Michael Phelps' girlfriend comes out as a transsexual

I'm not lost , the last comment I read was the one about me being a troll. So I was like "Oh it's one of those forums", and had the discussion elsewhere. Eh, I personally just like to feel welcome when I enter a new forum, and try my best to avoid BS and such.

As most of you know, the initial article I came across was missing a lot of details/got some details wrong. My sincerest apologies, I should have supplied the article in the OP.
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I more or less agree with this, if my standing on the topic is unclear in any way, shape, or form.

If fairness, everyone here has been calked a troll at some point in our far too long internet lives. I'm actually one of the newer members of this community and ive been here going on ten years

Sit and stay a while, and bring ya friends over. I'm sure with all the FB drama that you young kids get into, high school hipsters at least can appreciate a old school message board.

I wrote the OP on mobile. I actually have the opportunity to take a writing course two years early (the cut-off is 18) solely because of my skill with creative writing. However, I do feel my language abilities pale in comparison to that of Nova's and yours. I do believe I have the language to accurately express my feelings on a topic. Whether my age is a factor is unknown to me.

By the way, loving the smilies!

Most people my age hate fb xD. I don't think many of my peers would appreciate being swore at, so I'll try to leave them out of this :koolbang:
Cool dog by the way! :^)

A MB will definitely help with the writing. As long as you don't use l33t speak and people can read it, you'll be fine.

The smiley collection is massive, to the point that long time posters usually just stick to the ones they've memorized code for. One of the staff hss told me we're at over 1200 right now!

Eh, kinda nervous about it (I start in January), hopefully I don't screw up royally! D: 1200 is kinda ridic lmao O_O

Also, pardon my use of "eh", #proudtobeCanadian

Good luck in the class, no doubt you'll do fine, so long as you keep a good attitude.

Yay, more Canucks!

Also, random question, but why are liberals in Canada called grits? I've seen the term in the Anne of Green Gables series and have wondered if it's still in use today.

I think Facebook stopped being cool as soon as the kids noticed grandma was also on it.

@Anna: In all honesty, I cannot answer that question without google. I can, however, tell you that I have heard the term used before language, albeit sparingly :^P.
@Dinner: Fb stopped being cool when it became a drama-fest xD

Where is there social media which isn't a dramafest? Seriously, because if you know of such a place I want to join it.

I'm glad you're here, and I hope you'll stay.

WF is an experiment in free speech. The way you know you are welcome here is that you can post almost anything you like. What you won't get is an absence of trolls and rudeness, and that includes people who call you a troll at the drop of a hat either because they're trolling or because they've seen a lot of trolling here: Because they and the trolls, too, can post almost whatever they damn well please.

So if you're literally trying your best to avoid BS, as you just said, WF probably wouldn't be the place for you. There is lots and lots of BS here. But many of us have found that the advantages of free discourse outweigh the disadvantages. Give it a try for a while.

I know, right?

At least here if someone is being an asshat, we can call them out on it instead of twiddling our thumbs for the mods to intervene (which in the case of TBBS, just have the less obvious trolls more free to act like tools).

....TrekBBS is the board we were spin off from, FiddleForks, when the political forum decided to start banning people just cuz they didn't like 'em. It's kinda why free speech is a big deal here.

Here's a bit of personal philosophy: the only idea worth holding is the one which you can intellectually defend. If you can't tell me WHY you believe something, you are not a thinking human but just a parrot repeating someone else's thoughts - at best.

One of the great things a site like his does for you is challenges you to THINK about your opinions and see whether they can stand under the scrutiny, and endure when other thoughtful folks start explaining why they disagree. Plus it helps you get better at being able to express the idea, and why you hold it, in ways others can follow and understand.

besides all that, over the years many of us have become genuine friends through our association here. WF is one of the very best things that ever happened to me. (which may be a comment on how sadly uneventful my life has been...)

Uneventful wouldn't be the first descriptor that comes to my mind.

Anyway, WF has been a good thing in my life as well, or at least so formative that the alternative is hard to imagine.

It's hard for me to believe I've been here nearly my entire afult life, to say I only planned to stay long enough for Stewey to give his final review on Enterprise. Good thing he never did.

I'm looking at my posts from 2014, and I think something was already percolating then.

Alas, poor @FiddleForks.

We barely knew him.