Welcome, ehab! (In my head it sounds a lot like Ahab

YES.

Hello, all! And hi, ZAR, my living-in-an-experimental-state sibling!

I used to post in Bitches every day and ten times on Tuesdays, and everyone got to know my kids, Kara, aka raptorgirl, and Aidan, spikelet, and Nick... who I don't think anyone renamed.

IIRC, Kara renamed him. Smacky the Manpony, wasn't it?

(I can not be the only one who really, really hopes that the lurkers thus far will continue to unlurk because they're super-cool and will add so much to the conversation!)

Hi, I'm billytea (well, duh), I'm 40 years old, I'm Australian (with dual British citizenship). I live in Melbourne, Australia. I was born in Canberra, where I spent the first 25 years of my life. I also lived in Philadelphia for basically the first term of the Bush administration. (I first arrived the week of the 2000 election, and left during the month of the 2004 election. You guys have the freakiest electoral system in the world. Kudos, America.) In Melbourne I live with my wife [link] (known here as Wallybee), our five-month old son Ryan [link] (resistance is futile!) and Wallybee's parents [link] whose English is about on a par with my Chinese. We met online dating, a fact I think she still hasn't divulged to said parents. (i've also tried speed dating, which is dating where if you speak at less than 80 words per minute, Dennis Hopper blows you up). I got laid off in April courtesy of the financial crisis, and since then I've been undertaking a Master of Finance at the University of Melbourne and staying home with Ryan!

My mother named me William Thomas (after my paternal great-grandparents) while in a drug induced stupor. (To wit, Pethidine, which also saw her telling the doctor to stop doing the dishes and go let her sister out of the fridge.) It took me nineteen years to realise she'd named me Billy T, hence the login. (It took her a matter of hours to realise she'd named me William, but by the time she could start yelling "UNDO IT! UNDO IT!", my dad's family had already been informed.)

I came across the Buffistas on TT, whence I had fled after Time Magazine shut down their fora. (There I had participated in the Faith and Spirituality board.) I spent a fair amount of time lurking before finding a way into the conversation. IIRC, I counted at the tail end of the Gang of 14. This board constituted my primary comfort during the break-up of my first marriage. I've now visited Buffistas in about ten different cities. I have petted penguins with Cass and DebetEsse, fed rhinos with Kristin and mocked the world's stupidest fairy penguin with Steph L. I also attended the DC Buffista F2F in 2004. It was during the eruption of cicada Brood X, the most prolific of their many broods. Sadly, DC is on the periphery, but it was still cool. Oh, so were the Buffistas.

I like animals. A lot. Evolution is quite possibly the most awesome thing ever. Highlights: echidnas [link] (first in my affections, now and always), naked mole rats, emperor penguins, Komodo dragons, side-blotched lizards, Andean condors, blue-footed boobies, inland taipans, bar-headed geese, octopi (especially the mimic octopus), South Georgia pintails, Darwin frogs (sadly extinct), hummingbirds, mantis shrimp and pistol shrimp, shoebill storks, giant otters, giant anteaters, kakapos, bdelloid rotifers, Argentinian lake ducks, anything that lives beside an oceanic smoker, antechinus, three-toed sloths (the two-toed sloths are on the cranky side), keas, thorny devils and David Attenborough. Oh, and there's this species of small wasp that preys on cockroaches, but is too small to drag them back to the nest; it stings them enough to make them manageable, climbs aboard, bites off their antennae, grabs the stubs and steers them back to the nest. They're cool too. And most of the others, really. Write this down: Animals are cool. The only animal for which I can muster an active dislike is the leopard seal.

The first Buffy ep I watched was "Passion". No going back after that. Season 2 remains my favourite, with Season 3 a close second. My board presence: I spend my time in Natter and Bitches, and a handful of the peripheral threads. I'm currently running a game of the Battlestar Galactica boardgame in the Gaming thread. (This is the second one. The first ended with a Cylon victory.) I support preferential voting and oppose cilantro and all its detestable works. I mock the serial comma with my monkeypants. My apologies: I, mock, the serial comma, with, my monkeypants.

Hi, Zar!

billytea's post reminds me that him and ita were the major reasons I started lurking here after finding out about BRQG.

Smacky the Manpony

This? Is never not funny.

This? Is never not funny.

And just what you want to be called by your six-year old sister. Who, with any luck, will tell any dates you bring home.

I first arrived the week of the 2000 election, and left during the month of the 2004 election. You guys have the freakiest electoral system in the world

thanks for poking old wounds! :-)