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

[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.

[zepheera.livejournal.com]

I'll say hi today too!

[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!

[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!

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

I fail at lurking. Completely. :D

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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)

[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. ^__^

[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. >_>;

[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.