Hmm. I think I was first on the internet in '91 or '92, but that was just AOL and Prodigy. Some local BBSs by '93 or '94 or so. (And that was mostly because I guy I had a crush on was on the BBS. I couldn't find much interesting there, except stuff to talk to this guy about the next day. And he wasn't interested in me, anyway. He thought I was uncool because I didn't play Magic:the Gathering. I tried to learn, but couldn't find anyone who'd spend more than five minutes explaining it to me, and I didn't understand it with the five-minute explanation.) (This was a magnet school, in the early ninties. We had weird definitions of "cool.")

It isn't that unusual to laugh manicily as food scrapes get pulled down into the disposal, is it?

Not at all unusual, beth. I recommend it.

Much kitty~ma to Byron and hugs to mom.

Sounds like encouraging kitty news, gc. I'll keep sending kitty~ma your way too.

GIANT MOUNTAIN LOOOOOOMING

That is so cool! The only time I was there it was clear one day. Crazy huge mountain. When I flew in there was cloud cover over the whole area except for the huge mountain top over the clouds. I never see mountains so I may have been more than usual impressed, but still I can't imagine not noticing such a wonder.

Hil!!! Congrats! Yay for recognition.

Depends on the food.

Kitty-ma, Kristin and Byron.

Don't even get me started on education. OK, too late. One of the talks I went to today included a comment about how the difference in impact on the world between the strongest possible person and the weakest possible person wasn't that big, but the difference in world impact between the smartest person and the dumbest person was ginormous.

If we don't educate our kids, we don't have a future. Period. The end.

Other random snippet from today: the Korean word "ilchon." Means "internet friend." Apparently Korean culture has this concept of "chon" which is more or less friendship, but is graduated - one-chon is your BFF or someone who saved your life, lots of honor and obligation. Two-chon is a good friend, some obligation, etc. Ilchon has varying degrees of obligation, but explains to others right away that you are closer than acquaintances even if you've never physcially met.

IIRC, "eat a muffin, whitey" originally applied to coffee -- it's not about whitey liking muffins, but about whitey liking muffins so very much that whitey wants to make everything else taste just like a muffin.

It was definitely bagels, because you get that added element of "oh, I'll just have a bagel" that ties into whitey's insistence on assigning moral value to food choices.

Kitty~ma for Byron, and continued ~ma for Jo.

Congrats, Hil and juliana!

Um, there was some other stuff I meant to say but have forgotten.

It isn't that unusual to laugh manicily as food scrapes get pulled down into the disposal, is it?

I believe that is related to the glee me, my whole crew, and at least one of the professors whose offices we cleaned used to get watching trash bags with light loads in them waft downwards as we dropped them over the edge of the top floor of an open stairwell in a venerable old academic building. Lovely fluttering.

The Dean of Students walked into the stairwell on the ground floor just as one bag hit the floor, one day. He looked up and said, "You missed me."

There was no possible reply but, "Aw rats, I'll have to try again."

I lived in fear of losing my job for a couple days after that.

Here's the Rio original quote:

the bagel thing fits in with my larger theory about white people and muffins. I don't have time to go into detail right now, but basically the thing is: White people just want to eat muffins 24/7, but they are ashamed of this fact, so they take totally good yummy foods like bagels and coffee and ice cream and turn it all into muffins. Hence stuff like the blueberry bagel. The caramel latte. The chunky chocolate-almond-caramel-fudge ice cream. JUST EAT A FRELLING MUFFIN, WHITEY! That is what I say.

Oh, and the guy I learnt "ilchon" from is basically a younger, semi-Asian Baltar, with an Aussie accident and presumably fewer psychoses. [link]

For those Bitches who like eye candy.

For those Bitches who like eye candy.

raises hand

Awww, I miss Rio.

Dear god, Raq. That's like.... that's like the first time I saw Keanu. You know, before he opened his mouth.

(Also, I've been dying to ask what conference you're at -- it sounds fab.)