More for me, then.
You know, I do know the time that you’re talking about–I remember it from here, and even a little from the AOL boards, where I used to lurk. All of that, however, has been eclipsed by the years afterwards, where you’ve not been like that–where you have, in fact, been relatively awesome.
People change. You’re not the only poster who’s matured greatly and changed for the better–and though I’m not counting myself in the “for the better” group, I do sometimes look at my old threads and absolutely cringe.
I understand why you’ve made this thread–but to me, at least, the changes were already apparent :).
We cool.
I agree with this post, right down to the “glad your life is going better now” part.
I wonder, Opal, why you care so much about the acceptance of people who have apparently written you off? You felt the need to post that you’ve changed (and we all grow up, so no news flash there), so apparently, that should make the people you intended this for see you in a new light and either rekindle or fire up some new friendships? Is that your motive?
I say, fuck 'em. Not everyone is going to like you. Which is good, that way you don’t have to like everyone. Some people will still not like you no matter how much you’ve changed or grown up, or stayed exactly the same. Some people will like you, even if you changed.
Be who you are and say what you mean because those who mind, don’t matter, and those who matter, don’t mind.
I still have my dragon shirt. I still like it.
I’m not, really. I know some of my posts come across that way but that’s not the way they were intended.
That’s great.
• Does that mean you’re not going to start threads where you’re fishing for complements?
• Does that mean you’re not going to start threads asking for advice, but rejecting or complaining about all the answers you receive?
• Does that mean you’re not going to start threads about the minutiae of your day-to-day life or every personal crisis, things that most other Dopers are far more restrained about?
• Does that mean you’ll willingly give up the special “Get Out of Jail Free” status you now enjoy on the SDMB, where any warnings or disciplinary action against you has to be approved by Ed first? Are you willing to face the consequences of your actions on the SDMB like the rest of us?
• Does that mean you’ll find yourself content to be a regular, albeit higher-profile Doper, and not a “Straight Dope celebrity?”
• To the other Dopers: does that mean you’ll no longer hang on every word that comes from Opal’s keyboard, because she’s OMG #3 OPAL??? Will you stop treating Opal like a celebrity, and start treating her more like you would any other Doper?
Opal, I met you before. You’ve got a friendly, eclectic and magnetic personality that comes across in your posts. You’ve done a lot for the SDMB community, and people really appreciate that. However, you set yourself up as a SDMB celebrity of sorts through your open-book life, your tell-all Web site and cams, your posts on the day-to-day events of your life, and the attention-seeking nature of so many of your threads and posts compared to other Dopers. We shouldn’t know you better than we do our next door neighbors, but we do.
As a Straight Dope celebrity, you’ve opened yourself to more adoration from the SDMB community. As with a meatspace celebrity, though, that also comes with more scrutiny of the actions in your everyday life that are willingly put on display for all to see. Do you want to be “just Opalcat”, or do you want to remain Doperland’s Angelyne? If you continue to put your life under a public microscope for all to see, if you continue the real or perceived attention-seeking, if people think you’re somehow treated differently by the board’s staff, nothing is going to change.
At the very least, stop talking about your son. How does he feel about the often intimate details of his life that you’ve posted online? Does he even know? Please, at the very least, respect his privacy.
I am extremely confused by elmwood’s post and I don’t know what is going on there, but…I haven’t been here long enough to form an opinion. And I think it takes guts to post what you did.
Whatdaya expect? He * was* an eastsider. 
Shhh … I’m counting my money. Here’s a dollar; go buy a cone at Honey Hut.
It’s a bug, not a feature! Speaking of which, can someone help me iron out a few bugs I have with my new client’s website? You won’t see a dime of compensation but I surely will!
I’m all for giving people second, third, fourth chances, etc., but I do have to agree with elmwood regarding the attention-seeking and it is off-putting. We are all attention whores to some degree or we wouldn’t be posting on a message board, but sometimes it’s pathological. Which is okay, but then to seek attention by broadcasting that you’re not an attention-seeker anymore, well…
There was a time when I remarked to myself that OpalCat seemed a lot more mature and less train-wrecky, but then I happened upon the thread where she desperately and dramatically needed advice right now! because her son might be going to live with his dad… in a year. :rolleyes:
That’s what I’m talking about.
• Does that mean you’re not going to start threads where you’re fishing for complements?
I don’t do this knowingly. If my posts come across this way, I apologize.
• Does that mean you’re not going to start threads asking for advice, but rejecting or complaining about all the answers you receive?
I generally tend to explain the advice that doesn’t apply for whatever reason, and take to heart that which does. I’ll do better at explaining what advice I’m taking.
• Does that mean you’re not going to start threads about the minutiae of your day-to-day life or every personal crisis, things that most other Dopers are far more restrained about?
I think I’m on par with a lot of other dopers on this regard. I’ve tried to be more restrained recently.
• Does that mean you’ll willingly give up the special “Get Out of Jail Free” status you now enjoy on the SDMB, where any warnings or disciplinary action against you has to be approved by Ed first? Are you willing to face the consequences of your actions on the SDMB like the rest of us?
IMO I’ve received more disciplinary action than most, having been threatened with legal action–have most other dopers been? There are things I can’t do that others can because I’m under higher scrutiny.
• Does that mean you’ll find yourself content to be a regular, albeit higher-profile Doper, and not a “Straight Dope celebrity?”
I don’t care about being a “straight dope celebrity”
• To the other Dopers: does that mean you’ll no longer hang on every word that comes from Opal’s keyboard, because she’s OMG #3 OPAL??? Will you stop treating Opal like a celebrity, and start treating her more like you would any other Doper?
I’ve never experienced this treatment. If anything, I’ve experienced the opposite.
Opal, I met you before. You’ve got a friendly, eclectic and magnetic personality that comes across in your posts. You’ve done a lot for the SDMB community, and people really appreciate that. However, you set yourself up as a SDMB celebrity of sorts through your open-book life, your tell-all Web site and cams, your posts on the day-to-day events of your life, and the attention-seeking nature of so many of your threads and posts compared to other Dopers. We shouldn’t know you better than we do our next door neighbors, but we do.
As a Straight Dope celebrity, you’ve opened yourself to more adoration from the SDMB community. As with a meatspace celebrity, though, that also comes with more scrutiny of the actions in your everyday life that are willingly put on display for all to see. Do you want to be “just Opalcat”, or do you want to remain Doperland’s Angelyne? If you continue to put your life under a public microscope for all to see, if you continue the real or perceived attention-seeking, if people think you’re somehow treated differently by the board’s staff, nothing is going to change.
At the very least, stop talking about your son. How does he feel about the often intimate details of his life that you’ve posted online? Does he even know? Please, at the very least, respect his privacy.
When I have questions about my son, I seek every avenue of advice I can.
And just to clarify- it’s not like I’m sitting behind my screen seething and hating. My feelings aren’t that strong either way. I never would have said anything about it if the OP hadn’t posted a thread about it. But I think it’s good to get different viewpoints and not just ass-kissing when you post a thread like this.
Well, at least she’s owning up to it. Being manic and hypersensitive and all round feeling like shit can’t be fun. I donno. I wasn’t here before.
In general, people will accept eccentricity, vanity, grouchiness, ignorance, and a wide row of other vices and character flaws.
But they won’t tolerate two things: disrespect and boredom.
I used any opportunity I could find to use the term ‘buckeye’, after the great buckeye controversy. I would do this for any other doper, including you elmwood, so I guess I’m down with treating Opalcat like everybody else.
I’m very ecumenical that way. I’d say ‘buckeye’ to the pope, if I could cobble together a context. Although in truth, I’ll probably stop now, all the fun’s gone out of it.
Is Honey Hut an eastside ice cream parlor?
Thank GOODNESS we’re not the same people as we were in our 20’s. I’d have to shoot myself just to put everyone else out of their misery. In my 20’s I was a self-centered, loud-mouth, hard partying ass. I’ve calmed down quite a bit and now realize that the world does not revolve around me. Go figure.