Those are extra magical

When you step out onto a limb, with all the opportunities to fall, it is nice to have a support system out there. These supports shouldn’t keep you from trying something new, and they shouldn’t be there to catch you, they should encourage you to keep experimenting and to keep picking yourself up. In the world of blogging, especially about Disney, these supports come from a variety of places. Family and friends are, obviously, there when you’re taking baby steps, but when you start to spread your wings you’ll find others who feel as if they are on just as shaky ground and together you can soar.

I have found many friends in the Disney community since starting the Main Street Gazette, and I just wanted to take a few minutes today to pay homage to some of them. They mean the world to me, and always find a way, whether they know it or not, to keep me going.

George, resident bibliophile, Jedi/Muppet/Indy/Sunset Blvd. Restroom lover, rival of Princess Fee’s honor, and all around good guy. While in Disney’s Hollywood Studios in April I found several signs and stickers on the Streets of America Public Library, and immediately knew I had to capture them in honor of one of the original Imaginerds. Here is one such decal.

Jeff has done more for Walt Disney World bloggers than I think he will ever know. I’ve said it here before, but by seeing his 2719 Hyperion, and the wonderful work he was doing there, I felt that there was a place for me out there where I could express my thoughts and insights into the wonderful world of Walt Disney World. He was my original inspiration, and his love for Chester and Hester’s seems to know no bounds.

Marissa, she may not have a blog, but her love of Disney, and pins, lots of pins, seems to know no bounds. This one is for you.

Lou, or Papa Disney as he should be referred to at this point, gave me my first taste of Disney details years ago, and I haven’t let up since. Not only that, but he is as genuine a guy as there is out there, though he is extremely busy with all of his projects, he continually makes time for anyone seeking to pick his brain, talk Disney, or just say hello. I hope one day he completes his quest to eat one food item in all of the lands of the Magic Kingdom, until then, I suppose he will just have to make due with meetings in his office above Columbia Harbour House.

Princess Fee, Fiona, daily gives me reasons to visit Disneyland Paris, makes me laugh, and shares wonderful pieces of her history with Disney. Though she may live across an ocean, she finds a way of making anyone who reads her site feel like you are old friends who live down the street. Once a College Program participant, this shot of the gardens in the United Kingdom pavilion, for some odd reason, continually reminds me of Fee.

Glenn has an ability to create worlds and develop those that already exist, all while offering thought provoking and insightful commentary. He is one of those people who, after meeting him for the first time, I felt I had known all along. Though we’ve seen this image before, Doc T is, and will always be, linked to Glenn in my mind.

Jessica has continually amazes me by her eye for detail, as she does us all. Yet, in person, I found her wit and sense of humor just as sharp. Whether it was in creating fictitious stories about details in the parks or discussing Pop Century’s Depression Years, she was always on her A-game. She and I have a fondness for the Haunted Mansion night effects, so this one is for her.

Doc, aka Greg, is probably the one person, aside from my wife, that I give the most credit to for keeping me going. Through planning emails, and just daily ‘how are you?’ emails, he reminds me that Disney is all about family and fun, not just the details. He has taught me, through observation, how to take a better photograph, he has offered me, not only friendship, but a camaraderie seldom seen these days, and he has been a great griping-post when I need one. He has a sense of wonderment that I hope I hold a glimmer of. Here is the man in action.

There are so many others, Bryan, Ray, Foxx, Richard, Craig, Amy, Andy, Ed, Joel, Cheri, Andrew, Krissy, Dean, and others I am sure that I am forgetting, that help me in some way, shape, or form daily. Another day, I promise, I will pay you what you are truly due. But for now, know that you work and comments never ceases to amaze, inspire, and keep me going. To all of you I have mentioned, those of you I forgot (I am so sorry), and those of you who simply find a way to read the Gazette every day, thank you! You keep me flying high!