This is dedicated to all Oldies

[Shorty]

I appreciate this post, Christmas, as well as your perpetual cheerful spirit. it's nice to see so many familiar faces, and to share a similar feeling of home for this place with so many people.

my last real posts were 2016 that I can see, and I've lived several lifetimes over since then, as I'm sure we all have. I've lived in seven different states now; currently in Missouri, and will be going back to Oregon in about five months. I have two troublemaking black panther kitties and one Plott hound, a decent job that I hope will stay steady through a recession, a physical disability from a car crash last year that came with an appreciation for life I didn't have when I was younger after surviving some wild trout. I stream, do some hobbyist photography, and have developed a passion for baking and cooking. I wish I could confidently say that I write, but I only really do that once in a while. no children, property, or marriage, though I have come close a couple of times. I will probably end up as a homesteading spinster in Alaska if everything goes according to plan.

this year I have found myself revisiting many things from long ago that bring me comfort - books, games, movies, and it makes sense that I would have found my way back to this place that was such a big part of my life for so long. I recently found the EoFF discord and was pretty happy to reconnect with people over there. I will try to find some threads that I can think of that I appreciated for nostalgia; I remember the Positive Life thread being pretty great being able to witness everyone's wins.

I hope you are all doing well and living your best lives. glad to see this place is still here after all this time.

[Del Murder]

Awesome to hear from you Shorty!

[Shorty]

thanks, Del! it's nice to visit and hanging in the discord has been fun

[Quindiana Jones]

I got in a drunken fistfight with one of you outside a Chinese police station and still wear what become the second of three consecutive annual facial scars I received between 2012 and 2014.

Absolutely got my ass kicked. Very fond memory.

[Shorty]

which one of you busted Quin's moneymaker

[Cloudane]

Oldie? Yup that's me!
I joined when I was 18? Wowwwww
I am still alive! (I have an awful password but the settings page is broken and don't believe I have an email associated either, so idk about changing it - y'all are still using HTTP anyway, yikes )

I was working on a long rambling post but who was it for?

• Doing decently enough!
• Work is going well, I'm local head of IT (because now I'm the only IT guy lol) and have a nice director-boss who looks after me and really knows good leadership so I'm very content there
• Current hobbies? I have my head in VR half the time. I'd say retro though. I have an Amiga 500, 1200 and an old 90MHz Pentium PC and am sort of reliving my childhood (the 500 and the PC - the 1200 was just what I wanted back then) and sharing it with friends. Even got a CRT TV again recently to play those old games (including older FF games) as designed.
• Ironically, I'm having developing a love for the classic "indie web" again. I currently view social media as a mistake. It's very hard to do things like web forums in ways that comply with current security and privacy requirements though, so I get it.
• I fiiiinally at like age 40 acknowledged that I've been suppressing myself because of my sexuality for most of my life. Had a few short lived online boyfriends (measured in days or weeks) who were without exception lovely people and some still good friends but didn't work out. Came out properly IRL (I'm somewhere between bi and gay, with inclusivity towards non-binary and trans identities) when I met my "oh this is the one" boyfriend I've been with for almost 4 years ("technically" with a year pause but in practical terms not) - it's long distance and we met in VRChat. We meet up a couple of times a year as we're in different countries but I don't mind this at all, it makes it special and we stay close with things like VRC. If our silly Brexit stuff ever softens enough, maybe I'll import him.
• Last time I was here I was like "oh yeah I'm a Brony now" - not quite so much now since FiM ended but I still have an attachment to it and still go to cons for friends etc
• I'm a furry now Blame VRchat.
• Any past comments don't necessarily represent current views. I still do that thing of trying to have "opinions" and really just not having a clue and trying to gauge what's right. I like to think I try and be a decent human being all in all. Sometimes I fail, but I try to learn and do better.
• I used to trout talk friends sometimes instead of raising interpersonal issues with them directly. I try my best not to do this now. (Yeah I'm at the "why I suck" part now heh.)
• I have in some ways come to value my privacy even though it's far too late and is a dead concept. I moved to a new username in some places that was meant to be a squeaky clean one for recruiter background checks etc but just ended up being the same dickhead under a different name It doesn't matter now really my OPSEC has always sucked, AI will blow everything open, and I'm trying to just be open, consolidate myself and make sure I'm not two faced.
• Final Fantasy VII and X are still the best. Change my mind.

Oh look it was a long rambling post anyway, just with bullet points.

Old friends and acquaintances can use mail at (my username) dot com if you want to reach out - I cling to my remaining scraps of privacy when posting on the open web, but am not a closed door! I seem to check here around once every decade lol.

[Del Murder]

Hi Cloudane!

I have in some ways come to value my privacy even though it's far too late and is a dead concept. I moved to a new username in some places that was meant to be a squeaky clean one for recruiter background checks etc but just ended up being the same dickhead under a different name It doesn't matter now really my OPSEC has always sucked, AI will blow everything open, and I'm trying to just be open, consolidate myself and make sure I'm not two faced.

Privacy is an illusion, but people love their illusions.

[Loony BoB]

ermagerd Cloudane I remember you very well!