Hey, everybody! :wink: I've been absolutely *fascinated* with cephalopods ever since eighth grade, so I am absolutley thrilled to discover that this site exists! Can't wait to explore it all... :D Later, fellow ceph-crazed friends! :P

Claudia

Yo Claudia,
If ya lookin' for cephs da da da da :elvis:
you come to the right place !

Fossils & History is best, it's where all the experts hang out.

Fossils & History is best, it's where all the experts hang out.

Hmmmm.....You sure about that?

Hi Claudia!

:welcome: to TONMO. Have fun,

Phil

:cyclops:
Indeedy, :welcome: to TONMO.

Looks like you have a fan there Phil. I think our dear Spartacus Bellbottom like's 'em dead (less complaints that way eh :heee: )

Hi Claudia,
Welcome to TONMO.com :)
You didn't tell us what continent you're on!

Nancy

:welcome: to TONMO, Claudia!!

Cool deal Claudia, welcome!

Spartacus, the true experts hang out in the Supporter's Forum, of course. :wink: :heee:

Hey Claudia!

What sparked your interest in octopuses in 8th grade? Being small, squishy, and good for little else than opening up jars, I was thrown into the family aquarium as a child, and there I spent my formative years, eating shrimp and hiding under live rock. I've never figured out why I like octopuses, but I suspect it has something to do with that ;)

-Brandon

Steve, Tony, Phil,

Looks like you have a fan there Phil. I think our dear Spartacus Bellbottom like's 'em dead
Sir :oshea: OBE MBE DFC, Phil's a top blerk, dunno where he gets his gen but he always comes up trumps & smelling of ammonia.
Norfolk's not yet on the ceph map so I hunt the dead'uns & watch the big live'uns ont telly with me bird. Though I once met a wee octo living in a Coke bottle in Spain :octopus:
Does that get me into the "honourary" Supporters' Forum ? squeak squeak :heee:

Spartacus, the true experts hang out in the Supporter's Forum, of course
Tony, you're not wrong but like Phil I'm brassic & soon to be receiving the big "E" for services rendered to the petro-chem filtration club, but hey, don't weep on my behalf, I'm off to sunny France with my pot of gold :sly:
to hunt dead cephs & rear llamas.
but I promise to cough $20 as soon as (is that Strine or Kiwi dinero)

Poor Brandon :(
Still convinced joining was a smart move Claudia ?

*WOOOOOOOW!* :D Thanks for all your words of welcome, everyone...I'm proud to say I'm a lurker no longer! :P

Hey, Nancy...I'm from the United States...Pennsylvania in fact. It's a good time, I suppose...I'm absolutely appalled when I travel to other portions of the country that are so flat since, well, I live on a mountain...hahaha...

Ermmmmm... :P hahaha...Brandon, I'm fairly confident I can solve your problem...you've come to the right site, m'boy...ever heard of James B. Wood? No?? Go look 'im up online...I'm sure you'll get some A-rate assistance :D

What sparked my interest in those prodigious critters we lovingly call "cepahlopods?" I can definitely pinpoint this one. I was home on a weekend, stuck at the house of a friend of a family. All the adults were congregating and talking about "adult stuff," and I, the unfortunate eighth grader, was kicked out of the room to temporarily amuse myself to talk about those ever-mysterious topics that adults ramble on about when you're fourteen. The choice was clear-cut. I reached for the remote and attempted to click my boredom away when I stopped on the Discovery Channel. Now, I've always been a pretty big fan of DC (...I mean, it's really no wonder, looking back on it...I became a biotech major :D ) so I tentatively left it on to see if there was anything worthwhile on. It happened to be in the earlier parts of Ultimate Guide to Octopus. I watched the remaineder of the documentary with my mouth agape the entire time. I was agog when it was over. To think that these undersea creatures possessed such intelligence, such unique body characteristics, such amazing defense weapons and sensory capabilities. They were underwater 007's...the only difference was that they lacked a spinal cord, and had a wealth of craaaaaaaaaaazy characteristics that Mr. Bond would've been inconsolably envious of. I was hooked. Now, I revel in studying up on them, reading new books on research, and of course, watching more documentaries on my favorite animals. I even boast a small collection of plush cephalopod toys...so much fun! (...the problem is that you just can't seem to get enough, can you?... :P ) My friends think I'm crazy, but ya know what? They realize I'd *still* be crazy without all this cephalopod nonsense, so who CARES?!? 8) Yep, Brandon...I *def* love cephalopods... How did some of you all become interested in cephalopods? :) (STORY TIME! :D )

And Lliam, quite honestly, I am slightly trepidatious, half-wondering what on *earth* I've gotten myself into (if I was an octopus at this moment, I would be completely white...the ultimate distress signal...hahaha) ...no, jk...if you've ever been involved in the music world, you know that you meet a *looooooootta* crazies in orchestra 'n' band 'n' such...crazy, eccentric people are fun...I do believe I've come to the right place. 8)

Thanks again for the warm welcome! [i]Keep on swimming, keep on swimming... :D