The plan was to write use levitra about story ideas or game mechanics today, but, well, then yesterday happened. I live in Boston and I have my whole life, so as you might imagine, it’s hard for me to think about anything except what happened at the Marathon yesterday. So while this post may have no real connection to game development, it’s still something I wanted to say.

One of the reasons I love to play and make games, read and writer stories, watch TV and movies, is the escapism. On the whole, my life is pretty predictable and nothing too crazy happens, and that’s just fine by me. I’m happy that way, but it would be a pretty boring as a game or book or TV show. With these slices of entertainment media, I get to escape–I get to pretend I’m the hero in the story, doing amazing things, saving the day, being anything but ordinary.

Yesterday’s tragic events at the Boston Marathon showed us real heroes. Police viagra in uk officers, race volunteers, members of the armed forces, medical personnel, even bystanders and runners, who jumped into action to help the injured. The images are hard to look at, but alongside the tragedy and the dark moments, there’s bravery, selflessness, and love. (In fact, here’s a list of just a few such acts.) People not hesitating for a moment to help strangers, pulling the shirts from their backs to put pressure on wounds, comforting the injured and the scared, carrying people to safety, pulling down barriers to get to those in need.

These are real heroes. They are an inspiration. They are people we should all  hope to be, if we’re ever faced with such circumstances. People we hope will be around us, too. But regardless of that, we should all be grateful these people are in the world, that they are real, and that they are saving lives and making the world a better place just by being in it.

Today my prayers and thoughts are with the victims and the heroes of the Boston Marathon. And with that, I’ll close out with some beautiful words written by Infamous Quests’s Steve Alexander (aka Blackthorne) about Boston. You can also see them here, and offer your thoughts in return.

Boston.

The streets of Boston bleed liberty. They have for over three centuries. From it’s hearty cobblestones and tenacious buildings, the heart of liberty and the pursuit of happiness was forged. Boston has seen rebellion – the symbolic dumping of tea into the harbor in protest. It has seen the blood of its citizens run along its fine streets in a massacre that proceeded freedom. It has endured as a cherished city that saw the birth of a nation, the rise of it’s fine citizens and the growth of its country.

Boston has endured. It has grown – it has expanded, it me the industrial revolution with great fervor and the fires of industry from this great city commingled with the forges of many other great cities to expand our country’s wealth and bring prosperity to our people.

Boston has maintained. The cultural heritage of our patriot fathers – men who founded the ideals, documents and tenets that our country was founded on lives on, active, in this city of living history.

Boston endures. It gives many people the joy and hope of what it meant to be a successful immigrant in the early 20th century – and you can see the joy in celebration every St. Patrick’s Day.

Boston flourishes. Art, music, literature – many great works of human creation have poured out of this great city, bringing joy, adventure, mystery, beauty and mischief to an adoring public.

Boston adapts. The city weathered the uncertain economic times of the late 20th century and early 21st century, constantly forging ahead in spite of tremendous odds.

Again, the streets of our Beloved Boston run red with the blood of innocents – innocents who were ruthlessly attacked by men of cowardly means. By people who wish to instill fear on the good people of the world.

We must not despair. We must not forsake humanity in this time, as it is not humanity who is forsaken at this time – but a small few who are so afraid of life that they seek to destroy it, to keep themselves insular. Away from change.

But we will endure. We will flourish. We, the good of humanity will not let this stand. We will not be scared into our homes, cursing out fellow brothers, and live in fear of each other. We will not let these few men destroy the bonds of fellowship that join every decent man, woman and child of this great nation, and of this amazing planet. We will flourish. We will rise. We will not be deterred.

We, like Boston, will stand. United. With liberty and justice for all.