Welcome to Gaia! ::

I have been lurking for a few days, and have concluded it is high time I step out from the shadows and make an introduction here to my guild mates. I made a general introduction in the open forums, however it seems reasonable to do so once again for the benefit of the people whom I have chosen to align myself.

I enjoy words and language, though I have a tendency of misusing some of the more obscure bits of English, but I will not apologise for this particular quirk. While I speak only English, and poorly compared to educated Americans and most foreigners who have learned the language through years of schooling, I am fond of picking up a smattering of things in a variety of languages.

I can thank people in somewhere around a dozen languages, though it takes me time to recall them all when requested to demonstrate this particular lingual feat. Additionally, I can say 'strawberry' in Spanish or Japanese, and all manner of equally unhelpful odd words ranging from Spanish and other European tongues through Japanese and some dialect of Arabic or other.

I have traversed the continent of North America, largely focused in the contingent United States, having lived in the Northwest, Southwest and Northeast at brief periods over the course of my years. I hope in the future to find myself crossing Europe, improving my rather lazy grasp of German or learning another language competently enough to converse in something other than my native English.

I am enthralled by tea, and will happily discuss the virtues of gunpowder and Ti Kwan Yin over Earl Grey and Darjeeling, or share my thoughts on which are best served with milk or lemon.

Incidentally... I am neither educated traditionally nor an autodidact, and will openly admit that I haven't the slightest inkling about much of what I find myself speaking on. However, I do enjoy engaging in conversation in which I may feign the life of an erudite or sybarite. Please do not feel I am trying to be superior, it is mostly for my own comfort that I cloak myself in such intellectual obfuscation.

Oh, my. Aren't you just the charming one?

Forgive me for being so bold, but you are absolutely adorable.

*Coughs* It is a pleasure to make your acquaintence, miss, I do look forward to speaking again. I am glad to know there are others of a like mind lurking the interwebs, as much of what can be found is a degeneration of incomprehensible jargon.

I will admit I try too hard to sound intelligent. I don't mind others speaking in less flowery terms, I just try to hold myself to the highest standard.

What matters here is being friendly and helpful, I believe. Though, at the moment I am hardly the most helpful as I am still adjusting to how things are done here.

I love listening to people using flowery vocabularies. Let me tell you one of my favorite vocabulary stories. My daughter was nine or ten years old. We were in the check-out line at the grocery store when she spotted the candy rack. Now she knew that I have a sweet tooth and was fairly certain she could talk me into a candy if she agreed to share it with me. So she asked, "Mama, can we get Reece Cups, please?" I glanced at the rack where the desired treats came in packages of two and four cups. "Sure," I answered, picking up a two-cup package. "One for you and one for me."
"Oh Mama," she sighed, "One Reece Cup is just ... tantalizing! Please can we get the bigger package?"
Tantalizing! What could I do? Of course we bought the bigger size. Lesson learned: a well-used vocabulary can lead to greater rewards! rofl

Forgive me for the belated reply, I have had much else on my mind recently. Thank you all for the kind greetings!

That is a charming story, Miss Joy Rose, it brings to mind fond recollections of a more innocent time for myself.

hello, i'm a person of few words, and I like to keep it short and to the point.