Hi Everyone,
My name is David and I’m the guy who created this site as well as the character of MrMary MF Poppins. I am a very private person, and have never used my first name on this site, but something rather serious has happened that has given me pause for reflection.
Today while working on the site I realized that in a few days this blog will turn one years old. I really love writing here so much so that I have neglected my other blogs. You the readers have given me the opportunity to be both serious silly and every other emotion in between those extremes. Nowhere else could I blur the lines between sybaritic diction and imagery, openly vocal philosophical reflection, satirical recapitulations of the events of the day, and all around merry-making as evidenced in this picture below where I went full method for a role of a terrible actor going full method in his apartment to prepare for a role as a homeless man.
Why I am Writing This
I had a popular blog where I shared a lot of my life and travels, and philosophical musings, maybe dare I say spiritual aspirations and showed support for many social causes. Due to the success of this blog I found myself type-cast, people found my penchant for philosophical reflections and making jokes about genitals to be a sacrilegious, so here I am.
But that’s why I am writing this personal message today. I believe in the human voice. It is at once the most powerful and the most fragile thing. We are all on a journey of exploration. The world is cruel and no one will leave this mortal plane without a lifetime of pain and scars. The World is also a wonderful place and we will all whether we know it or remember it will leave here with laughs, happy memories, and experiences of love.
As a blogger I try to bring you the reader along with that experience whether happy or sad. I share with you the odd way I see things. I like to converse with all of you and engage with you or as many of you that find me suitable enough for such things. I don’t care about your race, size, height, sexual preferences (unless you are a female and have a crush on me) age. I think the fact that the internet can bring us together is phenomenal and a sign of great things to come in the future hopefully I will be a part of.
Today though it was reported that a Blogger May have been tortured to death in an Iranian prison. I will repeat that in a different way
An Iranian man who received death threats due to his anti-government blog died in custody, possibly as a result of torture, Amnesty International said on Thursday.
It is a privilege to blog
It is a privilege to blog. That’s what I wanted to say. That’s all I wanted to say. All of us bloggers are privileged to share our lives with a host of people we don’t know. Today I wanted to take a moment of my time out to acknowledge someone who paid the highest price to be able to share something however small with another human being who he will never meet.
Sattar Behesh
Let me tell you what I have read about Sattar Behesh:
Sattar Beheshti, 35, was arrested in his home southwest of the capital on October 28 and whose body was handed back to his family on Wednesday.
The day before his arrest he said he had been threatened. “They sent me a message saying, ‘Tell your mother she will soon be wearing black because you don’t shut your big mouth’,” Amnesty quoted him as saying.
I am not a reporter but given the Iranian Government‘s current practice of silencing dissension and violently stymying. I fear for the worse.
What I Propose
I propose we as bloggers take a day to honor those bloggers/writers/artists who have been arrested or torture for simply ‘sharing’. To be specific I mean people like Sattar who paid with his life for as British Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said, “committing the crime of advocating the defense of human rights on the Internet.” This is not about me, or about you, it’s about honoring those who suffered unjustly.
I don’t know if there is already something in place for that if there is please let me know. But in the meanwhile take a moment however brief to remember Sattar and how precious our voices are beyond dogma or political ideology. Sincerely thank you for following me and reading the crap I put out there
Reblogged this on 25ToFly and commented:
Like my new friend David, I often find myself in awe at the sometimes overlooked, sheer power that blogging has to connect people. I believe in the majority of positive attitudes and mindsets that are seen scattered across this community. I believe in setting examples. For this reason, I rarely take time to consider the negative. There are events that occur in places where the same freedoms I have do not seem to exist to those simply wishing to do the same thing we all are: speak our minds. Please read this and say hi to David if you don’t already know him. He is one well rounded dude.
Here is the original article about Sattar: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/11/the-death-of-sattar-beheshti-dissident-blogger-in-iranian-police-custody/264974/
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You spoke quite eloquently. Thanks for reblogging this. It is amazing how quite often we never take time to consider the negative.
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No problem, I felt it was an important post! P.S. did you get my e-mail?
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Hi David. Thank you for shedding light on this. I wouldn’t have known otherwise. I’ve enjoyed your writing in the past and I think you’re doing a great service here today. Kudos.
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Hey Jon I really appreciate that coming from you. From your blog you come across as am honest and stand up kinda of guy. It makes me appreciate your comment all the more.
Dave
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Wow David, I’m very pleased to meet you, you can call me Paula 🙂 thank you for sharing this… x
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Paula,
The pleasure is and has been all mine. I wouldn’t be able to write or blog without being engaged and I am in your debt for that which is why of course I have to be greedy and say again the pleasure is mine 🙂
Dave
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Reblogged this on H.E. ELLIS and commented:
I am encouraging everyone to read this timely post by the blogger known best as “Mr. Mary.” I hope his words move you as much as they did me.
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Thanks for the reblog. Mr Behesthi’s story really moved me, and I would like to say that if there was anything moving in my words they had nothing to do with me. I think his story is powerful enough to move on and touch us all long after he has gone.
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Oh how we undervalue the Freedom of Speech. Great post.
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Reblogged this on greeneyedwreck's Blog and commented:
In my short time here on WordPress, I have been privileged to encounter some amazing people who are unbelievably kind and compassionate… One of these people is David aka Mr Mary… If you haven’t checked out his blog yet… Please read the following and then go check out the rest of his blog…. Thanks xx
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Thanks for the reblog I really appreciate it 🙂 I would say more but I am red faced from the compliments 🙂
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Ah you deserve them David, you’re a good spud… 🙂
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Lol I love being a spud, I feel all starchy 🙂
Please call me Dave, I am only called David when I am being reprimanded for being cheeky or naughty lol I want to wish you a great Friday and a happy
weekend 🙂
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Well Dave, I hope you have an amazing weekend too… Am about to pour myself a cheeky vodka, but that’s allowed as it’s a Friday and it’s 7.20pm 🙂
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Cheeky vodka hmm, is the vodka itself cheeky or is cheekiness one of the side effects ? Do you drink it straight or gonna make a martini ? after all Skyfall comes out today
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That’s right it does, Cheekiness is amplified by vodka, all censorship is lost, Actually careful monitoring required for all alcohol = lightweight… Personally I Like my Vodka in a Mojito but its also good with Lemonade, Have never tried a vodka Martini – My next mission 🙂
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Powerful post! Thank you for sharing. This is a great reminder as we so often take things for granted. My prayers go out to Sattar Beheshti’s family.
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Hey LittleMissWordy – Thanks for the comment, it was a great reminder and a wake up call at least for me to be appreciative and thankful for what I have, I will be adding my thoughts and prayers to yours and everyone else’s as well. What a tragedy
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This should (but it probably won’t) stop people from caring about who won or lost our election. No matter who you supported, at least neither of them would have been able to shut down your right to say what you wanted about our government.
Mr. Behesthi’s story is so sad. But, it needs sharing. Thank you for sharing it.
Love your pic, by the way! You’re adorable (in a “you’re young enough to be my son” kind of way— don’t get any funny ideas! LOL!)!
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Mr Behesthi’s story really is heart breaking. It’s amazing that in this day and age someone can just be killed like that. It sickens me. I’ve always viewed life to be extremely precious and to do away with it .. i dunno. I hope in the days to come at least in the states we can realize that beyond party ideologies we are people, human beings. All thsi democrat and republican nonsense is really making us forget what it is we actually have.
I’ve never seen myself as adorable, kind of makes me face feel hot and red 🙂
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Reblogged this on Ambling & Rambling and commented:
I don’t usually “reblog” (I’m far too self-centered for that), but what my friend, Mr. Mary, has shared here deserves a good reblog!
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Thanks for the reblog I appreciate that and am touched 😀
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beautiful fluffy kitteh.
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Thanks man I appreciate that, she was my favorite pet. She passed away recently
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That’s very sad.
Gavin.
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Bravo. How easily we forget that our freedom of speech is a privilege.
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Its pretty incredible I was thinking about this today. Like I can make fun of celebrities, religion, the government and just have a ball making an ass out of myself and nothing happens. My life isn’t threatened I don’t have to live in fear. it jsut struck me what a privilege it is you know. It kind of affected me. Thanks for your comment I appreciate it a lot
Dave
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This is a very powerful post. I will write one up – the story that really has shaken me up is that of Malala Yousafzai, so I’m base it on her. Thank you for bringing this up.
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Hi Dave, just getting around to reading this now. So important to let people know what’s going on in this world. How can we make changes otherwise? And I feel so lucky. I AM so lucky. Thanks for this.
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great, great, GREAT post. fantastic even. much love, mother
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Reblogged this on Sips of Jen and Tonic and commented:
David, aka Mr. Mary, reminds us all of what a privilege it is to be a blogger. Here in the US we can express ourselves freely with the greatest backlash being negative feedback from an internet troll. There are people losing their lives over the words they speak (or type) and we should be grateful we can do that without worry.
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What a great post; and timely too. With all the divisiveness over the election and people splitting hairs over who is right about what, it’s important to remember that we are so very lucky to be able to express our differences at all. I am glad to have found you on the blogosphere!
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Hello! I found my way to your blog because of the Fabulous Ms. Jen and Tonic. This is such a powerful post and it gives a meaningful and a very important twist to blogging in general. I don’t think a lot of people are aware that you can make a difference with blogging whether this is to a very large audience or a small one. The point is you can make a difference in someone’s life and it’s just very sad and scary that lives are being taken because of fear and whatnot.
Freedom of speech, it’s a privilege indeed and we should always keep this in mind. Thank you for the wake-up call and you got a new follower 🙂
Ciao!
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Reblogged this on One Woman and commented:
I found this today and it just stopped me in my tracks. I’ve been drenched in writing this past year, and especially this month. What a privilege our free speech is. What a shame that all writers do not enjoy this same right.
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Whoa, MrMary! Look at you now. A long way since I had first set eyes on your fantastic blog. And I’m glad you aren’t that ‘too’ anonymous anymore. Much more endearing. I’m glad to meet you, David.. I mean, Dave. *shakes hands with you* 🙂
I’m positive your success is mainly attributed to your great writing skill. Hats off to you, dear blogger.
Really sorry to hear about your cat.. You must be missing her..
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Its a real pleasure to meet you. You are my favorite person from the phillipines you’re ranked above Aquinaldo in my book 🙂 I miss my cat but maybe on the other side she will make those whiny noises and I will slip her teats when no one is looking 🙂 I never thought that anyone would want me to be less anonymous , buts its really nice just being Dave around here 🙂 You’re too cool 🙂 im glad to follow you . Did you by chance get my email ?
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Dave, please pardon me. I just got back online after several days of missing the action here. I had this computer of mine serviced so some of my lost files would be retrieved. Let me check my email now and I’ll get back to you after a short while. Please excuse me..
And oh, you know about Aguinaldo? I ain’t a fan of the guy. But it makes me glad to learn my favorite blogger is familiar with a few facts about my country.
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Reblogged this on Just Another Canadian Gurl and commented:
I came across this post that Jen & Tonic, reblogged, and I felt the need to also reblog this wonderful post.
People out there remember all the people in this world who don’t have the rights to voice their opinions openly and remember the one’s that take the life risks and do voice their opinions.
I for one shall be following this blogger at http://www.aspoonfulofsuga.wordpress.com
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Thank you, David, for reminding me that my safe and sheltered little world doesn’t extend to the entire world. I take for granted that I can write whatever I want, whenever I want. It’s good to be reminded that this is a privilege, and tho I have the right to free speech, that’s not universal. It’s a shame I forget.
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When I first read the article I felt a real sense of shame, like I write a lot of jokes and stuff and nothing happens to me. I go one sometimes living in my own bubble thinking all is well and that’s not right. Sattar paid for his life to write something he felt. It’s really hard to swallow that when you think about it.
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That’s why you need to keep writing, jokes and all. You were affected by this, and that’s good. Anyone not affected should reassess themselves.
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Thank you so much David…for writing this and bringing Sattar forward. It is such a privilage to blog,and to know that there are others out there supporting you and hearing you. I know my blogger friends have lifted my spirits on many a day. Our voices are precious…thanks for this!!
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I really feel that bloggers can do a lot of good for the world, they can give a voice to those who are scared to use there own I’m really going to try to push this and see what comes of it.
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I think that sounds amazing…and I agree with you. I’m following you MRMary. ❤
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Wow that is terrible. Thank you for bringing his story to light so we can send thoughts and prayers towards his family and loved ones. It’s nice reading a glimpse of the real Mr. MMFP 🙂
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It’s a pleasure meeting you too 🙂 i hope you have been well in Santa Barbara you sounded happy in that last post you wrote 🙂
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Reblogged this on Blah, Blah, Blah and commented:
Blogging is meant to connect people, not hurt them. Please take the time to read. I did and it was worth it.
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Thanks for the reblog , I really appreciate it
Dave
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Reblogged this on A Single Parents Life and commented:
We forget how lucky we really are to be so free and able to say and do what we want. No one should have to fear speaking how they feel.
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Thanks for the reply I really appreciate it I really feel that we shouldnt have to live in fear to speak what we feel
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[…] few days ago I came out of character (in this post) to share with my readers, the story of Sattar Beheshti the Iranian factory worker and Blogger […]
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