I don’t know how many captions we’ll be able to wring out of this screenshot (I’m anticipating that they'll be rather limited), but boy is it hilarious!

Littlefoot immediately regrets his choice of words after telling everyone to “hold on!”

One of the inherent risks of playing with a ball that's much bigger than you are.

Hello there! I’m over three months late in introducing myself, and I apologize for that. I admit that I joined with little or no intention of actually posting, but have since decided that I want to contribute.

A bit about me: As of this July, I will be 21 years old. I am from Minnesota, but will say nothing that could be used to pinpoint my precise identity. I am extremely shy, and have seldom posted on the Internet before (announcing myself on this site is a bold move by my standards). I am, by nature, a perfectionist and a nitpicker; something I try to suppress when I am interacting with other people, to avoid irritating them. I am also mildly afflicted with Asperger Syndrome (I understand I am not the only GoF member to have this condition), though I am unsure of how much of my quirky and neurotic personality I can attribute to this. While I believe I can safely cite my autism as the reason for my general lack of social intuition, I don’t like using it as an excuse for my shortcomings (i.e., “Hey, I have Asperger’s, so take it easy on me”).

As I am currently demonstrating, I am a very copious writer. However, due to my perfectionism, it always takes me a long time to write out something the way I want to say it (one reason I rarely participate in forums). It doesn’t help that I am hopelessly absentminded, with a memory that you might call “tactless,” “paradoxical,” or “inconvenient”; that is, while I am very proficient at spontaneously recalling certain trivial information, I always seem to draw a blank whenever I need to remember something for a practical purpose (such as an exam).

I have been obsessed with dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals (and animals and nature in general) for my entire life. For this reason, the original Land Before Time was one of my favorite movies when I was young. My interest in the series has fluctuated immensely over the years, but at this point, I think I can safely say that it is higher than it has ever been before. This has been the case for about the past six months, prior to which I had not watched an LBT film in about seven years. Then, acting on an impulse, I obtained and viewed all thirteen movies over a period of a few weeks, after which I was still hungry for more. (Sometime I’ll post a more in-depth explanation in the “Tell Your Story About LBT” thread.) My search for further LBT material led me to this site, to which I have been making regular visits ever since.

Due to my fanatical love of dinosaurs (and science and nature in general), I am something of an expert on them. I keep as up-to-date as I can on the latest paleontological discoveries, and am always eager to share the knowledge I have accumulated. (I am something of a human equivalent of Mr. Thicknose, though my conversational skills are worryingly reminiscent of Guido’s.) While the Gang of Five is hardly a science blog, I have seen a number of discussions in which the posters indicate that they would appreciate the input of an authority on dinosaurs.

While I have no paleontology credentials, I feel that I’m as qualified as anyone to serve as the resident go-to guy for information on dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals (in any case, I have enough books on prehistory to fill a small library, so I have plenty of references with which to check my facts). Thus, I will do my best to contribute to topics in need of scientific advisement. I hope I am not giving off the impression that I am barging into this forum and promoting myself as a know-it-all; I simply enjoy discussing subjects of personal interest that I know a lot about, and as that knowledge may be helpful (or at least interesting) to some people on this forum, I feel that this is an opportunity for me to engage in something I enjoy doing, while at the same time benefitting others. That said, I will probably not post very often on this site, but will do my best to participate whenever and wherever I feel I have something to contribute.

As long as I am a member of this forum, I promise to be honest and respectful whenever I post. I will never intentionally offend anyone or speak ill of other people’s opinions (though I will most certainly disagree with some of them), and will always keep a cool head when I post. The last thing I want to do is to irritate or upset anyone. (Seriously, I really hate it when I offend people, especially inadvertently. I am a social klutz with terrible self-esteem and an overdeveloped sense of guilt: not a good combination.) Also, in regard to my scientific writing, please do not hesitate to let me know if you ever need me to define or clarify something that I have described in an overly “scientific” manner. (I usually try to explain scientific concepts in easily understandable terms, but then, my definition of “understandable” is probably not the same as everyone else’s.)

Okay...hopefully this introduction has not come off as a sympathy plea or an encumbrance of autobiographical trivia; I only wanted to inform (warn?) you what to expect from me. I am, in general, a nice guy (if eccentric, introverted, and insecure) with a sense of humor and a desire to make a positive difference in the world, and hopefully I can be an accepted and active member of this site.

(Holy buckets, that’s got to be the longest member introduction in GoF history! So much for “a bit about me”...)