This might come of as incredibly sentimental (which is generally not something that I would describe myself as) but, here goes nothing.
I have never, in the entirety of my life, been a social person. I've never made a forum post, never sent or received a PM of any kind. I don't have a ton of friends (I may not have any real friends, if you remove my family members). I have a very hard time "fitting in". I'm not like a monster or anything, but I'm pretty direct, and I'm not shy to express my opinions. To make matters worse, I tend to find social situations extraordinarily difficult, exhausting even. I would likely be defined as a "wall flower" of sorts. I don't engage.
To get a little personal on you here, I had a kid (then another), and I didn't want to pass along my anti-social tenancies to my offspring. There is, shall we say, a certain Magic in Friendship. (I have two young girls.)
So, I decided to put myself out there and join in something. Why I picked this forum was because there is a strong sense of community here. There seemed to be a desire to continue to grow that community. I like keyboards, I work in Information Technology, I am geeky and awkward, and I say what I'm thinking, and for my time lurking, I felt like all of that was completely acceptable.
To expand on that though, I have a strong desire to learn new things. I feel like the community here is so willing to step up and help out each other. I will, one day, build myself a custom board, and I'm sure when I have a question I can come here an ask. The level of knowledge here is second to none, and everyone is so willing to share. The beauty of that, of course, is that I can then take what I have learned and help others. That fosters a great community that will continue to grow.
These are the reasons to join, or at least my reasons. Much love, people, much love.