Ethan said that I would be better off making a blog about this instead of saying it all in this thread and ignoring the "no more posts after this" rule, so I think I will.

Look, we all should realize that while most of us are thrilled to go to a forum where we can take part in constructive discussion about the show we love, there are some obvious flaws to the way it actually runs on a daily basis.

There are some people on the forum who are more mature than others, but if you think about it, that's how life in the outside world works too. Yes, there are some people who are still nothing short of a headache after several years who continue to haunt the boards. But is it really fair to start a full fledged rally against a new member when they may not be used to the site just yet? Every time I see a new thread pop up that I know goes against everything that the members who give a crap about the guide are striving for, I sit back and watch the fun begin. Someone posts a reply explaining why the thread should not have been made, a reason why, and information for future reference (and "no more posts after this"). Then someone else adds their opinion on it ("no more posts after this"). Then someone else comes up with something to say (again, "no more posts after this"). Is it just me, or does "no more posts after this" never seem to actually work the way we'd like it to? If you're not a moderator or an editor, you have no authority other than reporting the posts to somebody who actually is.

In theory, thread check is a great tool to combat the problem. The problem is that new members tend to just search for the threads that are of most interest to them first, and if they don't, they just go and start up a new one. I doubt any member who knows nothing about the guide would even think to go to thread check beforehand. Hell, when I first came here, I didn't even know topics were referred to as threads until I actually got involved a little more and learned some forum lingo.

I guess my question is this: does the Thomas forum even need any additional threads? We are already faced with 28 pages chock full of topics that make up the Thomas forum at this very moment. Chances are that if someone wants to talk about something Thomas related, there is probably an existing thread in which to do so. It seems that for the past few months, there haven't been all that many new topics that have actually become active; exception being any sort of notable event or speculation about the future of the show. I know David, he's one of my closest online friends. I seriously feel that constantly turning to him to delete threads that should have never been made in the first place is just unfair to him. His job is to moderate submissions and take care of serious matters on the forum, not the nonsense that his inbox must be flooded with day after day.

So yeah, the bottom line is that we should stop allowing new threads to be made unless it is a topic that will spawn off constructive discussion, which will be determined by either David or a certain number of other forum members. I'm not expecting any progress to be made or anything because it rarely ever does, but I hope you'll at least give it some thought.

While I'm at it, I might as well go ahead and tell you about my summer in one paragraph or less. It's been stressful, relaxing, depressing, and thrilling. I got things set straight with my girlfriend, even though my family still hates her. I went to a three day orientation at college where I was thrown out of bed at two in the morning so my roomate could have sex with his new girlfriend. I went to Atlantic City and Disney World, had a lot of fun at each. I'm going to Cooperstown on Friday, then I'm doing nothing until I start college. In short, the remainder of my summer has consisted of sleeping until noon every day and hanging out at the station once in a while to watch trains. What an awesome life.

Oh, where's my manners? Forgot that you can have a song too. That would be Rum is for Drinking Not for Burning by Senses Fail.

Here's another awesome survey, brought to you this time by rusty005.

1. Have you ever met anyone named Curtis?

No. Unless they were lying when they told me their name, in which case there is a small chance.

2. Have you ever tried to fix your television?

Many times, experiencing both complete success and total (quite spectacular) failure. I'll just say this, if you ever see a kid trying to put a peanut butter and jelly sandwich into a VCR, please grab him/her before they do. DVDs are better anyway.

3. Have you ever eaten anything with a smilely face on it?

Yeah, those puppies are always rather happy. Seriously, I have also had those hash brown things that was referred to in the original blog.

4. Have you ever been lost in the desert?

...I live in New York? Kinda have no desire to go to the desert anyway, not much to do other than playing with undetonated nuclear warheads until you start glowing in the dark.

5. Can you stand on your head?

No.

6. Have you ever been dumb enough to eat a dollar bill?

Again, no. Just...no. I value my money too much anyway. Sort of like a real life Mr Krabs.

7. Has your dog ever bitten you?

I don't have a dog. But the dogs that I've been around usually tend to like me, with the exception of one that nearly made me, shall we say, less of a man.

8. Do you think that you live in a parallel universe and the other side of the mirror is the real world?

You know, I've always thought it was the other way around, but these days, I wouldn't be surprised. So, yes.

9. Ever thought about robbing Wal-Mart?

Not sure how good I would be in a serious robbery, too much stuff to keep track of. Think I'll just stick to pocketing M&Ms.

10. What's the longest time it's taken you to finish a chocolate Easter bunny?

No idea, someone else usually ends up getting to it before me anyway.

Well gang, that sure was fun. Remember, Ronnie's blog was brought to you today by the letter Æ and the number -11.27. Hope to see you again soon.

Song for this blog is Warriors of Time by Black Tide. Really awesome band, if you haven't heard them, check 'em out.

Wow, I finally posted a new blog.

The past month or so has been hectic to say the very least. I have been coping with a painful breakup, my usual amount of bullsh!t school responibilities, and tons of other stuff over which I'm sure anyone else would have taken a shower with their best toaster or simply hanged themselves by this point.

With all the crap that I have been dealing with in my life as of late, I seriously needed a little something to take my mind off of everything. So I ask you, how exactly do you get Ronnie's adrenaline pumping full force and actually get a smile on his face for a couple of minutes? Simple, just take him to a park which offers some of the fastest rides in the world, and a completely free lunch.

My day did not start off well. We were an hour late leaving my school because, well, I was surrounded by pinheads once again. Story of my life. But thanks to a noticable lack of traffic through the city and into Jersey, that little delay did not mean much at all. We actually made it there in less than four hours, which gave us sufficient time to do a ton of stuff.

I have not been to Six Flags in a number of years, so obviously, there was a great deal of new stuff that I hadda check out. We started off with Skull Mountain. A kiddy roller coaster compared to the rest of the collection of thrill rides, but definitely a good choice to get warmed up on. I was eventually able to go on that ride three times, the Batman coaster twice, and Superman Ultimate Flight once. Medusa and Kingda Ka were closed in the morning, but we were able to make Medusa later on. Sucks, since I really wanted to go on Kingda Ka, but since we didn't waste time on that two hour line, we were able to squeeze in some other things.

I got to ride some smaller stuff later on such as the runaway train and go karts, but for the most part, me and my friend were far to tired to go on Nitro or anything wild like that. Nevertheless, we really had an awesome day, and it was a great chance to clear my mind. I may have a pounding headache and an inability to walk in a straight line at the moment, but trust me, it was totally worth it.

Hope everything is going well with you guys as well.

Today's song is Ex's and Oh's by Atreyu. Rock on and enjoy.

See ya whenever,

~Ronnie

1. How tall are you barefoot?

Around 5'9" or 5'10" when I'm happy, can dip a few inches if I'm sad

2. Have you ever smoked heroin?

Most people who use heroin don't smoke it anyway. But I don't do it at all.

3. Do you own a gun?

Other than my upper arms? No

4. Who is your best friend?

C Dawg

5. Do you get nervous before "meeting the parents"?

Not really. In my case, it was after

6. What do you think about hot dogs?

Uh...they're awesome?

7. What is your favorite Christmas song?

Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo

8. What do you like to drink in the morning?

Personal favorite is pineapple juice

9. Can you do pushups?

Hell yeah, that's why I'm friggin' jacked

10. Is your bathroom clean?

Compared to other places I've seen, it's clean enough to eat off of

11. What is your favorite piece of jewelery?

My sword necklace

12. Do you like painkillers?

Sure, why not? Vicadinland is an AWESOME place

13. What is your secret weapon to lure the opposite sex?

Do something that involves a dead animal, a ski hat, and a cigarette. Always good to get girls laughing before you start any real stuff.

14. Do you own a knife?

Yeah, got a pocket knife, as well as a Spanish dagger

15. Do you have ADD?

Nope, grew out of it

16. Middle name?

Robert. Now you have to figure out what the J stands for

17. Three thoughts at this moment

- When the hell am I gonna finish my essay?

- I'm want some more music on itunes

- Hope I can find something to do this weekend...

18. Name the last three things you bought

- Black wristband from Spencers

- Chinese food at the food court

- A box of fruit roll ups (I never grow up)

19. Three things you drink regularly

- Dr Pepper

- Pepsi

- Peach Snapple

20. What time did you wake up today?

A little before 11

21. My own question! Have you ever saved someone's life and got a key to the city?

No

22. Current worry?

When is this snow gonna go away?

23. Current hate?

My brother for kicking my @$$ in Monopoly

24. Favorite place to be?

Anywhere near the water

25. Least favorite place to be?

My school at 7 in the morning

26. Where would you like to go?

Palm Beach, Aruba

27. Do you own slippers?

Yeah, I guess you can classify them as slippers...

28. What are you wearing?

A shirt that says "I do what the voices in my head tell me to do"

29. Do you burn or tan?

Tan

30. Favorite colors?

Blue and green

31. Would you be a pirate?

Yeah. A real pirate though, not a butt pirate

32. Last time you had an alcoholic drink?

Actually, think I've been completely dry since New Year's Eve...

33. What songs do you sing in the shower?

I don't. But I do sing them in my head. Usually some hard rock song or something like that

34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?

The government...

35. What is in your pockets now?

My phone, my pocketknife, and my wallet

36. Last thing that made you laugh?

My teacher telling me "if I wanted to listen to an @$$hole, I would have farted"

37. Best bed sheets you had as a child?

Gotta be the Thomas ones...

38. Worst injury?

Broke my wrist

39. Make up another one Do you have more than a day's worth of songs on itunes?

By far!

40. How many TVs are in your house?

Five

41. Who is your loudest friend?

That would have to be my girlfriend, no questions...

42. Who is your most silent friend?

Probably my friend Scott, but he's usually too apathetic to do anything

43. Does someone have a crush on you?

I would think so, yeah

44. Do you wish on shooting stars?

See, the thing is that it's really hard to see any stars where I live. I'm better off just eating a bowl of Lucky Charms

45. What is your favorite book?

I'd probably have to go with The Outsiders

46. Favorite candy?

Airheads, Reeses, Skittles, Starbursts, Jolly Ranchers, and other stuff I'm too lazy to think of

47. What song do you want to be played at your wedding?

Far Away by Nickelback

48. What song do you want to be played at your funeral?

Seize the Day by Avenged Sevenfold

49. What were you doing at midnight last night?

Listening to music, watching TV, and talking to a few people on MSN

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up today?

Oh crap, do I really wanna look out the window?

Have yourselves a song too. Make Me Bad by Korn.

Well, hope you're happy, bro. Here goes...

1) Have you ever been in a physical fight? Well, not really. Punched a couple of kids when I was little, but nothing past that.

2) What cell phone service do you have? AT&T / Cingular / whatever the hell it's called now

3) Do you like going out to dances? If it's got a mosh pit and crowd surfing, I'm there

4) Do you have any secret crushes? Can't say. After all, they are secret (in other words, no)

5) Ever been to a funeral before? Yes. One for my grandfather, and one for my goldfish

6) Ever been to a wedding before? No, not even a domestic partnership

7) Are you considered popular at school? Nah, I don't need to follow the crowd to feel good about myself.

8 ) Who was the last person you talked to today? Who made me take this survey?

9) If you had one wish, what would it be? Legalize fireworks in New York

10) What are you looking forward to in 2008? Graduating my "fantastic"high school

11) What do you think about Bush? Ask him that, should be an interesting answer. But I'm a Republican myself and I despise the guy...

12) Name one person who you would like to meet. Gotta be Mike Piazza. #31 forever!

13) Who do you look up to as a hero? Whoever is responsible for the invention of the iPod

14) What can you say about your best friend? Well...he's definitely fun to talk to...

15) Have you ever seen your parents cry? Yes, and it usually involves me in some way

16) When was the last time you cried? Probably last July when my grandmother kicked me out for two hours

17) Do you believe you will find someone special this year? Probably. I like making friends with potato chips, but they always seem to disappear for some reason...

18 ) Do you believe in miracles? I met a girl who actually likes me. If someone can explain that one, then I won't believe.

19) What is your catch phrase? If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then find someone whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.

20) Who would you tell something that had to be kept private? Ooh, I'd have to say Charlie and Tori. But it kinda depends on what's going on

21) Which five peopleshould take this survey? Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Rudy Giuliani. Wonder if they'll actually do it.

Wow, there's a half hour gone to hell. But it was kinda worth it, at least I'll be able to look back on it in a couple of months and laugh.

Hope everyone is doing okay, and I hope to talk to you all soon.

~Ronnie