March 8th, 2009

justDaviders… Who The Heck Are We?

rascalx161
We are a participatory group blog, celebrating the artistry of David Archuleta. Our community was created in notingDavid. On Black Saturday, known elsewhere in the free world as Valentine’s Day ’09, Rascal decided to let his site rest, and we moved here.

This site was created for all of us, the refugees of Rascal. Some of us will contribute articles and we will be exposed to many different voices and viewpoints. Some of us will volunteer to keep the schedule or help with tech issues. Some of us will lurk, some of us will comment and bring in news and videos and share concert reports.

We welcome your feedback about the site. The Suggestions page is there, ready for your comments. Are you suddenly inspired to write an article or a poem that just needs to be shared? Use the Contact page to get more involved. There will also be occasional live chats where your voice can be heard.

Many thanks to Kizzi, Marlie7 and TOfan who were the mighty three who put in the work to start the site. Thanks also to those who volunteered to help during the live chat on that Monday after Black Saturday. We chose a name and a purpose and restarted the conversation. As much as possible, justDavid will continue to be relentlessly consensus and community-based.

My hope is that we will bring here many of the elements from Rascal’s house that made visiting there such a pleasure. We were adults gathering together to celebrate our love of David. I hope that we will hear a variety of voices here, both in the articles and in the comments. I hope that we can discuss events with both an in-the-moment excitement and a long-term view. I hope that we can enjoy an adult sensibility for wit and humor and critical thinking, and although Rascal’s eloquence is a high standard, dang it, we can aim for it.

And not to canonize the poor guy, but Rascal also set a pretty high standard for calm and respectful dialogue within the net of a widely diverse community at notingDavid: gay and straight, conservative and liberal, Christian and Buddhist and non-believer. There is something powerful about staying in the fire and listening to an opposing view without judgment. Minds will stretch, hearts will expand.

So let’s not be afraid to discuss ideas calmly and respectfully. We don’t need to agree on every issue. If things get out-of-control occasionally, so be it. Heck, we don’t need to agree or even to laugh at all the same things. There will be plenty that binds us together, we can let the other things slide.

“Sometimes (we) have to give a strong opinion, but that
doesn’t make (us) evil, just honest!” DA

Let’s not be afraid to embrace all of what we are, including our minds and bodies and spirits. Let’s not push away anything in the human experience. David’s spirit, his compassion, his exquisite good looks, the unearthly beauty of his singing, all speak to us or we wouldn’t be here. Let us celebrate together here, in this new house, the glory that is David Archuleta.

- davidfanLIZ

davidfanLIZ . Fan Community