this information quiet until now to allow the investigation and courts to go through due process.  The last thing officials want is to have thousands of people investigate or cause issues during a new or ongoing case.

  Now that it's been a few years, I believe enough time has passed to share this update.  Also, John has been a bit more open online about what has been going on.

  John has been updating a Facebook page he created to get Justice for his mom's death.  Of the 3 suspects involved, only 1 has been captured and the case is still in trial.  Like his blog posts on Hellobee, he doesn't update much due to lack of internet service, amongst other things.

  Will John get back to Xanga after Justice has been served?  We all hope so.

  For now, we should know that Xanga will remain in limbo until the official word from John happens.

  Please keep good thoughts and prayers for John and his family, and let's hope and pray Justice will happen for his mom, Naoko.

  • 9:21 am
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