Master of your own domain

I have a story to tell you. Yes, it's worth your time. This is me when I was, like, 10:

As you can see, I used to play soccer. There was actually supposed to be a girls team and a guys team, but I was the only girl who wanted to play, so I ended up playing with the guys.

It wouldn't have been so darn embarrassing if my dad hadn't felt the need to remind me that when they were playing shirts vs. skins that I had to make sure I was on the shirts team. Yeah, I know he was just looking out for his little girl, but gee, Dad, thanks.

(Oh, special note to Monstee: Notice the tan? Dude, that's what I'm talkin' about. ::grins::)

Anyway, I didn't last too long on the guys' soccer team. I got a nasty black eye and that was that. I didn't want to play anymore. See, all my life, I've been buddy-buddy with the guys. I can throw down with the best of them. I'm a gamer chick, a comic chick, a gadget chick, a programmer chick. I like boxers; I hate dresses. And I will beat your ass down if you get in my way. Period.

But that said, I am not one of the guys. Give me a black eye, and I will cry. Fuck with my head, and I'll beat you down and then cry. I'm a chica through and through: You wouldn't catch me dead without a tube of lipstick, my jewelry, and my purse. I still have a favorite teddy bear (see SnottyPaws). And while I'm down with the locker room jokes, I don't often participate in the "she has such a hot ass" conversations. [Edit 6/19: This is not entirely true, as somebody has pointed out to me that I often participate in such discussions. But it's purely from an appreciation standpoint. Well, except for Ani D., because, dude ... she's just cool. Yeah.]

So why am I telling you all this? Well, I'm glad you asked. It's because I spent far too many years of my life keeping things tucked away from my friends ... only to lose them (or their respect?) when they found out something about me that didn't jive. It does you no good to know that I throw down with the guys if you don't know that deep down, I'm still a girly girl. If you don't see both aspects on the front end, it sets things up for failure.

So I started doing things my way. My friendships are built on honesty from the ground up. I laid all my cards out on the table, and those who were left standing were my true friends. They really liked me for me.

First, it was my college buddies. Then I got hooked on AC and found a lot of people who not only loved me in-game, but loved me in real life. Wow. Impressive. And now, I've got my Blogger buddies, the ones who read and comment and stick around. Honestly, you know more about me than my parents do. It's true.

So I figured it was payback time. Time to share the love. To that end, I've registered StargazerGirl.com, MeAmMonstee.com, SmackyAndBucky.com, GrrFace.com and FeroxFemina.com. Yep. Consider it my gift to you. And, to make it even sweeter, I'm the hosting reseller, so you've got the major hook. The nameservers will be resolving in the next couple of days -- probably before Monday -- and I'll get you all set up in your new home.

Hey, if I could buy you all a Rolex, I would ... but this is the best I can do. Enjoy. I love you guys. ^_^