quote:

Originally posted by Chomiji:


Why aren't you on more often?

I'd occasionally drift over to offer back rubs to those who seemed tired or sore. But that doesn't work so well online ... .

*offers self as trial person!*

Masque:
Tacky Park, or Takoma Park is sort of almost in DC. Part of it is in DC, part in MoCo, and part used to be in PG county but now it's only in MoCo and DC. The Metro station is in DC by a few hundred feet.

So I should have said slightly northeast, right on the border. DC Metro area, definitely.
(If I remember all details correctly, Cho is so much better at geography and such)
I'm bad at explaining geography.

JP? That's .. a rather bland screen name, don't you think?

Well, it's my initials, it's what my family and close friends call me, and I like it just as well as my real name, so why not?

Sure, why not. So what brought you to the World's End?

Well, if we're being totally precise here, I didn't join the World's End. I was here before there was a World's End.

How's that again?

The first incarnation of the message boards was created for the release of American Gods and the subsequent tour. We didn't have the different forums, and there's wasn't a World's End when I joined. We just had a few forums to talk about Neil's work, the AG Tour, and a place for silly stuff. Eventually the silly stuff place morphed into the World's End I guess (I was on a hiatus when the change happened).

Wow, okay, so you're like an old timer here or something?

I like to think so. I've had a couple of hiatuses (hiati?) due to work and life over the years, but I like to think I'm one of the founding boardies, along with Clover, and Smaug and Pene and Jeffers and GMZoe and others I'm forgetting under the pressure of the bright spot light. I have the distinction of having my anniversary date for joining the board being the board anniversary, even though it didn't officially open until a couple of days later.

How's that?

My wife was on a business trip and I was bored one night and for some reason tried to visit the new website before it was set to open. When I got here, they were doing testing or something, and there were a handful of us who regestered and tried to use the message boards. There were all the funny posts about not being able to post and reply and we were all talking around each other. It was quite fun and funny. A couple days later when the boards officially opened up, here I was with a sign on date a couple days earlier. It's a fun bit o' trivia and something I'm rather fond of.

Um, yeah, wow, you sure do talk a lot.

Look, you're asking the questions here, you didn't say you wanted the readers digest version for answers.

Okay, so you've been here a while, what keeps you coming back?

This is the only message board I've ever belonged to and I really like the people here. We're friendly, intelligent, quirky, caring and it's just a fun place to hang out. I've made quite a few online and offline friends, and even when I'm busy I know I can come here and find a friendly/familiar face and catch up on happenings.

You haven't been around much, what's up with that?

Just life. I post mostly from work and work has been crazy busy. In fact I should be busting my tail now for a meeting in a couple of days, but I need the break. Anyway, just work and life keeping me away, really. I don't post much from home because I'm rarely online at home, what with a family and all.

Yeah, reading the Project thread, I see you have a daughter.

That wasn't a question (you do that a lot, you know that?) but yes, I have a lovely wife and daughter, Rae and M. They're my raison d'etre. In a couple of years Rae and I will have been together for half our lives, and M is currently three and a half.

And before you ask a stupid question, those are just my names for them when I'm posting or blogging. I'm a little protective that way. And to head off another question, yes, they are The Girls I refer to in my sig.

Okay, I'm finding this less than a thrilling FAQ ...

Hey, it all starts with the questions.

Right, let's see if we can get some interesting, short answers to a few more questions. Looking at your sig, you hold football and jazz right up there with your girls. Are you really that big of a fan?

Yep, I love football and my year revolves around the football season. Something about it, I just enjoy the sport of it, and now with the fantasy football league here at the WE, it's even more fun to watch and follow and share with others. As for jazz, I got turned on to jazz back in college, and listening to good live jazz is such an emotional, inspiring, evoking experience. There really isn't much to compare to the feeling during a good show.

That's cool. I like boy bands...

Yeah, not much of a comparison there, but thanks for sharing. Anyhoo, got any more questions?

The fantasy football thing, is it really that much fun? It seems rather ... lame.

I enjoy the fun competition, it adds something of a personal level to the ups and downs of the football season, as my team wins or loses.

Are you any good?

Well, I came in third place two years in a row. We're starting our third season and I'm holding my own so far. There's a lot of season left though, so we'll see. I did lose a side bet to Theatre Geek Amy last year, had to bake her some cookies. This year my side bet is with Mattvid.

Okay, really, this is getting long and I've been interrupted three times here at work while trying to finish this. Is there anything else?

Nah, that's it. Wanna end with the whole stats thing?

Sure, why not - 34 for another few weeks, 5'10", 180 lbs., brown hair (slightly graying, and unfortunately you don't have to look as hard as you used to), blue/greenish eyes depending on what I'm wearing, Libra.

Who are you again?
I stumbled across the board in August 2001. I've been here on and off ever since. I've been in lots of arguments, lots of discussions, met a few people, and generally had a difficult relationship with this place.

Now you're an archaeologist, right?
I was. I got my BA in anthro many moons ago and spent a few years in the field doing cultural resource management.

But you have a MS in what?
Criminology. And now I'm working on an MA in geography with the plan of going on for a PhD in geography to become a professor.

And wait, you work for the Postal Service?
Yes. I'm a substitute rural letter carrier. That means I'm trained on a specific route, and whenever the regular carrier for that route needs a day (or a week or whatever) off, they call me.

But don't you also work for a cobbler?
Yes. I assist the cobbler. He tells me to glue and nail things, and I do.

I'm so confused.
It's easy: I work three jobs and go to school full time. It sucks, but that's life. This semester is thesis, so life is...interesting.

Who's this mysterious B person you keep mentioning?
It's my partner, who is not the B on this board. In fact, she doesn't post here. I have yet to get her to read any of Neil's stuff all the way through, although she really liked Stardust (the film).

So you're queer?
Yes. When I first came here I did everything I could to post as gender-neutral as possible to hide that fact. Turns out no one much cared anyway, so now I'm out. I'm happy to engage people in conversation about gender and sexuality, though I do my best not to make it my entire identity.

Then what IS your identity?
Well, I'm female, I'm an army brat, I'm of Sicilian descent, I'm a graduate student, I'm a sister, daughter, and aunt, and I'm owned by two cats. I think that's plenty. Being gay is just another descriptor. *shrug*

Now what's the deal with you being so unstable?
I have a mental illness. I live with it. Unfortunately that also means that everyone else around me has to live with it once in a while as well. For the most part I'm okay, but like all things it has its ups and downs. I tend to disappear from here when things are not going well so as to shield people from the wrath that is me.

So this B chick must be a real trooper.
Yes.

Why don't you participate in the social threads?
Because I don't feel comfortable in them (and unfortunately this means I never really meet most of the newer posters--newer meaning from about 2004 onward). I have a longstanding argument with another poster about the existence of in-groups and out-groups here, and generally speaking I'm in the out-group at any given time (which is fine with me). I tend to do better in the more serious threads, though lately I don't have much time to be here at all.

How the hell did you end up with a Most Reasonable Poster award--twice?
Beats the hell out of me. I don't think I deserved either one.

Why did Murphy give you a stuffed bear?
If I recall correctly, it was a gift he gave me at the old Twilight Cafe after we'd had a disagreement about something. He might remember a little better, though. The thread's probably in the archive somewhere.

Why do your posts read like a robot wrote them?
Mainly because I try to eliminate as much tone as possible so that people are less likely to read something into them that wasn't intended. And partly because I'm usually trying to withhold judgment about the topic at hand.

Do you actually have a sense of humor?
Yes. I just choose not to exercise it much here. That, and while I find things amusing, I'm not inherently very funny.

What does the [TK] after your username mean?
It stands for ThreadKiller. Don't ask.

Just to make sure Circus doesn't live up to her [TK] -

Why are you on this board?

I found out about Neil's blog absurdly late (like... after the American Gods tour!). But once I did, I started reading it every day. And then for a while, he ignored it to write a book, prompting very mixed emotions in yours truly. I ended up jonesing for Neil blog posts, and ended up checking out the message boards as a poor substitute.

Turns out the substitute wasn't so bad. It was a weird day, though, when I started reading the board before the blog.

So you're obsessed with Neil Gaiman. Why?

Er, I'm not actually obsessed with Neil, I just really like his writing. I read the issue of the Sandman where he introduced Death right after my Dad was killed and it gave me a different way of looking at that, so I'm attached to that series and that character. But mostly, he's just a really good writer.

Also, I met Tongster on this board!

Yes, we all met Tongster on this board. What makes you special?

Um. I'm engaged to him?

Jesus Christ! Are you insane?

No. He's really totally adorable (when he's not dropping ice cubes down my back, stealing my covers, and taunting me with ice cream and doing his taunting dance). Plus he really loves me and kitty.

Yeah, okay, crazy person. So if you're obsessed with Neil Gaiman and you pick up strange men on this board, why don't you post much anymore?

Er. I moved to California and got to interact socially with Tongster and the general public in person? And for a while, I was finding the board more irritating than entertaining, so I haven't been posting as much.

Why do you call yourself the Pirate Zombie Queen?

Actually, I'm the Pirate Queen and the Zombie Queen. Both at the same time, but I'm the queen of all of both groups, not just the small overlapping sector. I became the pirate queen so I could boss Captain Psycho around. Then I became the Zombie Queen because that's what happens when a zombie is eaten by a polar bear on Halloween (it makes perfect sense, really).

That made no sense at all.

This place makes no sense, you should get used to that.

Yeah, huh. Okay, so did you become a librarian to imitate Aitapata, or because you enjoy being mistaken for a bun-wearing old lady?

Hey, Aitapata had a damn good idea. I'm a law librarian, though, so I don't get as many fun questions. Or homeless people. And I don't enjoy being mistaken for a bun-wearing old lady (though I like them as much as the next girl, I guess).

So, are you like, getting your B.A. while you do that?

I have one, thanks. I also have a law degree. And now I'm working on my Master's in Library Science.

Wouldn't you make more as a lawyer?

Probably. But I wouldn't be as happy. It's one of the most annoying things in my life that I need to get more degrees to make less than my old classmates, with added joy of being mistaken for an uneducated bookshelver (not that there's anything wrong with bookshelvers. I was one. In high school).

Age/height/eye color/weight/blood type/sign/year?

32/5'8/blue/no thanks/Be Positive/Gemini/Year of the Cat (or maybe Rabbit).

Rebuttal to Circus' proposal that she's not inherently funny :

This is the woman who suggested I name my new cat after a blood pressure medication to illustrate a kitty's soothing powers.


Not funny. My ass.

quote:

Originally posted by Circus [TK]:
Why don't you participate in the social threads?
Because I don't feel comfortable in them (and unfortunately this means I never really meet most of the newer posters--newer meaning from about 2004 onward).

I could have written this. With more and less accurate words, that is, but the sense.

And also:

quote:

It stands for ThreadKiller. Don't ask.

I remember. I also remember how utterly relieved I was when I read you thought that, because until then I was convinved, as in, there was PROOF in abundance, that I was THE threadkiller.
So every time I kill a thread, I want to point and show it to you, so you see that it's me, and not you

quote:

Originally posted by aitapata:
Rebuttal to Circus' proposal that she's not inherently funny :

This is the woman who suggested I name my new cat after a blood pressure medication to illustrate a kitty's soothing powers.


Not funny. My ass.

The main problem with this, of course, is that all the blood pressure medications sound like planets in Star Trek.

Oooh, you're not wrong.

*makes note in notebook in case I ever decide to write sci-fi*

So what's up with your name? Why the vengeance?

Firstly, it's the title of a poem I wrote a long while ago. I used to be really involved in the Shakespeare society in high school, and I felt this connection with Ophelia in so far as it seemed that her life was constantly being manipulated by the men in her life. I started to wonder at the male narration and what was really her story, which I related partly in my poem.

I began to feel, through my personal connection with the character and the metaphorical similarities in our lives, that there would be an easier way for Ophelia to gain control of her life than suicide. So for me, I imagined a different ending for Ophelia, for myself. She faked her suicide and left them all. They used their perceptions of her as instruments to kill one another. She used their perceptions and control, in my imagined narrative, to create the death of the misconception of Ophelia, to escape that life. That was Ophelia's Vengeance. Her escape, my escape. Her Vengeance is her new life that refuses to be influenced by past hurts and to move on. It's a new definition of Vengeance, not the definition her brother and lover chose.

How's that for a short novel answer?


So, do you have an eating disorder because you are a bit on the tiny side?

I do not have any of the following: anorexia, bulimia, cancer, or AIDS (yes, people have asked me if I have had any or a combination of these.) What I do have is a genetically gifted ravenous beast of a metabolism. Keep asking ignorant questions and it just might eat you.


What's up with your thing for Bowie?

He is fabulous, dreamy, and has a package of DooM that will consume you and your desires. But seriously, hotness aside, he seems like a cool guy. An awesome personality is a much needed thing to be the crown king of my celebrity crushes.


How did you come to end up in these parts?

After having fallen in love with the Sandman series, I scoped out Neil's site and found he had a message board. I lurked for a few weeks, became a user, held out on being registered user until the He Who Shall Not Be Named ruckus forced me to join the Board in a more permanent relationship. We've been together ever since.


What's with all the *evil hand lathering* you do?

Trust me, you don't want to know. I already owe fluffyllama and Matt Cable vats of mind bleach as it is. Consider yourself safe in your ignorance.


Age/height/eye color/weight/blood type/sign/year?

27 in a month/5'6/green amber/hah!/Oh Rrr Ee Oh/Scorpio/Metal Monkey (yeah double time on the fixed signs, no stubbornness at all..)

quote:

Originally posted by the madness of queen monk:


Actually, you are boring much more interesting and fun than you give yourself credit for. Please stop dissing yourself now.
Fine, whatever. Jerk.

there, fixed that for you grace.

It's all my fault, Grace. You can blame me for bringing you to this place. And Smaug is right. I wouldn't have had such a good time at Mythcon if I hadn't met you. I still remember you leaning over and whispering to me, "You know that's Ted Naismith sitting next to you?" "The LOTR artist? Holy crap!"

Who the cock are you??

I'm, uh, Mean Old Man's personal warhorse.

Really? Well, you look a whole helluva lot more like a vole, chum.

Heh. Yeah. Don't tell him.

Oh! Okay. Gotcha. Hey, just how old is he, anyway?

Uh...hang on....

*STOMP*

*STOMP*

*STOMP*

*STOMP*

*STOMP*

*STOM--*

Hey, what the fuck you dooin', you stoopid mouse?! You're cavin' in the Board!

S'posed to be a horse, remember?

Oh.

One-Delta-One-Zero-Tango.

Muh?

Like I said.

now we're being invaded by delusional angry rodents?

you say that like it's a new thing.

*pets the vole*

Oh goody, now it's not just Domi that I can scritchy-scritch under the chin!

*scritch-scritches the cute li'l vole*

*gigglesnort*


well, it's a new twist from the Wigbers. and a gerbil named Bucephalus is just too silly!

quote:

Originally posted by Maeve:
now we're being invaded by delusional angry rodents?

You're so rude! I can't believe you...

Wait. You weren't talking about me. Go on.

*doesn't really want to know Barry Manilow!'s Personal FAQ's*

quote:

Originally posted by Maeve:
now we're being invaded by delusional angry rodents?

Clearly FATMOUSE was before your time.

You lucky, lucky lady.