Por manana.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2001

Answers

Good morning! Han, can you still not get in? Anyone else?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I'm here, I'm here. EARLY.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Mayn. Now I'm having trouble getting in. Bah!

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I'm in! I'm in!

See today is basically like Thursday as tomorrow is like Friday because Friday I will be in the air.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Ok, is it working now?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Yes! Melissa has a great Cartman voice too. I can't do it for shit.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Anyone see Meg's "Dear Outback" letter?

Wasn't she the one who was all hoity-toity about the chain restaraunts?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I am still getting over the QVC letter.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I saw it. And I think someone should write that Outback is no Olive Garden.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Only Ratsy would have the guts.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Then get Ratsy on it. He's been absent from the forum lately anyway.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

No, loves Olive Garden and Outback. She acts like no one else in the world knows what they are. She complains about service in the food court, though.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

AB-

That Dancing Frog comment in the Pulp Fiction thread is hilarious.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Thank you, Mike.

And thank you, too, Hannah! Heh.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Those dummies in Pulp Fiction keep changing the tense. How can we fix that?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Not much, I don't think. I'm going in there now to try and undo the damage.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Good! Show up those fools.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Greenspun is pissing me off!

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

And why didn't y'all tell me there was a typo in the story I posted last night?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

They're all DUMB.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I was wondering where everyone went. Think H and T are having trouble too?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Hundreth? I just noticed it. Just now. Not when I read it last night. I like it. Simple sentences seem to be all I'm capable of today.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Is T still out?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Good, you fixed it, Mike.

Didn't you say you have a few stocks? The NASDAQ's kicking ass today.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I guess she is. Now I'm having trouble, too.

AB - VPN tonight at what? 7? I don't even know what I have to get at Target. I just want to go.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

My stocks are so low, they look up to see down.

Allison, I cracked up at the Dear-So-and-So.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Yeah, 7 sounds good, Al. The Arl or Dallas? We have a Target right down the street, if that entices you to drive over here.

Mike, go read T's DSAS, too.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Mayn. Y'all are gonna make me cry.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Got an error three times before it let me post. Hmm.

Did y'all see my Outback letter??

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

God, H. You have some brass ones. Poor, poor freaky Meg.

Y'all, we have to go back to MATH mail. Greenspun is whack and we're totally dissing T.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I not only saw it, Hannah, it inspired me to mention it in mine.

Al! Lousiana? Edit, sistah! You have a rep to protect, you know.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Dammit. I'm so dumb today.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Of course, I could have used the excuse that I was spelling phonetically. Lou-siana is the way my Grandmutha says it.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Do you know how mad South Louisiana gets when North Lou-siana says it that way? It's like civil war.

Now my e-mail server's down. A girl can't win!

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Heh. Mrs. Kathleen Outlaw (my Grandmother) actually even says it Louzanna. Like, there's no "i" in the word anywhere.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I'm here!

What pisses South Louisiana off the most is when people mispronounce New Orleans. It doesn't rhyme with rice and beans, folks.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Nyew Orr-leeens, T? I hate that too.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Of course, that doesn't drive me as batty as when I tell someone where I'm from and they say, "Heeeeyyyyy - N'Awlins!" and expect me to start talking like I'm from the Ninth Ward.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I contributed to the pulp fiction thread.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Oh, I hate that N'Awlins shit. You really can't justify pronouncing it that way unless you are some old blind black lady who's been sitting on the corner of Bourban for 900 years, rattling change in coffee cup.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

You did, T! Numbah one fiction!

So Allison, Arl or Dallas?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

The Arl is fine. Do you want to do dinner also?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Excellent, T. Except that now I'm afraid to add to that Pulp Fiction thread because I don't think I can do Mistah Lee justice.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Oh, soneone has to, lest someone DUMB that thread down.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Right on, T. I knew you would come through with the Woo.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Certainly. Want to come eat with the Chao family? Mad Mad's home sick today, and she is going to help me cook something delicious.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

H, your maternity leave/quit topic has pulled at least two new people in!

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I may be able to. Or, I may have to stay at the office until right before 7. I'm on a design deadline today and the freelancer I'm using keeps calling and saying she's going to be late with the project because she's having computer problems. I keep telling her she can't be late. We had words a minute ago.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Yuck. Tell that girl she best get it taken care of, or she'll regret messing up VPN.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Be back in a little while.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Mike, seriously. You will dance.

Just tell her it's not called a DEADline for nothing.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Now you guys are all gone. Lunch?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Lunch. I'm back now, though.

I'll dance if everyone else does, but I suck at it. Just so y'all know in advance.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I'm here, but greenspun is smacking me every time I try to post.

I had a piece of pizza and some fruit salad from the Wall Street Deli downstairs. It cost like, six dollars. I hate that place!

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Y'all! Must she take everything?!

"January 16, 2001. "Gaines" The Truth. I went out to dinner with a friend of mine last night. She moved off to Arkansas several months ago to pursue a career in journalism for a national television station. We had not been able to talk to each other very much ever since she left. The food was excellent and the conversation was even better over dinner. Chris Gaines was playing through the stereo system in the restaurant. The song was "Maybe." Maybe I can stand alone, Maybe I'm strong as stone. Even though the bird has flown, Maybe she'll fly on home .... It was appropriate for the situation that I found myself in. Since we had not been in contact all that often, it was a bit uncomfortable for the both of us to get into details of our personal lives ever since she moved to another state. We've both been doing other things, meeting new people, changing as people and bettering our lives. She chose the path of writing. I chose the path of owning my own computer business. I don't think we have as much in common anymore. Even when we were friends, she would always try to talk me into journalism so that we could share our careers with each other. I have a strong feeling that she resents me from not following along her same path in life. We had a conversation about what each of our jobs are like. She even went as far as saying, "I love this work! It is so much different than your job, though, because I actually go out and do real work everyday." It stung a little bit even though I know she didn't mean to be so insulting. Dinner ended shortly after we ended the conversation about our respective jobs. It turned into a touchy thing for both of us even though neither of us were that upset about it. I don't know what happened there. Maybe I'll stand alone ... She went as far as telling me that she was not sure if we would be able to see each other again because she was getting married to someone in Arkansas and that he is going to take up a lot of her free time. It was a bit surprising to me that she would brush me off for someone else like that because we have known each other for ten years or so. But so be it. I'm finding it harder and harder to maintain friendships at all these days. "Distance creates protection. Without protection, you can get hurt." I learned how to become distant with people. I can shut them and their actions off in an instant if those actions are going to cause me distress. This is a reaction I have to both relatives and friends alike. I am a very non-confrontational person and it is apparent in almost everything that I do. I hate hesitating. I don't want to hesitate. I am doing quite a bit better with this, but I had a minor setback over dinner: this friend of mine pushed me away after I allowed myself to become friends with her. I felt the instincts to tune her out and walk away building, but I didn't allow that to happen. It was difficult and a bit irritating to allow myself to become so frustrated and hurt by her actions, but I feel better about it now. Maybe I'm strong as stone ... I was in a restaurant that had a karaoke stage. Some others were singing the most irritating versions of karaoke songs while others were quite entertaining in a tone deaf kind of way. I decided that I would sing. It would make the evening much more entertaining than it had been up until this point. What did I sing? I sang "Maybe" by Chris Gaines. It seemed like the perfect song to share with the audience. I ended up winning a $50 prize for placing in the contest. Maybe it wasn't that bad of an evening after all. "

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Whoops. I just meant to post the part about karaoke.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Is Meg in here? "I love spending time dancing; I can dance into another world and relax while I'm playing out the moves I remember from all of the classes I used to take. "

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Maybe it was the "You sucked so bad, you probably need the cash" prize.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I'm obsessed. But Google makes it easy.

"In memory of Kassandra and all other fuzzies that have crossed over the Rainbow

I remember the day I brought you home, You were so cute and sweet, and free to roam. I always gave you the best of care, I somehow thought you would always be there. You had no fears because you knew you were loved, But now you look down at me from above. When you died it was very sad, And for many days I did feel bad. Even though it seems we're so far apart, You'll always be close, forever, in my heart.

©1998 - Meghan Antolik"

For many days I did feel bad. Classic.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

You are obsessed. But that's OK. It's all good.

Am I crazy, or isn't Chris Gaines just Garth Brooks without the razor? So essentially, wasn't she singing kareoke on a song that's just Garth Brooks doing kareoke?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I'm spelling it wrong, aren't I?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Oooo...that's Meg's last name! How weird that we know it.

She inspired me.

Hawaiian Orchid in your parking space,

An awful scratch adorns your face.

Such a thing to happen during Vegas Week,

This marring of your perfect cheek.

And though he laughs now through his tears,

Mike will be sad, for many years.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Allison you are a good poet. Yes. You inspire me to be a better mathlete.

Yeah, Chris Gaines=Garth Brooks and it ain't so big secret.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I'll be paying off the Visa for many years if I keep scraping up the car, so that's not far off.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Man. No line breaks. Oh well.

And you know, for a girl who has her own web design company, there's not a lot on her.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

T- Say your post on the maternity thread ... My mom teaches nursery school! Have we been over this already?

I credit my intellect and charming personality to Mrs. Fry, Mrs. Freidman, Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Schecter in those all-important 3- year old and 4-year old classes.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I need chocolate.

Just testing to see if the board is working...

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Did y'all get the Vegas crisis e-mail? I think things will be cool if Eric and his jags cancel the NYNY room.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I did, and does that suck or what?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Oooh, I saw Meg's thing about Chris Gaines. Dude, he's Garth Brooks. Even he realized that he couldn't pull the alter-ego thing off - that's why he named the album "Garth Brooks as...Chris Gaines." Australian orphan, whatever. The whole thing was a bomb. What kind of crap-ass karaoke place would even have Chris Gaines??

Anyway.

Mike - his mom owns the two Kiddie Country schools. One is in Burk and the other is in Springfield, I think.

Mike, please, please post that poem. I will give you a dollar if you do.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

What is the Vegas crisis? Not that it's pertinent to me or anthing, but Im nosy like that.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

No Michelle.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Really, though, my friend Courtney teaches first grade here in Atlanta and she says that you can really tell a difference in the kids who didn't attend some sort of preschool and the ones who were at home for their first five years. They have a harder time sharing, etc. It's not all kids, of course, but I do think that preschool is very important.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Why can't Michelle go?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I just don't want freaky home-schooled kids.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I agree. Socialization is important. I don't want my kid to grow up and raise ferrets.

No idea why she isn't going.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Exactly. No ferrets in my house, ever.

I'm so proud of my sister Susan. She has made a vow that when she is a vet, she will refuse to treat ferrets.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

God, I am hating Greenspun.

Michelle can't go because she got laid off. She works for drkoop.com and I think they just announced they're moving their corporate offices to LA. She was worried about it this weekend but told me she'd let me know by Tuesday. Would have been nice if she had, so we could figure out the room stuff a day earlier and not have to pay a cancellation penalty if necessary.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Do we have a plan?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

A friend of mine almost left to take a job at drkoop.com. He'd have been based in Indianapolis and done the sports medicine portion of the site (or worked with the doctors who knew what they were talking about). I forget why he didn't take it, but as it turns out he'd have been laid off in the first round of cutbacks there a couple of years ago (and a couple of months after he'd gotten the offer).

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Greenspun is sucking.

That sucks about Dr. Koop. But then, it's not like that place hasn't been (very publicly) going down the tubes for a while now. Did she have a contingency plan?

Joh - remember Matt Kleifgen? He worked there for a while.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I'm back in! But for how long.

Al - did you speak to Chris? Yes. That would solve all. But really, I don't mind paying a little more. And Ray and Dan could have their own room, and then MATH in the other.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Greenspun!

Like I could forget Matt Kleifgan.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

There's only one thing I want right now, and that is a chocolate shake from Steak N' Shake. Oh, how good would that make me feel?

Of course, a chocolate croissant from La Madeleine would do me right, too.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I haven't been able to get Chris. He went to the doctor this morning and I haven't heard from him all day. He's probably at work, not answering his phone because he sees my number on his caller ID and is sick to death of talking to me.

I'm just worried about it, because today is probably the deadline for cancellations or something.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

What am I having for dinner? That's the big question. I'm thinking I'll stop by Baja Fresh for some shrimp tacos or something, so I don't have to grab a hot dog at the game. But I don't know if I'm in a shrimp taco kind of mood.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Oh, CSBC! I always think of CNBC whenever I see that, btw. Today probably is cancellation day. But, like I said before, if he can't, it will still be fine.

Off to write MATH padding letters!

Where is sweet AB?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Ok, sweet. I just talked to CSBC. He's going to try and cancel it and see what happens. He has a sinus infection. Wonder how he got it?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Oh Allison, that was the perfect amount of snarky. Ha!

I'm musing.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Did I really misinterpret what rg was trying to say in "Dear Squishites?"

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

M - I have no idea. She's a skank. No telling what she was trying to say. It's going to be ANYTHING BUT ugly up in there.

Y'all - did you get the last e-mail I sent about cancelling one of the Paris rooms? I can't find either of your work numbers!!!

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Okay. It's cool.

Y'all, no way was Ruderskank misinterpreted. She meant it.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Wow. Vegas sure turned into a clusterfuck in a hurry.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Oh my gosh, y'all. When AB finally gets back she's gonna die at the random speed of light developments.

So, MATH, in two rooms. Bah.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Jesus. I'm back, Han. I was just reading my eleventy billion e- mails.

So. Vegas. Wow.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

And now you're all GONE! Wah! What's going on?!?

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I'm here for another two minutes or so.

See what happens when you go away!

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I am so giddy right now from the giggle attack I just had. Man. I'm still cracking myself up over - Fuck it. I'm just staying with Fred.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

No shit. Mad Mad's never staying home again.

I always knew the world revolved around me. Heh.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

I need to go home. I'm too giddy to be here. And it's 6. Adios my little mathletes. I'll see you the day after tomorrow!

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

The hell you are, Hannah!

Hell, we should all cram into Ray's comped room, and leave the others empty.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Man, y'all, if I don't at least get to meet Ray, I'm gonna be pissed. Maybe we should make Paris the HQ so we can party hardy. Since we'll have all that SPACE. And connecting rooms.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Tomorrow's like Friday, Hannah! It's like Friday!!!

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Maybe we could rent out one of the rooms to random slackers in the lobby.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001

Or we can just use it to shack up with the random famous people we're gonna meet.

-- Anonymous, January 17, 2001