When Casper was sick last week, her teacher emailed me some homework and it included watching the Schoolhouse Rock video on nouns. This made me feel good about her pedagogy!

When we took our Constitution test in 8th grade, you could hear kids all over the room humming the melody under their breath.

Same here. I can still sing it.

Hey everybody.

I am absolutely delighted by this thread and say a big howdy to lurkers and non-lurkers alike.

I haven't known what to say to jump into the conversation but am currently so totally hopped up on caffeine (for the first time in months) that I'm inspired to jump in.

This could go badly.

b.org is my first and will continue to be my only online community/fandom. It is an oasis of sanity and intelligence on the interweb, unlike any other in the world, as far as I can tell.

As I recall, I was drawn here by a random link from fireflyfans 2 or 3 weeks before the DC f2f. Having had no experience with virtual groups, except for the few that caused me to flee before my eyes bled, I didn't understand the protocols. I didn't know anything about lurking, and being the sort who fears no cocktail party or public speaking requirement, I jumped right in. Mistake. Full respect to lurkers!

Still, 5 years on, the joy, the enlightenment, the laughter, tears and wonder I have experienced here have deeply enriched my life. Not a day goes by that I don't share something 'from my online community' irl. I'm pretty circumspect about saying the name because I feel undeservedly territorial over this wonderful place.

I live on Capitol Hill in DC, a stone's throw from the Capitol building and I'm fond of saying I live in a postcard. My love for the neighborhood is even greater than my love for b.org.

I'm blessed to live in the center of a lovely village with my trusty sidekick, Bartleby. He's a 'Basselmation'...imagine a Dalmatian who got left in the dryer too long. He's the center of my universe and works with me in both my human counseling and pet coaching practices.

My most visited threads are Boxed Set and Bitches, but I read religiously, the right hand threads and show threads. I try to keep up in Natter, but have been known to skim like a dragonfly. I also trip into technology occasionally, generally propelled by electronic despair.

As an actual dyslexic, I rely heavily on what I learn from the wiser and more articulate among us for grammar guidance. I love olives...especially the jalepeno stuffed green ones I get from "the pickle guy" at Eastern Market at the weekend. My favorite punctuation mark is the...wait for it...ellipsis...because I write like I speak.

I'm excited to read more lurker's delurking and am continually boggled by the consistent level of clever, funny and wise I see in everyone here. JOY.

eta: pretty much EVERY post of mine contains an error, no matter how many times I read over it before hitting the post button. see the aforementioned dyslexia. sigh.

etaa: ::facepalm:: In a move hilarious only to me, I edited to removed a redundant word and took out the wrong one. sigh...I said it could go badly, didn't I? I'm actually shaking from the caffeine. Woohoo!

etaa2: My original board name was beej (shout out to bj!)...bonny is my actual name and the wordplay of bonny fides is a nod to my enduring efforts to remain genuine.

As an actual dyslexic, I rely heavily on what I learn from the wiser and more articulate among us for grammar guidance.

Another dyslexic! I'm an almost-unheard of contradiction: a dyslexic who was an English teacher and remains a grammar geek. My parents and the occasional really good teacher, they did good work on me.

But I'm completely with you on the 'another post, another edit' concept.

you know the song is slightly wrong, yeah?

Yeah, when we had to memorize it for the test, everyone was humming a revised version: "We, the People [oftheUnitedStates], in order to form a more perfect Uuuuu-nion..."

As to my favorites:

Cilantro: unknown
Olives: of the yuck
Muffeletta: more than likely of the yuck due to above issues with olives
Serial comma: Yes, yes, and yes
Two spaces with a sentence break: yes
Most used punctuation: Double dashes, which I have to restrain myself from using twice in a paragraph, not always successfully.

Glad to represent the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy

Represent! I'm glad the vocal Liberals (like me) haven't scared you away.

a dyslexic who was an English teacher and remains a grammar geek

Seriously? I bow down...all the way down...to your courage.

It's no mistake that my profession only requires me to listen and speak.

::heh. I totally typed "It's now" in that last line. The mis-wiring? It never sleeps.

I'm starting to wonder if we need to open a punctuation thread.

:: runs and hides ::

• * note, not a real proposal. Please PLEASE do NOT open Lightbulbs!!!

Glad to represent the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy

::sits next to Shari::

Hey there! Welcome!

I don't suppose my tagline leaves much doubt as to my political orientation, or my abiding dream to write for HBO. I promise not to send Shari a dead fish till she deserves it, though.