This is topic If You Don't Know Me By Now (A Landmark) in forum Landmark Threads at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
First things first. Call me JT.

I guess the time has come. One thousand big ones. I don't know, ever since Tante exploded onto the scene, simultaneously posting 18 hours a day on two computers at once, 1000 doesn't seem like enough of an occasion to landmark. But, hey, a lot of people never make it to a thousand posts, so it's somewhat of an accomplishment I guess. Here goes:

I'm not the type to announce my presence, so I never did an intro thread. Not my style. And I don't post fluff, hugs, or graemlins. I haven't spent any time in the post padding threads (here, here, and here), and I don't typically think it's a good idea to delve into too much personal stuff in a venue such as this. Though I love talking about other people's problems (like Tinros's), I like to handle mine on my own. Just the way I've always been.

So I wondered, as I was thinking about what I should write about, how much does anyone here know about me? I remember threads and conversations with a lot of people, but to really see how much I've given away you'd have to trace my posts from day one. That's pretty much what I did. The following are excerps, links, and of course commentary from my first thousand posts. It make get long, and for everyone who isn't me it'll certainly get boring. In fact, if anyone reads the whole thing I'll be shocked. But here goes:

I made my start on the other side (shocker!) in the Reviewer Comments Unlikely to Appear On Book Jackets. I'm not gonna lie, rereading this thread made me laugh out loud. For those too lazy for that, here's one I was pleasantly surprised I thought of:
quote:
"More fun than exploratory colon surgery!"
But I didn't spend long on the other side. A couple of weeks, tops, and I was bored. I'd read all the threads for 7 pages or so and it was moving too slow. I had made a couple of forays to the other side, and it didn't scare me. I liked the serious discussions, the games, how everyone seemed to know one another. I jumped in feet first. I argued with Imogen in the Sex: How Important Is It? thread, with Xavier in the Revenge of the Sith thread, and with Corwin in the How much do guys think about sex thread. Just to name a few. I've disagreed with Dagonee, fugu, and TomD (not all at the same time, of course). The thing that kept me coming back was no matter how snippy anyone got, no matter how obstinate, everyone stayed civil. That's an even more rare occurence in the virtual world than in the real world, and Hatrack is unique in that regard. I've certainly overreacted on several occasions, or worded things poorly, and I apologize to anyone I've offended. I don't apologize to anyone I've pissed off, because I probably did that on purpose. But I never mean to give offense.

And I've given some good advice, I think. For example, I was impressed that I said this (from the recent premarital sex thread here):
quote:
But let's call this scenario A. Allow me to propose a similar, but different, scenario B:

You don't live with your girlfriend. You get married instead. Chemistry is great, and you're deeply in love. All the same problems crop up in the first year of marriage. But instead of letting them drive you both crazy, you know you have to work through them and give your marriage a real shot. You decide you don't care which way the TP rolls. She makes a conscious effort not to drive the remote like she's on a meth bender. You agree to pick up after her if she agrees to really try to keep her messes minimized.

In short, in a marriage, you take away the 'easy out' clause that exists in every relationship. So things that are deal breakers when you're single can be worked around when you're married, because marriage means something. It's this flying without a net aspect that makes people totally commit to each other when married.
But enough about you, this is about me. My eyes glaze over when I see a long unbroken chunk of text. To avoid that, I'm gonna tell you some stuff about me in bullet points. Ain't I thoughtful?

Things you can learn from clicking on my profile:

Things you can learn from reading my posts on Hatrack:

Things you can't learn from reading my posts on Hatrack:

I love OSC, of course. I've read everything he's written and will continue to do so as long as he keeps writing. If I had some small part in getting the amazon links put up top (Dag's idea, from this thread I started), well, I feel pretty good about that.

Maybe for the next landmark I'll get into the rest of it. My childhood, high school, college, and all that jazz. Oh yeah, one more thing no one here knows -- what I look like. Well, alright, go here if you really wanna know. I'm on the right.
 
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
 
Wow, in the first line it's already one of the most useful landmarks I've ever read!

Here's to many more. Cheers!

--Enigmatic
(edited: "sentence" to "line" it was two sentences.)
 
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
Practicality is what I'm about.

Thanks.
 
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
 
It's interesting that as Hatrack grows larger and larger the rate at which people post also seems to increase. I think it's just because more members == more members with high post rates, and the low post rate people can get lost in the high volume of posts, but still...

quote:
I love the four major sports (pro basketball, pro football, college basketball, and college football)
Are those really the most popular sports in America? Does no one down there care about hockey, soccer, or rugby?
 
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
 
Great landmark (yes, I read every word)

Things you can include in your next:
(I haven't ever looked up how to do UBB bullets)

1) What college you attended - (Oh wait! I see you say a tiny college in Montana. I need to read closer)

2) Do you currently have a significant other?

(After seeing that picture of you, I have a hard time believing someone as good looking as you DOESN'T have a girlfriend.)

3) If you have moved twice, were are you originally from? How did you end up in Louisiana?

(I'll think of other questions too!)

It's been good having you here, JT. You are always articulate about your views, and that commands respect.

Farmgirl
 
Posted by Ivanna Mann (Member # 8694) on :
 
Hmmmm. It was fun seeing which of the things you thought were important that could be gleaned from your posts I already knew, and which I didn't. [Smile] Nice landmark, thanks. [Smile]
 
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
 
quote:

Are those really the most popular sports in America? Does no one down there care about hockey, soccer, or rugby?
There are five guys in America who care about hockey and one guy who cares about rugby. There are about six hundred million girls under the age of twelve who care deeply about soccer.
 
Posted by Avadaru (Member # 3026) on :
 
I think it's time to start calling for a Louisiana Hatrack gathering.
 
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
 
Wow! Packed with Useful Information!

Nice to meet you, JT.
 
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
 
quote:
black & white movies
Interesting. That's quite the sweeping statement. Why?

quote:
There are about six hundred million girls under the age of twelve who care deeply about soccer.
I find that really depressing, because soccer you can play with just a ball of any kind. The other sports you need a court at the very least and a special ball...

[ October 05, 2005, 11:12 AM: Message edited by: Teshi ]
 
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
 
This is an awesome landmark.
 
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
 
quote:
soccer you can play just a ball of any kind.
o_O

Aren't you an English major?

[Wink]
 
Posted by Jim-Me (Member # 6426) on :
 
Cool Landmark. [Smile]

and I've only got a one game lead on ya' and you have Carolina, bye week, and Tenessee at home while I have Philly and the Giants, followed by a trip to Seattle leading up to the head to head. It's far from decided at this point.
 
Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
 
One question, JT: What's Spang?

quote:
Originally posted by TomDavidson:
quote:

Are those really the most popular sports in America? Does no one down there care about hockey, soccer, or rugby?
There are five guys in America who care about hockey and one guy who cares about rugby. There are about six hundred million girls under the age of twelve who care deeply about soccer.
Hey, you forgot about me. Do I count as the one girl who cares about rugby? What about the rest of my team?
 
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
 
Well, at least you didn't say you like baseball.

And did anyone else find JT's mention of prejudice as one of the things he disliked mildly amusing? Intentional, I'm sure, but amusing nonetheless.
 
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
 
quote:

Aren't you an English major?
Yeah, but that was just after waking up when my brain ne fonction pas.

[Razz]

EDIT: Also, it's only the "with" that I missed. It's just poor sentence structure that makes the one missing word completely take away any sort of coherant meaning.
 
Posted by ifmyheartcouldbeat (Member # 8692) on :
 
Nice 1000 post...i remember always really liking reading these when i was on this site before. They are always so informative. I liked you're layout [Smile]
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
"There are five guys in America who care about hockey and one guy who cares about rugby. There are about six hundred million girls under the age of twelve who care deeply about soccer."

Sweet, I'm one fifth of America's hockey fans! Woot! I think Hamson is a fifth as well. Nice to know Hatrack contains almost half of America's Hockey fans.

Also, great Landmark. It's nice to get to know someone better. You post a lot in the exercise thread. How did you get to know so much about fitness and weight lifting and what not?
 
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
quote:
Are those really the most popular sports in America? Does no one down there care about hockey, soccer, or rugby?
I bet 20 bucks you'd have to ask 50 people in America before you'd get one who could explain the rules of rugby and/or hockey. Soccer's becoming more popular, but not with me. If you can't use your hands it's not a sport, IMO (though it is a fantastic workout).

quote:
quote:
black & white movies
Interesting. That's quite the sweeping statement. Why?
No reason, actually. I've just never been able to sit all the way through one, and after the fifth try or so I decided to ban them from my TV.

quote:
One question, JT: What's Spang?
My last name.

Avadaru - I was in Baton Rouge this morning, actually. It seems like I'm there at least once a week. It's definitely past time for a Louisiana gathering.

Jim-Me - Yeah, I know there's a lot of season left, but the Cards look like one of the worst five teams in football (the other four are all in the NFC North) and the Boys look like a playoff team.

quote:
You post a lot in the exercise thread. How did you get to know so much about fitness and weight lifting and what not?
Just an unfortunate side effect of playing football. Having a strength coach and a subscription to Muscle & Fitness throughout college left me chock full of useful tidbits about exercise.

Farmgirl, I'll make sure and keep that list from you for the next landmark.

Thanks for all the kinds words, everyone. And if you want to know anything else, just ask.
 
Posted by Avadaru (Member # 3026) on :
 
quote:
Avadaru - I was in Baton Rouge this morning, actually. It seems like I'm there at least once a week. It's definitely past time for a Louisiana gathering.
Sheesh, let me know next time! There are at least 3 or 4 jatraqueras here who are always willing to catch dinner and a movie (though, if you come anytime soon, we will almost certainly be seeing Serenity. [Big Grin] )
 
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
 
Cool landmark post, JT. Thanks for telling us who you are!
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Every time I see this thread I hear Ricky Gervais warbling the song he did in The Office Christmas special.

Good landmark all the same though.
 
Posted by Art Vandelay (Member # 8690) on :
 
I know, I've been singing that song all day - thanks to the thread title.

Well done landmark though.
 
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
 
quote:
I bet 20 bucks you'd have to ask 50 people in America before you'd get one who could explain the rules of rugby and/or hockey.
Heh, I'll take that 20 bucks. I know two people in my immediate family who could detail hockey rules - both pre- and post-2004 lockout. And yes there were a lot of changes, or so I'm told.
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
One person, me.

I believe someone owes me 20 bucks now. Ahem.
 
Posted by Uhleeuh (Member # 6803) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by El JT de Spang:
[QUOTE]If you can't use your hands it's not a sport, IMO (though it is a fantastic workout).
Pfft. The goalie and whoever is making a throw-in can use their hands. It's a sport. [Wink]
 
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
You can't volunteer the rules if you already know them! I'm talking about random man-on-the-street sampling. No twenty for you two.
 
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
 
I think it might have something to do with where you live, JT. Here in Minnesota, I would say 1 in 5 at the worst if you restrict it to the random "man" on the street, and probably no worse than 1 in 10 if you include women. I would imagine it's the same for any part of the country that gets cold enough that you have a decent outdoor skating season.

You can keep dissing rugby, though, as far as I'm concerned. [Wink]
 
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
 
quote:
No reason, actually. I've just never been able to sit all the way through one, and after the fifth try or so I decided to ban them from my TV.
The Third Man? Any Marx Brothers Film?

You must be watching the wrong films! [Wink]
 
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
I agree hockey is BIG in Minnesota. Wisconsin, too. But that was actually TomD that started all the dissing. I just agreed with him.
 
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
And Big in Michigan.
 
Posted by Jeni (Member # 1454) on :
 
You really have no idea just how big hockey is in the upper midwest until you've met a few AAA Hockey parents. They are frightening!
 
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
 
quote:
ever since Tante exploded onto the scene, simultaneously posting 18 hours a day on two computers at once, 1000 doesn't seem like enough of an occasion to landmark.
Uh, sorry about the post inflation. I just really really like it here!

And Mazel Tov on your first thousand. Lovely landmark.
 
Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by ElJay:
You can keep dissing rugby, though, as far as I'm concerned. [Wink]
Rugby is an awesome game. You should come check out a practice sometime. We can always use tackling dummies.
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
Congrats on 1000, JT. [Big Grin]

I love getting-to-know-me landmarks. [Smile]
 


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