I guess the internet happened to me around when I got into video games, around 1997 or 1998. I would use this magical device to look up cheat codes and strategies for my games on cheatplanet or whatever that site is that isn't Gamefaqs. (What a fool I was) Then I kinda stopped.
Around 5th grade, 2003, I played crappy internet games with my friends in school on sites like CN and Addicting Games.
Then my first true deep "interspace" adventure occurred, which was my discovering of Legendary Frog. Some friend of mine told me about, and I thought it was hilarious. Soon, another friend was over at my house and I showed him LF. He thought it was funny, and it reminded him of something he wanted to show me. He pulled up this weird site with some dragon named "Trogdor." After that I proceeded to watch everything on the site. In a few months I showed my cousin the site. He's a lot like me, but about a year older. He fell in love with it as well.
Some day later, I was bored, and searched Homestar on Google. I came across the Homestar Runner Wiki, which I thought was very cool, but it would be months later until I found the forum. It was October 29, 2005 then. When I did, I looked through some of the stuff, and decided to join. That was literally the first post on any forum that I had ever made, and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, which is why my first post was this:
. I believe I was first welcomed by Ju Ju Master.
I joined just around the same time as Clan, a fact which I would not learn until much later. I gave Clan the benefit of the doubt at first, being the nice new guy that I was, but he soon began to try my patience and just became flat out annoying.
I remember that since I began, the forum was riding a continuous wave of awesome, even though Clan was there. I feel that he united the forum in a way, brought us all together fighting for the common good. Also, I eventually convinced my cousin to join, older members may remember his incredibly brief life here as Dante the Weatherman. I would also like to bring up Womic, my twenty or so issues webcomic. I started out crappy, and got some pretty harsh criticism, but I improved and my critics, Bugkiss and Mr. KISS, became my two biggest fans. (or just fans in general)
But soon the walls began to crumble. Cool people started leaving. Friends started fighting each other. I stuck with the forum through all of this, though, because it still was such a cool place to hang out with people who were a lot like me. It's not like I don't have a real life, however, I do.
After all of the chaos and drama subsided, however, the forum settled into a time of boringness. I then stopped frequenting here, and just checked up on it once in a while. This was partially because last school year was a very hectic and trying one, and I didn't have much free time, stopping only to post in the Brawl topic.
Just a few days ago, however, I dropped by here and was like, "Whoa, now I remember why I love this place." And so now I'm back to stay.
I really have a lot to thank the forum for. I doubt I would be the person I am today without influence, and I'm not joking. You guys introduced me to TMBG, and webcomics as well. All the things that I love today, F@nboy$, Order of the Stick, DA, Anachronism, PvP, RvB, Fanfiction, Kingdom of Loathing, and Yu-gi-oh the Abridged series are all thanks to this place. I'm not crazily devoted to this place, but I have a lot of things to thank this place for.
Also, thank you to anyone who decided to sit through and read this, you all get internet cookies, which by the way are DELICIOUS.