Lurk no more...

[strangetomato]

Did you know that today is Delurking Day out there in the blogosphere?

 

That's right. So, let this be an invitation to anyone who'd like to introduce themselves and say hi. You know I'd love to hear from you. No pressure, of course, but you may as well delurk on Delurking Day, right? Come one, come all. Get a conversation started. I'm all ears.

This was a great day for me. I made some real progress on the next update, and there was RL good news all over the place. I was asked to interview for a job that had over 50 applicants and was pleasantly surprised to be offered another job that will stretch my experience significantly. I was also asked to be a bridesmaid in my "brother"s wedding this summer (actually a cousin, but we grew up together like siblings). I'd fully expect to win the lottery too, but I don't actually ever buy tickets.

Now, I should go out there and delurk too, shouldn't I?

Comments

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

hi except I am not a lurker

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

Also I am bad with conversation.

(ps can I still this)

[catladymeow.livejournal.com]

Not that I lurk much, but hi. Today was an ok day for me. I went to the doctor and she kept me on the same medication so I guess that means all is well. I have a cat I need to find a home for. He does not get along with the old cat we already have so he's got to go. We can't have a young tom picking on an old queen now can we. I have him here in my room right now, confined with me so she need not worry, but it has upset my cat so much she is hiding under the bed growling. The old cat is Piwacket and she belongs to my parents. She is a black and white stray we adopted many years ago. My cat is Shigwa, a mostly white calico long hair, also a stray but not more than 5 yet. The new cat is Koko, a seal point siamese who is not yet neutered and is about a year and a half old. He was abandoned by his prior owners and just left out to fend for himself. Of course, he couldn't fend for himself, he is a pure bred house cat and can't even catch mice. He was very skinny when I got him. Now he's sleek and healthy and ready for a "forever" home. I hope I can find him a good one. He deserves to be loved and cherished.
This is a picture of Koko: http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn461/CatLadyMeow/DSCF0916.jpg
and this is a picture of Shigwa: http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn461/CatLadyMeow/DSCF0920.jpg
I don't have any pictures of Piwacket, but if you picture a fat old black and white tuxedo cat with a crooked white mustache, that's her.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

No, you've been a frequent commenter in these parts lately, but it's very nice to hear more about you. ^_^

I get so mad when I hear about pet owners who leave their pets to "fend for themselves." I am sure there's a special circle of hell reserved just for them (well, if I believed in such a place... and I don't, to be honest). Seriously, though, it's one of the worst things a person can do, IMO. Those pets depend on them to live. My grandmother ended up with a cat because of that same situation. Her cats doesn't like him much either. They're both males, and they've learned to deal with each other fairly well now.

Your kitties are so cute. :)

[zepheera.livejournal.com]

I'll say hi today too!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Hi. ^_^ It's a good excuse to be friendly (not that you're much of a lurker, either).

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

What? How can I call myself a "professional lurker" if I had no idea such a day existed?

Let's see... I guess I shall delurk at PMBD if this is the day to do so.

*Gulps*

I'm glad you had a nice day!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I was just checking out some crafting blogs and I saw someone had posted about it. I thought it was a cool idea to break the ice like that.

Heheh. I'd still be nervous about the whole MATY and PMBD crew. They're the cool ~bad~ kids of the sim community; the kids in your highschool who got up to the most trouble and still got the best grades too.

Thanks. :) Things just seem to be working out for the best today.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I just went over to GOS and delurked, so I feel like my major delurking duties are done now. I was lurking them something fierce, and I really should say thank you when I download things (I always do it when there's a button to press).

Thank you. :) I'm glad you think so. Thanks for reading.

[angelique5666.livejournal.com]

While I kind of unofficially delurked myself when I took your kitty and commented, might as well make it official.

My name is Jess, I love the Sims 2, and I cried like a little kid when General Buzz died in your story. You rock so hard!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Nice to meet you, Jess. :) Thank you for reading my story.

Sorry to hit you so hard with General Buzz there. It was sad to see him go for me too, but it was something that just had to be done. We'll revisit Buzz at a later date, when the boys discover the truth about his disappearance.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

I fail at lurking. Completely. :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not a bad thing. ;)

I'm actually pretty good at it, despite being so verbose. I have a pretty short attention span.

[sophie10.livejournal.com]

Hi I'm Sophie and I'm a hueg fan of SHWC. I apologise for not commenting very often, but usually someone has said what I would say already! I do really love your Bottom :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Hi, Sophie! Nice to meet you. :) No need to apologize at all. Not everyone has something to say. It's great to know that you've been reading it, though. Thank you.

Bottom is a lot of fun. I like the idea of her completely reworking her whole look when she moved away from Veronaville. I'm going to get around to doing an update with Vidcund going there to visit for the flowers eventually too, so you'll see more of the Summerdreams.

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

Hi!

Of course, I'm not a lurker at all, but ~whatever~. It's good to see you getting a bit o' the writing bug back (or picture bug back). And also good luck IRL is also awesome.

I started classes today! They were boring and I have four back-to-back because I fail at scheduling. Also, I am sleepy, despite going to bed at a fairly reasonable time. :\

I need to draw something. TELL ME WHAT TO DRAW.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I've always loved the first day of classes. I miss it. It's only been a couple of years since I've stopped attending them at all, and I'm sure I'll be back there eventually in one way or another.

But the real reason I jumped down here was to tell you what to draw. I want to see you draw a sim character that you've never drawn before. Like Nervous Subject, maybe? Or Frances. We need more Frances. (Or, you know, more JRO drawings. I'm always up for those. :P)

[hathakleen.livejournal.com]

I lurk almost exclusively! If I'm going to come out and say something, though, then I suppose now is the time to do it.

Your story is my favourite sim story ever. It's the first one I ever found (I previously didn't even know that people really did storytelling with the sims), and though I've stumbled across a few more that have captivated me, this one will always remain my favourite.
I get the idea that I'm fairly unique in that I'd never played any pre-made families until only a few months ago, and so at first I was unfamiliar with the framework of the Strangetown sims and their lives when I found your story. It was incredible to realize that, after growing to love your Ripp and Johnny and Ophelia, they existed to pretty much the rest of the Sims-playing world with the same backgrounds, each with such different stories.
I'll say that I admire your storytelling skills immensely -- both your writing style and photography are wonderful and have the ability to easily evoke emotion. I've tried (am trying, am procrastinating) to start a story of my own, and to be honest, I don't know how anyone does it. It's hard work, and after getting just an introduction finished, I'm exhausted and need a long break ("long" being from September to now and beyond). I know you've taken breaks from storytelling, but they're really so short that it's mind-boggling! I both envy and admire your perseverance.

I guess my point is, you make awesome stories and I know that when Strangetown is done, I won't feel empty with the loss of a new chapter because I have faith that everything that can possibly be satisfied will be, and every word of it will have so much re-readability that I'll never think of it as being over.

I don't usually comment on single entries in anyone's journals, but this is my way of grouping all those unsaid things into one mega-comment. I'm kind of glad to say it all at last, but now I'm going to retreat back into lurkdom.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Actually, I remember you making at least one comment before. I recognize your icon. But, either way, it's very nice to hear from you.

Thank you for reading the story so far, and for all the kind words. I was pretty unfamiliar with the backstories of Strangetown when I first read sim stories about it, and it really piqued my interest, so then I went into the game to dig up the backstories. It was a lot of fun. Trying to make a coherent story from it can be difficult at times, but I'm enjoying the attempt.

It's great to hear that you've been working on your own stories. I really enjoy the sim story format, because it stretches you to think about both text and images, like in graphic fiction. I agree with you about the fatigue too. I've lost a lot of my momentum, compared to when I started, but I hope to keep it going until I get out what I want to get (at the very least, there's one good gag I need to get out of my system, and it happens later, so that's my goal).

Thank you. :) That's so nice of you to say. I'll have to try to live up to those words.

[sleepysunshine.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm delurking also, and I'm coming out as one of the secret posters. you know "strange_tomato, your my hero!" written in purple on MSpaint. You are an inspiration to make me want to write sims storys even though my sims games always crash and or never wants to start.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Hi, there. Nice to meet you. :)

Thanks for the awesome MS Paint (!!!) secret. That was so nice of you, and it did brighten my day considerably.

Crashing games can be annoying. When that happens to me, I get so frustrated. For me, It's usually related to deleting cc and then playing a lot that had it (like the Mercy hospital), so watch out for that. Also, don't forget to delete accessory.cache and groups.cache. That's often the culprit for the game not loading. I hope you get your computer to behave.

Thanks for reading (and delurking).

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

WOOT for good RL news.

Congrats on the job stuff and I hope you don't have to wear a hideous dress as bridesmaid.

(or if you do, that you share a pic so we can share in your horror)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I received the two job phone calls within an hour of each other, which was pretty exciting. I was like, "Anyone else want to sall with good news?" Everything just seems to happen all at once like that.

My bridesmaids dress, I am told, is cornflower blue. It's not a bad colour for me, so depending on the style, I'll be fine. I just might cut my hair into a pixie to avoid an updo (or just keep the bob really short, but that's not a sure bet). As longs as there are no "bubbles" I'll be happy. Remember bubbles? *shudder*

I had pretty decent bridesmaids dresses at my own wedding, I thought. They were black and lavender (I wanted all black, but I had to make concessions to my mother). My SO's sisters added little black cardigans and black pearls on their own. I made no demands in the hair/accessory department, and I think they ended up looking quite good.

I'll have to share some stories and pics, for sure. Weddings always end up having the funniest moments.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

Aww, it's awesome you had a good day! I get way too involved with my e-friends lives (I feel sad when my friends are sad) so I love that you had a good day. It makes me happy. ^__^

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It really was a great day. The bridesmaid thing was awesome, because I thought I was going to be passed over (his fiance has two sisters and we've yet to meet). I told him I'd be disappointed to be left out, but I would deal with it, which is true but it would've bummed me out something fierce. He's my brother, so I want to stand up for him.

Now I feel awesome! :D I'm trying to decide what to make them for a wedding gift, since I want to do something special. There's always a painting, or I could make some sort of crocheted/knitted afghan or a quilt. Hmmm...

[samatethecookie.livejournal.com]

Since it's delurking day, then I guess I'll comment. Hi! I'm almost always checking for updates. Your story has to be my favorite one in the Sims fandom.

I'll try and comment in the future, if I can manage to stop lurking around like a creeper. >_>;

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It's nice to meet you! I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far.

Heheh. Creeper. I find that word so amusing for some reason. Don't worry about commenting all the time, or anything, but I will appreciate it when you do decide to drop me a note.

Thanks for reading!

[lizziero.livejournal.com]

Yay, de-lurking. ♥
I like, love your story. It's kind of completely amazing. It's definitely my favourite TS2 story.
Uhm, ever.

[(Anonymous)]

I discovered this place about two weeks ago. It's the first sim story I follow. I kept lurking without comenting because I don't have a lj account. I feel in love with your version of the characters, and I was never even interested in playing strangetown before. Now you've made me try and play strangetown, but it doesn't work, as I keep repeating what i've read before here. Anyway, I think you know you're doing an awesome job with this and I can't wait for the next episode.

[eiou123.livejournal.com]

I commented a few times but recently I've been lurking so....Hi!

Sims 3 is coming out next month (according to Gamespot), So I have to ask... will we see "Strangetown, here we come." In Sims 3?

[simplode.livejournal.com]

But I like lurking! Oh well. I'm glad you had a great day and hope it's a continuing trend.

As for me, I'm trying to avoid a cold with less luck than I'd like. There's a nasty bug that's going around work and I keep taking massive amounts of Vitamin C but...meh. I think it's going to catch me at some point.

[pleonasm]

I think I've commented once or twice. But not frequently. Here I am again. I haven't played sims in months, but I still enjoy reading your story. So keep at it~

[bookunfinished.livejournal.com]

i think this is one of my first sims related comments that i've ever made; i'm an enormous lj-sims-community lurker. yours is one of the few sims stories i follow, and it is amazing. i read it all over the summer to pass the time at my super boring job. i absolutely love it. keep up the good work :D

I did it!

[onlycreated4st.livejournal.com]

lol! As you can see, this account was only created for this day. Oh, and my clock says it's Monday, January 12..eleven thirty-seven p.m soo...I think this still works, right? Even though it's using "UTC" time or something? Anyway, I commented on Bella Goth's milk carton ad and a name for "Girl Sekrit" :) I just wanted to say once again, that I love your stories, and even though you think I'm some creep now for making an account just for this, that's fine :P I've officially delurked! Gosh it feels good.. Maybe I'll be tempted to comment more... I've been kinda bottled up, reading every single thing you've written--which explains why this post is somewhat long..lol. Anyway! Thanks for being my favourite live journal writer!

[simiotics.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'm delurking (still Jan 12 for me too)! I've followed SHWC for a while now, maybe a couple of months, and I think it's amazing. (When Jill and Buck got together? Eee! They're so adorable.) I've always enjoyed playing the premades the most, and I love seeing what other people do with them, but the way you explore character and create depth from their wants and back-stories is really lovely. Hopefully this doesn't sound too weird, but SHWC has actually inspired me to start my own story - that's why I made this account. It's going to have to wait until I get my new computer, though. Anyways, I just wanted to take the opportunity of Delurking Day (what better time?) to say how much I love your work! -waves-

[dragancaor.livejournal.com]

Don't know if I count as a lurker, though I do often totally fail at commenting.
How about a "Hi!" though? [grins]

[van (from livejournal.com)]

I guess today's as good a day as any to delurk :)

I discovered Strangetown HWC... maybe a month or two ago? Anyway, it's awesome! I love the way you write all the Strangetown families and individuals, taking the Maxis default storylines and adding your own unique twists to it, making it a much more developed meta-story. I'm especially partial to that wonderful love triangle. I'm so torn on that, by the way, but I think just as long as none of them die, I'll be happy.

[nanobynight.livejournal.com]

I'll delurk :) I've been reading for a while, though I'm still catching up on SHWC (somewhere in chapter 23 at the moment). I love the energy and complexity you bring out of the characters and it has prompted me to think about how many vastly different directions they could be taken in.