What do you imagine you know about other flutherers?

To my way of thinking, all I “know” is what they choose to type into their computer. It could be the same as the latest novel I am reading. The difference is that every time I have actually met someone else I “met” online, they turn out to be exactly as expected.

@YARNLADY That IS interesting. Does that make you right or left brained! When you say “exactly as expected”, does that mean physically or personality?

I tend to keep my own profile for my own. And I respect the way others keep their privacy. I’m curious about them but I score their post not their physical appearance,daily routine,personal attribute,etc.

@Doctor_D

I did not communicate my question well enough.

I don’t mean that you have, should or would ask another their private business, personal or otherwise. I was asking what you THINK you know about them, by reading their answers, question and so forth, Something that has NOT been communicated by word…moreover by intuitiveness.

@MissA In that case,I have my own perception about each post from each individual. I don’t read their profile since it won’t really prove the quality of the post. I think most people here posses different intellectuality and I really don’t care about their external attributes.

I have learned over the years to hear as much from what people say about themselves and their values as from what they withhold. It involved logic, synthesis and intuition. I test out the hypotheses I generate from these forms of information processing by asking questions and taking note of their answers. I do this selectively for people whose character and behaviour captivates me.

No I do not psychoanalyze people or sit in judgment over other people.

funny you should mention that last line there, dr. Now that you mention it, I don’t think I really have a sense of what people are like beyond the words. I know who the belong to, and I remember.. their paradigms I guess. and of course the info found in personal stories but it’s not enough to say much more than that.. well.. @Dr_Lawrence, you must wear glasses, right? Actually, don’t answer. That’s not the point of the thread. The point is that I imagine you wear glasses.

@MissA Usually personality, but often we will exchange personal pictures and such before an actual meet up. I have never been a believer in left or right brained

Women are smarter than men.

I don’t say that to suck-up, they just are – particularly in regards to what you’re talking about here.

I suspect men are bonking along, pecking away, huffing and grunting, and women have keenly, quietly, created entire WORLDS with vast meaning and interrelationships based on the most minimal of input (or, as Dr_Lawrence points out, lack of key input).

It boggles the mind.

Tracking – like some deft big cat after prey.

So far a lot less than I think I do. How could you really know a Jelly without meeting them in person. There have been a few instances where a Jelly you think you know and trust stab you in the back and screw you big time! So I put little effort into going outside the boundaries afforded here. Hardly worth the time IMO.

That they are all typing on their pcs while sitting at the kitchen table wearing only their underwear.
Except for @Jeruba who is always clothed in tasteful daytime or evening wear.

I’ve not yet met any jellies F2F. There are a few that I feel I’m beginning to know rather well.

I imagine other Jellies to be intelligent, friendly, outgoing, personable, opinionated, passionate, dedicated, sincere, flippant, sarcastic, humorous, interesting, and knowledgeable.

At least this is what I’ve witnessed from a large variety of Flutherites since I’ve been a member here.

I don’t know how much farther I go beyond the things people have told me about themselves. Or shown. I think Gailcalled has provided us with some pictures of Milo and of the house they live in. She’s spoken of being snowed in and being somewhere out in the country. So my image of her is kind of a take-off on those ideas. She is known for her concerns about grammar and spelling. She is Andrew’s (?) aunt. She is retired and she once lived where I live.

What do I make of these things? Well, I guess I have a stereotype of an irascible cat lady. Usually these are in the city, so I have transfer the image to the country. I assume she is liberal because of where she has lived and where she lives close to now. She has been very kind to me, so I assume she is a kind person in general.

I trust her to speak her mind, and I trust her to be kind, mostly. She has a quirky sense of humor (using her cat as an alter-ego), which is endearing to me.

I would gladly have a cup of tea with her of a winter afternoon. I fantasize that she would bustle about, doing extra things that don’t need doing. Or, maybe she would be all business and matter of fact. Don’t know. My fantasy could go either way, depending on the day. I imagine her driving down long empty roads to town—is Milo with her? Don’t know. Could she be the kind of person who would keep her cat with her at all times?

Hmmm. Is she involved in her community? I think she has a mind to be, but I’m not sure she feels she has the energy to do it.

I suspect she is very fond of her nephew. Like enough that he could be her favorite nephew.

I don’t know what she does all day long. She doesn’t seem to fluther much, so there must be a lot going on. Maybe her garden? She must have a garden.

Could she heat her house by wood? Seems like too much trouble. Must be oil heat. See? My mind jumps randomly from thought to thought. Don’t know why gardening made me wonder about wood heat.

All right. I could go on. But you see I can play this game with every jelly I know. I take little bits and pieces and fill them in with what I think is likely. It’s all fantasy, of course, and is probably wildly wrong. But it rarely matters since I almost never meet anyone. I can go happily on imagining what I imagine, and my subject of imagination can go happily on, not knowing all the stuff I am making up about them. Everyone is happy.

Until someone asks a question like this, and I have to use a real example to answer it. My apologies, Gail, if I have insulted you in any way. I just used you as an example because I am fond of you, and didn’t think I’d say anything too insulting.

I imagine Zenele is really Jean Luc Picard, and it makes me all warm and fuzzy to know that he is part of our collective. Oh, dear Locutus…

I imagine [s]he drinks earl grey tea and sits in a comfy chair. I’m not kidding, this is how I imagine Zenele.

I’ll second what @YARNLADY has written in that I know only what that person has typed or shown via an avatar and when I’ve met friends from online then aside from voice, they’ve been just as they presented online which has been kind of a wonderful thing.

Actually, Gail is Ben’s Aunt and doubtful she takes him anywhere other than Vet or groomer.

She has mentioned his tendency to get carsick and urp all over the carrier :)

@Neizvestnaya Thank you, but I sort of have to take that back. One Jellie and I do not see eye to eye on many things, but when we shared videos of our same age children/grandchildren having fun in our living room, it made a huge difference in our participation here.

@Buttontc I thought they were all the same person. Anyway, the question was about what we imagined.

I realize that. I just thought a few actual facts might add a little interest.

I wasn’t trying to be offensive, hence the little smiley :)

@wundayatta: Not too bad for the first try. I am not an irascible person, in general. On Fluther I get annoyed when the language is mangled, but I have been in therapy for that and may be able to stop, one day at a time.

Milo never goes anywhere unless it is a medical or beauty emergency since he is carsick, early and often. He feeds me my best lines, as you know.

I do lots of volunteer things; several Mondays a month I spend with a friend who cannot go outside when the sun is out and cannot use any electricity in the house. We play piano duets by candle light. I do the box office for our local indie Film Club; I am going to take tickets this July for the Blueberry Festival run by the historical society (and there is, of course, my mother). For years I was involved in grass-roots politics but enough is enough.

I have a wood-burning stove and a supply of logs and kindling, but use it only for the coldest days and power outages. Too much work. House was built in the 80’s as a second-home turn-key, so it is zoned electric heat. I cook on gas, however.

In the early spring, Milo shares his spot on the piano with seedlings that I start early. When the last frost is over, I fiddle with the gardens and bushes. I have a meditation bench next to my stream. There is a little waterfall. I listen to bird songs, too.

I love making and drinking tea, but I am don’t bustle, I am not much interested in cooking and baking any more. I had a very hurly-burly life, lived in three major east coast cities, had three serious careers, was married, twice, raised two of my own kids and three step-kids for part of each year. I made hand-made quilts and sold them for ten years. Now I am thrilled to be independent and beholden to no one. I have dozens of acquaintances, several very close friends and one sister, whom I love. We are dutiful, respectful and helpful. I miss my brother (Ben’s dad.)

I’m 5’ 7” and a 12–14. My hair still has not too much gray in it. My ears lie close to my head. I have pretty hands and feet. I have a deviated septum from being hit on the nose while pitching during a softball game as a young teen.

I get neither offended nor insulted here, and there are some parts of my life that I do not share.

Edit. We are dutiful, etc. in terms of caring for our mother.

@gailcalled Thank you. I guess some of my guesses were good and others not so good. But I want to tell you about the one I am most disappointed with. See, in my mind, Milo was a black cat. Or at worst, gray. I did not expect him to be mostly white with a black patch or two. now I don’t know what to do. Somehow this sets the whole fantasy of who you are off-kilter.

I just don’t get it. How can he be white? Why did I imagine him as black? I feel sure I saw pictures of him before. Are there multiple milos (I mean a series, not at the same time)? Sigh. I may have to send my imagination in for an oil change.

@wundayatta: You apparently were not paying attention to all my jokes about white tie, top hat and tail (s). And I am unique. Love, Milo

@Milo, I must have missed school that day.

But I have to ask you a question. You have a very well-trained servant. Where do you find good help, these days?

@wundayatta: MIlo here; It’s a problem. I give Gail about a B+, but at least, she’s a pretty fast learner. (Now, where’s my whip?)