To paraphrase Beverly, I spent time working on this in Word, you betcha I'm posting it.
Hooray, Katiebee posted! YAY!!!
I’m Java cat. I live in Marin and work in Oakland. I met a B’fta at work ages ago, someone temping while studying for a Big Licensing Exam. She mentioned BtVS, corrected my impression of it based on the name, and soon I was phoning her during Season 3 commercials asking, Who was that guy? What past event are they referencing? There was a gathering at the Palace Hotel to meet BHP, and I asked if I could go. I was amazed by everyone, and eventually found my way to WX.
Unlike most B’tas, I didn’t then and still don’t have a home computer (Luddites, Represent! Or is it Indecisive Contrarians, Represent!). OMG, an Internet Board!! SO new and exciting! I fell in love. For years, I printed Natter every day (on used paper) & read the daytime discussion at home. If I posted, it was after work, before going home (like now!) There was a regular “night shift” then: me, Australians John, Angus, Moonlit, billytea; Noise Design, other Californians, theater people, and insomniacs.
I organized an SF gathering at American Fencers, where none of us had a camera (!); persuaded Suzi to meet her first B’stas at dinner with me, Katie Bee, Sparky and I think Sparky's DH (I brought tiaras for us all); and organized the DC F2F. I’ve been to the LA and Seattle F2Fs. I’ve taken Katie & Deena camping in a friends funky trailer at Lawson’s Landing on the Pacific Coast; Susan and her DH, Jen K & I think Freya stayed overnight with me, although I was so consumed with packing for my camping trip before the DC F2F, I was not as good a hostess to JenK as I should have been. Consuela and Katie have gone on numerous hikes with me, and Sparky & DH & Consuela & others have been subjected to my Berkeley Rep-going organizing. I’m forever sending Localistas job listings and hope at least one of them will be working here soon. (Check our job website today, Localistas!)
Memorable and exciting nights on-line were the opening of Phoenix, and welcoming Kristin and raising money for NillyTrek. Good times. I have a home DSL line now & can take home work laptops on evenings and weekends, but rarely keep up like that any more. I printed this thread to read while sitting with a terminally ill friend this month. I thought I was all caught up, but had to read 170 new posts tonight! Because of how I read and post, my posts tend to be long, because I’m not around to NOT do post all at once, which makes them TLDR often, which makes me sad sometimes.
I’ve made some really good friends, learned amazing things from the board, supported other people in email as a lurker, felt like I was in Paradise for a long while, and still feel a wound or two from a kerfuffle. I admire lots of people on the board, wish I had their social skills, and am really proud of all the photos I took at the DC F2F with ND's camera.
eta to fix stuff
I know a St. John's alum (Santa Fe). Oh um that's not what I meant to say when I came in here.
I was just going to comment that even the delurker thread meant for lurkers is hard to keep up with!
Hello to all the recently re-delurked. There are so many variants of us. It's fun.
PS One of my favorite days-long conversation in Natter was, how do you use a fork and knife?
PPS My high school best friend went to St. John's! 2 years at Annapolis, 2 years in Santa Fe. Gorgeous campuses.
PPPS Because I read this thread in print, and it was a little hard to keep track of everyone in print, I actually do have a list of the new people & their delurking post #. Shall I transcribe and post it? (and... g'night for tonight.)
Oh instead of just saying hello I should say stuff about me, right? So I'm Kiba, and I came here many moons ago when we were trying to save Firefly, at which point I was a senior in college/graduate student. And after that I taught Latin for 5 years and disappeared from Buffistas for a while, and now I'm in grad school again (this time library school) and decided to drop back by.
So, that's me. And look how very under the wire I made it into this thread.
See, this is why I lurk. I checked in this afternoon, and then just now, and my first post was 1340. The last is 1492. Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and I don't think I can keep up! I leave it up to you all to come up with a rhymne. Whatever. I work for a messenger company, and due to the bay bridge closure, it's been hell, and my brain shut down, along with the bridge, at about 11:30am.
Serial comma: yes.
From Stephen Colbert: "Hey, semi-colon, comma or colon, pick a side, we're at war!" (or is it..)
Elipses...yes!
Olives: yes.
Muffallottas (or whatever) I don't think so, due to colliflower. I don't like it, so why should I spell it correctly?
Celantro: In moderation. Especially on El Faralito burritos.
But more to the point, I really due appreciate this board and thread. I'll try to post in some of the TV threads. I have a life that is such that, I have time to come here, but then, I have to go away for a few days. Then I'm hopelessly behind.
My board name is not my real name. It's both my grandmothers' maiden names.
I look forward to the "2009 can kiss my ass" thread, and who knows, maybe next year I'll do one of the secrete Santas (can't this year). And if I don't make it into other threads, see you next year.
And I love that this community, and it IS a community, exists.
Not cereal, but PBR.
I find it comforting that, if I should have to move across the country for some reason, I could post in "Press," and have Buffistas in a 100+ mile radius, offering meet me, show me around, etc. It's good to know.
P-C, I don't know if you've read it
Oh, I've read it. Quentin Compson is my homeboy.
billytea, I'd like to see the pet carbon footprint study. Do you have a link? While I once felt virtuous about reusing my neighbor's newspaper bags for pick-up, I was struck my Phillipe Cousteau's quote stating that every single piece of plastic ever manufactured, in the history of petrochemicals, still exists. I'd love to find a better option.
Here's one news item about it: [link] The people who did the work on this are a couple of New Zealanders; apparently their work was published in New Scientist. (I suspect it's quite contentious, especially since they entitled their book "Time to Eat the Dog".)
