A series of questions/comments to kick it off..

[nomas]

Maybe I should have broken this up into individual threads, but what the heck, I'll throw it out there and comments can come in in whatever they find most interesting. So here I go..

If memory serves me correctly, this is my first significant post. I have been reading some threads on this site on and off for a couple of weeks. Mainly because I've been at work procrastinating on what I should be doing and instead checking out some internet entertainment. I have neither the time nor the patience to keep up with everyone's postings, but I'm the kind who hates to miss things. If I could I'd do it all, strive to know it all, but realistically I know I cannot do that, so I settle to know the 70% on the bell shaped curve. This is probably why I took me so long to get my first post out. I had to do my research first...test the system. Not that posting is rocket science, but that gives you an idea as to my character. I have to have a level of comfort with a system before jumping in. So maybe this belonged in the "introduce yourself" portion, but there you have it.

Question one: this is to those of you who are the more serious members. The ones I see posting many, many times. Do you go through EVERY thread and decide which are interesting and worth replying to? I don't think I'd have the patience for that, but, again, I'd hate to miss out on a good discussion. Mainly what I've done is seen wherever there is a long list of replies. That tells me there must be some interesting back and forth going on. Though many times when I get there I figure it's already too late..the fire is gone and only ashes remain. Are there times when this site is most active with members replying back and forth? Again..I am at work when I have easier (not to mention faster) access to the internet and, thus, this site. When does everyone log on most often? I'm here during the daytime M-F US Mountain time zone.

Secondly, a comment. Congratulations to some of you who have been consistent in keeping up with this site and posting, and those of you who run it. From what I gather, what I've seen through pictures and what I can conclude from the level of maturity of some posts..this is a very diverse group here. Some older, some very young, but many capable of posting viewpoints. Having such a diverse nucleous of "regulars" posting is, I think, an awsome way to grow. I really hope to get hooked on checking this place regularly and get in on some of these opportunities to see issues through different eyes. I love opportunities for personal growth.

Now, again, I know I probably could find the answers by doing searches, but for the sake of having a one-stop shop I'll ask anyway and if it doesn't bother you to re-post for the lazy ass new guy, you may post some of your background info to match what I'm going to reveal so as to start knowing you and maybe associating you with a city or age or occupation.

User Name: nomas

Significance: nomas = "just because" in spanish. I just chose it because early on I just signed on for the hell of it and didn't give it much thought.

Age: 26

Occupation: Working Professional

Currently Residing: Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA

Seriousness/frequency of LF.net use: Just starting to want to get serious (wanting to check it daily M-F).

I just realized... is all this info not on public profiles anyway? Well, some probably is.

This is probably long enough as it is, but I will add one final suggestion. Maybe it's been suggested, but as I said, I love opportunities for growth through seeing things in different angles. Not just in words, but in experiences. By this I mean: travel opportunities. Among you regulars there is probably a level of trust to where maybe visiting each other and playing host to one another is feasible. I'd love to get in on a travel network among this group. I'm assuming most people here are from the states, and that's cool too, it's a big country. But I've even seen people from the UK posting, if they're not lying. As for me, if anyone is interested in traveling to my neck of the woods, I'm in the southwest USA, close to the border with Mexico. I've got a lot of family south of the border, Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, Mexico, so if anyone is interested in visiting this areat (Chihuahua/southwest USA) once we get to trusting each other I can play host to you here and hopefully you'll return the favor.

Well, I'm done.. I guess as a last question: Did you actually read this post from beginning to end?? If you did, my friend, you ARE a serious, hardcore member. My hat's off to you.

[squirrley]

I read your whole thread! And Ive been here since November 1 of 2003. I love this place and have posted tons obvioulsy. Am also a Moderator, kinda keep watch of things as do several other mods...(see list on forum) and uh, yea this place has been a great way of learning new things, meeting new people, and most of all gaining valuable friendships.

Ok-first off-no I dont reply to all threads, but will mostly scroll through them to keep an eye on the kiddies who might get out of control. Recently the forum in MY opinion has become saturated with the younger crowd in dating...maybe because its summer, and I do hope once school starts some of this drama will end. Its so repititious its monotonuous! I wont respond to the teens sex threads anymore, use to til I realized some of us were congratulating teens for having sex, I had a fit and wont do it.

I do take the time to read through most if not all threads, respond if I feel I have something constructive to say, even if its funny, or being a smartass. If I see a thread that ive seen 500 hundred times before...no I wont. People can come in here as a guest and read throught the threads, look at those threads with plenty of posts like you mentioned and get a feeling for what people say, but a lot of the times a person will join to have one dillema answered and leave. For those who stay amongst us, they've brought plenty to the boards in one way or another, whether be it a great counsler, a jokster, a debator, whatever, there are so many personalities on this board it makes it a great place to stay just to see whats around the corner or whose around the corner. And the laughs this place can bring someone is unreal!

Sometimes~it only takes an hour to fly through these threads...and others well takes some reading, but in the end, you find something worth contributing-like me right now. I always wondered what people did when theyre just cruizn the forum and what theyre thoughts were-now i have an idea!

So welcome to the "Love forum" you will have a great time and dont worry about being behind on a thread, hell weve got some threads that are years old or months old that get brought back up and we all laugh or want to kill it! SO feel free to roam and make a comment or start a thread!

[nomas]

Alright, I got an answer. Yeah, your name did come up a lot on a bunch of the threads that hooked me. Yours are the kind of comments that I find interesting, and I mean in terms of how you respond, not the actual content or your opinions expressed. That's not to say I disagree with you on everything...the fact is I really have no clue of who said what at this point, but in the future I hope to have a better idea of who's who if I keep this up. Anyway thanks for responding and hopefully we'll be reading each other some more.

[squirrley]

Oh oh, I dont know if thats good or bad, hell Ive responded to a lot stuff! Id clue ya in on whose who but when I start to LIST people I get into trouble. Because someone always gets forgotten or THINK they were forgotten..

Have fun in here! Cause believe me, there are some INTERESTING PEOPLE!!!

[nomas]

Sure, there are interesting people in every small crowd, but in what I've read, I do question the sincerity of a lot of them. Even some of the ones who post regularly. I question their age, I question their experiences, and I even suspect some may be the same person with two diferent logins. It's a lot easier to pretend and to lie when you are faceless, but I'm more interested in the interesting characters who are genuinely themselves. You've already scored major certainty points, rest assured. You've been fairly consistent in your replies. Some people I notice, however, that can be serious and give a reasonable view point in a post and get me thinking they are one of the mature members, then they go and get into a war of posts where the parties involved are clearly seeing who can exaggerate the most. Then is when I cannot distinguish whether this is just part of the "just fun n games" part of the forum, or if these people are really this childish, i.e. immature.

Ah well, time will tell me. ¿que no?

[Fawn]

Actually you have brought up some good questions.

Question One: Reading through posts can be a rather large task sometimes. I do read new posts every day, although I may not answer to all of them, but thats mainly due to the fact that I may not have an opinion yet on the subject. I agree with Squirl that when it comes to underage teens talking about sex, I find it foolish to reply. These are young young kids and they don't need us cheering them on. I come on this site at random times, usually at night, because I have work in the morning and school at night. I'm very very busy lately. lol.

Question Two: I agree. I like the diverse and numerous amount of "regulars" on this site. They bring the forum a wonderful sense of grace and personality. They are what makes the forum what it is today. Although, yes, recently there has been alot of newcomers. They are more then welcome and we bring open arms to all. But newcomers have to be careful not to upset people or become the outcast. There has been alot of people that come in just to upset or make fun of people. Which is very wrong and indecent.

Question Three: For user information on me, you can just go to my profile. I'll update by the time you see it.

Anyways, thanks for the questions Hope I helped a bit.

[jane]

hey nomas...
I have read your thread .. from beginning to end.. you my friend are someone i would like to get to know! lol.. Your post was not only refreshing but straight to the point..

As for reading posts.. I try and read them all.. sometimes i dont have time so i read what i repleyed to last and move from there. As a mod and I know Squirt feels the same way .. we kinda have an obligation just to check and make sure all is good and noone is getting out of hand.

Question 2. yup.. we are all over the place and I think the diversity of it really makes this forum. We ALL have different opinions and areas of expertise as it were.. lol.. so its good that there are many ages, races and locations to this forum.

I am in Sunny San Diego, Cali. I live about 10 minutes from Mexico too. Tj to be exact and well.. I love it.
I look forward to getting to know you. Welcome and I hope you will hang around!
~ jane

[nomas]

Cool, 2 more replies.

Okay, Fawn: Yeah, that's where I was getting at. Some are so long that it discourages me from thinking I'll ever catch up. But maybe I don't need to catch up. As much as I'd like to hit the ground running, I'll have to live with hitting the ground at a jog. But if this place is where one bears their character, as you will gather maybe from just my posts, it bothers me that I'm not at the top of what I do. As if it were a competition to know the intricacies of what percentages of people will be serious posters and who's just trying to stir the pot and see where it goes. Take for example one thread where supposedly MVP introduces himself. He points to this other LONG thread where he basically talks about getting girls through body language and portrayal of confidence. (one thread I had many opinions on, but I wasn't posting at the time and I think it was even closed by the time I was reading it). So even though I don't agree with everything he says, I don't disagree with everything either and he's scoring some points in having his opinion and defending it. Then later he goes and looses all those points by bragging about his post being the all time longest and most viewed or whatever. Then it's like his credibility is shot. It makes it seem, to me, as if he was never passionate about what he's writing about..he's just trying to stir the pot for personal accolades. But I did notice what you and squirley mentioned about lots of very young sounding teens seeking sexual advice. My opinion on that one is that, while some may be serious cases, a good percentage of them are just seeking more people to fess up to their experiences so as to get off on believing other 14 year olds talking about their sexual experiences. I question the credibility of both, the these thread starters and the repliers. They may all be 40 year old men lying to one another about age and gender, but with the shadow of doubt they may still find it sexy. You never know, I guess. But it's cool when one of you gets in and sets things straight with some real feedback. I guess you're the reason I've jumped aboard. The squirleys, the fawns, janes, innovas, sometimes billyGean (or something), and others I probably left out. I think I can fit in with you and add one more to the ranks. When I set my mind to be consistent on something, I am good about keeping to it. So I'm looking forward to this. As far as your profile, I took a look. Canada, eh? I came close to going to Toronto (being in Buffalo) but since I was alone and it was my first time visiting the area I didn't want to risk missing my flight back and instead I killed 3 hours in the airport doing nothing. D'oh. But I gotta go to Canada. It's one of my favorite places I haven't visited. On paper you look awsome. A peaceful people. Peace rules. And I am a regular reader of "For better or for Worse". So where in Canada??

Jane..well, I don't want to be redundant so I'll just say a bunch of the above applies to you, as I mentioned. You're one of the high scorers in my book, and it'll be fun to get to know you too. I think that what attracts me about you bunch is the consistency you show. I have said it again and again, but I am that way too and I guess it's not as common as I would like it to be. People lie without a thought to it, and they say things they don't mean. I'm one to do as I say and say as I do. I guess unfairness is one of my pet peeves and while I understand that the world is not fair, I still can't comprehend how and why if I can do it, others cannot. Maybe it's just how I've been brought up and how I've listened to my Mom and obeyed without question for a very long time. It definitely leaves one with some good habbits, even if you later decide that not EVERYTHING Mom told you is the only way to go. Kids listen to your mothers! But that's that about the whole loyalty/sincerety/consistency thing. I hope that in you people I'll find reciprocated loyalty, especially if stronger bonds develop, meaning keeping up with each other outside of the site, as in regular emails and the such. So Jane, San Diego, eh? Lucky you. I was born in L.A. hence I'm a hardcore Laker fan. But right now I don't want to discuss the Lakers and above all the General Manager who really did a number on the team this off season. But on the issue of Mexico. Yeah, technically you're 10 min from Mexico..but a border city with the US is a really bad face of Mexico...not at all representative of my beloved Mexico. It's easy to see why...while immigrants from everywhere are trying to get into the US, Latin America uses Mexican borders with the US...and since not everyone makes it all the way across the bottleneck that are the Mexican border cities, these poor cities end up with a lot of the backwash and these people aren't exactly the high class doctors and lawyers that were making it okay in their own country..so the crime rises and the city takes one in the chin. But as all cities, it's not all good and not all bad. Actually Tijuana and my border city Juarez (bordering El Paso, Texas) are pretty comparable. But if you want to check out what it's like a little deeper into the heart of the North of Mexico (Mexico has 2 main divisions: Northerners and Southerners...then there's the people from Mexico City which are a class of their own...just kidding, that's just a stereotype, but it comes up often..) we can do that some time.

So I'll be good about keeping up, you'll see.

Well, time for bed. Maybe tomorrow there will be more to respond to.

[nomas]

Holy Crap! That was even longer than the original...I get carried away sometime without noticing..


Forgiveness, please..

[swimmingNreverie]

I've been here for about two months now, but I've been a pretty frequent visitor since then, and post often. When I come to the board, I just click to search for new threads, and then I read them so I can see what's been added since the last time I visited! I only reply to threads where I feel I have something to say that is pretty relevant to the thread, or that will help out.

It is a very diverse group, age and experience-wise, which makes it great to see all sides of a situation!

My info is in my profile as well.

Enjoy the forum!

[blue]

Yeah i just joined about two weeks ago, my b/f used to post on here and he thought i might like it and i really do. I have had some good advice given to me on evrything from sex to love to just whatever may be on my mind, and i like that. I give advice when i have something to say but sometimes if i find something that was posted i may need to think about it for a while, alot of us have alot on our minds and real issues i guess you can call it that. But neways welcome and i will see you around, over and out sunny florida

[nomas]

Virginia and Florida..two places I've yet to visit. This is looking good!

[nomas]

Question: Where do you click to "search for new threads"??

[swimmingNreverie]

when you come to the main forum page, and it says Welcome back nomas! it'll have a link to search for new threads

[blue]

Virginia and Florida..two places I've yet to visit. This is looking good!

florida is great i have been here all my life. im 23 soon to be 24 in a couple of months i cant wait. I love birthdays as much as i love yellow. Im currently in school for surgical technology and iam loving being in school and am looking forward to continuing my education for many more years to come. How about you ?