"the two parts of the Jamaican accent/patois that drive me completely apeshit are being called "him" by people who KNOW I'm a her infuriates me (even more than being called "him" by those who can't tell, even though I'm standing right in front of them) and the pronunciation of mattress as mat-RASS. Jump up and down yell at my dear father "Stop that! You're embarassing me!" mad. "

Y'all don't count as internet friends anymore anyway, because I've met ...almost all of you! at some point. Been to a lot of your houses. Had you to mine. No one would say my friendship with people I met in DC is an "internet friendship" and therefore less valuable. But I see less of them than I see some of the LAistas in PERSON, forget about online!

"I get asked if I'm Korean a fair amount. By fair amount, I mean n>0. Last person who did it was Japanese.

There's something I'm missing in these deductions. "

ita was the thrumming engine of this board. Her wit and prodding questions and thread-nannying and outrageous links and wide-ranging enthusiasm always kept us moving forward.

I am going to do my best to bring continued life to this place in her honor. Although I know I can never come close to the gifts she brought.

That reminds me of that Moolatté debacle where ita told us about someone speaking to a Dairy Queen exec and facetiously recommending new High Yellow and Octoroonie flavor blizzards.

"Hangover *while* drinking? That's fundamentally unfair. "

"I call my sister Mojo Jojo, and yup, she should be afeared."

It's been quite a while since I've laughed and cried this much. Although I see many of you on facebook, it's not the same as seeing your pixels here. Facebook works better with my schedule and time zone, but the love here is something special, and I would venture to say unique.

I hate living so far from buffistas.

Suzi, yeah. Me too.