These stories are all so interesting. It's amazing to see how different people are. Some jump in with both feet, not waiting for anything, while others lurk for ages.

Helga, your story was so touching. Thanks for sharing it with us. Though I've never been in as a serious a predicament as that, I do know what you mean about wanting to post to share in someone's joy or sorrow, but feeling uncomfortable because to them you are a stranger.

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Since Zoom's boards were created I had got to know a lot of the people in the fandom, from their posts their discussions and the fics they wrote. But none of you knew me from Adam. And well, that's just plain creepy.
I don't know about creepy, but it does seem a bit weird at times. I know I was a little scared to start posting and chatting at first because I felt like I already knew a lot about so many people from watching them. Also I really admired a lot of people and was terrified that they would think I was a pest. Sarah and I used to semi-lurk on IRC and get really excited when our "heroes" would talk to us. (She's probably going to kill me for exposing our dorkiness <G>)

Annie

Being a reporter is as much a diagnosis as a job description. ~Anna Quindlen