Welcome BooTribbers of the world! To help save the modems of our compadres on dial-up, we’re moving the Welcome Wagon over to this part of the pond.
To check out the previous threads, please visit Diane101’s diary here.
For newcomers, this is a place to introduce yourself to the community as well as get a splash of mojo. Welcome, and if you want to help out with the Welcome Wagon Crew, please visit this diary.
Bienvenidos to you all!
Update [2005-6-10 12:18:23 by Man Eegee]:Please Unrecommend Part 12 so they are not both on the Rec. List. Thanks everyone for your help!
Update [2005-6-10 16:9:37 by Man Eegee]: BooTribber Cake or Death has launched Part 14. Please Unrecommend this diary and head on over to the other one and Recommend. I’ll be back soon, I just got released from work early and am now heading home. WOOHOO!
Please hit Recommend on this diary and Unrecommend on Part 11! Thanks everybody, I’m off to splash around
or part 12 :0
for posting before I’ve had any coffee. Thx Grand Master Boo.
Grand master Boo, I think that we should make a decree naming him as such. What do you all think?
Hey is there anyone left who has not posted a bio, I bet there still is.
Come out of the shadows wherever you are, and join us for the big mojo fest.
On these welcome threads it seems you can become a trusted user in a couple days, we give so much mojo out, and when that isn’t enough Boo rolls out the mojo thread and then its all over, you are a TU.
I second it! So shall it be! GrandMaster Boo!!!!
planned for user #1500? Is there already a user #1500? It seems like a milestone worthy of a little celebration – maybe they should get a party hat?
Getting close – 1456 to caseynm
I’m on to you dude. You purposely got involved in these promotional diaries, where you get to ask everyone to Recommend. Then, once we have a break in welcoming new folks, you’ll start writing your own diaries, and by then everyone will have it in their minds, “Oh it’s Man Eegee – I’m supposed to hit Recommend whenever I see his name”. Pretty slick scam ya got going there ;-). (Yeah. . .you, and Diane, and Shirlstar and Ghostdancer and the others – I think you’re all in on it!)
Oh yeah – and most importantly – a big welcome to all the new folks! I wanted to jump in quick before this thread got too tangled.
Happy Friday to all!
So there you are anom, I haven’t seen much of you lately. Did you know I am passing on the baton to others to sign up for these diaries, follow the link above that man put in the diary, the second one and sign up for a diary. We are planning on keeping this going all the time now, so I’m sure you will want to do one, yes anom????. I await your words and a nice big hug to you today!!!!!
Hope you are working the 4’s, my hand is hurting.
Hey Lady – Happy Friday!
I’ve been trying to catch up with you for a couple days, but your welcome threads have been far too congested – so I’ve ended up clocking out or getting kicked out during each attempt. (Which is why I jumped right into “Welcome 13.0” before it got overloaded.) But when I was able to stick around for a bit in these threads, I was delighted to see all the passionate, dynamic new members.
What I forgot to do in my comment above is thank all of you guys (and Oui and Zander and Cake and anyone else I neglected to mention) I think it’s so heartwarming that you pulled together and set things in motion to ensure a steady welcome. How incredibly thoughtful of you – and what a genuinely wonderful team effort and gesture! You’ve been fabulous, tireless representatives, and I’m proud to be affiliated with you.
And yes ma’am. . .I linked over to your volunteer center diary. I was going to give each one of you three cheers during my visit, but halfway down the thread I got distracted by something – most likely a shiny object. Actually, it was a call from a client, and I had to drop everything to draft a letter for him. (HA! Okay, I ‘fess up. “Dropping everything” meant I had to stop reading diaries and articles on this site and actually do some work!)
Unfortunately, I’m not in a position to take any welcome shifts. This is the only evening I have to enjoy with my husband (he threatened to unplug the computer if I’m not in the living room in 5 minutes to spend the evening watching movies.) Okay, he just came in with the dreaded two minute warning.
Bless your hearts for your ambassadorship – you guys are great! Hugs to you, and have a wonderful weekend!
If you distract my concentration, I may bend the needle and hurt myself. :-B
Thanks for the link to bood’s diary – loved seeing the update. Um. . .just wondering. . .what exactly are you depicting in your little graphic at the end of your comment above? I could get myself in lots of trouble with my speculatin’, so I best be off. :^)
Good day!
I guess I should be careful with my buck-teeth emo. It’s my way of saying, I’m being silly.
Ya never know – it might have been a full body shot – of either gender.
So now I’m here to hand out 4s and say hi!
And to shamelessly point out to all our nice new friends that Booman’s lovely sidebar ads could use a click AND that anyone who might be interestd in a great advertising bargain for their business can click the advertising link in the upper right corner!
I just wanted to drop by before hitting the hay and say welcome to everyone new and to say how good it is to be here with you all. Thanks to boo the man….
I am somewhat new here myself, but feel like I belong here…thanks to each of you. Oh man after a good days work this place is such a great place to be.
Again, welcome….have fun with all of us and take some goodness to bed with you tonight for being here.
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.
(If this looks familiar to you, I just posted it on Part 12. I should refresh more often.)
Just post a lil a bit about yourself, your likes or dislikes or whatever! could be silly or serious.
Welcome Welcome Welcome!!!!
I’m in Dallas, Texas. Although I have known more progressive people here than anywhere else I’ve ever lived (Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee), I was really happy to discover all the progressive blogs last year. I’ve spent a lot of time reading on kos. But kos has grown a lot. And as thrilling as it is to see diaries by elected officials, its also really hard to find the substantive debate in 500-comment threads. The last few days made me realize that I might need to change my lurking habits. Do I have a diary to write? I don’t know. We’ll see.
Thanks for the welcome!
and kudos for having the guts to live as a progressive in Texas. I hear that Dallas and Austin are better than the rural areas, but I still don’t think I’d have the stomach for it.
Down in Austin myself — if you’re ever down this way, delurk and let me know! 😉
My sister-in-law is in Ft. Worth, so if I’m up that way, I’ll let you know too!
(I have a big mouth, so I most likely won’t have to ‘delurk” first.)
Thanks! Austin has been on my to-do list the entire time I have lived here. I’m so very very embarrassed to say I’ve been living here 10 years and I’ve never been to Austin.
Said my Hello’s near the very end of the last thread– you can peek at my shout out over here Greetings, friends old & new!
Happy to see you over here!
Welcome threads are such a lovely idea! Having fun and learning lots here!
I had noticed a couple of weeks ago that many of the people I looked for most eagerly at dKos also posted here. Thought I’d check it out (and yes, the Pie thing has played a role – I missed most of it but am very disappointed and unsettled. But that’s there, and here is here.)
I’m 36, female, living in Boston. Bisexual with a (male) spouse and three cats. Vegan and an environmentalist, I suppose. Pretty left-wing but always willing to learn and engage. Was involved in the verified voting/paper trail stuff before the 2004 election and was disappointed Democrats didn’t take it seriously (and are probably still not taking it seriously enough).
I work in software quality assurance, currently as a contractor for a health insurance company. (I am ironically enough, working on the Medicare products that came out of the Medicare bill and its drug “benefit.”)
I am starting a Master’s program in Media Studies in the fall part-time and may switch to full-time next year. (The program is on-line through the New School in New York). That may provide some good fodder for diaries as time goes by.
That’s enough for now. Hello to everyone I recognize, and hello to the Boo folks. I look forward to getting to know you better. Have a great weekend.
Welcome to the site. About the voter fraud issue you mentioned above, I agree with you, I tried really hard to keep the issue front and center, but folks got weary of it I guess. Others just dismissed it, but in the end I think it will all wrap up into a nice package during the Impeachment proceedings, which I feel is just waiting in the wings.
that would be my big push issue, with that done a lot of other problems would be solved….
You like the others here have such an interesting life,…. all of you do…
Who could forget your screen name? Not me. Nice to welcome a familiar keyboard to the Frog Pond. Make yourself at home and jump right in whenever you feel like it.
We are mighty glad to have you here! Welcome!
Please keep me on that list for the Boston area goings-on… I’ll have more available time to travel shortly… plus now a have an insta-dog-sitter… See my intro below…
In the same business down here, and almost the same discipline within (any more and I give away my identity, my employer is very red).
I have been hanging out here for the past couple of days and just registered. Missed the pie fights, and came back into an interesting thread about Dems “losing” families. It was a good thread but folks were too touchy and I had missed the lead ins so I didn’t understand why. Maybe I will diary on the topic later. Anyway, I like it here and will probably wander back and forth across the street to see what is happening.
About me- 43YO woman, married with two kids (5 and 8, both girls) in the bluest of blue states. Hubby and I are both college biology professors at two colleges not far apart. I am very active in my Town Government as well as state science education organizations and I just became a Girl Scout Leader. I am a fallen Catholic and not at all religous, although I am a “true believer” in community supported agriculture. I am particularly interested in environmental and educational issues.
at a large community college (Austin Texas).
Welcome. Always good to meet new folks who speak my language, work-wise.
This is a topic I’ve been trying to learn about- I live in a fairly agricultural community, so some of this comes easy, but I’m only beginning to realize how many of my unexamined eating habits are supported by unjust practices in other countries. I hope that you do a diary on this soon!
Oh, and welcome!
and sparrowsong. Seems like we might be on to something here. I wanted to point you both towards Mizuntitled who just posted this morning, and works with Prairie Table – a “Healthy Local Food Network”.
We are so happy to have you stop by our Frog Pond. . .being a biology Prof and all. . .you can easily determine that we can use your input and help with some things around here.
Sounds as if you have a busy and satisfying life. We hope you will feel at home here and we look forward to your participation and comments in whatever ways your busy life and interests allow.
Welcome!
to all for the welcome. I’m most interested in primary producers, so I know a thing or two about inputs. And sparrowsong, I’d be happy to do a CSA diary if you think folks would be interested.
We picked up our first share of the season at our local CSA this week, and had such a great time hanging out, picking strawberries and playing on the swings there. The CSA here is becoming a bigger part of the community every year, with book clubs and potluck dinners.
Anyway, welcome to the pond!
When I say that, I mean Massachusetts – don’t know if you do. I’m in Boston and always love to connect with other MA folks.
We had just begun to do some Boston/MA face-to-face organizing out of dKos (mostly people in Cheers and Jeers), but now we’ll have to expand.
I am tempted to create a Yahoo group “Boston Blog Addicts” so we can attract amazing people from all across the internets.
I’m from the western suburbs of Boston — which, since I’m north of the Pike, I think means I live on the “North Shore.”
I’ve been keeping my eye out for local meet-ups but haven’t seen much. I’d love to know when they’re scheduled. So I guess I’d better go add my e-mail address to my profile…
Yes, I am in good old Massachusetts, I live in purplish central MA. Of course most of our Republicans here would be Democrats elsewhere, but you already knew that if you live in MA. I moved back to MA from NC in the early 90’s and Weld was thinking about a Presidential bid. I remember laughing at the thought of him trying to win a primary in the South.
Howdy all! I am new to this site – came to it by way of the pie fight on Kos. I resisted visiting before mainly because I don’t believe there are such things as “women’s issues”. Privacy, health care, families – these issues affect everyone. Even choice – the debate is truly about who gets to make moral and medical decisions, you or the government.
Anyway, here I am and I am finding myself more comfortable than I thought. I didn’t fully realize how wearying the “Beavis-speak” had become on many other sites. Thanks for creating another great pad to hop to as I surf!
I am a single 38 year old California woman who quit her high stress job 18 months ago and is happier and healthier than I ever thought possible!
“Beavis-speak” – I like that. To have it suddenly disappear does make you shake your head, and wonder where you’ve been, doesn’t it? I think we’ve all come in here with a lot of… well, energy that is quickly being redirected into positive things.
I’m glad that you’re feeling at home right off the bat. Please feel free to just hop right in…
I don’t think that you are alone in finding more comfort than you thought here. I was always a lurker, posting very infrequently. Since coming here however, I have been posting like crazy!
There’s plenty of room here in the pond so stretch out and get comfy. 😉
All that said…Welcome to the pond!
“Oh no, I’m just a squirrel”
I’m a ‘Trustie’ here – doing 10 years to Life for GMH (Grievous Mental Harm). As a model prisoner I’m in charge of the library, and I can bring books round to your cells. If you’re nice to me I can slip a little something between the pages for your pleasure 😉
The Prison Governor – who we call the Boogie Man – is Ok really, but watch your language. Man Egee, the chief Warder, is just an old softie – you can get away with anything, with him. Jerome is supposed to help us get a job when we leave here, but very few understand what he explains. Diane and Ghostdancer look after people’s souls and Diane is always a good touch for snout – as we call tobacco here. We think she controls the entire prisons supply.
Oui and I have built several tunnels to get out, but we always come up in the workshop. Damn these cheap Chinese compasses!
Whatever you’re in here for, remember to be kind to each other, and watch yourself in the showers…
You are such a dear. What a cute story above.
You really have to add Shirlstars to the soul tenders on this site and I know there are others as well. Any sould tender present, step forward…..
As to the tobacco supply, I think Shirlstars must be in control of the prison supply as she smokes way more than I.
Today I decided enough of this smoking while blogging and I took my cigs and ashtray outside. Within about 3 minutes I was talking to shirl and started searching for them, found them and brought them back inside and now they sit there taunting me with their win.
Do you know Oui in real life, just curious.
Diane – sorry – you know what a tease i am. I don’t know Shirl, but I’ve read her comments of course. And of course there are many many caring people here among the ‘oldsters’
I don’t know Oui, except here – while we are on the same continent, we are a couple of thousand kilometers away. But since I have business in Holland occasionally, we may yet get to meet.
I don’t really feel I know anyone till I get a reply comment. It’s funny how a good comment makes you feel a bond with someone that you know nothing at all about!!!
BTW Just back from the opening of an Elvis exhibition where I met Elvis’ half brother and discovered we not only share a surname but also our mothers’ maden names. The exhibition will tour after Finland, going next to London and then Amsterdam. Hey – that might be a chance to hook up with Oui.
http://www.footstepsofelvis.com/ (text also in English)
Today I was in Uusikaupunki for the summer opening of our crazy Bonk museum. It’s a beautiful West Finland coastal town with a river coming right up into the center lined with boats and old wooden storehouses now converted to shops and restaurants.
http://www.bonkcentre.fi/p0_eng.htm (text also in English)
Yes getting a reply from someone or writing one to someone for that matter really makes a difference in how we perceive people doesn’t it.
has Shirl neglected you and never responded, she must fix that at once, oh shirl over here please.
I hope you will be sending me some sushi soon, my preference teka maki, and of course a bowl of miso soup with a side of rice. That would sure hit the spot right now. A small glass of plum wine for desert would make it perfect.
Related to Elvis you say. We might be related too, my ancestors come from those parts, not too far north tho, mostly around germany, and what was prussia. When doing genealogy it is such a problem with all the country and personal name changes.
Gee you with many others have such fantastic lives while I sit here in my room, day and night, hate to leave the property, and just dream of far off places I wish I could have visited.
We are going to need a world Booman meetup sometime. Where shall we hold it????
Sven, you deserve a 12 for that. . .so here are three 4’s!
Oh sure Sven, pretend that you don’t know me. Pretend that we haven’t met down in those dark, damp, musty, stinkin,narrow hallways and byways where the heating system (ha, heating system, now that’s a joke) ducts and all the electrcial crap is.
Pretend that I don’t trade you cigs for chocolate bars. And then I have to listen to that Sanctimonious Poet Gardner Diane claim that I smoke way more than her. . . I never would have started smoking if it weren’t for her. . .damn it all anyway.
Maybe Miss poet, Miss gardner, Miss Tolle painter, Miss organizer, just maybe it might be because I spend 27 frickin hours at this computer out of every 24 there is, eh? Bet you never thought of that, now did you, bright britches.
So Sven, since we always use our code names, we have never been properly introduced. . .Hi, I’m Shirl, and I have a big crush on you now because anyone that can write such lovely mythology and make me laugh is just my cup of whisky.
I’ll be looking for you down in the sub basement guy. . .and don’t forget the chocolate or the whole thing is off.
Shirlstars aka Shirl
And yes I do too know how to spell gardener. . it’s this keyboard, it has untable “e’s”.
Now there is a phrase for you. . . untamable ease.
(word freak is now disappearing from the room)
untamable
or unstable
you decide
oh that must be a typo. I worship the Greek God Typos.
Shirl, I am glad we have at last been introduced formally. All those previous furtive basement exchanges with you in the lower corridors of unpower have caused my rheumatism to flare up again.
Has Diane turned you on to TV dinners yet?
I had a near-croak experience. It was during the Bolton hearings and I haven’t been the same since. I was minding my own business, watching P-SCUM, and out of nowhere a pack of crows came and tried to peck out my insides. I tried to puff myself up as fast as I could but couldn’t stop when I was bursting at the seams. Thanks for blowing my cover around here Sven.
are chirping….I hope I didn’t get pushed off the lilypad for that one. 🙂
Man, are you the amphibian 😉
In reading through the comments, I’m seeing pieces of my story all over the place! I’ve come from Kos and intend to continue using that site for the news and such. but it’s gotten kinda hot & muggy over there so is not a very comfortable place to hang around right now….and maybe that’s what it’s meant to ultimately be?
It seems pretty cool & reasoned over here so far…maybe it’s the frogs croaking in the background?
I know what you mean. I’m a non-confrontational wimp when things heat up, so I’ve been over here since.. um, Monday I think. It’s been the coolest thing to watch so many people show up – there’s an awful lot of ‘me too’, ‘I did the exact same thing!’, ‘you’re kidding me! I had the same thought!’ – going on over here. People who expect to just lurk around, and check things out feel comfortable enough to jump right in…..
I invite you to do just that if you’re feeling up to it. We’re a pretty happy bunch right now.
I saw that some of my favorite Kos posters were coming over here, so I followed to keep up with them. Didn’t care for the pie fight, won’t let it stop me from staying with dKos, but this is one of the places I will come every day.
53yo engineer, live in Iowa, former Republican (it’s been a while now), still Catholic, science fiction fan, 3 cats, around 70 rose bushes. Caucused for Dean, worked as precinct captain last election, and Thursday nights did phone banking for our Congressional candidate. Single woman, mean aunt to lots of nieces and nephews (it’s cheaper than being their sweet generous aunt, which is what they tried to con me into).
I’m glad you stopped by – welcome. I have the feeling you could give me valuable advice about this aunt thing. I have one nephew – I was there to marvel at my sister through most of her pregnancy, was hand-holding through the birth, which clued me into the miracle aspect I wasn’t previously aware of, spent insane amounts of time away from home visiting so I wouldn’t miss a thing. He’s just turned 2, is starting to talk a lot – and I know I am so in for it…..
Hope to see you around in here….
Thanks for the welcome!
With regard to the aunt thing, I keep telling them that I’m their mean aunt so they can be suitably astonished and grateful if I ever do anything nice for them. Some are grown (one married), some still in high school. I interact more with my one sister’s children, a couple of them are only 5 miles away. My brother’s children are more like 80 miles away. I’ve been taking my sister and her kids to science fiction conventions. In a couple of weeks I’ll get to see her oldest boy as a policeman in “Pirates of Penzance”.
The little ones shoot up so fast!
Oh the school plays – that must be excruciating.
I think I’ll let my other sister worry about the aunt thing – I’d rather be the cool uncle. “3 and 1/2 is plenty old enough to ski!”, “He doesn’t need any training wheels, falling won’t kill him!” Guess I was always a bit of a tom-boy….
I’m Anglico. A lurker, poster, commenter and all around blog addict with fluourescent blue progressive stripes and a mission to eliminate W from the alphabet.
I found the Boo through dKos, where I still spend some time, and also through other havens of liberal thought out here on the Internets. Prior to being Anglico, I was Elizabeth James. That was a few too many personalities to keep up with, so I’ve settled on one for now :).
In real life I am a writer, with a just announced gig as a columnist for the Chapel Hill (NC) News, a sweet twice-a-week rag that allows me to vent, as long as I throw some local commentary into the mix. Beyond that, I’m working on two novels and a host of business writing for Big Cheeses in Big Companies. Hoping soon to be able to stop prostituting my talents for the Man.
I backed Wes Clark hard in the early days of the last campaign, but jumped on the Kerry bandwagon with full force. My spouse and I raised a boatload of dollars for the Johns, and are still heartbroken to be living under the Bushman’s miserable reign of error.
Couple of other things: Ex-Navy officer and US Naval Academy grad. Two kids, one who just got through NYU with an MSW. That makes me kind of . . . oldish.
Very happy to be here.
Welcome – we share an occupation, writing for Les Fromages, and novels in progress.
I only ever wore a gun once – contacting tribes in the Xingu River area of the Matto Grosso, Brazil. And it was only for shooting leopards. Luckily I never saw one. That was in 1968 so that makes me similarly oldish.
I’m in Finland BTW
Hey, I write for cheesy pharmaceutical concerns, so I guess we have something in common too…
Why were you contacting tribes in Brazil in 1968?
Hi CabinGirl!
I was working on a TV movie documentary about the Villas Boas brothers who were great supporters of the Indians and set up the Xingu National Park.
It was 3 months that turned all my values upside down – after living in London thru the ‘Swinging London’ times.
“If you can remember those time, then you weren’t there” ;-)))
Wow! I knew it had to be an interesting story! Now about those ‘Swinging Londaon’ times…
But I did eat sausages for breakfast several times with Mr Lennon, while we were shooting ‘Imagine’….
We visited that amazing place two summers ago. When we got home, I built a sauna at the edge of our lake and now have the blessed privilege of being sort of Finnish at least three days a week!
You are a lucky duck!
Anglico
You are very Finnish, bro!
Isn’t it the most fantastic experience – especially by a lake? It’s the only time I ever drink beer – after cleansing body. mind and soul.
Do you use the ‘vihta’ or birch switch? Try a few drops of beer in the ‘Löyly’ – as you throw it on the stones, the heat cracks the hops to release a fantastic scent that makes you feel like a nicely baked loaf in an oven.
Great advice! Haven’t tried the beer yet . . . will do that tomorrow night. We put fresh rosemary in the loyly (oh for those dots on our eyes :)) which is also refreshing.
And just how do these birch switches work? Sounds kinda fun!
You collect a big armful of birch twigs from a small tree or birch bush with plenty of leaves – say each twig about 2 – 2.5 foot from stem cut to the end of the leaves. The stems fairly flexible.
You start with one good branch, then laying them on top of each other so you can hold the stems together easily in one hand (this keeps all the leaves in the same plane roughly)
When the bunch is as thick at the stems as you can hold, you slit in half one long stem (with all the leaves and twigs stripped off). Now you have a flexible ‘rope’ to wrap tightly in a spiral around the stem to hold them all together. Start by folding the beginning end of the ‘rope’ back on itself so it disappears under the ‘coil’. The end of the ‘rope’ you shove thru the coil a couple of times – pull it as tight as you can, then trim off anything that sticks out.
Trim the ends of the stems.
If you hold the vihta by the stem you should be able to swish it easily backwards and forwards a bit like a carpet beater but much more flexible.
Now you’re ready!
Have a large bucket of warm water in the sauna. Soak the vihta leaves down in the water. Then take it by the stem and drop the leafy part on the hot stones for a couple of seconds ONLY – on both sides. This release the birch scent, warms the leaves and makes the whole thing more flexible.
Now you are ready to beat yourself! It doesn’t hurt… you use a flicking motion to ‘snap’ the leaves against your skin. It takes a bit of practice. The best way I can describe it is that you are giving yourself a hard whack, but at the last moment you reverse direction, causing the leaves to flick against your skin. There’s no twig contact 😉
Do your back, front and legs – or get someone to do it for you.
It increases blood circulation, removes old dermis (gently) and makes you feel like a million bucks.
Thank you so much! We will try this out as soon as we can get our hands on some birch!
You’re very kind.
liberal military officer here, especially an Academy grad. Welcome Sir!
Well thanks! It’s nice to meet you.
Hi, my name is Tom Murphy. I am on the Board of Directors of Vote Hemp, I am also part owner and webmaster for The Hemp Report, and my personal hemp web site is at IndustrialHemp.net. As you might be able to guess I’m heavily into the hemp industry. If you want to know anything about the subject please ask me.
Thanks,
Tom
p.s. I’m pretty good at spelling, but I really like the spell check.
Welcome!
I did a documentary a few years ago which included a section on Hemp. It is grown in Europe (mostly France) because the long strong fibres make good bank notes.
The only problem is the pollution created in separating the fibres. There are many rivers in Finland that have ‘dead’ in their name as they were once used for retting. I have an engineer friend working on new pulp digester technology for the Asian paper industry.
Most people don’t know that hemp comes in three basic types – one good for fibre, one for oil (very healthy,if fresh) and of course THC. In Russia there is a seed depository with over 200 types.
A film/video documentary?
Yes, retting hemp is a problem, especially in China. Hemptown is working with the National Research Council Canada to develop an enzyme retting technology that among other things reduces water pollution. This was reported in the story Cover Me with Hemp in the NRC Highlights – July 2004.
The seed depository is at the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry. I blogged about the link between the institute and the International Hemp Association last August 26th at The Hemp Report. I am a member of the IHA.
It was a Finnish TV doc about the paper industry (vital to Finnish economy). We were trying to point out alternative fibre sources globally, with of course the pollution problems.
Professor Johan Gullichsen is the expert on the new pulp digesters. He’s the chairman of the Ahlstrom Corporation.
Interesting. I was looking over the Ahlstrom Corporation web site and it looks like they recently had a hemp pulping operation in the US, but it was moved to their Radcliffe, UK site.
Gullichsen is regarded as a guru of the paper industry. Ahlstrom Corp no longer makes paper as such – they call themselves the ‘Fibre Solutions’ people.
Jussi has a private engineering consultancy which is developing the digesters. They have not solved the cost efficiency yet, bu they are close. It is meant to be a digester not just for hemp, but anything – bamboo etc that is relevant to the East. As I often quote – The Chinese have a per capita annual use of paper at 9 kilos compared with US 300 kilos. So if 1.4 billion people move to US levels there aiin’t that much fibre on the planet!!!
Jussi’s a relative by marriage (and divorce) – so we get to talk about this stuff at family get-togethers (to which I still get invited 😉 as Finland is rather civilized)
Hi tommurphy. I listen to The Hemp Report on my community radio station KGNU (which I’m happy to promote since I volunteer there and set up their streaming audio). It’s great to have you here.
Hi ubikkibu. I appreciate the welcome. Who is the host of the radio show? Is it a weekly thing? Just talk about hemp or are there guests, too?
Kevin… oh god, i can’t remember his last name… I know him as Rev Kev… shit… lives in Bellingham WA… very vocal re: hemp etc… Kevin Nelson… him?
I’ve come here for several months now, but did not register or comment til yes-we-all-know-why…
Enjoy C&J community at DKos the best… actually, I love them; they are good folks… and very glad to see some here as well…
Age:35
Home: Soon to be Claremont, NH (small town, 1/2 up the state, along CT River/VT border)
Employ: small NH company w/ 20 employees… LOVE IT
VP’s attire today: Hawaiian shirt, khakis, tevas, sunglasses on head all day long… It’s a good place to be.
What we do: Manufacture timber frame / post & beam homes
What I do: Website, database mgmt, some sales & marketing too
Kids: Jasper-doggie… she’s adorable, she’ll be 13 soon, she’s aging… I love her.
Family: (Most) all in CT
Um… former teacher in another life… currently going thru divorce, amicably… I’m excited about this new chapter my Sherm’s Book of Life
Politics: WAY left… specifically, environment, women & family issues, food supply, independent music & media, local & organic as much as possible
Hello…
Hi!
Well come!
Hi Shermanesque, so many new names to spell, I was just checking the site and saw you got a 3 and I am sure it was a mistake, I did that last night myself and tried to change it and the diary just wouldn’t load all the 4’s and then my computer said enough, now restart me.
Now I can’t find the comment, so I hope that no one will feel bad for these accidents. I have given out so many 4’s I can’t tell you, but I noticed it’s better to give just a few at a time for loading purposes.
My favorite show used to be this old house, so I know about post and beams homes.
Say would you know how to gather up this diary data base and put it in alphabetical order, more about that is being discussed on the second link in diary above, Welcome diaries, team meetup. so if you have something to add please see that site.
Forgot to say welcome….
I got a new mouse with a cool (and very slippery) ball and I’ve been horrified to find that while I thought I had given fours, some of them were actually 3’s or even 0’s. I think I changed them all but sorry if I missed one!
Someone want to start a database?
If you have some technical knowledge you can contribute, please pop in here
Click on the rating you want to give (i.e. 4… :))… then click on the white space (of nothing) to reset your scroll wheel… THEN go to the post or rate it button or whatever it is…
If you’re still on the 3 or 4 ratings button, when you scroll next, it will take effect there…
can’t you click on your own user page, click on the “Ratings” tab, scroll down to the comment rated 3, click on it and rerate?
Hey there,
Coming from C&J – I know you understand a serious mojo-fest when it happens. I just checked out that really inappropriate 3, and yep – diane101 was right. Ubikkibu has been dropping major mojo all over the place, and let a misplaced scroll slip in.
Wow, yet another ‘into local and organic’. According to my count that’s 5 of us today, including a couple of people who might be interested in writing diaries about it… cool! Welcome, I’ll see you around.
I’d be WAY into doing more stuff re: local and organic / food supply issues…. I at least haven’t found a lot about it on Kos… not sure if/how it’s covered here… but at a glance, I don’t see anything…
See you around indeed!
I am another kos immigrant, in my forties, with a philosopher husband and ten year old baseball playing son. I live in a small town in north-central Idaho (pop. 500). I moved here in 2001 from Honolulu Hawaii, where I grew up. I used to be a lawyer at big law firm and now I do research and writing for lawyers in hawaii while wearing my sweats and watching the squirrels. The Kos community was a great discovery for me, but I am feeling a bit estranged from it now, and hope that I can be meaningful contributor here.
Hi Sophie, welcome. Honolulu you say, I lived in Kaneohe, Oahu, way back in the 60’s. Just a glorious place to live with an ocean the color of blue that we don’t have here in Socal. Don’t get me started on that place, I love and miss it so. Was it a big change to go from there to Idaho. Oh you know shirlstar lives in Idaho. She should be stopping by in a minute to welcome you herself.
Hawaii is a beautiful place. I am going back for a week next month to hang with my three sisters. I’ll take a picture of the blue for you.
Idaho is a change, but in a way it is wonderful change. Honolulu has a lot of the negative attributes of socal — expensive, materialistic, traffic-filled. Where I live in Idaho is slow and clean and simple. I am about thirty miles from Moscow, Idaho, where the University is. That is a wonderful town, very liberal and very community-oriented. So I am very happy here …
Kailua is where we went to the beach (Kaneohe has none), spent many a day there and about in the town. I guess a lot has changed since I lived there. I used to live on Lehuuila St in Kaneohe, think that’s the right spelling.
My house was in the hills and boy when it rained we got a good stream going down through there. Good thing houses are built on stilts there.
My fear was driving from Honolulu to Kaneohe on the the other route from the Like Like Hwy., can’t remember the name ,but the one where the big battle was and the wind held up the warriors from plunging to their deaths. I hope I have that story right too as it has been many years since I thought of it.
is that it?
Well I came back for round 2. I sure am seeing alot of familiar faces. I was over at the Booman secret revealed. I think it’s that Chimperior is telling Syria to Butt out of Lebannon. Ya Think?
hi folks,
fearless jupiter here. felt obliged to say hi; i didn’t post too often over at Daily Kos, but had been a huge fan of the site, until of course, becoming infuriated over the obnoxious and dismissive tone of too many of the posters there over the infamous pie situation. i lay the blame squarely on Markos himself, because he’s the one who sets the tone from top down.
also — i noticed a few days ago, when i first started reading diaries over here at Booman, that someone in one of these welcome-wagon threads said that they’re planning on moving to Belize in the near future… (i think perhaps it was shirlstars, not sure). i would really love to talk to that person about their plans, because i’m interested in doing the same, but i haven’t got a tremendous amount of information about the process of moving there, and citizenship, and what it costs for land and such. i’m relatively poor, but i’ve heard you can buy land in Belize for a song. just wanted to see if i could communicate with whoever had posted that.
anyway, i thank you all for having me.
cheers !
Hi there,
Welcome, and thanks for stopping by. There’s quite an impressive collection of non-obnoxious and not-dismissive people amassing over here. Reverse osmosis, I think.
I can’t help you with hunting down the person going to Belize – I didn’t see that post, but things are traveling fast over here, so I’m sure it won’t take too long. I bet if stuck ‘Going to Belize?’ in your sig line, and wandered around a bit, someone would bite pretty quick.
Enjoy!
hi Zander, and thank you for the welcome.
Okay, so you tricked me into jumping in here. Yes it is me, and yes I have lots of info about Belize and I see that you have your email listed so I will be glad to send you links to all that I have found out about. Pretty interesting stuff.
I will get back to you on it, because I am still trying to get myself down to my small town and to the grocery before my dog disowns me for having run out of her favorite food. For some reason, everytime I try to get my self out the door, there is some compelling distraction that slows my progress down.
I Belize. . .in Belize
Shirl shirlstars@yahoo.com
er. . . maybe I should shut the computer off. . .heheheheh
I had to FORCE myself to ignore BooTrib this morning so I could finish my real work today…it was so hard!
I’ve always wanted to go kayaking in Belize in the winter. Have you been there many times, Shirl?
No, only out of body. . .
But have talked to many who have and some who currently live there.
Bet you would love it. In winter? Oh you mean your winter. Yep, sounds like it would be fabulous fun, if you want me to send you some links, just email me
shirlstars@yahoo.com
wow, thanks for replying, and yes, any and all info you may have would be greatly appreciated.
cheers !
I came here a month or so back from Kos on the advice Sirocco, and made an account. However, I didn’t actually post anything until a few days ago, putting me in a weird position between the pre-pie members and post-pie members. For the record, I could care less about pie, and my reasons for being here have nothing to do with it. I’m just happy to be a community just getting started, even though it seems half the people here I know already from Kos.
About myself; I’m in my 20’s and I live in the Chicago area. Besides politics, I’m interested in writing, photography (with a special love of trains, industrial sites, and abandoned places), and role playing games, which I blog about at DiceTheory.com under the name Jad Jermain (note that I in no way endorse or participate in the political section of the same blog; I’m strictly there for the gaming).
I’m a self proclaimed progressive. My first choice for the 2004 Democratic primary was Dean, my second was Kerry. I’m hoping Feingold runs in `08.
I’m sure there’s more I could say, but I can’t think would it would be. In any case, that’s a pretty good introduction. See ya’ around the frog pound.
Very close to preppie!
Yikes!
I signed up a while ago, but didn’t hang out and get to know the place until earlier this week. Newbie with a not so new UID. Of course now, I can’t seem to drag myself away….
see ya’ around Goldfish.
(yah, yah – I did try to come up with something funny about a new fish in the pond – but I should know better – I’m not that funny)
Hi Goldfish! It’s good to see you here!
My name is Trey…
I am a 46yo male. gay. partnered (10yrs). 3yo daughter. another on the way (adopting). biologist. small business owner. gardener. knitter. cook. lover of blues, classical, books and movies. From Virginia, live in San Fransciso.
My issues (in no particular order): health care, war/peace, equality (women, gay, ethnic/racial), small business, human rights, environment, and others.
Thanks for the welcome.
Came from DailyKos (still like it and there, but feeling a bit like I need a place a little more friendly to women/gay/racial issues.
I’ll be posting!
Welcome from another knitter! Cables, Intarsia, Fair Isle…which is your fave?
well, I only started november (day after election to be exact.. needed something to calm me down)…
I’m into learning different lace stitches right now… yo, k2tog, etc…
only have 5 garments under my belt (so to speak), two scarfs, two hats and a poncho… working on a shawl right now…
next the sweater… i’m addicted….
and …..
I want to learn either faire isle or intarsia.. and i’ll need to… .. i’ll tell you which I’m more excited about once I figure it out 🙂
Hi there, I just wanted to hop in here and let you know that I’m a Canadian who recently did some research for someone over on Kos about immigration law here as it pertains to same-sex couples. I’d be lying if I said it was all neatly packaged and professional, but I have it floating around if you happen to know anyone looking for that sort of thing.
**Not that I think anyone should be fleeing to Canada or anything…. but… hey I’ve become a bit biased and maybe just a little bit patriotic over the last couple of years…. go figure..
Of course, I’d do just about anything to be in San Francisco right now – family there just north of the city.
Down in the deep red south here. As noted above, I’m in the government health insurance business. Married, middle aged hippy with a very colored past. Always have been a Dem, but gotten more liberal over the years.
Knowledgeable in all things IT related, and I’m here because I like the color green!
Has The Maven found you yet?
Just because I can’t help it. I am very happy most everyone kept their dKos handles. I kind of pictured this to be a sort bizarro-dKos, with people named Armanda, COSM, Georgia10^3, etc.
Thanks! I am gettin’ too old to cypher!
to see so many familiar names, isn’t it? Now, if only I could remember the personalities behind the names…. I might be getting somewhere.
I have been reading some of this crew for almost 2 years. And yah, sometimes you new a program…can’t tell the players without a program!!!!
Preview isssss my friend…</grumble>
I’ve been lurking here at the Pond a couple of months, but I’ve never really posted. Same at dkos, mostly lurking, and only posting an occasional silly or snarky. I guess I’m shy that way, and anyhow I’m a better reader than I am a contributor.
So I guess with all the influx of pie war refugees, now would be a good time to introduce myself. I live in the Bay Area, CA with my husband, 18 month-old son, and 4 cats. I work for a not-for-profit organization.
And today is my birthday! I’m 32.
Welcome to you Molly Girl from next door in Arizona. I’m a major reader too (obviously the blogs feed this addiction). Have a great day and thanks for stopping in on the anniversary of your birth!
Happy Birthday!
in the midst of power outages, but it sounds as if it’s finally passing now! it’s up! 😉
A new lily pad on the pond has opened up! I figured to save everyone’s modems I would go ahead post the next installment. Welcome Wagon Part 14
Please remember to turn off the lights and unrecommend this diary as you’re walking out the door.
I guess I’m another post-pie refugee. I’ve been on dkos a long time, though I’ve usually been pretty quiet there. I liked the site and its many impressive writers, but even from the beginning, when I first came in, which was during the Melanie controversy, I thought there was an undercurrent of hostility to women which flared up every now and then into something that was more overt and harder to ignore. I was confused by that. When the pie thing happened, even though I personally didn’t care much one way or the other about the ad, I was glad that the ad did bring things to a head and started what I thought was a much-needed conversation.
I see a lot of familiar names here; the green is pretty; it’s not as overwhelmingly crowded and busy as that other place has become; it looks like topics stay around long enough so that there is time to think about them, which I like because I don’t think quickly; and people here seem civilized and wise.
And there’s spellcheck, too!
I’m a 50-year old single woman living in S.F., a non-practicing lawyer pretty much still trying to figure out what, if anything, I want to do when and if I finally grow up.
I was just reading the thread about whether age had anything to do with the pie thing, and while that hadn’t occurred to me before, as soon as it was pointed out, it sounded right. While the pie thing was going on, it had seemed so OBVIOUS to me that what was going on at dkos was offensive, and I couldn’t understand how everyone didn’t see that. Once I looked at it in terms of age, I realized that what was bothering me the most was feeling that things were spinning BACKWARDS, that we were dealing with issues that had already been resolved DECADES ago, and I couldn’t understand WTF these ancient issues were doing resurfacing again at this late date, and on a progressive blog, of all places.
P.S. The word “spellcheck” was not recognized by the spellchecker, an apparent sign of lack of self-awareness.
Spellcheck is the best! (self-awareness notwithstanding)
I’m glad you’ve wandered over this way, and especially glad that you’ve already checked out Kansas’ excellent diary. I just ran into her a second ago around here somewhere, and she sounds so happy about how well the discussion grew, how many people posted – and all without a single nasty remark.
There’s still a bit of heated stuff going on here and there, but it’s avoidable if you’re already done with the pie topic. For the most part, everyone has done an absolutely amazing job over here since this … emergency evacuation began. The pre-pie site members have been gracious, patient and welcoming above and beyond anything I could have imagined.
All in all, it’s a pretty cool place to hang out. Please feel free to hop in at any time…
it looks like a new Welcome diary has just gone up over here – #15
Please feel free to re-post over there if you’d like to meet some of the others who are floating around tonight.
I appreciate your career dilemma. I graduated from law school twenty years ago next year, and plan to do this for seven more years, until my son is out of high school. It sure doesn’t feel like “right livelihood” to me.
Hello! I’m Renee, from down on the bay prairie that runs along the Texas Gulf Coast. I’m a refugee from the recent pie dealie over at Kos. I mostly lurk, although I’ve been posting a little recently. I’ve been troll-rated one too many times this week and I’m coming over here because I’ve been told it’s a much friendlier place. I’m usually pretty well mannered (except for this week at the old place) but I seriously promise to watch my p’s and q’s. I’d really just like to lay low for a while, and heal, and do what I do best, which is read a lot!!!!
We almost lost you on this old diary. We’re at Welcome Wagon #15 now. Would you mind reposting? There are still a bunch of people around, but this diary is so big, it’s getting hard for people to load.
And… if I can ask you a favor? Would you mind hitting the recommend button on your way into the new diary? It’s still not on the list… grr.
I would be delighted to. should I unrecommend this one after I finish up?
Thanks!