Wow, I go away for the weekend and look what happens to this thread! First of all, did you ever consider that I might have moved to Philadelphia BECAUSE I was smart?

Or is that too farfetched? Yeah, I thought so :-)

Anyway, for the record, valued GUESTS

Maybe a month or so ago I went from being a guest to being a member and I have found no difference in the way I am treated. However, even when I was a guest I always attached some name to myself--I didn't settle on Nerd until a few weeks in. As to there being an "inner clique," don't you sort of expect that in any group there will be clusters of friends? The only thing that makes one clique "central" and another clique "peripheral" is PERCEPTION. When I was in high school (which is the last time I had to think about this crap) I was in a kind of nerdy clique rather than a popular clique. Eventually I decided that we WERE the "inner clique" as far as I was concerned.

Maybe people who worry about who the "inner clique" is are just insecure because they have no friends of their own to hang out with. In that case, go make friends. But it seems painfully counterproductive to complain about not having friends when you won't identify yourselves. To become part of any community you have to let others see and hear and, yes, judge you. If you hide behind the mask of complete anonymity you can never make a friend or be a friend; at best you can be a non-hostile stranger.

So my advice (jeez, when did I get so damn full of advice?) choose a name, enter the forum, be polite. Try to learn from threads, and contribute when you think others can learn from you. Be funny and friendly if you can.

Maybe you'll make it into the "inner clique" yourself. If not, you'll probably find you're having too much fun to care!

And JJ, all evidence to the contrary, this isn't a bitter place! Honest!