Seems like another diary is full, for us at least, because prior to our recent influx diary totals rarely reached 50 comments as we just did not have that many posters. Now we do and the diaries are climbing to numbers we have not seen before.
Thanks to all newbies and oldies for this great work.
As you can see we have worked really hard on this site to make it a homey place where friends can gather and discuss things and issues in a civilized manner and we sure do.
I am just so proud of our members, you have all done such a great job of making the newer ones at home.
I am curious how many of you became trusted users in the last few days.
So talk on and party on and get to know each other.
FYI, I am 62, mother (5) and grandmother(4), living in SoCal.
I have been an antique dealer, furniture refinisher, craftswoman, tole painter, nanny, etc. in the past and now I am semi retired and pretty much a full time blogger.
In case you are interested this is a pic of me at Christmas 2004.
This is one of the pieces I tole painted:
Hi everyone, please click on the Recommend button and remember to unrecommend Part 11. You are all great!
That was fast, I barely put the diary up. What is the current number of members, I haven’t had an update recently.
You rock Man E.
I’ve seen 1392, but haven’t seen any 1400’s yet. In other words I have no idea – but this is the ballpark I think.
I saw 1415 this afternoon. . .so who knows. . .?
has arrived downthread <waving – hi>
I also do paited furniture, maybe a little on the wild and wymsical side. Do you sell your work or do it just for the pleasure?
Actually I did this piece in about 1980. I used to be an antique dealer and I would decorate some pieces like this one and then sell them. I think I sold several hundred painted pieces in all. It really helped to boost the price and if something was not really valuable I could paint it and then sell it for a big profit.
I don’t paint much anymore, just for some gifts and things. At one time I painted everything that stood still for 5 min, including walls, doors, mantles, anything that was wood and a few things that weren’t.
FYI the above piece took about 2 hours to paint as tole painting is very fast. I did do a lot of free form painting without a pattern and that is what I prefer rather than stylized types like the desk. Once I did a design over a 8 ft. sliding glass door that was all free design with only three marks to guide me, center and two ends and it all matched and balanced in the end which was great. That took about 3 hours.
Good old days they were, don’t have the energy now.
why diane101, you capitalist, why according to the repugs, we/you are a socialist/communist who wants to take all their money and give it to welfare queens and lazy people who can sit around and drink beer, smoke pot and generally bitch about the state of their lives. How can you honestly say you are a progressive. lol Those nasty repugs just don’t get it do they, we don’t want all their money, we just want them to put their fair share into the community pot so we all can help our fellow men and women. It is indeed a pleasure to meet a fellow capitalistic progressive. Thanks for all your hard work
I still yearn for that piece of furniture above, Diane. Lovely, lovely work!
Fresh new diary is up and ready. Come on over folks and chat and tell us about you, all of you, come on talk.
Big thanks to all who have helped welcome our new members, special thanks to Zander, Shirlstars, Man Eegee, Ghostdancer, Sallycat, Oui and many more I cannot remember all right at this moment.
Take a bow ladies and gents, you have done a simply marvelous job.!!!!
BTW Booman if you read this it’s about time you posted about yourself again and not to mention susanhu, folks want to know more about you both.
Thanks for the wagon!
I meant to ask you earlier – what is disc golf?
Disc golf is just like regular golf with one exception. Same rules, same scorekeeping, but instead of whacking a little round ball with a stick into a hole in the ground you throw a flying disc (or “frisbee”) into a basket.
We don’t usually call it “frisbee” golf, because “frisbee” is trademarked by Wham-O corp. and many other manufacturers have started making special flying “discs” with different characteristics that make them suitable for long-range throws (sharp edges, heavy, and rigid), midrange throws ( more rounded edges) and putting (rounded edges, soft and flexible so as to “stick” to the chains that hang around the basket).
It’s really a fun sport and since I’ve never been a great athlete, it gives me a chance to get exercise and be outdoors with friends. There are regular tournaments and even a few “pros” who make a modest living traveling around to the major courses.
The sport has really grown in the past decade and I’m sure there’s a course near you somewhere.
If you click thru that ad link second from the bottom, you’ll see the many different varieties of discs that are now available and also some baskets that they have for sale. A disc golf course has permanent baskets, though, not the portable ones you see on that link.
That’s so cool. You learn something new everyday! I have never seen anything about it. Sounds like fun though. Not that I’ll drop my clubs anytime soon, this is my local course…
not that I golf much, it’s been a while – and I suck at it – but still, you just can’t play badly enough to have a bad day somewhere so beautiful.
Gee Zander, I would be your caddy to walk that Golf Course. It is almost as beautiful as the one in Western Idaho at Couer d’Alene, which has one of its holes on a small island in the lake. I don’t play golf. . .terrible at it, don’t do individual sports well. . .I need teammates to blame. ;o)
Here’s one of the disc golf “holes” on my regular course. It’s certainly not as awe-inspiringly beautiful as yours, but my priorities in disc golf are simple:
have an advantage in not losing stuff over cliffs or into the bay though. I’m going to round up some friends this summer and find a place to play – I was really good with frisbees as a kid…
Jericho hill> looks like a good course for newbies. It hasn’t got any monster “holes”. Mostly shorter and easier from the looks of the limited description. Or, you might look here for some other choices.
There are 2 courses that are close enough, I could probably see them from my roof! ..and I had no idea…
Ah shucks!!!!!!Bowing OK…lol
BTW if I have accidentally given someone a three let me know, I saw one earlier and when I tried to make it a 4 I just couldn’t load the page with all the 4’s I had just given so now I don’t know where it was.
My computer nearly went bezerk on me there, so after a restart I am back.
Not for long tho, I am going to hit the bed real soon.
Not because of the Hugabaloo on Kos, but to comment on the Horse Slaughter bill. I’ve lurked here for about a month or so, but until the Horse Slaughter thread I wasn’t inclined to add my “two cents.”
Although, if on the same day I’d been to Kos first, I’m sure that would have done the trick as well. 😉
I’m a 42 yo, female, and an American ex-pat living in Australia with my Australian partner, who posts here (and there) as “myriad.”
I’m an Educational Technology Speciallist, with a degree in Fine Arts.
My politics are radical, feminist, and often (unappologetically) separatist.
I am limited by several health issues, with which I still have yet to completely come to terms. The flip side being that I am no longer obnoxiously ignorant of what living with illness can do to a person. If given a choice, I’d take life without the cloud and its silver-lining, but as I have no choice in the matter, I’m practical enough to embrace the good with the bad.
I write poetry, and kick-ass essays — when I’m up to the task, which is infrequent of late. Oh, and I’m dyslexic, which varies from day to day as to how that affects my writing.
There’s more of course, but time will tell what that is.
pax, keres
Hi there and welcome. I noticed both you and myriad on another thread a couple of days ago. Consciousness raising, and Buffy the Vampire slayer or something like that …
I’m really intrigued by a couple who blogs together – that just seems so cool.
“. . . that just seems so cool.”
And that just seems so Buffy, lol.
I’ll have to find a copy of my essay (posted on the offical BtVS board) on “Willow and Western Rationalism.” Gawd, to think I’ve written such things. 😉
Hi I’m new toop A bit of a refugee from DK, but I still lurk there. So far, I really like it here. It seems to be more female friendly and less confrontational. I don’t like having to fight with folks that are supposed to be on the same side as I am about basic issues that are extremely important to me.
And like the Buffy references. Would like to see your essay on Willow. 😀
About me: I am a 50 something female website designer living in Arkansas out in the Ozark woods, a transplant from Florida. It’s a very purple state, we have two Democratic Senators, for instance. Married to an artist, no children, pets are fish, lots of fish in watergardens.
Otherwise, I’m pretty boring…well, that was pretty boring so you can see how it is. 😀
I just happened to be browsing through this thread and saw that you slipped in here unoticed, so I am glad I found you.
Your life does not sound boring at all, I would like to hear more about you.
Please do tell us more and perhaps you might want to do this on the next version 13 so that everyone will get a glance at you. come on now, don’t be shy!
We don’t fight here, we discuss as you can see, so jump in and enjoy the water.
.
Meet a dear friend and someone close by in your state.
Meet cotterperson and use my WELCOME link below for more info about Cotter, Arkansas
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
Sorry I missed replying to you on Lorraine’s gender diary.
Keres and I don’t strictly blog as a couple <g> – but I get what you were saying.
– so is your handle Buffy-inspired?
We are devout Buffy fans up to & including Season 5 – we don’t care for (to us) the increasing misogyny, use of the lesbian cliche, not to mention lame writing of seasons 6 & 7.
Thanks for the warm welcome.
I’m Buffy clueless – but watching that conversation about the show make me think of a Buffy-loving friend I haven’t seen in a while. If there’s a character related to my handle, you’ll have to explain it to me – I’d hate to miss any references to it and just be oblivious.
Given that Zander (although it’s spelt with an ‘X’, ie short for Alexander) is one of the main characters – the male goofy member of the Buffy gang.
Here he is:
Xander
…more perfect if I’d planned it! Everything down to the ‘really dysfunctional family’.
But here’s the weird thing – I know that guy from somewhere…but I can’t figure it out. Buffy isn’t filmed in Canada, is it?
and the actor – Nicholas Brandon (not his last name but his middle one) does have an identical twin brother, Kelly Donovan (ditto on the middle name). They usd both of them for a couple of episodes to great effect.
Nicholas is pretty tight-lipped about his family and origins – I think we can safely guess some Irish heritage.
Can’t help you more than that.
I hate to sound like a freak, but if you haven’t watched Buffy, you’re missing out. One of the best written shows in the last 20 years. If you start with season 1, don’t let the cheesy special effects put you off – the show gets rapidly more sophisticated technically and develops real character depth.
Basically I love any show with well-developed, shall we say “ethically contextualised” characters, and Buffy certainly is that. Plus there’s the strong smart women kicking ass bit. 😉
Welcome, from another new member. I can’t say I’m familiar with the horse slaughter issue. How ’bout a link or a little more info? I’m also wondering exactly what a “separatist” is?
I look forward to some of those essays.
Blueneck, here’s the link to the horse slaughter post: http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2005/6/6/94516/70269
As to your question about separtists – well, there’s a loaded gun. 😉
Rather than reinvent the wheel, here’s the start of an Essay by Marilyn Fry:
I am with you on the horse issue, and I appreciate the information on separatism. I’m basically OK with any lifestyle someone wants to choose – heck, I thought long and hard about being a hermit or one of those “silent monks” at one point in my life. That seems to me to be in a type of separatist mode, for sure! I think I understand the motives for feminist separatism. I guess you might also say that I have become a feminist separatist in a way because of the feelings that led me to part ways with one community and come here to Booman – but being male, I’m not sure I qualify in the strictest sense…
I understand the difficulty of the issue and am glad that you felt free to post on something that could be considered to be “a loaded gun”. I’m here at this site because I hope and believe we can have a community where we discuss ALL issues in a respectful manner and learn from one another.
Welcome, Keres – glad to see more people blogging here from Australia. We need more radical feminists in Australia, too, so I’m pleased to hear about you from that perspective as well.
Hi canberra boy, the more Ozzies the better, I say.
My partner and I live in Tasmania, amongst the two-headed hoons – because life just wouldn’t be as interesting if we couldn’t keep the neighbors guessing. 😉
Canberra is lovely, or so at least I’ve heard from my partner who works for the Commonwealth and goes there for meeting a few times each year.
Ah, yes, Tassie will be there at the real end of the world due to its extreme southern lattitudes, rather than Melbourne as portrayed in Neville Shute’s novel (made into a Hollywood film) ‘On the Beach’ (Ava Gardner & Gregory Peck).
And I’m pleased that myriad shares my frustration in working for the Australian Government.
Hey gang,
I am UID#73 but it took that “newcomer” Diane UID#206 to get me focusing my energies over here. I always came and read and sometimes commented, but have really become most active here about 2 months ago. Shirl is what I prefer to be called, but shirlstars is my screen name and I have no objection to it.
I am 64, live in rural SE Idaho, single, lesbian, two cats, Mandy and Banger, one Great Pyranees dog, Sundancer.
I retired 2 years ago from the USPS and 23 years of work as a Union Advocate at the local, Sate, and Regional US levels. So I am well seasoned in doing battle, and having a bloody forhead from that brick wall, and been amidst the worst politics you’ve ever seen and really never want to know about. (and that would be from both sides)
For me everything has a potential for the positive, and 99 times out of 100 I will see it that way. Yep, still human and have my moments of doubt, discouragement and all the rest, but overwhelmingly an optimist.
My Calling card says “Philosopher, Poet and Dreamer of Dreams” One could add adventurer to that as well. But it doesn’t have the proper cadence to fit in there.
I have a couple of “sh*t” degrees, BSh*t, MoreSh*t and working on the Piled higher and Deeper. Now if I had $2.50 I could get me a Starbucks Mocca Latte.
I love to make others laugh, I joke around a lot, and keyboard jokes on the internet(s) don’t come across the same as they do in person. So cut me some slack youngsters.
More than you ever wanted to know about me is contained in my diary series, Adopted Daughter. Click on my screen name and it will take you there.
Here is a fairly good representation of me from a year ago. . .
Not Buying It, huh. . .okay, this is my clarkette kent, every day disguise. . .
for trying to do something simple, like preview, when I am this tired. Geeze. . .apologize for the size Diane, I was just going to preview it and then reduce it if it was too big. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
Oh well, such is the hand I’m dealt.
I loved the Adopted Daughter series – and had no idea, when I stepped over here a couple of days ago, and started bumping into things, that that was you Shirl. Wow.
Bless your heart! So glad so many of you enjoyed it. I guess it is one of the books I am working on at the moment, although it was never a topic I ever thought I wanted to write about. Too self absorbed is how it feels to me. But people keep asking me about it, so apparently it is another one of those “What do I know” things.
Thanks
You really are Zeena! AND three cheers for optimism! AND I really really love your Einstein quote. He’s one of my heroes. Most people don’t know much about his politics, but he was a real truthteller in politics and life, not just science.
Ok blueneck, now I love you even more than I did before. Of course I’m Xena. . .I keep trying to tell people, but they just don’t want to believe it. My disguise must be too good.
Einstien’s my guy and as much as I have a deep interest in physics, it is the way he thought about things other than science that stole my heart away. He had me at a very young age when I came across his quote about imagination being the most valuable thing you could have.
Shirl, I’ve been lurking for a little while and love your posts. Now I love you even more–my email address and usual screen name is Juliewarriorprincess. Heh.
Welcome Warrior Princess, I’m the other Warrior Princes! I will have to say, I have seen an uncommonly high number of Women Warriors here and across the road. If you or any of the members here ever can make the time to read through all the welcome bios, it is just staggering the numbers and the quality of the people who interact here. And I do not mean this in any disrespect to the other site, but someone said of Booman Trib: The Best and the Brightest dkos had to offer.
My acquaintance with all of you certainly bears that out.
Welcome and so glad to see another Xena Fan. I can’t believe I am so over the top I am thinking of getting all six seasons that are now out on DVD. Never would have thunk it. Some things just speak to you I guess.
I think you’re going to like it here. Make yourself at home.
You might want to check out Einstein’s first wife. I saw a PBS show that had evidence that she worked right alongside him on the Theory of Relativity and the other papers he published when he was with her. Even their son says he remembers them in the kitchen with papers strewn all over discussing physics.
It’s interesting that he never really published anything again after they split up. Makes me wonder about it. If true, it’s too bad, together they may have done more really great work.
Splashy, Welcome to our pond! I saw that documentary last year I think it was. It was extremely interesting to me. And yes, in another time and place maybe she would have gotten the recognition she deserved. But then again, with the apparent climate flying around right now it makes you wonder how out of hand she may have been dismissed anyway.
Humans can be so stupid sometimes. I also enjoyed the documentary they had a few months back about the woman that really discovered the structure of the DNA strands, that the other two men, who took her discovery and ran with it got the Nobel for.
I think all of us would like for bright worthy people to be recognized for their work on the basis of their work. This Gender thing just keeps popping its head up, doesn’t it.
Hope you enjoy your stay here, make yourself at home.
.
I’m glad we at least meet over breakfast daily – European Time – Diane, shirlstars, Man Egee et al. WOW. I’m amazed and impressed to see diary #12 up and running. It’s good timing to put up a new diary now, because last night -PDT- it seemed last part of thread was a bit lost and missed some attention, comments and mojo.
Some newbies have corrected it themselves by a further introduction. However even the abandoned diaries keep picking up comments! This is great, and to see a broad group old & new to pitch in on the introduction is remarkable. Kudos to all.
Is Boo still around, or is he just writing lately, tending to politics and the goals of his home. Do you think he will confide in us when we reach UID #1500 – it will be a true milestone, not only for the speed of 500 members. This group is known to many of us and were already friends – so glad to have them join the frog pond.
I’m going to have to ditch some more MSM time during the day, because at breakfast I have got plenty of selected diaries I need to catch up on.
For all heading towards well deserved rest – a Good Night – others will keep watch and tend to the shop.
Offering some WELCOME support from across the atlantic pond, the Netherlands. The World diaries ARE a wonderful part of BooMan Trib [BMT].
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
.
some 100 new comments in diary #11 and another 40 new in diary #10. Truly great.
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
I thought I would take another moment to say more about myself. I was pretty shy the last time around…
I did join before the “pie wars”, and even posted here then. Then I got involved with Susan Hu’s project (may she live for eternity), and that brought me even closer here. Then, the pie wars broke out and I knew this was a better site for me.
I will be 39 on the 4th of July. My great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather was John Alden (married Pricilla) and came over to the US on the Mayflower. On the other side of the family, they came to the U.S. in the 1700’s. So, when asked for my ethnicity, all I can say is American.
This is not to say I do not recognize the atrocities committed by my ancestors. I say it only to show that I am as American as they come (not native American) and I am a proud card carrying member of the Liberal Left.
I am something of an anomaly, not fitting into any real classification. I tried to be a hippie, a punk and a corporate whore. None of these really worked for me. Now I am a single mom. I never wanted to be a single mom, but here I am. Now I am doing my best to give my daughter what I did not have…self-esteen, self-respect, and the strength to follow through with life goals.
I was a very active young woman. I went to peace rallys and pro-choice marches and all that by the time I was 14. I escorted women into our local clinic that was being picketed by Randall Terry (Binghamton, NY) for years (1980’s). I went to NYC to participate in Gay Pride with the original Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (does anyone else miss the roller skates?). But, over time and post baby, I just thought things were ok and others could take up the cause. Now I know my work is not done, as depressing as that is.
So, here I am, wanting to help in any way I can. But, I am older and seriously disgruntled. For anyone here who knows Burning Man, I am like the Disgruntled Postal Workers, but worse. :>)
I have really been enjoying this blog and I hope that I can contibute positively.
Good to have you here. My ancestors first set foot here on 9-27-1727, one Indian John Miller (arriving on the ship James Goodwell to Phila. Pa. from Germany. He was named the Indian part because he was captured and taken by native Americans from somerset Co. Pa to somewhere in Ohio and lived with them for several years till he was able to escape.
I am going to do a genealogy diary soon as I did extensive research on my family last year and was able to go back to the 1200’s in Europe. I also found many fascinating stories of my ancestors which I will someday share with you, including the whole story of Indian John. BTW I found some very strong and able women in my past, so they have been around from the beginning of this country, blazing the way for us today.
For anyone who’s ever done clinic escorting. I’m in Canada where thankfully, it’s unnecessary. But if the political and legal situation here ever degenerated to that point, I’d be signing up with Caral, and begging everyone here to share their experiences before the ink on any ugly legislation was dry.
I’ve been so busy here settling in I’ve neglected to post my “hello” until now. So far I do really enjoy the place and more importantly, all the folks I’ve met.
I’m an engineer by trade and a feminist by raising. I give all credit for that to my mom, who passed away at 42 from cancer, and to my grandmother who watched over me and raised my youngest brother after that. I’m grateful that mom was able to see me off to college, and really regret she won’t be around to see her grandkids someday down the road. As time brings me closer and closer to reaching that age myself, I’m more and more amazed at what such a strong woman was able to accomplish in her short time here.
At work I’m always the one who says what everyone’s wanting to say but no one feels secure about saying. I wouldn’t recommend it as career advice, but its how I’m wired. I have an uncanny knack for picking up the vibe of a group, and I quickly adopt their goals as my goal. This has lead to more than a few Cassandra moments in my life as well.
The latest craze in my professional field is outsourcing. Its a further expression of the total lack of understanding of what exactly “development” does in a technical company by the managers. They do understand the financial angle, at least. Our CEO told us gleefully we were adding 200 jobs in India, each at 1/3rd the salary of an American engineer. The fact he gave this talk during his only visit to our state in 2-3 years the day after a layoff that affected 20% of our organization and 30% of my department didn’t faze him in the slightest. I hope those CEOs someday realize that India and China don’t only have factories and engineering schools. They have business schools as well.
Family is important to me. My brother is my closest friend. I love my nephew and niece tremendously — he’s 7 and she’s 2. Friends are important too, and I enjoy spending time with them and their kids as well.
I’ve lived in Minnesota all my life. I’m down here in the 1st district (Gil Gutknect – R-<gop>). My brother’s over in the west-central part of the state near where we were raised. Rural country. I still relate better to their concerns than those here in our “big” city. But its a 4 hr drive, so I don’t see them nearly as much as I’d like.
I’m here looking for community, and discussion in an atmosphere of respect. Passion and differing views are fantastic, but I don’t see a need to dehumanize those we disagree with, especially the ones on “our” side.
I live in the one of the reddest parts of what’s normally considered a solidly blue state. Being surrounded by doctors and engineers will do that, I guess. At least they’re mostly “fiscal” Republicans, but the scary reach of the “social” Conservatives is growing here as well.
Working and living with so many Republicans and Independents is both an challenge and an opportunity. I know I need to do my part to sway their votes, but I also know that much of the heated rhetoric of the left is no more than background noise to them. I’ve learned so much from the political blogs that helps, and I’ve seen ideas and strategies that might work in CA or MA or WA, or IL, but would backfire horribly here in MN, or IA, or ND or SD. I suspect that’s how some of the folks in the South or Southwest or the plains states feel too, tho.
So, common ground, regional strategies, community, friendship, and a chance to take back our nation from those who are selfishly destroying it… those are all worthy goals worth my time and effort.
Looking forward to spending it here.
(I wish I’d thought of the name first)
I’ve been so excited lately about the incredibly level-headed people raising their voices over here, and I’m glad you’re joining the ranks. Do you write diaries, or tend to read and comment?
Thanks zander, I appreciate the warm welcome. 🙂
Over there I was a copious commenter until things started to get ugly. But I read a lot more than I post, and only wish there was a way to let folks know I read (and liked) their stuff. Tip jars work when they’re present, but thats not always a given. So I post, if I have time.
I’m working very hard to post short comments, but its still a rarity for me. The downside of long comments — aside from being possibly a chore to read — is that they take me too long (an hour isn’t unheard of) to compose and edit.
I’ve never written a diary of my own, but maybe I’ll give it a go here.
At some point in the last couple of days, one of the original members of this site wrote about the pace here. They joked that, at Booman, a diary will actually stick around for a while, and it’s not uncommon to think about it for a day before commenting on it. Of course, I don’t know how that pace is changing, or what it will look like in the future – but it sounds like your long and thoughtful comments would fit right in around here.
I hope you do try your hand at diaries. For some reason I won’t even try to figure out, you made me think of ColdFusion04, and the surviving in a red environment in the middle of the country stories that he told.
How about this phenom. with the new diaries coming up like gangbusters, the comments flying, the recs. up to huge numbers (for us). It used to be, what a week ago that it only took 3 rec. to get on the list. I just looked at Kid Oaklands diary and wow.
And by the time I post a comment two more are written on the same thread. This is just so new to us. I used to (1 week ago) check the recent comments every 5 min. and at times I would have to wait for an hour for a new one to come up. What a difference a few days and a conflict makes.
I am scared to think what this site will be like if this keeps up at this pace. I think it will start to slow down tho, what do you guys think.
Pretty exciting all in all and I am so impressed how all the oldies have been dealing with all of this. We have talked many times in the past about this but sure didn’t think it would be this quick.
I think all of you should take a bow.
Remember last week when Booman said ‘I know you guys will be ready when a bunch of new members come in’. He was so right and I am just so proud of all of us for everything. I think all of us oldies have become even closer but with our arms wide open to welcome Newcomers.
I hope people will start posting what they think of our site so far. We have been preparing for this party for 3 months now.
Cheers to all! and to all a soon goodnight!!
.
I LOVE these past few days. A closely knit group of politically active and talented friends who joined, is a major asset to BooMan’s Tribune. It’s much easier for the community and all persons involved, to settle in and do whatever they do best: read, write, listen and just contribute by their presence. It will be an exchange of views at a somewhat increased pace, but still way below the targets BooMan has set for himself: a first goal of 3,000 members.
Politics is all about being motivated, we can teach and learn from one another. I am certain for the new newbies they will find the open window attitude to the World and International participation will lead to frank discussion and debate. There are many liberal nations in Europe, where these policies did not lead to more freedom for women for example. These views need also to be reviewed and taken into account when you set your political goal on domestic issues.
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
actually I’ve crushed my goals. My goals was to hit 1,000 members and 3,000 visitors a day.
We have over 1,400 members and almost 4,000 visitor average this week.
So, we met the goals and went past them.
Thanks to you and all the other greeters. You’ve done a really great job of making people feel welcome. And I believe any venture can only be successful if there is someone out there saying ‘hello’, ‘glad to meet you’ ‘how can I help you?’.
I couldn’t do it myself, and you all picked up the slack. Thanks again.
is the comment of a great leader. Bravo.
.
BooMan is way too modest – that makes him so special. The Tribe found the goal of 3,000 as attainable. So … keep at it.
With such a fine group joining the community, the site meter just lost track and moved into unexplored territory.
BooMan, skipper, you have been great these past few days and you made your presence felt during the difficult moments. The same can and will be said for SusanHu: capitalized SUSANHU to her credit, for keeping at the important issues and diaries.
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
does dkos have one of those?……it would be very interest just to see…I have been wondering what’s what over there.
.
dKos site meter
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
I’m encouraged by today. I think the site will be fine as long as everyone upholds the Golden Rule. I’m pretty wiped out so I’m heading to bed. I have a lazy weekend ahead of me so I’ll plan to be around to keep my eye on things. I can’t wait for The Surprise. 😛
Hello Booman’Tributors. I just registered after lurking for a few days here.
I’m a 46 yr old white male math teacher living as a gentile in a county with 85% LDS (Mormon) affiliation. I so need the company of dKOS and Booman as the sense of isolation is lessened. I’ve actually voted and worked for a Republican state legislator because he was running against a veteran racist neanderthal incumbent in the Repub primary. My guy won the primary but I preferred the Dem in the general election (Dem got 29%–pretty good actually for this area)
I’ve been married now for 25 yrs (as of 19Jul) to a college professor more radical than me. We have two sons (11 and 4) who I adore. We’re “from” the Pacific NW and have lived in the big city (LA) and small town. We have lived for chunks of time in South America (my wife’s research area) and in Spain.
I’ve got a MA in English lit, minored in Chem, Biology, and Spanish, and teach math (sometimes in Spanish) in a public high school while secretly harboring a lust to create policy for Howard Dean ’08.
I was raised nearly unchurched but with a strong cultural bias toward Quaker values, which is the heritage of my paternal grandparents and many ancestors along that line. I’ve been kinda Lutheran and kinda Catholic at different points in my marriage to accommodate social needs of my wife and kids, but we are all, at heart, non-denominational progressive Christians, I think.
I’ve taught in three different kinds of Los Angeles-area private schools (boys boarding school, orthodox Jewish high school, and progressive arts high school) and a solid, traditional, public high school in a one-high school district (current job).
I’m a bit of a soccer fanatic–played competitively, through college, coached and refereed since then, along with playing recreationally.
My political inclination is not to fight in all out open warfare, but to find creative ways to use the opponent’s best energies to move him towards…well…the light. I gravitate naturally to “Third Way” approaches to conflict–but generally think typical split-it-down the middle compromise serves nobody well and actually saps support for real creative centrism. Clinton was an infuriating mixture of the best and the worst of this, IMHO.
I’m strongly progressive on social issues AND economic issues, except that I feel the need to argue for a lot more green-eye-shade rigor on the part of progressives as we promote social spending, discuss tax and trade policy, or design health care programs. I do get frustrated when so many progressives fall into the tired old ideological battle lines with the conservatives on economic issues, with the implication that if we just frame it better, it will work out for us this time. The battle itself is a conservative frame and we need to step out of the box if the electorate is ever going to actually listen to us with fresh ears again.
I hope to be able to share my “out of the box” ideas with y’all. Since summer vacation is here for this teacher, I might have more time to put my progressive vision into writing now.
.
You’ll find some soccer comments of mine in the brief history of BooMan’s Tribune (BMT), I will pass the links as soon as I find them so you can catch up. I’m curious about the college where you played, HS and local activities.
Soccer is part of society and of a major impact on people, South Korea in the World Cup of 2002 was amazing – with Guus Hiddink as coach, he is country’s hero forever.
Explosion of Joy in Tehran due to Soccer
.
TEHRAN June 8, 2005 – Iran beat Bahrain 1-0 to earn qualification for next year’s World Cup, sparking mass celebrations across the Islamic republic. Huge crowds of delighted residents took to the streets, as the capital and other big cities erupted into a deafening cacophony of car horns, firecrackers and cheering.
“This is one of the most beautiful days of my life, because we have made 70 million people happy,” said veteran captain Ali Daei. “We have a lot of plans to prepare our game for the World Cup.”
The football mad Islamic republic has been behind the national squad, with President Mohammad Khatami watching the match and, according to a football federation official, offering each of the squad an Iranian-made saloon car worth 13,000 dollars.
Huge crowds took to the streets across Tehran — and some supporters of the eight presidential candidates standing in Iran’s presidential elections next week took the chance to do a bit of campaigning. “Who cares about the elections?” laughed one young woman. “We’re going to the World Cup!”
Authorities allowed a few dozen women to join the 70,000 crowd at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. The ban on women attending soccer matches has been gradually eased in recent years although so far special permission has been limited to sportswomen and female journalists.
Large crowds with festivities in Tehran – “Un-Islamic”
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
Oui: I’m glad to find fellow soccer fans who follow politics and society because I truly believe that watching a country’s reactions to its soccer team (or a city’s, for that matter) tells an astute observer a great deal about the local culture. Soccer is one of the very few cultural events that is enough the same the world over (the rules and structure of the game) to allow really informative cross-cultural comparisons.
Soccer is a stand-in for life–its passions, its struggle, its disappointments, its injustice, its glory, its knife’s-edge balance between individual and team responsibility, and its ability to expose what we really are made of when the pressure is on.
Listening to what gets praise, whats gets criticized in the local team’s play, the attitudes towards the officials, the coaches, the form that celebrations take, the kinds of special license that are allowed for important matches (such as the increasing presence of women in matches in Iran)–it all makes for very interesting study.
.
I was truly surprised no one picked up on this news item except for rba when I woke up this morning. I’m convinced the choice in policy to have cultural exchange programs and sporting events, is a vehicle that leads ultimately to the downfall of totalitarian regimes like the old Soviet Union, China, East-Europe and the apartheid regime in South-Africa. In the case of the latter, the boycott in the last phase proved to hasten the process further.
For regimes in Cuba, North Korea and Iran, a foreign policy to force openings, open windows will lead to democracy and freedom. The boycott of Cuba and further tightening of economic and cultural boycotts of these nations has led nowhere. Most likely it has prevented internal change toward democracy and has been counterproductive.
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
.
Oranje Boven? ◊ follow this thread.
.
World Cup Qualifier
Finland – Holland 0-4
van Nistelrooy, Kuyt, Cocu, van Persie.
Marco van Basten is the greatest as coach –
won 8 – tied 3 – lost 0
Kuyt het 2e doelpunt!
Today in the Netherlands, the games start for the Youth World Championships 2005!
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
.
Loved the outdoors, the picnics in one of many beautiful parks, playing ball, or just enjoying the beauty of nature. Plenty of space around Creve Coeur city and Lake, Baylor Park and trips to Jesse James hideout, Meramec Caverns and the Ozarks where an artificial lake » water reservoir was build on top of a hill cq mountain top to provide electricity through generators.
Did indeed graduate from St. Louis U with BS in engineering and played varsity soccer during sophomore year – 12th player in a great team. I considered myself very fortunate just to be part of the squad. Guys I played against during Mercy high school years: Pat McBride , Carl Gentile, Thomas Hennessey, Jack Kinealy, twins Tim & Terry Knox and a great coach Bob Guelker.
Team won all and many NCAA championships , as St. Louis had been the US soccer centre in those years. Bob Guelker was followed by another great soccer star and coach Harry Keough.
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
We can argue that some government “interference” is necessary to prevent the poor from becoming slaves of the rich. But that does not mean that we can be less efficient with the public’s money.
Hi, just joined Boo a few minutes ago, been reading over here since the pie fiasco on Kos. I’m still pretty new there, honestly; cclough on Kos, I got married recently.
Honestly joined over here to see if the occasional dissenting opinion is better received here, Kos commenters seem to be becoming increasingly more intolerant of differing opinions. It is the reaction given to less than slavish support of Dean that has really gotten to me. I like him, but sometimes think he ought to think a bit more before saying some of the things he does. I thought that in the primaries, I still think it now. And I’ll say so when I think it.
Let me know if that’s a problem. Thanks 🙂
So, yeah, hello. Beautiful painted furniture, btw.
Congrats on your wedding!
I’m a newbie around here too, but I’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple days watching this influx of people come in. Even with all the anger over the pie war, things seem to have settled remarkably well.
I think Man Eegee said it best in his diary Thoughts on the Frog Pond. The rule seems to be ‘be nice’ in what you say, and say what you will.
“Be nice, and say what you will.” That definitely works for me. Things do seem to be settling in beautifully around here. I’m off to read ManEgee’s post now – thanks for letting me know about it!
My kos bio: “I live in St. Louis County, Missouri, with my husband the genuine conservative(not wingnut) and hawk.” Perhaps for Booman purposes we can call him Right of Center Guy. Right of Center Guy thinks that we should stop depending on foreign oil, we should keep Social Security, we needed the Bush tax cut like a hole in the head, and freedom is not particularly on the march. Right of Center Guy lived in Beersheba for six months and is extremely pro-Israel. We had to lean very strongly on Right of Center Guy for me to go to my gay sister’s wedding. (“What will people say?”) But he gave them 25 dollars. I am a Kerry supporter because Right of Center Guy did not want me to support anyone too radical. Otherwise I would have been beating the streets for Kucinich, who I respect for being part of the Tikkun Community. Thought process: “Kerry is a war hero and voted for the war in Iraq. If [defense contractor employer] has a problem with him, they have got a screw loose.” Biographical information used to be so unambiguous, you know? Even though I am ashamed to say I did not do a thing to help Kerry get elected for the general election, I believed in him entirely. I was impressed by his strong commitment to environmental issues and foreign policy experience. Kerry would not hide from reality when dealing with the rest of the world. And he is very smart and can come up with a sharp soundbite if you give him enough time. (The national Kerry campaign gave up on Missouri entirely too early, BTW.) The Iowa caucuses were a very happy day. I was hoping Kerry would come in at most third. But he won, and Gephardt was out of it! It is a family tradition to despise Gephardt. However, I was disturbed by polls showing that even Democratic voters did not think that Kerry said what he believes during the primary season.
I was very impressed with dKos because the people there were vastly more thoughtful and well-informed than in my Kerry meetup group. dKos was also balm because Kossacks are not ashamed to be liberal. Although you may have to wade through 50 idiot partisan comments to get to them, there are still ideas worth thinking about there, and I wish I read more of Kos’s diaries on individual races, because it is cool to hear from the people on the ground in each state. I am frustrated that the different diaries on establishing our values as a party did not build on each other. It took me about 3 months to be a TU, which I did without any C&J mojo at all.
I was born a Democrat. My dad has taught American politics at St. Louis U. for 30 years. He is there because he lost tenure at Boston University for not doing illegal things to protest the Vietnam War. For this reason, in our house Howard Zinn’s name is mud.
My mom was precinct captain for Father Drinan when no one else wanted the job and never had so much fun in her life.
I have a B.A. in Computer Science from three years ago which I have never used. I also have a math B.A. From these degrees I have a morbid fascination with rigor and appreciation for the original leap that sees a pattern where none was there before. I have a bad tendency to make up evidence for someone’s opinion when they didn’t provide any.
Hi there,
It sounds like you have more than enough frustration on the home front to deal with, nevermind finding more while you’re trying to keep yourself informed. I hope you find a better balance here.
I’m glad to have another mathematical brain in the house – myself, I’m hopeless and tend to be flaky. I enjoy the company of more logical types – it keeps me from making those leaps that see a pattern that ..uh, well… doesn’t exist.
.
First glimpse of St. Louis & St. L. County
.
My dad’s business was ruined as a result of WWII, so he applied for consideration to emigrate to Australia, Canada or the United States. The Sunday’s were filled with my dad reciting the words from his English booklet, over and over, working on his pronunciation. At last, a large wooden crate was maneuvered into our living room to ship all of our belongings.
Through an immigration organization Catholic Welfare [CW], we shipped out from the port of Rotterdam on March 7th, by an ocean liner of the Holland-America Line -was a Dutch troops carrier after WWII to wage war in the colony of Indonesia-. The 10 day journey …
[LINK] ◊
SLU Alumni – 1st University West of Mississippi river -1818-
Jesuit College and Liberal views at the time I attended. Briefly checked recently thru internet, seems a twitch of conservatism returning.
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
You probably know that is a suburb. SLU is conservative on the Catholic issues that you would expect them to be, such as frowning on gay and pro-choice student groups. I would imagine that emphasizing their Catholic identity has brought them more conservative Catholics than in the past.
.
Partial roots in Creve Coeur of course, see dKos handle I use. Spend some years of my youth in the town, now city of Creve Coeur. The population grew from 1,501 to above 5,000 during those years. Loved it growing up in the rural area.
It began with a road: Olive Street Road, now called Olive Boulevard. The road followed a centuries’ old Indian trail that took the high ground from the Mississippi River to the Missouri River. Carts, wagons, carriages and stage-coaches took passengers and freight both west to new lands and east to the city of St. Louis.
With a name that in French translates as Broken Heart, the City of Creve Coeur will leave you anything but broken hearted, although it is a town whose name is steeped in legend. One tale tells of an Indian princess named Memetonwish, whose unrequited love for a French trapper led to tragedy. Heartbroken, the Indian princess is said to have thrown herself from a ledge overlooking Creve Coeur Lake, which then reshaped itself in the form of a broken heart.
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
by BooMan Wed Apr 20th, 2005 ◊
Love the many pictures submitted by the then newbies, now oldies
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
That was fun to browse, thank you – I’ll have to get a photobucket account for the next picture-fest that pops up.
Hi everyone. First let me say that I really like the green. It’s easy on the eyes and a soft relaxing kind of color. Which leads me to two things about me. My political orientation (Green), and my occupation (custom painter), motorcycles, race cars, race boats, etc. I am a 43 yr. old man, married with three children. A son who just turned 18, and two daughters, 15 and 12. My son is my greatest concern right now because of his age and the possibility of a draft. I live on the North Fork of eastern Long Island, N.Y. surrounded by water, farms, and vineyards. It is a beautiful but very expensive place to live, but we choose to stay here and struggle with the bills because it is a wonderful place for the kids to grow up. The schools are great and there is very little crime.
I have been lurking here for a while but never really took a close look until all the problems at kos this week, where I mostly read and occasionally commented. I’ll just say that I found myself increasingly disappointed in the dialog there and found the pie ad thing to be pretty disturbing. So, I can say that the problem there has caused me to take a closer look at Booman Tribune and I am really pleased with the tone and the politics here.
FWIW
1984 Walter Mondale
1988 Michael Dukakis
1992 Bill Clinton
1996 Bill Clinton
2000 Ralph Nader
2004 primary Dennis Kucinich, general John Kerry
I really like Howard Dean and his straightforwardness. I think he is exactly what is needed these days. The republicans only understand forcefullness and Dean has plenty of that.
Oh, and two more things. My name is Michael and I love sailing. Especially in the Wed. night races around Robins Island 🙂
Thanks for the opportunity to introduce myself.
Peace
Hi there, thanks for coming by.
And thanks for introducing yourself – this ‘getting to know you’ process has proven itself to be a really valuable tradition around here – people are finding common ground and making friends before getting into debates of any kind. The difference is tone = priceless.
But that won’t prevent me from pulling a good-natured neener-neener. I’m a Canadian who just saw a provincial election go 9.18% Green. OK, it wasn’t enough to win seats, but still….. it was a real possibility up until the end.
Hi Zander and thanks for the welcome. This one little simple process of welcoming others goes a long way toward opening respectful and mature avenues to civil discussion. I like it.
Being a Green can be trying sometimes. I got into a couple of small flame wars at kos with some democrats who still blame Nader and the Greens for Gore losing in 2000. I understand the frustration and anger, but at the same time wish they could understand that the only way that we can get past the two party system is to take some risks and go through some painful results. I’m certainly not happy that Bush is the pResident but voted for Nader as a matter of principal and with the hope, maybe naively, that the Greens can grow into a viable third party or at least pave the way for other parties.
Yep – I’ve lost track of all of the Welcome diaries lately, but it’s been pretty incredible to watch.
Well, you certainly won’t find me arguing with you. I wouldn’t call myself Green, and to be honest, I was pretty oblivious in 2000, but I could never convince myself to take issue with anything someone does as a matter of principle.
Of course, I’m sure it won’t be long before you find someone who’d love to have this debate with you 😉
Just remember the Golden Rule
No need to worry about me. Maybe I should have said I was in a couple of intense disagreements rather than flame wars, and I’m definetily not looking for angry Democrats to tussle with. Like I said, I understand the anger and frustration. To be honest, there are moments when I feel pangs of guilt about 2000 after living through the last five years of Bush’s destruction and the thought that I may need to take drastic measures to protect my son from him. But the past is the past and we are all in this fight for the survival of our country together.
I’m not worried – I think there is a very natural perfection at work here. If you were really into the knock-down, kick in the teeth brawling – well, then you wouldn’t have had the time to come over here, I bet.
And about the guilt – hey if everyone made an effort to really live according to their principles, we wouldn’t be in this mess, now would we?
I’ll see you around – have I mentioned yet how cool I think this place is????
Welcome supersoling.
I love the variety in the new members. Tis the spice of life, and the source of learning.
Thanks outlanddish. I couldn’t agree more about variety and the spice of life and it seems that this place has plenty of both 🙂
Hi – I noticed you mentioned motorcycles. My husband and I ride a Harley, which I’m forever feeling uncomfortable about because of the ultra-conservative image bikers have. ARE there other Dem bikers out there?
Hi GC. I wouldn’t worry about being seen as conservative because you ride a Harley. In fact, I think most people have the opposite opinion of bikers. Certainly they are seen as very socially liberal even if their politics might be conservative and I’m not sure that’s true anyway. People ride Harleys because they’re God’s gift to free spirits and they look and sound awesome! Besides, who cares what anyone else thinks?
Peace
Hi Supersoling – I always associated the bikers with the “America first-Kick Saddam’s Butt-Gays are Fa…” etc group. But I love your take on it! And the ‘who cares what anyone thinks’ meme has been my attempted mantra forever (or at least since high school:)! There’a a Celtic saying – “dance as though nobody’s watching, sing as though nobody’s listening” – I’m paraphrasing, but I love it.
I wandered over here after the Pie fuss on Kos. I have no plans on leaving there, but was intringued with this site also. I am a 49 yo female, got a Ph.D. degree in epidemiology last year and now working at the VA hospital here in Cleveland.
More later…
Hi there, welcome,
I may have you mistaken for someone else, but there is someone at Kos who adds really wonderful insight into VA hospitals on assorted war/military related threads sometimes. Wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?
Anyway, thanks for introducing yourself. I hope we’ll see you back here.
wish I could take credit for it, but no it’s not me. I just started working there about 6 months ago and have no “insights” at all.
Thanks for the welcome anyway.
Same BobX from Kos. Live in Fl. with my wife & 2 cats. Been coming here and reading for some time, but the pie fight was the last straw of childish behavior that I could take, there were others but that was just over the top. I will try to post some good content and be constructive.
Oh, and to Booman. I heard somewhere that Darwin was on his way out? Say it isn’t so.
I’m outta’ here!!! Just kidding… I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Hey BobX – everyone over here has been doing their best to avoid food-fights while the tempers are cooling. The more good, constructive content – the better. I’m glad you’re here.
I’m a 54 year old mother of two sons, in their 30’s, and a grandmother of 5. I am also a refugee of Kos. I’m a “yellow-dog” Democrat from a long line of “yellow-dog” Dems. I had been searching awhile for a place where I would fit in and I found Kos.
Things were fine for awhile, but I began to notice a tone that I’ve seen far too often in life. When the diaries began about dropping Pro-Choice from the platform to win votes, the hair on my neck began to raise. I didn’t take part in the ad fight, because of health reasons. For my part, I felt they did not belong on what I thought Kos was.
I’ve missed all the great diaries and posts by the people who fled and decided to follow them here. As a child of the 50’s, I’ve fought the battles that we are again fighting today. This time around, I’m just too tired to fight them like I did back when I was young and full of energy. Now, I just use my mouth and my keyboard to fight my battles.
My one regret, as a baby boomer, is that I failed to teach my children to care more about politics. I should have made them see why I protested the Vietnam War, why I marched for Pro-Choice, and why we can never let politics out of the hands of the people. I never thought the day would come when the battles I fought would have to be fought all over again.
Welcome. I’m glad you’ve found your way over here. Please feel free to hop right in. The first couple of days of the ‘exodus’ were a little tense – so many people, so distraught, so angry – but it’s mellowed very quickly and the focus has shifted to exploring what just happened in a supportive and thoughtful way.
As a younger woman who grew up taking for granted the rights and freedoms you fought for – I want to offer my personal thanks to you for being here – on-line, in this community – to provide a wider view, deeper understanding and a bunch of experience that unfortunately is still so desperately needed.
Hi! I also wondered over from Kos. The latest Armando diatribe titled “Hypocrisy” just sent me over the edge.
Over the ledge whatever…. I am 36 year old former working gal who is now a stay at home mom of two small boys, ages 4 1/2 and 9 months. This site seems to be more open, and well…kinder. I am tired of all the rage misdirected…etc. After reading/lurking here, I think I found a new home.
Rage fatigue – there seems to be an awful lot of that around lately. I wandered over here a couple of days ago and haven’t been back to see the latest – I feel so much better! The atmosphere in these parts is like one huge, collective sigh of relief. We’re still discussing the ‘issue’ of course, but it looks a lot more like therapy than a dysfunctional marriage played out en masse.
Welcome to the Pond, hop in, splash around – take some deep breaths….
Thanks for the welcome. Today’s latest “rage” is off the recent diaries list, but he really really goes off the deep end. There were some kind folks trying to reel him in but he just goes nuts.
Okay, I’ll stop talking about the issue. Deep breath… I thought I was over it, but then I opened his diary this morning, and…well…now I’m here. Yeah, where its safe. 🙂
…I don’t think anyone has instituted a ‘gag order’ yet over talking about dKos. 😉
There are literally hundreds of us here working through this. Just last night my own sig line was “With friends like that, who needs Republicans?”. Then I changed my mind, because I really want to move beyond that….but I’m still angry and I want to show it…. but I don’t want to bring anger into this really cool place…. ad nauseam. I don’t debate well, but I can certainly argue with myself at length… sheesh…
Hang out for a while – you might find an occasional skirmish in here, but for the most part – everyone is doing a fabulous job of keeping it in check.
.
Need I still to cross-post my diaries @DailyKos?
If you think YES – Why so?
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
(No, I’m not from Texas)
Also an DKos expat, although I’m sure I’ll lurk over there also. And I’ll try not to be as much of a troublemaker as I was over there! No, actually I’m harmless, just too sarcastic for my own good.
Are we supposed to list our vitals here:
Sex: Rarely (ooops, there I go again, Male)
Age: 40
Location: Rochester, NY
Job: Database Administrator
Hobbies: Reading, Classical Music, Hiking, Walking, Bike Riding, Wallowing in Self-Pity, Navel Gazing…(I’m working through those last two…remember Dave Barry said that there’s a fine line between a hobby and a mental illness.)
Politics: Left of left of center
Special interests: animal rights, racial and ethnic diversity, anti-capitalism, religious tolerance…
Favorite color: Blue
Favorite food: Pizza (ooops! Grade school flashback!)
Woo hoo, Wry’s here. I am jumping up and down with joy! Well, not really, I’m too old and fat for that this early in the morning.
The old broads here will appreciate the humor you bring.
The “self-righteous women’s studies set?” (Is that the correct term?) ;^P
Actually I have my own feminist bona fides; my father died when I was 6 so I was raised by my mother, older sister, and grandmother. Grandfathers also died early. So I had no male role model in my early formation.
LOL It’s starting to look like that recently with the giant influx of new members this week. One week ago it was not that way, interesting huh, last week it was more balanced with male and female, but now I think females have topped the list.
We need to get some more males on this site now, thoughtful ones of course.
knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing troglodyte…should I leave?
I didn’t mean to imply that all the folks here are old broads. But, maybe we can have a corner for old broads and knuckle dragging trogdolytes.
sweat-dripping, knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing troglodytes…(five to be exact). So slick down your cow-lick, put on a shirt, and pull up a chair. I’m glad to see you here.
Good morning diane101,
I think the influx of new members this week is great. I was a bit apprehensive early on, as many – very understandably – came with raw emotions. But it is settling in wonderfully, no doubt because of your leadership (as well as the others who have joined the welcoming committee – a big hand to ME, shirl, Oui and others).
I’m not too worried about the gender balance. But I have one little worry – the latest influx may have ‘diluted’ our international leanings. Most of the newcomers seem to be from the North American continent. All the more reason for us to try to attract new members from other continents (great to have pastorlincoln here with his first diary).
I’d like to encourage our newcomers as well in inviting overseas friends to join this community.
.
the 50:50 ratio, not met in real life. In time of conflict and war more males are born. BooMan Trib is just fortunate to have such an active and motivated group swimming over to the frog pond. Those with backbone and clear understanding of issue at hand, made a valiant choice.
I do congratulate BooMan and SusanHu for their great reputation and the choices they have made for the community. The International ratio was also obvious to me, see comment below. Let’s agree that each international member give a friend that little nudge to become active member and not just lurk here at BMT. That would solve the unbalance.
PS To tease & please diane – males only.
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
.
Yesterday you were just counting numbers, now each number has a gender? I had assumed you were a Darwin-evolutionist, and not a creationist. Let the newbies settle in and the site will evolve. In truth I was counting …
the International member ratio! All but for the Canadiens, but they are only half-French, and true North-Americans living in USA time zones. They both play ice-hockey. Ratio completely shot to pieces. There goes the planning, almost as in Real Life.
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
I am going to have to conserve my typing time today as this week has caught up with me. WE need to have an oldtimers diary to talk about what just happened here this week, don’t you think. Kind of a wrap party to all out weeks of planning for just his time.
Anyway I think I will do one later this weekend.
I say gender because so many have identified themselves as female and I did have a poll on one diary, and it was 60% women last I looked. But of course that is an unscientific poll. lol
Gee might be surprised to find out that I am a creation, evolutionist. Best of both worlds, another good diary topic.
So Oui are you going to do next welcome diary or do you want someone else to do it. Is man Eegee around or is he dead tired.
How about this, do a sign up sheet, down thread, so as not to make this thread too wide. Just post a new comment. not to get this too confusing, which maybe I have already done, I will say Oui to do the next one part 13, then next one who comments will do 14, and so on, you will have to check to see if any changes back here, or when it’s time to put up. I think when a diary hits 100 comments, then put up new one. As the time goes on it climbs to 150 or more, so that seems a good cut off point.
but it’s payday so work is busy. (I work in the payroll office). I’ll help out as much as I can, I’m working on the compilation of the welcome threads. I think the “oldie” thread is a good idea, just to collect thoughts and figure out where we fit into this place as far as welcoming/mediating/etc goes. Hugs to you all.
.
Comes too early right now, I am on and off running & doing some errands.
If someone can do #13 – is my lucky number – married on Friday the 13th BTW. Easiest day to make all arrangements – it was so quiet everywhere.
I hear you thinking – typical for the Dutch! lol
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
🙂
That’s funny, Oui
We posted similar thoughts within less than 10 seconds of each other.
But me persuading curly to register does not count quite for the same, as we are both in the US. So, I keep sending links to friends and colleagues in many corners of the world.
I scooting around, checking out this weeks’ page view and visits.
I must say…that’s one helluva phallic graph!
http://tinyurl.com/avaf2
Yikes.
The good news is that BT is “sticky.”
Of course, some of that is attributable to newbies (pissed of nearly 50-somethings like me familiarizing themselves with the milieu, etc.
However, I’d venture to guesstimate that once things level out (and don’t forget that all of the newbies will recommend BT to their online/offline friends, too!) that BT will still be “home.”
The foundation of all relationships is trust (which esp. Armando doesn’t seem to grasp–his misogynistic behavior pissed me off moreso than Kos’s, and that’s saying alot)!
They both lost street (cyber, as well as brick-n-mortar) cred…bigtime.
50-something folks have astute short and long-term memory recall (as is evidenced by this weeks’ experiential diaries & comments).
The damage (IMMHO) is irreparable.
Lesson: never demand that feminists “shut the fuck up.”
I’m too old for this misogynistic shit (and no–I’m 100% unwilling to “teach” or to “fix” anyone else’s warped attitudinal behaviors).
Take a “sanctimonious” women’s studies class….
I never apologize for being a feminist.
Educate thyself (and opt for a mental status eval., too)!
Ugh.
Cheers to all, and thanks again to BT and its new and original community members for “being here”–in all respects (I stumbled upon it while being totally infuriated on Kos’s toxic misogyny threads this week).
Goes to show ‘ya that one never knows what’s on the end of a click-thru, huh?
<acerbic smirk>
Pax~
Holly
.
Can’t put blame on BooMan or his Tribe. We all lived quietly in our busy, small sort of way, until the greyhound pulled over on yonder highway. The bus left without all you people from the large metropolis. The bus driver Ar’No wasn’t kind and didn’t say a friendly word. Took off taking the bus stop sign with him.
All we could do is to open our doors and offer a warm welcome. I see you are a talented bunch, who will settle in and contribute to the community in a big way. See ye around, I got to do my daily chores, but only after I extended our warm welcome.
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
Greetings and Salutations! I just joined the Trib yesterday. I’ve been lurking here and at a lot of other blogs for ages. I discovered them about 2 years ago and I’m hooked. I hardly ever post because the pace of most blogs is way to fast for me. By the time I’ve formed an opinion, it’s yesterdays news! Other things about me: competitive triathlete and fitness buff, avid reader, married, no kids, work in advertising. Found you all from Kos a while back and really enjoy the posters on both sites. Hopefully, I’ll find the time to be a little more of an active member.
Hi there, welcome aboard..
I’m hoping you do find the time – if you’ve been hanging out here since the beginning, you must have a better feel for how things work around here than many of us who’ve only just arrived. I’m still trying to guess at what this place must have looked like a week ago.
Greetings from another long-time member who has been mostly in the background since May. I am yet another cross-over from DKos, although I missed Piegate completely and only came in on the <ahem> tail end to find the site in an uproar and many voices I respect coming to hang their collective hats over here with the little green frog.
I’ve started to devote some more energy to reading this site and find its more personal touches and easier access much less intimidating than the shark pool of its parent blog. I’ve cross-posted at least one diary here—a small piece that got some modest attention at DKos but was front-paged at Booman Trib., so I already feel pretty welcome!
I’m in North Carolina, a Yankee transplant of nearly seven years now. I turned 42 years old this year and I’m still waiting for the wisdom that’s supposed to come with age; so far, all I seem to have gotten out of the deal is lots of required dental work. 🙂
I’ve been a classroom teacher for 20 years, 7th-12th grade English & theater, until last year when I decided that as my two kidlets, a boy & a girl, hit upper elementary and middle school, that our whole family needed to stand down a bit from the chaos and stress that our schedule had become. So I stayed home all last year, and will take one more school year off from teaching to give our whole family a little more stability and support through the storms of early adolescence– “Our Last Best Shot,” and all that.
Many days I’m surprised my house doesn’t have a white picket fence– I’m a classic mini-van driving soccer mom, sing with our church choir & teach Sunday school, go to PTA meetings, cook dinner at night, and all the other trappings of middle American domesticity. I’ve even been married for 17 years now to my high school sweetheart–yes, he was even my senior prom date.
But I’ve also been politically active since my kids were born and I became a devotee of Marion Wright Edelman and her Stand for Children movement. I’ve worked elections, campaigned for good people, and pissed off most of my repug. family in the process. As a teacher, I’ve been active in the unions in NY and Mass. and have found different political fights in education since coming to NC. I have some interesting non-soccer mom skeletons in my closet, including a long stint in the SCA, many GLTB friends, and several other details that will have to unfold to y’all over time!
My political interests are large but I find I’m especially drawn to anything to do with education, media literacy, and local issues.
Thanks to all of you who are driving this welcome wagon– I hope to spend some more time here in the comfy chair of BooTrib.
Why I stay connected politically: This is my son on Grandfather Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mnts in N.C. Can you find me better reasons than that kid & all others like him and this beautiful earth we all spin on?
Glory be! What a morning! Wry and msdbrown!
Tis a warmer, safer, and more mature crowd. Maturity does not equal age. And, I have learned more since I began to frequent this site again.
Welcome.
.
Thanks for introducing yourself and family. Lovely scenic view you provided from the mountains. On the aside from politics, I am glad to see some soccer fans coming over these past few days.
Once again a very talented and motivated group finding its way to BooMan’s frog pool .. or was it pond? Martin Kudos for creating this opportunity.
Any chance those tied hands of GB-DC will be realized? Create the Orange Revolt in the US and regime change.
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
Nice to see you here, mrsbrown. Less snark, less pie, yet more filling. Hope to see you post more.
Laura
aka Dixie
Wow, another of my very favorites! Awesome to see you here. This has been like giving a party that you are actually able to have everyone of your favorite people drop by and hang out with you. Just the best. And whether it is an occaisional visit or a more permanent visit, we all are just thrilled to have you here.
Make yourself at home and we look forward to hearing more from you whenever you get the urge to share with us.
Shirl
Ya know, if I had an autograph book. . .just saying. . .
Hi Mrs Brown – Also from the classroom – a lot of the chat in the teachers lounge is about the disgust with NCLB. How do you feel about it? BTW, I’m in CT, but my son attends college in Charlotte. In fact his advisor was on the Edward’s team.
Not Exactly a Teacher – (a Sub)
Glad to find you here in 12… I’m headed back to 13 to introduce myself… Enjoy your vacation at the beach, you lucky frog…
Wandered over here after the Pie Implosion. I still visit kos to check out the “headlines”, but in recent months the place has reeked of underacknowledged privilege, and, so…
… my handle over there was LBK. I think I posted one diary and several comments…
… I live in Illinois with my spouse and two kids (13 and 6). My kids don’t go to school; we recently moved from a large rental home to a small house with a big yard (we bought it, because we plan on living in it indefinitely, and because it was cheap relative to other homes in our area). I garden heavily (am very into local food, self-sufficiency in community, etc) and have four chickens. I work for our local food co-op in outreach and am developing a plan to bring healthy, locally-sourced food to pats of the community who write it of due to financial constraints, time constraints, etc. I firmly believe that sustainable organic ag will become less expensive over time than conventionally-raised food. I also work with Prairie Table, which is a not-for-profit with similar aims.
But that’s another story altogether, and maybe I’ll diary it sometime.
I also work part time at Parasol, one of the best indie music mail orders in the world. I’ve been involved with Parasol in some way since 1996; I used to work there full-time with my husband, where we developed a new music distribution arm and started a couple record labels. Now I’m the mail order mule.
I love working for businesses where I know my superiors personally. I love my town because even though it’s a big university town, the neighborhoods are pockets of people skillsharing and hanging out. I love having my kids out of school because they can learn so much more on their own, and our family is strong stuff because of it. The older one is heading to school either this fall or next (he’s still deciding); I’m cool with that because he’s got a real sense of self, something he defined on his own as opposed to having it defined for him by his peer group.
See you in the diaries…
Hi there,
I’m sure that I’ve run into you at one point or another in one of the dKos diaries where local, organic food has popped up as a topic. I do hope that you’ll contribute diaries about this – I’ve always been a vegetarian (my family claims I was just strangely born that way), but until recently was totally oblivious to the inherent sense of supporting local food producers. I’m in the middle of an urban area, and wouldn’t even know what direction to go to find the nearest hunk of agricultural land, but I’m learning and making better choices as a consumer.
A little reminder and a nudge every now and then would be a cool thing – I hope to see you around, you’ll be a good influence on me.
for diaries on sustainable agriculture!
This seems like such a commonsense approach to rural poverty. I live in an economically depressed rural area, and I know bunches of people with huge, grassy lawns who struggle to put food on the table. It’s frustrating to watch people letting their land sit idle while being cheated at the grocery store.
HI, I have been a member here for a while, just never posted before.
I am a 67 year old woman mother of 3, one daughter just found after 43 years of not knowing, grandmother of 3, who acknowledge me, but 6 in total and now the proud great grandma of 2.
I seldom if ever post, other than on the choice threads and only then when someone throws out the crap that adoption is such a wonderful alternative to abortion. I am an outspoken opponent of adoption of newborns, it should be a matter of last resort, prevention of unwanted pregnancies should be the focus, and to keep abortions legal, safe and rare.
My years in the “shadows” were long and hard it is a painful story and one I will not post unless you think it would be helpful. I am originally from London, and yes Vera Drake depicted a truthful picture of 50s London. I now live in Southern California.
Rosalind
Hi, I am a Californian as well, living in Santa Ana. 67, I think you are going to push our shirlstars as the resident elder stateswomen, she is 64 or 65, and I am 62. I used to hold the title till Shirlstars came in and started to throw her age around. LOL
If you have been lurking but not posting you know that we love personal stories on this site so write whatever you please. As my friend shirlstars said to me they will either comment or they won’t so don’t worry. But I am sure on this site there will be no problem with anything of that nature.
Please feel free to comment often, we want to hear your voice.
Oh and welcome to this site, glad to see you have come out of the shadows.
.
Hi Rosalind,
It’s great to know you are present here.
I would only add: invest in the environment of living, working and recreating. This includes family support when and where it’s needed.
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
Welcome, welcome, welcome. I am taking off my sash and handing over the scepter as we speak. Very happy to pass the title, rewards, and no official duties on to you as our newest Elder Stateswoman!!
I want to echo Diane about your story. There is nothing that brings us the opportunity for understanding and growth than the personal stories of those we interact with. If you are willing to share your story with us, I know you will find a caring and appreciative audience. So when things settle down a little bit here, and when or if you feel up to bringing us your story, we would love to hear it.
Thank you so much for joining us here, make yourself at home and we hope you will find it as comfortable and informative a place to hang out as we do.
Well thank you for the kind welcoming words.
What happened to the time between being told “you are too young” to being acclaimed the “oldest member” LOL?
I am in Redlands, so we are almost neighbours Diane.
It is sad I am a member of a class of women who number world wide in the millions, but so few of us, in my age range at least, will make ourselves known, the stigma and shame that was so insiduously attached to us all those year ago, still exists, if only, in our own minds.
I really am not a single issue voter, After a short abusive marriage I found myself raising 2 wonderful daughters, now moms and grandmas themselves, I know what it is like to not receive child support, have adequate medical coverage, and generally worry about finding the means to feed and clothe my children. So many women today and indeed couples face the same hurdles, such a disgrace in this land of plenty.
Most of the time I do not post, I prefer to read the eloquent statements of others, some I might agree with and others I don’t. I know that soon enough I will see my views posted.
I shall post the story of a woman who before Roe found herself facing the unthinkable, I need to gather my thoughts, for although the product of a good English education I am not as articulate as most of you.
I paid no heed to the pie ad, I thought it childish and not worthy of comment. One of the advantages of reaching this age, little shocks you anymore!!
Ros
Hi all, you know the drill, Part 13 of the Welcome Wagon Diaries is live. Please Unrecommend this diary and Recommend the other. Peace on this Friday!
Hi, I’m yet another refuge from dkos misogyny. This seems like a nice calm place. I’m liking what I see.
AngryOne, so happy to see you come by our place here, and we hope you will find it a place that offers you conversation and interaction with others who share some of your concerns and interests. We are pretty laid back here, although we’ve had a ripple or two on the pond from time to time.
If you feel like you would like to, we would love to hear more about you and your interests. Just kinda like to get to know our new friends.
Welcome to the Frog Pond! Let us hear from you.
I’m new. I will mostly lurk, but I thought it might be nice to let you know I’m here. What else should I say?
Of course, it was the pie.
Welcome janale, we are pleased to have you lurk here all you wish. We hope you will find it a comfortable space and that you will add your comments and insights to our community whenever you feel you want to.
We also hope you will consider telling us a little more about your interests, what part of the country or the world you’re from, etc. By offering our little bios here, we have managed to create a sense of real people behind those screen names and keyboards. Once that is done, it really promotes the idea that speaking to your “friends” here is always done in a respectful and civil way. So yes, we may not be quite as anonymous as when we are screen names only, but it really helps to unite us as a family with many issues and concerns in common.
Very glad you decided to “lurk” here at the Pond, hope sometime you will feel you want to contribute as well.
Welcome