Hmm. Well, Mick, I'll gladly accept your latest apology, and thank you for your condolences (you have mine, as well). But I'll have to disagree with you that I'm "not blameless in this." I most certainly am blameless in this. I have no history of using multiple identities, or of posting anonymously. (Wait, that's a lie. Once, and only once, I did delete my cookie to post anonymously. In the spring of 2000, in my first weeks here, I deleted my cookie to refresh a thread. I wasn't quite comfortable here yet, and I felt "funny" refreshing a thread that I wasn't contributing to. Silly in retrospect, but true. Believe it or blow me.) I don't start troll threads. In fact, this is only the second or third thread I've started in four years. These accusations were completely groundless and, I believe, pretty fucking paranoid. If you have proof, or even evidence, to the contrary, I'd truly love to see it.

And I have no "axe to grind" with you, Harpgirl, or anybody else here. If I recall correctly, most of my clashes with you (and Harpgirl) have been over what I see as your poor treatment of GUESTs. If I were a GUEST, and my first thread was greeted with cryptic, off-topic shit like "The Larrivee is playing wonderfully. And I payed for it in full," followed by accusations that I was a troll in disguise and you're on to me, dammit, I probably wouldn't stick around. Would you? The Mudcat can be a mean place for GUESTs, who are of course potential new members, and I hate to see these people driven off or, worse, marginalised to the point that they actually do become angry and bitter trolls.

I hope that you realise that your position here, both officially and socially, gives you a lot of power. People trust you, and many members will take your words as fact. Given your position, and that your "detective work" seems to be based entirely on guesswork, and that you admit these accusations against me were completely unfounded, I believe that your participation in these "witch hunts" is particularly irresponsible. Unfortunately, few members seem willing to stand up to you and the rest in defense of GUESTs, so I feel that I must. Sorry, but you'll have to get used to it if you're going to "hunt."

And Harpgirl, if you wanted to know my birth name, all you had to do was ask. I mean, you must have spent hours scouring my old posts for that info, which is far from secret. Look hard enough around here and you'll probably find my birth date, my mom's maiden name, and maybe even my pants size. And if you're a really devoted stalker, both my address AND my phone number are listed in the phone book. Think about it: Doesn't the fact that you've spent who knows how many hours stalking me seem at least a little bit creepy to you? I mean, know I'm pretty and all, but I just don't understand your obsession with me... What's it all about?

Oh, and for a few of the others:

GUEST,Jim Knowledge: I had to read it three times to get it, but that's pretty funny.
GUEST,Hugh Jampton: "Leperous Rex." Original shit, dude. And no, I don't watch too many gangster movies. I write like I talk, in a flat midwestern monotone sprinkled liberally with profanity. You watch too much American TV... We're not all from New York.
Rapaire: I brought it up because claims were made about me in my absence, which is pretty fucking annoying. If someone is going to attack me, I'd like it to be accurate, and preferably in my presence.
WYSIWYG: Uhhh... Whaaa?
CarolC: Thank you. :)

---Lepus Rex