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Wow, what an experience. I never intended or expected to find myself in the Top 5 kissers of this event! I don't think I've been in the Top 5 of anything like this before - it certainly is a unique circumstance to have so much attention from so many users that I don't even know.

I've had to edit my profile almost completely. For the first few days, I left my big, long "About Me" ramble in there, but then I realized I wasn't really comfortable with thousands of users reading that. I also took my Journal out of my profile layout (even though it can still be accessed). Not because it's embarrassing, but because it gave people that I didn't know a sense that they knew me. I really feel like that was unfair to them. No matter how "cool" they might think I seem, right now they're just one user among the hundreds that have left me a comment or sent me a PM in the past week.

And I'm not saying everybody's the same or one person has no value among so many - I'm not saying that at all - but really, how can I be expected to get to know every single person who tries to contact me? Everybody has their reasons for wanting to be friends. Some think I'll give them stuff, others want a user of status on their friend list (which is silly, since my "status" will be back to normal user in a week), and there are some users who genuinely think we could get along and chat together. But how can I know who is who?

I turned off friend requests after, when I first made it to the Top 5, I had to reject three people who had never even said "hi" to me before. That's just ridiculous. I would rather friend somebody after getting to know them, not as a way to get to know them. I spend my time talking in certain forums, and I like to know that I am able to have conversations and click with a person before I add them.


Beyond that, I haven't turned off or disabled anything. My PMs are still on because I do have an Art Contest going on, and people need to contact me for other reasons. I've gotten so many PMs from people asking questions or saying they kissed me or something. I rarely reply to my PMs unless it's from a friend or someone asking about my art contest. The only real exception to that is people wondering if I got a prize for being Top Kisser, or (usually in the same question) where I got my "Grace of Eros" from. I always make sure to tell people that I bought him from the Cash Shop. But I've replied to more comments, I think, than PMs during this event. It's just easier to keep track of comments.

And speaking of comments, I've gotten so many of those... @_@ Quite a few sweet ones, some from people just saying "congratulations," and some actually commenting on my interests that are similar to theirs. A lot of rather spammy comments, too, which I don't mind. I even like some of the ones that accuse me of being a slut or having no life and wasting my time. I have to wonder what's really bothering those people. Maybe they're upset because they "wasted" their own time on this event, and never made a ranking? Or maybe they're just jealous of all the attention that I've gotten without really doing anything?

I've tried to make the most of the attention, though. I kept the link to my art contest in my profile, and I added a Free Rice banner link. I've gotten comments from people saying they'd never heard of the site but just finished donating 5,000 grains, and people saying they'd forgotten about it and I reminded them to go. So I think it's a good thing.

I am getting a little tired of the "fame" and people thinking I'm "famous". I'm not. Once the event ends, which'll probably be today, nobody's going to see the scoreboard and that'll be the end of it. I can finally go back to being a normal user who makes friends normally on the forums, and not have to worry (any more than usual, anyway) about people saying they like me because of my "status". Don't get me wrong - I like being #1. I worked for it and I want to keep it. But I'm going to be very happy when the event ends and I can go back to just being the shine inside you.