Thursday, April 29, 2004

Got a Question? Bring It On!
Questions from Baron Samedi

1. What is your middle name?

Robert.

2. What is the most embarassing thing your parents have ever done to you?

I can't really think of any embarassing things they have done to me. Mostly they specialize in making bad decisions for me. Having bad credit at such a young age is pretty embarassing, though.

3. What are you most proud of?

Probably Lost His Keys Man, the comic character that I've been drawing for 10 years. I think he has a really unique look to him, and he just has a lot of positice memories that I can associate with him. I don't think I've ever posted the character on OB, but maybe I'll have to do that sometime.

4. How often do you visit the [Otaku Franchise]?

I visit OB at least once a day, if not multiple times a day. I don't really feel the need to post anymore, though. I don't visit myOtaku very often, but that's because I don't have time to keep up with everyone's lives. My "friends" are visited as soon as there is an update, but I rarely leave comments.

5. Why, Shyguy?

I'm a guy, I'm shy. Hooray. Next.

6. What did you originally think of me from OB?

I don't remember, but chances are it wasn't positive. New members seem to get on my nerves, regardless of how they behave.

7. Do you think anything of me now?

I really like your Hagar avatar, and I enjoy how you leave comments in myOtaku. Other than that, I don't see an awful lot of you on the boards because you don't frequently visit my sections.

8. Name someone from OB who really gets up your nose.

That's not a question. Sorry.

9. Your favourite band?

That's not a full question either, but I'm a big fan of Ozma, Weezer and the Seatbelts.

10. Will you update more often?

It depends on how often people ask me questions, doesn't it? I'd like to update more often, but I think I'd rather keep my thoughts and feelings in a private blog than myO.

Qustions From Mimmi

1. Getting on this trend of being asked questions is just a decoy, isn't it ? You're doing it so we don't notice that you're putting dog/cat collars on our necks with silly names on them and putting us up for adoption, aren't you ? (Basically I'm wondering just what the appeal is to doing this, if it's looking at what questions you'll get/thinking about them/answering them ?)

It's interesting to see what people want to know about me, and I enjoy not having to think of a particular topic to write about.

2. Are more people coming up to you saying "Hey Josh" these days ?

In real life, or online? It kind of bothers me when people say "Hey Josh" online, because it's usually somebody who doesn't know me very well. They do it a lot more these days since myOtaku started, I've noticed.

In real life they say "Hey Josh" all of the time because I wear a name badge at work.

3. What kind of ride would the MyOB be?

I'd imagine it's some kind of simulator ride where the rider could customize it however they wanted to. Like you input some information before you ride and a computer will create the ride automatically. *shrug*

4. If your popularity in here could be traded in for an item/situation, what would you choose?

That's incredibly vague, but yeah, there are a lot of things I would trade my OB popularity for: a nice apartment, good credit, true love, etc. You know, boring things like that.

5. Would you rather write an autobiography on yourself, or do a movie that would be 'based on real events'?

A movie based on actual events would be more fun.

6. Is there a scent that you wish you could bottle up?

The best scents are already bottled. I can't think of anything clever to add.

7. If you could only speak in Shakespearian English, would you immerse yourself in it or go mute?

I would go mute. As quaint as Shakesperian (sp?) English may be, it would drive me insane to hear myself speak it, let alone understand what I'm saying.

Desbreko's Question

1. Boxers or briefs?

Briefs, baby.

Japan86's Questions

1. What do you really think of me?

I think you are too concerned about what other people realy think of you, especially those you only know from OtakuBoards.

2. What ride is the best ride at Disneyland?

I'm a big fan of Star Tours, Space Mountain and the Haunted Mansion. Really I like just about every ride at the park, which is why it makes perfect sense to work there.

3. When you are at Disneyland and it is your day off, which of the two would you choose and why? Popcorn or cotton candy?

Cotton candy usually makes me sick, so I'll go with popcorn.

4. Where on OB is Carmen San Diego?

The Yu Yu Hakusho forum. ha.

5. If you were to Cos play at Anime Expo, what would you dress up as?

I wouldn't do that, but most likely Kamui from X.

6. Would you exchange your yellow Disney coat for anything else in the world?

A clean one, it's getting a little dirty after so much use and it's "dry clean only," bleh.

7. Have you talked with Jenna lately?

We text message each other from time to time, but we haven't actually spoken in a whole.

8. Jump rope or hopscotch?

Hopscotch.

9. Vanilla or chocolate?

Chocolate.

10. The Matrix or Kill Bill?

Kill Bill.

11. Cookies or cake?

Cookies.

-----------------------

12. How tall are you?

6'2"

13. What size shoe do you wear?

12's, I think.

14. What does your voice sound like?

Like umm... my voice? I don't know.

15. What would you and Greg do when you two meet up?

Go to Anime Expo. Hang out. Not entirely sure what else yet.

16. If you were to die the next day, what would you be doing now?

Probably writing up some sort of will, or drawing little cartoons to adorn my casket with.

17. Who is the biggest rambler on OB?

PoisonTongue and Mitch are equal, in my opinion.

18. Who do you think is the best writer overall on OB?

I like James' and Saras' stuff. I don't a whole lot of everyone else's stuff, unless they post it in Kill Adam or something.

19. What do you prefer to wear: Flip flops? or tennis shoes?

Tennis shoes.

20. What type of vehicle do you drive?

2003 Silver Jetta.

Shinmaru's Question

1. Is there any one (or more, perhaps) ride that you could ride all day long at Disneyland and not get tired of it? Why?

No, I'd get tired of doing just about anything all day long.

Transtic Nerve's Question

1. What would you think about moving o Orlando?

I really don't want to move out of Southern California. I have everything I could ever possibly want down here, and moving across the country is probably not the best thing for me right now. I can't move that far to work for so little. If I ever move far enough in the company and an opportunity comes to move to Orlado (or even Hong Kong, since a new Disney park is opening there soon) I would most likely take it.

Sara's Questions

1. What are three of your favorite songs, and where might I find them?

"A Place Called Home" by Kim Ritchey (Album: Rise), "Possibilities" by Weezer (Album: Maladroit), "1000 Words" by um.. somebody? (Album: FFX-2 OST)

2. If you could kill one person in history (for any reason, and without those nasty paradoxical repercussions) who would it be, and why? And who's the runner-up?

Hitler seems like the most obvious choice, so I'll go with that. I'd also like to kill the person (or persons) who shot JFK, just because of how interesting the time-paradox repurcussions would be.

3. Which Disney Princess am I most like?

Belle, I suppose. I can't imagine any of the others (maybe Ariel) mailing out envelopes for free stickers.

4. Which do you find more interesting: Typewriter, or calligraphy?

Typewriter.

5. What's your favorite flavor of Jelly Belly?

I like combining the cherry and cream soda ones.

6. Which character has been in more animated theatrical shorts than Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny combined? Popeye!
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Spring Fever / Ask Shy
Is there a lamer title than "Spring Fever"? I think not.

So where has my life been these past few weeks? It's pretty much in the same place it was last time I write a myOtaku post -- and that isn't really a good place to be.

My feelings for that special someone haven't begun to fade yet, which makes things a little awkward, having to work with him a few times every week. I guess my biggest regret is being open about my feelings, and losing such an important friend in the proccess. But I guess the most I can do is work past that, and mabe things can return to how they once were -- minus the awkwardness.

Onto other things, I'm trying incredibly hard to move out of my house. A couple of friends from work and I are hoping to het our own apartment, but everything is just so expensive, and I don't make a whole lot of money from my Disney job. I'm considering getting a second job in the area, and it looks like I'll need to do that if I plan to live on my own. Of course, if I get the position at work that I applied for I wouldn't have to worry as much about money. I'll find out that I didn't get it by Friday, which isn't the end of the world. There's always next time, and I'm surprised I have progressed this far in the company given my very limited time there. In less than a year this silly little job has managed to overrun my entire life, bleh.

Speaking of which, due to my job I haven't been able to get in touch with Greg (Syk3) over the past few days. Both of us are hoping that he will be able to fly down here for Anime Expo, but because of time zones and busy schedules my parents have not had a chance to discuss things over with his parents. I don't really see him online much these days either; I suppose it happens to the best of us -- eh?

So yeah, I don't have a lot to write about these days, but I still visit the boards on a daily basis, even if it's only just to visit my RPG section.

It would be awesome if Kill Adam: Volume 2 kicked off right after Volume 1 concludes, because I feel like there is still a lot that the characters can do. I'm hoping to do a chapter with Toriness at some point, but we'll see how James arranges things. He has really been in charge for giving everything a coherent narrative, so if KA makes any sense at all he's the one to thank.

Since I have so little to write, if you have any questions of your own I would be more than happy to answer them (and in a timely manner too!) This may seem like I'm hopping on the "ask me questions" bandwagon, and you're right. It gets me some quick replies and I don't have to think about what I should write next. Your questions can be about anything, really: even invasive personal questions are welcome. So look at that comment box and think of something, or else it may be a while before you end up with another lazy post such as this.
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Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Of Romance and Laptops
It's a bit out of the ordinary for me to write a "real life" post like this, but I feel like it explains a few things that need to be explained. At least, it puts things in a specific context, or gives me an excuse for not being online much these days -- or something?

So, I guess it all started about three years ago when we got our brand new "top of the line" eMachine brand computer from my Dad. My inability to keep my finances in order comes from both of my parents, but my poor judgement in making large purchases comes directly from him. If you do not know what an "eMachine" is do not fret, for most people have never heard of such a thing. It is an off-brand of computer hardware that is sold exclsuively through Best Buy, and is notorious for putting together junky products. I did not complain about my new eMachine though, because I was just thrilled to have something remotely up-to-date (my last machine was an old Macintosh Performa.)

For the next three years I struggled with my baby, spending countless hours trying to find creative solutions to it's many, many problems. The mouse doesn't work anymore? That's okay, I know enough shortcuts to get by without it for a while. Adobe products cause my computer to violently spasm? Well, who needs Adobe then! My eMachine came with a handful of off-brand graphic arts programs that I eventually mastered.

But early last week it all seemed so futile. It finally decided to stop working entirely. Since the warranty had conveniently run out earlier in the year (coincidence, or conspiracy? You tell me) there was no clear solution aboutwhat to do. My computer skills are fairly meager, and even though I'm sure it could be jury-rigged through another semester I didn't have the heart to put it through anymore pain.

I decided that it was time for me to buy my own computer; the only catch is that name brand electronics require quite a bit of cash to pay for ^_^" After looking into a few different ways of paying for it, I decided that I would have to pay for it through credit and by the year 2023 the payments would be complete. So I head over to Best Buy, and after a lengthy discussion with the cashier I discover that my credit card is $180 over the limit.

The only thing is that I don't use my credit card for anything; my parents do. They made me apply for the card last semester to help cover my costs at school, only they never actually got around to making payments for it. As a direct result of this, I wasn't able to enroll in classes this most recent semester. Of course, my parents don't actually know about this because they threatened to take away my car if I ever dropped out of or failed college. For about three hours on Tuesday-Friday I leave the house and drive around SoCal aimlessly, meanwhile everyone thinks I am busy at school.

*sigh* It's a terrible thing to do, I know. But my options seemed very limited at the time. I'm hoping to get a second job in the near future and take over payments of my car before they find out about "fake school." Coincidentally, "fake spring break" is coming up for me next week, so I should be able to spend more time online.

Using my savings I was able to get a nice little HP Pavillion laptop, and today is my first day of using the thing. Hopefully I will be able to chat with certain people over AIM again, most notably the current object of my affection.

No, it's not anyone you know. I know them from work, but due to our very random schedules it seems like we communicate more online than we do in real life, which might not be a bad thing. When I have feelings for a person I find it very difficult to communicate with them verbally, so in these little AIM chats I come across as being much more intelligent and charming than I am in real life.

He's not the love of my life, at least not yet, but he's one of the closest friends I have ever had. As much as I value my friendships with females (and straight males) it's just nice to have someone who you can talk to about the things you've never been able to talk about.

So yeah, I have a terible history of getting attached to my close friends and this situation is no different. We've had "the conversation" and sadly the feelings are not mutual, so for the past few weeks that has been putting me in a depressed mood. I'm not used to having "the conversation," most of the people I love never even knew how I felt about them, or the feelings were mutual and some annoying circumstances prevented anything from ever happening.

Now every time I seem him is a reminder of how I put him in an awkward situation, and probably messed up our friendship. It is very frustrating at times, but it's just another thing I have to deal with in the endless string of annoyances that make up life.

On another negative note: The Otaku Awards were totally completed until my computer died last week. I remember some of the results, but some of the less popular categories need to be recounted. It would be appreciated if a few people were to volunteer and speed up the proccess, but I understand if everyone wants me to get them done by myself. The fact that the results haven't been posted yet is a big thorn in the online side of Josh, and I'm sorry to disappoint everyone by now having them out yet, bleh. Patience is a virtue, my friends. (Do I even have any online friends anymore? That's probably my fault as well.)

Work is going well. I got a semi-promotion in the sense that I will be training new people who come to work on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and next week I'll be learning my second attraction: Splash Mountain. It's very exciting to finally operate another ride after so much time on Pooh, and I'm looking forward to the change of pace.
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Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Transformation
The Otaku Awards' winners will be announced at some point in the future, but I feel like anything remotely new should be held off until the shiny and new-ness of OB7 wears off. New versions have a habit of decreaing overall posting, just because members are more interested with the new features/skins than actual posts. Somewhat odd, if you ask me...

What's even worse is that many of the awards were osbsolete by the time they were created. The series-specific awards are strictly a thing of the past now, but it's still fun for the guy who won "Least Disappointing Yu Yu Hakusho Member" to get some recognition. By the way, be aware that the Yu Yu Hakusho is now a part of Otaku History. Generations from now people will tell the tale of our seven anime forums, the Yu Yu Hakusho wasteland and the slightly-annoying moderator who ruled it all with an iron fist. Most people don't even realize that we have had Outlaw Star and Tenchi forums, it's amazing to think of the random bits and pieces that have changed over the years.

One thing that has remained relatively unchanged over the years is our lovely Adventure Arena. As chaotic as it may seem sometimes, our Team Hanzo is one of the most organized role-playing boards on the net. A lot of that is due to Final Flash's and Harlequin's contributions, and I'm not exactly planning to reinvent the wheel while I am the Team Leader.

One thing I'm hoping to change is post quality and actvity in that forum. In the coming weeks I want to get a few major RPGs going on in the area, which will hopefully send a message to all members. Threads like Project Gamer and Kill Adam have done far more for the forum than any rules thread could, so by setting a good example I can hope that everyone follows suit. When the right concept comes along I'm hoping to unite all of Team Hanzo's moderators for something fun to kick off our new beginning.

It makes me sad to be away from my anime forums, though, just because I don't get to "see" a lot of the same faces in the Adventure Arena. Things seem to be going very well over there, though, and Dagger's new modship is the best thing to happen to the place in a long time.

Everyone had better treat them well over there, because I still have banning power. ;)
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Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Downtime Madness
A few people seemed genuinely upset over my last post, and I feel like I need to apoligize. The awards always come at a difficult time of year for me -- I honestly don't understand why people can't let the official awards be run officially. If you need attention that badly go post depressing things in myOtaku... like I'm doing now...? Ergh.

I'm sorry that I don't have any cool new v7 tidbits for this post. A few other people have been dropping some interesting information about the new boards, but I haven't seen much more than the average member. All I know is that I will have a position in the next version, and that they will be done sometime soon,

It's not that big of a deal. We had to deal with an entire month of downtime when OB was updating to a new version once. A lot of us passed the time by posting in blogs, while others fiddled around with the idea of making their own boards. All in all, it was the biggest waste of time ever and the boards still haven't fully recovered in their activity since then. But from what I have seen, the new stuff in v7 will be taking these boards to the "next level" (whatever that means.)

Be prepared for the day when the boards have a hundred active members posting at the time, because it's going to happen someday. Everything is being streamlined to prepare for the enormous membership growth that James and Co. are probably expecting, and everything about v7 is being thought out for the long term. This is definitely going to be the last version of the boards for quite some time, so you'd all better enjoy them.

Isn't it funny how I can write an entire post without really saying anything at all? I think it is, but I doubt my few visitors actually do...

Got another couple of letters from Sara the other day, always a pleasure. I also got a text message from Jenna while I was working, which cheered me up quite a bit. It's good to know that she's alive... somewhere.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Dopplegangers / Disappointment
I was talking to Adam yesterday; admittedly it was the first time that we had spoken in a while. When I was a regular contributor to theOtaku we would speak every day, but now that my role in the sites has diminished our conversations are few and far between.

He urged me to submit some greeting cards to the site again, and seeing how I had a few lying around, I quickly obliged. Those should be popping up at the bottom of this page once they pass the screening proccess, however long that takes. It was nice just to check in on the guy again -- there was once a time when talking to him over AIM would make be incredibly nervous... now I don't think much of it. He's just one of many friends I have made through this site, it's silly to think of him as someone who once intimidated me. ^_^"

And with my current position at the boards, there might be a few people who are intimidated by me. Maybe I come across as being too uptight on the boards. There are those who seem shocked when they see me acting casual in an OB chat, or a simple RPG. Before all this staff nonsense came out, I used to post more frequently -- there are those who weren't around to see me when I was more outgoing. And I guess as time progresses the current generation of OB-ers will seem like they are less approachable, just because of superficial things like their status and post count.

But I find myself being more intimidated by somebody's post quality than anything that could possibly be listed in their profile. Shinmaru is someone who I didn't really notice until he had become such a strong figure on the boards, and was somewhat worried that I would make the wrong first impression with him. There are still some members I dislike because of bad first impressions that were made, and in most cases my feelings are justified.

Dagger was a different story; from day one I knew that girl was going to kick my ass in the anime forums, so I made every effort to become friendly with her (Side note: Read "Dagger is Cool.") She really is the best member to come out of that place since v3, and deserves a lot of respect for that.

She reminds me a lot of Anna in the days when she was active. It seems like some new members share a lot of traits with others from the past. Lynx (or whoever they used to be) reminds me a lot of myself, mainly because of their use of size 1 font and the [list] code. They are a good member who has already impressed me with their post quality. Part of me is worried about them overshadowing me as the "Awesome member with size 1 font," but I realize that Sara used size 1 font first and is a Goddess.

This was one of my more rant-y posts, sorry about that everyone. Otaku Awards are still in the proccess of being counted, and I may call on some members to help me before the weekend.

I'm highly disappointed by those who went out of their way to promote themselves for certain awards, or counted up the votes themselves. You really defeat the purpose of having "official" awards when every random member decides to tally up the votes for themselves.

Even after you post results in your sig or myOtaku, I still have to personally count the same votes. Anyone who goes as far to write "Vote for me for _____ or the year!" in their sig really isn't stable enough to add a few numbers together, in my opinion.

If I'm involved in next year's awards things are going to be done much differently. Expect a committee system of educated members to do the actual voting, since it's unfair for someone who NEVER VISITS THE DIGIMON SECTION to vote for someone in that category. People aren't getting the awards they deserve because of the "flavor of the month" votes.. ridiculous.

I don't vote in the Mexican presidential race, and I certainly wouldn't do so just to hop on the bandwagon of cool Mexicans who were doing it.

Yeah, a lot of you suck. Sorry. :(
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Friday, February 6, 2004

The Mod Rod
There have been a lot of posts regarding the infamous "Mod Rod" recently, and I thought it would be a good idea to clear up the origins of this magical item.

Once upon a time theOtaku.com had an amazing Digimon section, headed by Ginnylyn. It was probably the most comprehensive Digimon site on the web, and as a result it managed to attract a lot of great members. Sara, Nerdsy, Ben, myself.. big names used to come out of this place, and Ginnylyn was our queen. So, like any good ruler she felt it neccessary to protect herself and her boards with a weapon of sorts -- the Mod Rod.

Otaku Arcana clearly states that the mod rod is supreme, so there was a power struggle for it at one point. An RPG was created (by Desbreko, I believe) "War of the Mod Rod," where there was a great battle over who had rightful ownership. In the end Ginny retained her mod rod, even though she had resigned from OB staff somewhere around v4.

Around this time a thread was created where members would write little "wills" about who would receive their possessions after they had left the boards. A lot of people gave away their post counts to random newbies, I think it was Sara who said that she would never give away her staff position, for fear of cursing anyone with it, heh. In that thread Ginnylyn had given rightful ownership of the Mod Rod to me, and when she left the boards I assumed ownership of this modly weapon.

So yeah, get your stories straight. There is one mod rod, and everything else is just a cheap imitation. It just bugs me sometimes when someone steals an inside joke, and uses it in the inappropriate context. Heh.

Note: It's important to remember that Sara created the wonderful :modrod: smiley that we are able to use on the boards today.
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Wednesday, February 4, 2004

Syk_86 and Shy_86
It was a boring day on the OtakuBoards, and poor Shy had nothing to interest him. He had posted quite a bit recently, but there wasn't a single thread out there that was interesting to him. Poor Anime Lounge needed a new sticky topic, but that was put on the backburner in favor of ... Totally Random Name Changes!

It's a good thing that I'm not an Admin, because I would end up having far too much fun with the power to change user names. Just yesterday Syk and I decided to change our user names to the Totally Random "Syk_86" and "Shy_86." The funny thing is that I would be "Syk_86" and Greg would be "Shy_86," thus confusing every member on these fine boards. I sent Charles a PM about it, and he fully supported the idea... sadly, Mr. James did not. We haven't had a chance to discuss the name change issue, but within a few hours of becoming "Syk_86" my name was reverted back to plain old "Shy." This was probably crossing a line on his part, but most members are confused enough without someone like me trying to make it more difficult for them. Oh well, it was all in good fun and I just wish that it had lasted longer.

Have you voted for the Otaku Awards 2004: Final Voting yet? You proably should, since Friday is the final day and everything. It's amazing how some of the voting trends have changed as a result of limiting it down to three choices.

Also, Why I Hate Semjaza Azazel is probably the best thing I have seen in the fan-fiction forum since the comics thread was active. It makes me upset that more people haven't noticed this; especially considering how massively hated Tony is. He never mailed me that one comic book he propmised me, or started that RPG that he said he would do... I hate him!
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Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Kill Adam and Other Projects
With the O-Awards wrapping up, it's time for me to focus my online attention to other things.

First and foremost, I'd like to keep Kill Adam active with a steady stream of great posts. Going three weeks without having anyone post is just too much, and I'm going to make sure that all of mine are done in a timely manner from now on (speaking of which, it's HC turn to post so that I can finish the chapter.)

Tony is also hoping to put together a new RPG, and I'd like to take part in that. Aside from Kill Adam, he's only participated in a handful of RPGs, and I'm always really impressed by the stuff he writes. It's always rare that someone like Tony or myself chooses to put together an RPG, so take advantage of it. Seeing cool stuff like Don't Shoot The Goombas die is just too depressing for me, heh. *shameless plug*

So yeah, a lot of my focus these days is going to RPGs and the Adventure Arena. My moderator duties only take up so much of my time, and seeing as my involvement in v7 will be less-than-expected, it frees up a world of new things that I can waste my time with!

BTW: What do you think of the monochrome style that I put on myOtaku? Did you like it better before?
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Saturday, January 24, 2004

More Otaku Awards
I thought things would be posted last night, but neither the Site Director or Admin were online and I didn't want them posted without an accompanying announcement. So this morning I find James online, and before I'm able to bug him about making an announcement I realize that I had forgotten to count up one of the more important awards(!)

Needless to say, I'm not going to post the awards until everything is ready. Also, depending on how long it takes for v7 to show up it might be cool to hold of posting the final results until that launches. It would give everyone another reason to celebrate the new version change, but people here are too impatient for that sort of thing, I think. After all, we were expecting v7 by this time last year.

A special thanks to the people who have helped me count votes thus far: Arcadia, Shinmaru, Syk3, Japan_86, Sara and AzureWolf. Each of them took a lot of time from their (not-so) busy schedules to help out with the awards, and I feel bad for still having this one particular award to count votes for. Oh well.
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