So apparently y'all are not real.

[Jester]

Can't believe this went unnoticed for so long.

Oh, I noticed it. I just chose to ignore it.

I've spoken with her on and off for 12 years. I'd think I'd have noticed if she were an axe murderer by now!

Not necessarily.

After all, there are serial killers who lived for decades without detection, not just by police, but by their own families and friends, most of whom didn't have the vaguest inkling what their friend/relative was doing in his spare time.

Don't believe me? I offer you Denis Rader, aka BTK. Or Ted Bundy. Or John Wayne Gacy. Or Gary Leon Ridgeway, aka the Green River Killer. Or Keith Jesperson, aka the Happy Face Killer. And the list goes on. (For added internet-based friendship hilarity, google John Robinson.)

Yeah, there have been people like Charles Manson and Richard Ramirez, aka the Night Strangler, whom people knew were not quite right. But far more often, serial killers are not people we suspect of doing anything like what they're doing. And they'd known them, in person, far longer than 12 years.

So, while your family's worries may well have been overblown in relation to this friend of yours, none of us can say with certainty that we "would have noticed" if someone we knew, online or offline, were a killer.

Sorry, but I've been reading about serial killers for years now, and one thing that amuses me is how many people feel that they would certainly know if something were up with one of their friends or relatives. And yet, with the vast majority of serial killers, none of their friends or relatives DO know.

Just some food for thought. Now, have fun making new friends on the net, kids!

[Food Lady]

People you know in person could be dangerous. People you know online could be dangerous. What's the difference?

[Eisa]

-worries that Jester is hinting-

[Jester]

People you know in person could be dangerous. People you know online could be dangerous. What's the difference?

The only difference is that you CAN pick up on things in person that you might not notice online. For example, online you might not realize that the person you're talking to lives at home with his parents, in the basement, with 37 cats, a butcher's block and knife set, and a drain sink. Okay, in person you probably wouldn't know most of that either, since no decent serial killer would let anyone in on that until it was too late....but there are still some things that you might pick up on in person that would simply be impossible online. Also, online we have the ability to edit ourselves, and some people do that to a larger degree than others. Most of them are not dangerous people, but it does mean that you are not necessarily getting the full picture.

And let's face it: for the most part, what you know about people online is only what they tell you, which you can either accept or not at face value. I like to think I can smell a lie like a fart in an elevator, but I've often been fooled, both in person and online. So who knows?

Look, in the end online people as a group are much like customers: most of them are decent folk who you would have no problem with, a good number of them are assholes, and a small portion of them are potentially dangerous to you.

-worries that Jester is hinting-

And that's the crux of it. I say I am an honest, hardworking, compassionate, hard-drinking fun-loving bartender/magician. How many of you KNOW this to be true? Not believe it, but empirically KNOW it. Very few of you have ever met me in person--I can think of two active members who have. I've talked to several more on the phone, but for all you know, I could be a 52-year old lumber yard worker who jacks off to Justin Bieber songs and makes kitty casseroles from the neighborhood strays.

I'm NOT, but you have only my word and your own sense of judgment to go on.

My point? There is nothing wrong with exercising a little caution when meeting someone in person that you have previously only known online. I have often been amazed at how trusting some people were when I was traveling the country; people who only knew me online would open their homes to me. And while I appreciated it immensely, and did nothing to violate their trust, I wondered how many other people were doing the same thing and getting screwed over by people less scrupulous and decent than myself.

It really is something to think about.

[RootedPhoenix]

It was not that they wanted me to consider these things, but rather their assumption that I hadn't. This is why you meet people in well-lit public places with lots of people....or accept the potential of dire consequences.

But they figure everyone is dangerous online. When it's really...a lot like the non-cyber world.

[Kara]

If everyone is trying to imagine what I look like, could you please imagine me being 120 pounds, with long, flowing, curly brown hair, big brown eyes, a smaller nose, and ummm .... lots and lots and lots of money with half-naked men catering to my every need?

That reminds me. This is something that's been brought up a few times over the last several months. That is to say, how people envision me. I've been around for a long time, and never revealed my face for reasons that were obvious. Now I don't have those reasons anymore, so I suppose it's time. I remember having a conversation with GK once, after he showed his picture, that it would be like showing Dr Claw's face and finding out it's just some random guy. It won't be as epic as what everyone imagined.

But I guess since my existence is up for debate, who cares, right? Plus, a lot of you have me on Facebook and already know what I look like. But for those who don't (refrain from clicking if you still want to picture me as some kind of amazon goddess with flowing golden hair):

Pictured: Your shattered preconceptions.

That was taken on my crappy webcam about a month ago, making it (I think) the most recent picture of me I have.

[dragon_wings]

That reminds me. This is something that's been brought up a few times over the last several months. That is to say, how people envision me. I've been around for a long time, and never revealed my face for reasons that were obvious. Now I don't have those reasons anymore, so I suppose it's time. I remember having a conversation with GK once, after he showed his picture, that it would be like showing Dr Claw's face and finding out it's just some random guy. It won't be as epic as what everyone imagined.

But I guess since my existence is up for debate, who cares, right? Plus, a lot of you have me on Facebook and already know what I look like. But for those who don't (refrain from clicking if you still want to picture me as some kind of amazon goddess with flowing golden hair):

Pictured: Your shattered preconceptions.

That was taken on my crappy webcam about a month ago, making it (I think) the most recent picture of me I have.

Aww! You're so cute!

[Eisa]

Pffft, Kara, you're adorable. And I love the butterfly.

[BroSCFischer]

Whomevers dream/imagination this is, would you mind making me independently wealthy?

Please! I'll give you money.

SC

[Food Lady]

Kara, why do you look older in your FB pic than this one? Make this one your FB, 'cause it's really cute. I did origionally picture you as a 5' 3" brunette. No idea why.

[Kara]

Aww! You're so cute!

Pffft, Kara, you're adorable. And I love the butterfly.

Make this one your FB, 'cause it's really cute.

Thanks.

And yeah, I changed the FB pic. I liked both (taken on the same night, when I was done up up nicely for a ball at my local GLBT nightclub - and the butterfly coordinated with the outfit), but the downside to taking a picture of yourself with your camera phone is that you can only get so far from the flash, so as much as I loved that profile pic, I did look a bit pale. Probably why I looked "older."

Too bad some people don't think I'm a real person. Cause if I were, I'd be single now. Rawr.

[Jester]

...the downside to taking a picture of yourself with your camera phone is that you can only get so far from the flash...

I'd love to have a flash on my camera phone. One of the biggest downsides of my particular phone, which for anything else, I really like a lot.

[zombiequeen]

I have a big confession: I stepped down from my throne as queen of zombies. I'm just a regular zombie now, but with nicer clothes. So if you had imagined me with a crown riding on an undead elephant...well it's not true anymore.

And Kara: I want the color of your hair.

[Kara]

Oddly enough, that was NOT the color of hair I wanted. I swore I would never have red hair, because my mom has red hair, and for that matter, so does most of her side of the family. That's the side of the family I take after, and it looks very natural with my features. And I hate to admit it, but you can REALLY see the resemblance between my mother and I.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

(refrain from clicking if you still want to picture me as some kind of amazon goddess with flowing golden hair):
Pictured: Your shattered preconceptions

OhmygoshohmygoshohmygoshwhatdoesshelooklikeOMGOMGO MG~
O___________O
*looks*
I like the color of your lipstick! It kicks ass on you!
Also, you have a very strong nose.
And you have a no-nonsense attitude, which, arguably, is key to your look.