> Well, hence my disclaimer saying that only *at
> times* do I feel this way. Times just like you've
> described. The purpose of my post was to try
> to help Brunnen-G understand how it might be
> possible for someone like ang to still feel like
> a newbie... if I who have been hanging around
> this place and getting to know people for the
> past three-plus years can feel that way on
> occasion, it must be even more so for
> someone who has been here an even
> shorter time.

Feeling like a newbie just *has* to be an internal matter depending on one's own personality. I remember the first day I posted something on the forum, and the first day I went into chat. I didn't "feel like a newbie" in either case. I felt like I was part of the community the second I hit "post" on my very first message. It never occurred to me that there would BE any external requirement to indicate to me that I was accepted, or that fitting into an existing online community was going to take years of work.

I just jumped in, made myself known to people, and gradually got to know them. I always figure that's the way other people do it, too, so you're right, I have trouble understanding why anybody would feel like a newbie (in the sense of not fitting in) after they've been here more than a couple of times.