I'm lurking these days, but I'm around. It's been a rough year, for reasons I'll elucidate in Good Riddance, when it opens.

My best wishes are with all of you, as always.

I join the procrastinator-y, just-under-the-wire gang!

I don't feel like a lurker since I'm here most days. But given how crazed work has been, I don't generally have the time to actually post much, so I guess I kinda am.

I'm still in San Diego, still in the same job, contemplating going back to school for a Master's (but haven't actually made a move yet beyond printing a few things from the school's website), trying to get back into community theatre (with disappointing results so far, but I will persevere! Or at least try a bit more before giving up again...), been struggling with a bit of very low-grade depression lately (more hermit-y than sad) but I have hopes of being back on the upswing soon. Still have 2 cats, but we mostly just tolerate one another (they're rescues that came with extra attitude) - I'm waiting on Kismet to bring another cat as awesome as the one I lost (Domino) into my life.

I occasionally manage to participate in a conversation in some of the TV threads or Literary, and I always read Bitches, though rarely in a timely enough manner to participate, unfortunately. Anybody ever wants to reach me, profile addy is good.

I continue to be ever so fond of all of you, and thankful to have my friends in the glowy box (well, flat rectangle these days) as part of my life. Mwah!

waves at all the lurkers

Come play more often!

Fern! Maggie! Hi!

Glad to see your pixels, Karl.

Quasi-lurker here, delurking.

Only real change for me since last year is my job. I'm still working for the same employer, but in a different lab, in a different building. I'm about 10 years older than my new boss, and this is her first time heading a lab. It's been interesting, and will probably continue to be so for a while.

Otherwise, same DH, same cats, same house.

I post occasionally, but mostly I lurk.

This place is always entertaining and often informative. For that I thank you all.

Fern, welcome to the BayAreaistas tally! And Maggie, you are a serious hard-core longtime lurker, given your ID#. I'm impressed!

This year was much like last year: still waiting for the job situation to get resolved, still spending a lot of time looking after/worrying about my folks. Still running & climbing & dealing with canines. Not, sadly, writing as much this year.

But I did get to go to Chicago twice, and Boulder once, and I spent two weeks in Spain with my nieces, and those were all great trips. My health is good and I'm employed and pretty much everyone is healthy and employed, so I'm in no position to whine.

I do hope I can shake myself out of this rut this next year, though.

On and off lurker, this year. Really, really, really grateful for all of you here, because this one has been so spectacularly hellacious, I'd like to erase it from the calendar.

Still working in a job I hate, still in the DC area (though that will probably change), and I'm now a widow. Trying to figure out where I go from here.

I am reading, and always sending out the ~ma to those that need it.

t hugs, Maria.

I'm another long-time lurker getting in just under the wire. I meant to post all month and kept forgetting. I used to be a fairly regular poster several years ago, but nowadays I just lurk.

Capsule biography: I live in Minneapolis with my 2 indoor cats, Leo and Matilda. I also feed and generally look out for a feral cat who's hung around my neighborhood for years. When I delurked last year at this time I was unemployed and had been for quite a while. Now I've been employed for almost a year, working for a company I find pretty interesting, even though the job itself is rarely interesting. But I really dig having income and benefits again. At least unemployment taught me to be much more careful about money.

As much as I love Minneapolis, I feel like my state and city have let me down this year. We've got two hurtful amendments on the ballot next week -- one to define marriage as between one man and one woman, and one to require photo ID in order to vote. I'm voting a resounding NO on both. Also, the musicians of both of our world-class orchestras have been locked out by management because of a breakdown in contract negotiations. All of these things make me sad.

I tell myself I'll participate on this board for real and then I get intimidated and continue to just lurk. But maybe this will be the year.

Oh! A couple of weeks ago I saw Harry Groener, aka The Mayor, live and in person, playing both Abraham Lincoln and LBJ. He was *fabulous* as LBJ, but I kept waiting for him to ascend.