Jilli! If your Mom is reading, I HAVE TO STOP TALKING ABOUT STUFF INVOLVING THINGS AND YOU KNOW!

Ahem.

The 400-800 range was so long ago, I forget now. I'm 13. I like my user number.

I'm 805.

I'm 805

No way?!! You don't look a day over 500!

(Sorry, sorry, had to be done.)

I guess I’d hoped to feel less lonely in my quirky lurkerdom.

Aw, mate - I think you're just one of the ballsier lurkers. I think the other lurkers are more determined in their lurkage, bless 'em.

Somehow 9 people managed to register between us.

Skipping a couple dozen to claim Seska as my sistah! When I was a kid, there was a different technical term for it...'stupid.'

Tell me about it. One of my teachers made me repeat after her that I was an idiot. Great way to make a 13-year-old feel good about herself, that. I make up for it now by getting distinctions in my postgrad courses and waving them in people's faces a lot. In a nice way.

I like the accommodations I get now, such as extra time for coursework (my dissertation will be three months late), and the teeny laptop I was given to take into class, and the fantastic software that helps me plan my writing better. But, yes, I too am sort of glad that I had to figure out coping strategies for myself during school years. I think I have more of them as a result.

I confess I’m a little sad that there haven’t been more true lurkers, people like me who don’t have a personal link to a Buffista and haven’t posted much or at all. I guess I’d hoped to feel less lonely in my quirky lurkerdom.

I de-lurked a few months ago, and have no connection to anyone, and was feeling a bit lonely in that myself until this thread. So, thanks to the lurkers who've announced themselves! I am no longer the only person with a really high number. Hurrah.

ETA: Wahey! Serial comma achieved, with extra 'and's, and everything. And oh look, there's another one.

omg I made it to the end! Y'all are crazy, and I say that with love. ND and PixK introduced me to the lovely community, and after my first bit of lurking and thinking it wasn't for me (I was intimidated due to the timing, I signed on just as someone was found out to not be dead??? I dunno all the details, it was strange). But PixK urged me on, and can't thank her and ND enough. I swear, this board is one of the reasons I got an iPhone, so I could keep up in Bitches. Nothing worse than coming home from a long day at work and finding 300 messages to catch up on.

Anyhow, the main question I had for this area. ND and I were at a convention up in Toronto. He met up with one of y'all for drinks, and I tagged along. I remember ND saying "ya, it's a buddy from an online community" or something, and I was thinking, "wow, an internet stranger. We're drinking with someone you never met!". But now that I'm here, I realize it's nothing. It's family. I recall in my early days someone caught at an airport due to weather, and a flurry of posts as a local was found, paged, and went to rescue stranded 'ista. I thought that was the coolest thing.

And while we are talking 'ista parents, we can not forget Laga's mother, who is awesome. Her dad is pretty cool too, but much quieter.

aw crap, now I'm missing all my SoCal 'istas.

My mom was all agog when I showed her the adorable baby clothes Sparky ("a friend from my Buffy board") sent me. She must have said, "That was so nice of her!" five times.

D, shocking my mom is my one true sport. Plei I was so excited to meet you then, though I was busy acquiring the shamu prenancy sunburn.

I think my biggest expression of trust in someone currently is "you really should look at b.org. " I am apparently not very trusting, only sort of.

I've had javachick and d over for dinner, dined with fredpete and hubs and d; the dc post Xmas mini f2f brunch with meara, vortex, Brenda, sparky, raq, it kind of gets blurry here because of the kid wrangling and the pneumonia looming. I've been to a lisah rollerderby with sparky, lured amych to ridiculous things in sl and been dancing with askye and slnrlbf there too. Jars hosted us for a dinner in Cork that was the yum but alas contained no olives. D has witnessed too many evenings of goofiness and I have tried to remonstrate with moving help. Raq and I face certain death if we don't regroup occaisionally, in addition to which, she is a kickass cook and her dh is pretty damn amazing too.

I just know there is a lurker out there who wishes s/he had the intestinal fortitude to delurk, but fears s/he is not _____ (you fill in the blank - smart, witty, punctuation-obsessed, geeky, what-have-you) enough to fit in. Just so you know, I'm not really good enough, either. But they love us anyway. There is something here about the people that you admire - well, water seeks its own level. That means if you are drawn to us, you do belong here. We would love to get to know you. So please delurk so we can love on ya.

And the wonders of the buffista kid clothing boxes. Oh the awesome. Cashmere I swear I will go to the PO this weekend.