Is it just me, or is Aslan getting on your nerves too?

TheLoadedDog and I just had a talk about the whole Aslan of Narnia thing, and now I'm thinking.. am I over-reacting?


ajbrownlee (4:36:32 PM): G'day Flam. :D I think you and I need to have a chat.
flamsterette_x (4:38:14 PM): Oh crap. What did I do now?
ajbrownlee (4:38:58 PM): You're fine, my friend. No probs there. I'm concerned about the Aslan situation.
flamsterette_x (4:41:31 PM): Sorry, instinctive reaction. :) The Aslan situation meaning the one where he got warned on G'Dope.. or something else entirely different that I missed?
ajbrownlee (4:45:40 PM): Aaah ok. The G'Dope warning is by the by. I can handle that, and I'm not losing any sleep over it. Frankly, the lad is headed for some serious trouble on the boards (all the boards) generally. I can see a ^$%^ serious Pit roasting / pile-on if he doesn't pull his head in soon, and I don't know how he'd cope with that. Even more frankly, whilst he may be **just** another angst-ridden teen (and I've been helping him through stuff on ICQ myself), I can't help feeling there's an edge to it. Can't put my finger on it (and Lisa feels the same), but he's covering something. I'm sure of it. I'm also worried that you are going to get roped in as an apologist for his antics, and that's not fair for you (Lisa said she's seen the beginnings of that already).
flamsterette_x (4:48:53 PM): There's something going on, and I'm not quite sure what it is. I had nothing to do with what Lisa described to me in her email, and I hope she knows that!
ajbrownlee (4:52:26 PM): So are we agreed that this is headed for a fiery crash-and-burn outcome? I'm just worried that he'll catch you up in it. He trusts and confides (a bit) in Lisa and I. From this viewpoint, it seems he has a lot of respect for you, too. We need to be firm with him just now. All of us. He's simply **not getting** message board culture, and that will come back to bite him on the bum. He's shown a complete inability to read between the lines too. A closed thread, and two mod comments **before** I warned him. And after I did warn him, I got a message saying, "Hey Dog!
ajbrownlee (4:52:38 PM): I've got a neat idea for a thread. Can you help me think of a title..."
ajbrownlee (4:53:06 PM): I really don't want to ban him, or anything like that. I dunno.
flamsterette_x (4:53:51 PM): While I may try to help Aslan with stuff, I'm not going to apologize FOR him or do anything of the sort. This morning, he tried to get me involved in whatever's going on between him and Zenster. Or at least, he asked me what I thought of Zenster.
flamsterette_x (4:56:09 PM): I told him that I thought Zenster was nice enough, and didn't see any reason to dump on Zenster just coz the two of them had a disagreement or something. Then Aslan said that Zenster certainly loved to crap all over him. I told him that I certainly was NOT going to discuss it any further, and that I wasn't going to get involved.
ajbrownlee (4:57:20 PM): Yeah. His emails to me yesterday got a reply of "how 'bout you go and have a cup of tea?" I'm not sure if he picked up on how pissed off I was, but I did get an apology of sorts. I guess all I'm saying to you here, as a friend, is "Don't get your buttons pressed too much, be firm, and don't let him control the situation. I see a professional victim here, and that's botherin' me. Anyhoo, I'll shaddup now. :)
flamsterette_x (5:01:37 PM): Thanks for the advice, TLD. I'm not going to let him control it if I can help it. Although speaking of his "I've got a cool idea for a thread" emails, he's asked me quite a few times over AIM if he should contribute more, and whether I had any cool ideas for him. My answer to that: "Nope, fresh out of ideas. And if you're feeling guilty about contributing, then that's not my problem."
flamsterette_x (5:06:15 PM): Whoops.. this program loves to do illegal operations.
ajbrownlee (5:09:03 PM): Aah yer back. Yair, a few people have mentioned that of late. Most notably my 76 year-old dad who lives an inconvenient distance away for special re-install mercy dashes by public transport.
ajbrownlee (5:09:26 PM): My sister's one's been crashing big time too.
flamsterette_x (5:10:45 PM): Yes, it seems to do that whenever I close other message windows. Not all the time, but sometimes it feels like it!
ajbrownlee (5:11:43 PM): My dad's one is doing weird stuff. Personally, I'm thrilled that this guy born in 1928 is sending Yahoo IMs with the best of 'em, but when things go wrong, he's a bit lost.
flamsterette_x (5:13:41 PM): What sort of weird stuff is it doing?
ajbrownlee (5:16:41 PM): Not entirely sure, because he doesn't know how to explain it to me over the phone. When I went there and tried it, it just crashed straight away. I then noticed that instead of one Yahoo shortcut at the top of the start menu, there was Yahoo, Yahoo [1], Yahoo[2], so he'd somehow installed it multiple times over itself. In the end, I just deleted the entire program, downloaded the newer version, and started him from scratch. But now my sister says his Yahoo Messenger stopped working the next day. I have no idea.
flamsterette_x (5:18:38 PM): Hmm, definitely sounds weird. Maybe if you tell him not to do anything to the program after you've fixed it..
ajbrownlee (5:21:53 PM): Well, all he does with it is chat to my sister and I. It means a lot to him, and he's awfully proud of the fact that he can do it. It's not like he's into serious webcamming or gaming.. :D I can't stop him using the thing, coz that'd defeat the purpose. The problem is, he's running it on a hand-me-down computer from my sister. Now, that machine is about five years old, and should most likely be fine for something like an IM program, but it was a lemon from the start. When that 'puter was new, my sister was having trouble with it, and it was always in the shop..
flamsterette_x (5:23:46 PM): Believe me, I know that old computers are fine for IM programs. ;) But if the computer's always had problems even when it was new..
ajbrownlee (5:25:25 PM): Yeah, it was never **quite right**, though in this case I think it's the Messenger program itself, as my sister is reporting similar bugs, and now you are too. In my experience, Messenger has been one of the most stable programs in the five years I've been using it.
flamsterette_x (5:29:14 PM): I don't recall the program doing this before it asked me to install the latest "update." Then again, sometimes when one person messages me twice in a very short time, the program will put the messages in separate IM windows. That never happened before either.
ajbrownlee (5:29:42 PM): Might be time to go to oldversion dot com! :D Cool site, that.
flamsterette_x (5:30:17 PM): Hmm.. never heard of that site. Sounds interesting.
ajbrownlee (5:31:06 PM): Old Version.com It is. I ended up going there to get a version of winamp my fuddy duddy old steam-powered brain was more used to.. :)
flamsterette_x (5:34:22 PM): Thanks for the tip, probably end up going there out of curiosity. So how exactly does it seem that I'm getting embroiled in all Aslan's woes?
ajbrownlee (5:35:41 PM): To be honest, I can't give you a cite off the top of me head. Lisa said she noticed somewhere on the SDMB last night that it looked like you were mopping up after him. I can find out more and let you know later.
flamsterette_x (5:37:33 PM): Oh, I think I know what she's talking about. Could be the post I made to tell people that he was feeling sick and couldn't upload any images somewhere.
ajbrownlee (5:38:06 PM): Aah, yep. That rings a bell. That whole thread bothered me a bit, to be honest.
flamsterette_x (5:39:24 PM): Yeah, he asked me what I thought. My first thought was that he perhaps shouldn't be doing things in images on that board. Even if he were to link to another webpage entirely..
ajbrownlee (5:41:09 PM): To my mind, it was more a case of: "Hey dudes! Here's my ever so original gimmick thread. Ask the great OP, and ye shall recie... actually no, I'm not feeling well, my website is down, my tux didn't come back from the cleaner's...." etc. Seen it before.
ajbrownlee (5:41:26 PM): I purposely curtailed the word "recieve," seein' as it doesn't exist. :)
flamsterette_x (5:43:37 PM): Heh. :) Ah yes, the overused "I'll promise you something, but then make up all sorts of excuses and not actually deliver on it" thing.
ajbrownlee (5:44:46 PM): Yeah. Well, I keep returning to this theme, and probably labouring it a bit in the process, but something doesn't ring true to me in this whole thing. I'd tell you what it was, if I knew.
flamsterette_x (5:45:58 PM): No worries, I know you would. Can't quite seem to put my finger on it, either.
ajbrownlee (5:46:17 PM): We'll just sit back and watch then. :)
flamsterette_x (5:48:18 PM): Yes, and hopefully not get too burned in the process. :)
flamsterette_x (5:50:45 PM): Speaking of Aslan, here he is again with weird bits of song lyrics.
ajbrownlee (5:51:21 PM): You're sayin' to me I should run a mile from toying with the idea of turnin' ICQ on? :D
flamsterette_x (5:53:51 PM): Only if his shtick of weird stuff really bothers you. But I'm telling you that if he asks for cool thread ideas again (or bugs me when I don't respond fast enough for him), my patience will show signs of running out.
ajbrownlee (5:54:53 PM): Well, he's asked me if I'll be on ICQ. Dunno if I could face it just now.
flamsterette_x (6:01:06 PM): Well, at least this time it wasn't just Yahoo. Seemed to be a general problem with screen superimposition.
ajbrownlee (6:01:49 PM): You gotta watch that screen sup.. sup.. sperrimm.... yair, anyway, 'tis the work of the Devil. :)
flamsterette_x (6:04:45 PM): Could very well be that, yes. :) This is actually the only IM program I have open now, since MSN's apparently having problems right now. I don't have ICQ running on this computer anymore, and for certain reasons, I prefer to sign off on AIM.
ajbrownlee (6:05:30 PM): I have only ever had this and ICQ. I only run two because of various friends' preferences.
flamsterette_x (6:07:25 PM): ICQ was what I started out with, since I wanted to get it to talk to my RL friends. Soon after, I got MSN. Someone then bugged me to get Yahoo a couple months after that. As for AIM, I decided to try that after a few months. It's been.. interesting.
ajbrownlee (6:08:59 PM): ICQ was my first one too. But I decided I couldn't afford th' Cathay Pacific fares it cost me. :)
flamsterette_x (6:09:26 PM): Cost you that much, eh?
ajbrownlee (6:10:21 PM): 'tis a definite worry, la! ^. .^
ajbrownlee (6:10:30 PM): Or something. Yahoo is easier, anyway.
flamsterette_x (6:12:18 PM): That is true. :) I just talk to a few select people on each program. (with some overlap.. though I do have a few people who have all four programs too)
ajbrownlee (6:13:01 PM): Definite hard cases, those. :D
flamsterette_x (6:13:27 PM): Ha, and what are you trying to say? :)
ajbrownlee (6:13:58 PM): Nuffin' ;)
flamsterette_x (6:14:41 PM): Yeah, sure you are. ;)
ajbrownlee (6:14:52 PM): heh
flamsterette_x (6:17:16 PM): I'm not going to give Aslan any cool ideas for threads.. if he does want to contribute, he'll have to do so without that kind of help from me. Besides, if I ever did come up with a cool idea for a thread.. odds are very high that I'd keep it for myself. ;)
ajbrownlee (6:17:41 PM): Yair, I concur.
flamsterette_x (6:19:58 PM): Don't know what's up with him, really. Not that I don't mind just chatting even though it might not make sense, but seems to me that he doesn't start conversations off with things that would at least make sense. (not that I make sense all the time, but..)
ajbrownlee (6:21:10 PM): He might like to insert the occasional "please" or "thank you" too when he demands advice from me... Aah, call me old fashioned. Does annoy me a bit though.
flamsterette_x (6:22:21 PM): This morning, he did say "Give me some thread ideas, please." The only thing with that.. it was in all caps, and he'd been rather.. insistent.. about it, if you get my meaning.
ajbrownlee (6:22:40 PM): Yep. I know exactly.
flamsterette_x (6:25:14 PM): Now, while I don't generally mind people asking me for advice / ideas / whatever.. the way most people seem to go about it seems to be different than the way he does. Definitely can get annoying.
ajbrownlee (6:25:47 PM): In a nutshell, and to borrow TubaDiva's phrase, "he needs to back off."
flamsterette_x (6:27:48 PM): Exactly. Not that I'm perfect myself, but he just seems annoying sometimes.
ajbrownlee (6:28:59 PM): Yair. That he does. And c'mon.. yer perfect aintcha? I know I am! We're G'Dopers! :D
flamsterette_x (6:30:42 PM): Heh.. That describes it! :)
ajbrownlee (6:31:50 PM): :D
flamsterette_x (6:32:46 PM): I must admit that I'm actually relieved when I'm on AIM, and he doesn't bug me.
ajbrownlee (6:33:01 PM): My word yes. :)
flamsterette_x (6:33:24 PM): You know what I mean.. it's like, "Oh, thank goodness!"
ajbrownlee (6:33:44 PM): Yep, I can relate to that.
flamsterette_x (6:35:05 PM): So far, he hasn't messaged me directly I come online.. though he's come really close to it.
ajbrownlee (6:35:34 PM): I had to tell him to back off from Lisa the other night.
flamsterette_x (6:36:43 PM): The way she phrased things in her email to me, it seemed that he was "off her radar." Don't tell me that he's been harassing her.
ajbrownlee (6:37:08 PM): I don't think he has been, no. But Lisa has a lot on her plate at the moment.
flamsterette_x (6:37:38 PM): Good, because I'd hate to see that happen. Definitely sounds that way to me, as well.
ajbrownlee (6:39:01 PM): I brought her down to cruising height last night. Took three hours of talking across the Tasman Sea though. Lisa will be ok.
flamsterette_x (6:39:57 PM): I definitely hope so. I'm glad she has a friend like you who can actually talk to her. :)
ajbrownlee (6:41:07 PM): She's my sister. :)
flamsterette_x (6:42:35 PM): Seriously now.
ajbrownlee (6:43:47 PM): Lisa and I have a connection. It is very cool.
flamsterette_x (6:45:37 PM): Ah, THAT kind of sisterhood. :) Yes, it's just like what my friend Nathan was telling me and a couple of other female friends in the car a couple of weeks ago: "I don't have any real sisters, but you're all my sisterhood!"
ajbrownlee (6:45:50 PM): Yep, that's the kind. :)
flamsterette_x (6:46:15 PM): Very cool to have in your life. :)
ajbrownlee (6:46:38 PM): Yeah, I'm lucky.
flamsterette_x (6:48:23 PM): Treasure your good fortune, then. :)
ajbrownlee (6:48:33 PM): Yes. I do.
flamsterette_x (6:50:10 PM): As do I, when I've found these connections in my life.
ajbrownlee (6:51:25 PM): My word. Anyhow, yer Flamness, I gotta go.
ajbrownlee (6:51:36 PM): thanks for the chat. :)
flamsterette_x (6:52:08 PM): Hey, not a problem. Thank you as well. :) Talk to you later.
ajbrownlee (6:52:17 PM): Cheers. See ya. :)


It's true that Aslan can get annoying with his repeated demands for cool thread ideas and stuff. But I'm NOT going to get involved in whatever personal vendetta he has with Zenster, or give him any thread ideas. Like I said: if I have any cool thread ideas, I'm going to keep them for myself. ;)

Yes, Aslan can get annoying. All the things I said to TLD are very true. I don't mind talking to him, but when he starts off conversations with weird non-sequiturs (then progresses to demands for advice, like he's doing now).. it's time to make up excuses and / or sign off AIM entirely. Thank goodness he doesn't have my ICQ number. (although he might have added me from the "IM info" post I made on Canadope last week, and I don't know it yet since I've not been on ICQ for a couple of weeks)

I don't think I'm being a professional victim here, or am going to cover for him anytime he asks me to. But it's true that I don't know how to say "no" sometimes.. at least, we have to get along if we're going to co-admin a message board. Still though, if he doesn't back off from myself or my friends.. he's going to have to learn something right quick.

He just asked why I'm mad at him.. go figure it out yourself. (thinks I'm yelling at him.. I am SO not doing that) I do still want to get along with him, but hopefully not at the expense of my psyche or something like that.

Any ideas, thoughts, etc.? If not, this post is still good to get things off my chest. :)