Do my eyes deceive me or do I see a blue ninja jellyfish with 20,000 lurve points?

Congratulations, Marina!!!

Incredibly well-deserved!!!

WOW! That’s all I can say! Way to go!!!

Congratulations, Marina!

Holy shit! Does that mean you get to move from the 10K mansion? I think you get to be the first Flutherite in the 20K castle!

Great job Marina!

Looks like you’ll have AstroChuck’s company soon!

Congrats Marina. You are one of the jellies that I look forward to reading your thoughtful, intelligent posts. Cake for all!

Holy Schmoly!

You are a wonder! An inspiration to us all! 30k—here you come!

Congratulations!

Holy shit, indeed. Back with a vengence.

WOW! Go Marina! You are one fabulous Jelly – Congratulations!!

@Marina: You are definitely a fovorite of mine. In fact, some of those Lurve points should be mine because of all the times you said exactly what I was going to say you just got to the computer sooner

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer Jelly… Well-deserved Lurve!!

Holy Shit man!! 20k?!? Congrats, Marina!

Wow, that is some pretty intense lurve!! Here I was feeling pretty “bad-ass” with 28 lurve points jokes.

Nice one!

God damn. That sounds like reason for a double post! Hint Hint Tink…

Congratulations!

Edit. Never mind. Fixed double post… And once again, congratulations.

Fuck, that’s crazy! Good job, Marina! :)

Woah!....WOAH! I’m amazed, congrats! :D

Everyone is cursing! I thought I was gonna be the first one to say Holy Shit!! But NOOoooo.

Nice work! You’re 1/5 of the way to 100,000

I don’t even know why I am remotely surprised. You are the most wonderful, caring and wise person I’ve met on Fluther. Congratulations on your second 10K!!!!

Marina, Just as Hearkat said, I often start typing and then realize that you’ve said it all already and much better than I could have done. Congratulations! It is a pleasure to Fluther with you.

She cheats by being first with the best answers.

And, she has nice tentacles, too.

Marina is such an elegant and well-informed writer; she is the perfect Fluther poster child.

Chapaux bas

holy crap!
WTG!!
You make wonderfully insightful posts, and you always say it all :)

Holy hannah! Congratulations, Marina! Great job—you’re an asset to the community.

Myyy…. CONGRATULATIONS To you MARINA!!!! My many thanks for all your well thought out answers as well as your wonderful advice. Many of which I have used… Thank you. I congratulate you once again, my friend!!!!!

Great Googlie Wooglie! WTG!

Marina, you were a large part of the reason I found Fluther so fascinating and welcoming when I first joined. I am so glad I stuck around to see this day! Congratulations and lurve to you, my friend.

Impressive! =) Level-headed, always there to give some good advice—Congrats, to the first jelly to hit 20K!!

In a way, Fluther helped pull me out of dark place last year -and one of the first hands to reach out was Marina’s.

Congratulations on twenty-thousand well deserved lurve.

If I met ya in person…ooh, the bear hug you would get!

Wow, is that the highest lurve ever? I didn’t even notice you were that lofty! Congratulations!

For the life of me, I never imagined I could learn to love someone I had never met in person, and based solely on words they anonymously typed on this amazing entangled web of wires, and more recently wireless transmitters and receivers, that connect the box with the flashing lights in my home with similar boxes throughout the world. It’s even more remarkable that the communication that elicits such strong emotion can now be delivered with lightning fast speed through small hand held devices, some of which are identified as “telephones”, tho that term narrowly identifies but one function of those mini marvels.

Technology has been good to us in many regards and I’m certain most of you kids laugh at us oldtimers, who at one time knew only pen and paper, envelops (with the very real risk of tongue papercuts) and postage stamps that you had no choice but to lick (or, at least, never gave that a second thought and considered if it might be more prudent to moisten in another manner), to transmit written words to someone you called a friend. Having lived the evolution of the internet and computers themselves, from the forest worth of punched thick papercards through the“magic” of today, I think gives one a greater appreciation of this medium that those who have known no other way, have come to expect.

And how does one establish trust, let alone love, on such an anonymous system, when the words someone types, and the little webs those words weave as to connotation and meaning, can be anything the author wants them to be: the truth, perhaps with a personal bias or touch of flourish, a relating of someone elses story they call their own, a fictional representation of something or just plain bull-shit thrown at you maybe even with the purpose of deceiving you and tricking you into believing something otherwise ridiculous.

Well, you “just know” don’t you? I like to think my advanced years and vast experiences make me better at “just knowing” but many of you kids could challenge that and I could not argue your challenge. Particularly, if you, like me, have not been knowingly fooled to the contrary, by one whose words you “just knew” were true and sincere, but were in fact otherwise.
I take ever word that everyone writes on fluther as “your word” but am realistic and know it may be conveying a stretch of the truth or bullshit and there is no way in hell that I would risk anything of value on those words. Some of your may be fine actors, but what a waste of time this place would be if I couldn’t put, as I do, a large amount of trust in the words of cwilbur or jeruba or Ivan.
But the PM system offers another level of communication, a closer method for connecting, and one that allows us to lower our guards a bit more and truly get to know someone on a very personal level, and to share private stories, establish trust and respect and nurture cyber-love. And that’s excactly what I have done with some remarkable women here, including @gailcalled, @SuperMouse, @cak, @augustlan and most importantly and dearest to my heart, @marina.

Marina has helped me through some very tough times and is always there for me like a shiny beacon from a steady lighthouse amid a violent, threatening storm. And she not only provides clear direction but is a calming force that extinguishes that storm and leaves me feeling thoroughly comfortable and warm and happy. And that is exactly how I feel every single one of her posts makes the flutherer to whom it was addressed feel, unless of course trhey deserved a slap in the face, which she is quite capable of delivering and not a bit bashful in exercising. And that is why I love marina more than I have ever cyber-loved anyone in my live and why she is so very special to me. Congratulations sweet Marina….you are the best. Sending lots of love and lurve….Gary aka wtf

I raise my glass to you, Marina. Congrats!
it’s a really good glass, too!

Congrats!

AWESOME!!!!!

What a fantastic achievement for an awesome Flutherite! So glad I could pop in and share this historic moment!

Marina you rock!!!!

Congratulations Marina!!!

Bows to whatthefluther’s answer…

Congrats and lurve all around for all, on Marina’s behalf ofcourse…
Your words & opinions are always valued and admired. So here’s to the next 20k for all our benifit. Cheers

@rooeytoo Yay… you finally made it to a party!

Hip Hip Hooray to Marina =]

Oh. Muh. GAAAAAWD! Like, 20K? Rilly? 20, like, thousand? Like, ohmigawd, that’s so cool, I can barely, like… wow!

Congratulations, @Marina, for reaching the pinnacle, and for giving the love that got you the lurve! :D

* * * Y * A * Y * * * CONGRATULATIONS ! ! ! GOOD WORK ! ! ! * * * Y * A * Y * * *

Marina the Magnificent, may I memorialize your merits with my modest marveling!

oh wow!! congratulations!!

Right on Marina!!! You rock and we lurve you for it!!!

congrats

Holy crap! That’s really awesome!

She answered my very first question. :)

Damn, I’m late again.

Way to go Marina, You rock like no one else can. 30K here you come.

Crap.. late…
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aww, I’m late. Anyway, congrats!!!!!

@augustlan – thank you, yep I did, but then I had a busy afternoon at work and couldn’t stick around! But I am pleased that I was #28 this time, I am getting better.

It is an amazing accomplishment to hit 20,000.

!

CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!!! I’m mega impressed, seen you around on various answers loving the fact you got to 20K first, well deserved too!!

Very impressive! Congrats @Marina!

Crap, I’m late.

Well, this is cause for celebration.

* wails on guitar *

So, who’s really late to the party? Me. Apologies to all for that. Some of you saw the thread on my family issue. That, and a few other “life got in the way” things have resulted in little sleep the last few nights. Anybody ever hit the wall? That happened to me last night. I just could not stay up. Truth be told, I could not process a lot of emotional content at that moment either, and reading this thread and writing in it definitely (@gailcalled that one is for you) have engendered emotion.

I lurve (and have right now) lurved you all. Thanks.

But, as I have said many times in the Q&As, Fluther is not about lurve. It is so much more than lurve. Should the founders, in their wisdom, ever let me guest post on the blog, I’d do an essay on lurve and why it doesn’t matter for the most part.

The way it does matter is that it is, in the medium of the collective, the equivalent of an electronic attaboy or high five. I like to think that often it is approbation for a good answer, but we all know it is also sometimes just what it is here in this thread, a means of momentary connection and shared warmth. It is also sometimes a representative of group laughter. In those ways, lurve is important and reflecting as much on the giver as the receiver.

We joke about being addicted to Fluther. Not true. Many of us have left for hiatuses and come back. Why do we come back? I think it is because of the special people that are Fluther and for the connection.

Oh, oh, gettin’ too deep. A shout out to my peep @jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities (which has to be one of my all-time favorite user names) for the construct of a 20K castle. I like that. I imagine it as a life-sized one of those aquarium castles you see. I will enjoy decorating it, but will be rattling around in there alone only for a short time. Let’s get one thing straight, AC, I am not doing the cleaning! Hurry up, gailcalled, and john powell, I don’t want to have no one to hang out with, but a twisted six-year-old!

Finally, thanks everyone, I am honored.

ooh I missed it. :)
CoNgArAtAs @Marina
What would we do without you!?
You are very awesome and helpful in many ways!
I <3 you.

Ohhh….My…Fucking….GOD! Dude…your like amazing!!! 20k?? That’s crazy!!! You fucking rock for that!!! :D :D :D Marina,your nice,smart,helpful,and sweet,and now a 20k jelly? Dude…your more than a triple threat!!! CONGRATZZ! XD

well done

I’m utterly in awe, if I may say so myself. Many congratulations to @Marina. I’m going to go celebrate with white wine. HUZZAH!

In Marina’s honor, I edit “chapeaux.”

You have my upmost respect and best wishes. You are one of a kind.

Wow! 20k is simply amazing and a fantastic accomplishment! Congratulations to you, Marina. I’ve always seen you as one of the most sensible and intellectual Jellies on Fluther that consistently gives great anwers across the board.

And I would add that she is never mean-spirited, petty, or self-serving. Her humor is unpredictable and original, and her ability to marshall data so it is clear and understandable is admirable.

I wish that she (and Jeruba) had team-taught my college English classes.

@gailcalled . . .Upea. Nyt olen herättänyt.

@Blondesjon:
Liian paljon olutta…Olette kuitenkin halpa päivä

@gailcalled . . .Älä koskaan anna sitä sanoa, että et ole hyvä tuomari luonnetta.

@gailcalled…If you, jeruba and marina were to teach any course, you can color me enrolled and consider me a professional student.

I second that thought @whatthefluther

Count me in. Though I recently graduated suma cum laude my writing skills are deteriorating at an alarming rate. Soon I will be considered the villiage idiot.

@Dog: Remember, every village needs one. Having you as ours’ would be a pleasure.

I need to congratulate you! I’m sorry for being so late, but yesterday I was way too busy working. So I shall compose a short title for you on the spot, hope that you like it.

Marina:
The first jelly with a thousand times twenty!!!

I’m late too. my husband is happy that I’m not saying this to him!

@Marina You are a beauty. An inspiration. Someone that I count on to give great advice and say the things that I wish I had. Fluther would not be the same without you. Congratulations!

Oh my goodness, clearly I missed a celebration. Marina, congratulations. I always love to read what you write and respect your opinions. I’ve learned from you, which I find to be a huge gift that someone gives you, the gift of knowledge.

Congratulations, my friend.

Man, whenever I see @cak‘s posts, my heart warms up.

:D

@Grisaille, Me too! Isn’t it awesome?

@Marina, I believe I haven’t posted here yet.

Marina, you are one of the nicest and most valued members not only on Fluther, but one of the nicest I’ve ever met online. You were nice to me right from the start when I joined, and though I’ve teased you about your avatar, you know we all lurve you here, whether you’re predictable or not. My greatest congratulations, @Marina!

~Jessie

@cak Congrats from you seem very precious. Congrats back at you for feeling up to poking around in the medium.

@mangeons Great to hear from you, my young friend. Look how many times I changed my avatar lately! I’m not an old stick-in-the-mud.

How did I miss this, @Marina!!! Pancakes!

@Yetanotheruser It’s never too late for pancakes.