So, I am definitely not some selfless saint or whatever. I like to talk about myself. A lot. But I am also genuinely interested in my friend's lives, and I do make a point to remember when they're taking trips, going for job interviews, having boyfriend problems, so I can ask them how they went. I'm not the best listener out there, but I do listen.

Unfortunately, some people don't. At all.

I know two people... We'll call them Travis and Sasha. Not that there's any point in hiding their identities, because I doubt they know of this site, but whatever.

Travis is just extremely dramatic and loves to brag. I have never met ANYONE as self-centered as he is. He could, essentially, talk to a wall instead of wasting my time for the reaction he gets from me and my friends. He always brags about how rich his parents are, how he bout a $5000 women's mink coat (yeah, seriously) the other day, how he got accepted to this prestigious art university in Italy because his parents paid them off (right, I am so jealous that you got in through money rather than talent), and how he's such an ~amazing~ photographer. Recently, his neighbor's house caught on fire, and he regaled us with a play-by-play about how he saved the life of their 5-year-old daughter, kittens, and their Social Security documents. Yeah.

I don't typically hide my feelings for someone if I dislike them. I've known Travis since freshman year, and I made it obvious I disliked him back then, and I'm not exactly friendly to him now. But he doesn't get it. He sits with us at lunch every once in a while, and never shuts up. If you try to talk to him about yourself, he doesn't listen, and takes any opportunity to bring the spotlight back to himself. He recently told us about how he's moving from a house half as small as the one he currently lives in; after bragging about living in a 623425 sq. acre home (he had it memorized down to the decimal, it was weird), he said "So our house has literally been cut in half." And he got mad at me, because, feigning interest, I asked him "Literally? Literally cut in half? So, like, where does the other half go?"

So... then we have Sasha, who's a pathological liar! She used to have a HUGE crush on one of my friends J, and apparently, in order to garner sympathy and attention, she told him a number of ridiculous, untrue things, like she had a heart disease and would die in a few months; that her parents actually died and her mom and dad were actually her aunt and uncle; that her father/uncle worked for the FBI and she knew secret details of JFK's assassination she wasn't allowed to reveal... Yeah, totally wack.

Well, she got caught in some lies when J got fed up with her, and she's lost a lot of her friends as a result. Unfortunately, my friends and I have to hang out with her because we go carpool to our mentoring/tutoring jobs together... And it's not that she lies, it's that she also only wants to talk about herself... She will listen more than Travis, but she's annoying in that as soon as someone finishes a story, she will go "Okay, well anyway, I did this blah blah blah" or "No, wait, let me say this: blah blah blah." Essentially, she dismisses your story and doesn't let anyone ask questions about it; sometimes she just interrupts you and doesn't let you finish. And her stories aren't even interesting. :X It's just stupid because she doesn't let you have a conversation, she just has to one-up you with her own stories.

Anyway. I'm done. =) TY for listening, Rant Section <3

Ha ha, I'm sure Travis is a great photographer. Just about everyone with a halfway decent camera and a couple photos in black and white thinks he's an awesome photographer. *rolls eyes*

Poor Sunday... *gives V-Day chocolate* We've all got to put up with those kinds of people in our lives, but man oh man are they annoying!

I've never met anyone that bad, but there's a guy in my dorm who loves to brag about his money. I had to work with him on a group project one time, and he was supposed to bring money to help pay for supplies. He said he'd have to bring it tomorrow cuz the smallest bill he had was a hundred, and the group was like, "Okay, whatever." I guess because no one seemed to care, he went out of his way to tell us the same thing at least five times during the rest of the meeting! Not to mention he's one of the loudest, most obnoxious, inconsiderate guys in the building.

Sasha reminds me of this girl I knew in seventh grade. She was such an attention whore! She'd lie about ridiculous things. She'd claim to have an eating disorder, swear her stepmom abused her, claim a teacher wanted to sleep with her--and everything was ridiculously over the top and melodramatic. We all knew it wasn't true, and it was annoying that she was lying about serious problems that shouldn't be something to joke around with. When we'd say she was lying she'd always cover it up with, "Oh, I was just joking! Ha ha ha!" What was the worst was how she'd brag about how many guys she slept with. We were only seventh graders, mind you, so we really, really didn't care, and she'd go into all kinds of vulgar details even though we knew it wasn't true. She was a total loser and nobody really liked her. Even the most desperate of guys wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole. She got held back cuz of her grades, and we were all secretly thrilled because it meant we didn't have to deal with her anymore!

Be strong, Sunday! And as much as you may want to, you mustn't punch them in the face or bash them over the head with cafeteria trays. ...no matter how satisfying that may be. (happy)

Funny thing is, I could say the same thing about writers, roleplayers, and graphic artists.

But... carry on.

Of course. But let's face it, if you're going to plaster your work all over the internet as we role players do, you might as well delude yourself into brilliance. XD Tis what I do.

But back on track.

I almost feel a little sorry for Travis and Sasha. Not because I've got some delusion that poor Travis is just a victim of his wealth, or that Sasha actually had any of that happen to her...

But if Travis feels the need to constantly point out his 'great' attributes, I'm going to guess he knows he's not exactly everyone's favourite person. Or at least, part of him does. Unfortunately, some people believe the only way to make others like them, is to be like that... they don't ever consider shutting up and listening.

Sasha... well, she sounds like she's got a whole bunch of problems. Lying to that extreme is something a little more serious than plain attention seeking,

I find it sad when people don't understand that they can be liked for who they are, without having to change it. Though, it doesn't make them any less frustrating to deal with. I had a friend much like Sasha, although 'friend' is probably stretching it. She lied herself into such a corner, she had to move schools because there wasn't a single person who would listen to her anymore.

I wonder why RPG-D doesn't have a :rollseyes: face. Anyway, let's not make this into another over-analyzed killed topic. Carry on indeed. :)

Shadow of the Rain: See, in 7th grade, lying about awful overdramatic things is pretty normal. I knew lots of girls who lied. I remember lying about having a boyfriend back then (lol; "Oh he goes to... uh... another middle school >>;;;")... and even though some girls took it way far like that girl you knew, it's worse to still be spreading lies about yourself like that when you're 17. It's pathetic. :/

O_O

I went to school with a pathological liar back in the day. She -was- my friend, but man was she... out there. Apparently, her dog was allergic to water, and she once had a sister (or twin sister) who she pushed off a cliff when she was... a single digit age, like 5, 6 or something like that. However, we never pointed out that she was lying, we just sort of nodded and moved on.

I don't know how you stand it Sunday. I've never had to deal with that, when I don't like someone and I let them know it, they don't come back around. Get a really good mean face, maybe?

If they grow out of it, then I don't worry... but depending on their age, like Sasha, I can't help but think they must have serious issues. and omg @ pushing a twin off a cliff? That's psycho.

Like I said, I don't make it a secret that I dislike people... But Travis is like a mold on our table; it goes away for a while but comes back when you least expect it. And I have to see Sasha everyday, so unless I want to make things awkward for everyone, I keep most of my true opinions to myself. Both of them are aware I don't care for them, though. We try to keep it civil, I guess.

Yeah, I know huh? She was a crazy girl, but a surprisingly good friend. lol

Yeah, see, I don't keep things civil... unless I absolutely have too. And then it's really, really hard.

I had a friend who was like Sasha, but not as bad. She never listened and always one-upped everyone and always told a story straight after hearing someone else's.

And? I'm sure if Travis bragged about how he was such a great roleplayer/writer/graphic artist I'm sure Shadow could've come up with something to say about that. You aren't really making a point here.

I have a cousin like Sasha. You could be talking about something he knows nothing about and he'd interrupt with "If it were me" or "If I'd been there" etc. He's 9 though so I'm hoping someone will knock some sense into him along the way.

I know you how you feel about the lying friend.

One of my "friends" just recently decided she was pregnant with her boyfriend she met on myspace who lives half way across America. At first I thought she might be serious, but I've caught her lying several times and she lied about the same thing last year. Still, I let her talk about how excited she was to have a baby. Want to know the really sad thing? She started getting the symptoms wrong. She said she knew it was a girl when she wasn't even 3 weeks "pregnant". It was ridiculous. So me and my real friends decided to have fun with it and now we're just waiting to see how far she goes with this lie.

Sounds totally awesome. I bet she has a random miscarriage.

Ah, the lengths people will go to for attention. I know I can be an attention whore on occasion (aren't we all?), but to lie just to get people to notice you is silly and pretty sad.

Lynn, you should totally invite your "pregnant" friend to hang out and go to a bar or something (if you're of age), then order for her saying something like, "Oh, she's pregnant. She'll just have a coke." Mess with her for a bit.

Wow, time to lose those two in a crowd somewhere, Sunday.

The girl sounds like she is borderline schizophrenic. All that government stuff is a bit disturbing. She needs therapy.

I knew a girl in High School who lied that her parents were dead, too. She was really weird. Cute. But totally screwed up. She had a kid and got married last year of high school. I gave her and her baby a ride home one day and she was talking really nutty. She said she hated being a mom. She said she'd rather be a swordswoman. uh...right. Her baby was in little carrier thing between us. It started to cry and she put her hand over it's mouth. I yelled at her cause I was so shocked. I pulled in front of her house and she told me she wanted to leave the baby with me cause she wanted to runaway (from her husband). I told her no way. I told her if she wanted to leave that she should just tell the guy and leave the kid with him. She told me that she was going to leave it on the sofa with pillows around it. Thinking about it now, I should have just taken the kid and go to the police or something. I just didn't want to get into it. Anyway, end of story, she did leave and the father took care of the kid with his family.

The guy you wrote about sounds insecure. He is blabbing on hoping people will think he is important. He's trying to prove to himself he is.

(omg, isn't that what i just did above??? pauses, then shrugs and continues on...)

This is so funny. Haha.

I guess I don't bother much to pretend to like people. I don't go out of my way to say hateful crap. I just always make the conversations go to a dead end or I ask them some really stupid question tailored to their dumb-ass story. The last one doesn't always work, but it can have entertainment value if you are really trapped.

I think with Travis, the best solution is what you're doing. Ignore him. He wants any kind of reaction. If you had the energy, you might work him out of it by showing him attention when he is not bragging about something stupid. The minute he starts going on about something, just stop giving him any attention. You know, like training a dog. You break eye contact, turn your body a little.

I knew a girl like that sophomore year in choir. She was a wrestler and claimed she was pregnant... and all throughout her lie she continued wrestling; she even won a competition. Her baby was due over Christmas break, and when she came back she was telling everyone how she'd had a miscarriage. She didn't even seem upset about it. I say her again earlier this year (she'd dropped out at the end of sophomore year), and she did have a son... with a 30-year-old man. Egh. White trash for sure. : / Totally creepy, though.

RomanHk: I'm pretty sure he's just saying things like that because he's 9. XD The 10-year-olds I help teach are like that as well. Just make sure to stress that it's important for them to listen to other people as well, and to give people a chance to have the spotlight!

RyanA: Haha, I wish! The other thing that's so annoying about Sasha is that she is so easily offended... She is kind of witty herself, I will give her that, but if someone makes a sarcastic comment at her expense, she gets SO upset. Like, a few weeks ago, she left the school building behind another one of our friends, thinking our other friend was holding the door open. Well, she wasn't; the door hit Sasha in the shoulder as she left. She clearly wasn't hurt, as she was laughing, so I said, "Yep, that's called a door, Sasha," and she got all snappy with me... Another similar event happened earlier this week, so now she's decided I'm not worth her time, and she's gone out of her way to drop little hints about it... Like not signing me in at the elementary school we volunteer at, so I was almost counted absent. Ooh, intimidating.

Boy, do self-centered people annoy the crap out of me.

Okay, so everyone likes to talk about themselves every now and then. Like, how you might have done pretty good on a test, or if you got a new pet. You get the idea. Well, i have quite a few friends who just like to ramble on about themselves.

Friend A, we'll call him Billy. Billy decided one day that he was going to straighten his hair. Don't ask me why. He is obsessed with himself. Every single day in P.E. he would ask me, "Oh, is my hair messed up?" "Does my hair look good today?" "Does it look better than yesterday?" But, it didn't stop there. We ride the same bus and one day he happened to get a seat with me. I swear, he talked about his hair for thirty minutes. How he straightens it, how long it takes, all of the problems he goes through with having to straighten it. Finally, the other day, I said something to him about it. He asked if his hair looked okay, and I didn't even look up from what I was doing. I just said I didn't really care... and I don't even think he got the message.

Friend B, we shall call him Bob. Bob is a hugeeee bragger. If you say you made a ninety-nine on a test, he made a one hundred. If you get a new dog, he got two new dogs. He always thinks he has something better to comeback with. Gah, it gets annoying. His mom is a teacher and he claims that she has the biggest room in the high school. For a week he went around telling every single person that line. I have four classes with him. I heard about this classroom FOREVER. Then, he started telling everyone how his dad was a CFO and how he probably made more money than everyone else and how he worked in some town that was an hour away.

we don't care!

Gee, I love ranting :]

Friend A, aka "Billy," wouldn't happen to really be named Cody, would he? When I was reading about him, I kept thinking, "Oh my gosh! That's my little brother!" Seriously, he's so obsessed with his hair, and I could see him going on and on about it to his friends like Billy does. *giggles* I feel your pain.