Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Good lord, these people are nuts.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Open Thread: Hey, Lurkers!

Open Thread: Hey, Lurkers!

by | 473 Comments

This post is in: ,

I thought we might have a thread for all the lurkers out there.

When you post your first comment, it goes into moderation, and sometimes it takes a while for one of us to see it and free your comment so it shows up for everyone.  Once it’s released from moderation, it goes into the comments with the time-stamp for when you first submitted it, so then most people probably never see it.  So it’s not surprising that first comments don’t get replied to.

So I thought we would try this open thread where I can keep a particular eye out for first comments that go into moderation.

In any case, it’s lurker appreciation day here on Balloon Juice!  Welcome, all.

Totally open thread.

Reader Interactions

473Comments

  1. 1.

    cain

    first comment !!lol – just kidding. heh.​
     
    ETA – whoa it really is the first comment.. should have waited longer – I could have gotten #2, hell I could have been a contender. :P

  2. 2.

    JoyceCB

    I’ve only commented 5 or 6 times, ever. Do I still count as a lurker? I still feel like one.

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I’ve been so scarce around here lately that I almost qualify as a lurker. Big welcome to all the commenting newcomers.

    Came here to note that the glorious Lauren Bacall left us seven years ago today. She was gorgeous even as an old woman.

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    Apropos of nothing…

    I added a category called Find Mr. Frog and added it to John’s 3 frog posts.  You can click on that in any post to see *all of the Find Mr. Frog posts.

    I also added a link to the Find Mr. Frog category under Featuring in the sidebar.

    *Well, you can see all of them if John remembers to add the category when he puts these up. :-)

    I think we could also post a comment in the next day’s thread about where to find the frog in the previous day.  All it takes is making a block quote box with the description of the location in it, and then assigning white as the text color for the description.

    Then no one sees it unless they want to, but anyone can see it by simply highlighting the text, which you can then see against the darker background of the highlighting.

  8. 8.

    West of the Rockies

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Not a lot left from true old Hollywood royalty (Bogart, Bacall, Hepburn, Grant, Stewart, Peck)…

    Lurkiers… come out and plaaa-aaay!

  14. 14.

    Caphilldcne

    Rarely comment but I generally read most everything. Thanks for this full service blog!  Now back to work. But I am going to Rehoboth beach tomorrow for 2 days so that’ll be fun. And yes I plan to stay out of crowds and keep mostly outside.

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    Then no one sees it unless they want to, but anyone can see it by simply highlighting the text, which you can then see against the darker background of the highlighting.

    Sadly, can’t (or don’t know how to) do that on the phone. And so far, the only frog I’ve found is the stone sculpture. So I guess I’ll continue in amphignorance.

  21. 21.

    Ken

    @WaterGirl: All it takes is making a block quote box with the description of the location in it, and then assigning white as the text color for the description.

    I thought we’d agreed to translate the location into Klingon, rot-13 it, and then hex-encode the characters.

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes, I do believe that Mr. Frog would be very difficult nearly impossible to find on a phone.

    How is your new tablet or laptop plan coming?  I would highly recommend a laptop over a table because there are so many more things one can do with BJ on a laptop.

    Like highlighting, for instance.  Copying is much easier.

    Like Ctrl-F to search for a word or a number, or your nym, to see if anyone has replied, or to see if a particular commenter has updated all of us on their particular situation.

  25. 25.

    thunter2309

    Normally lurking but I will rehash the time my dog made it to the big time.  Poor Sunny grew old gracefully and passed away ~4 years ago peacefully at home.  Still miss her but the memories are all positive.  She was great dog and always loved being outside and puzzling on ways to get out of the yard.  Order of preference.  Freedom, food, family. :)   2+3 (and some patience) exceeded 1

    https://balloon-juice.com/2009/12/14/a-pet-resuce-story/

  27. 27.

    Rachel Bakes

    Been lurking since lead up to 11/2016, probably about 5 years to the day. Pop in several times a day.

  29. 29.

    Whereaway

    I’ve been reading Balloon-Juice since John was a republican.   Took a break from political blogs in the early -aughts, and when I returned a couple of years later he was a democrat, thus showing my belief that he was the sanest person in the republican blogosphere true…

    Read daily, but have made less than a dozen comments over the years.

  30. 30.

    Beisbol Houligan

    @WaterGirl:  Basically, I like like watching two sports, baseball and soccer, so the nym combines them both. Plus, being Mexican on my mother’s side, I used the Spanish to honor her. And it also rolls off the tongue rather nicely, I think.

  33. 33.

    JustSuze (finally stopped lurking)

    @Beisbol Houligan:  My second time commenting. I love your nym! I’ve been reading here for years because I love animals, crazy stories, arguing politics. ?

  34. 34.

    Other Other Other John

    I’ve been reading this site practically daily since… geesh… ’02? late ’01? And commented…. five times? At this point I’ve read more words by John Cole and probably half the other front pagers than any other human, i’d bet, including logorrheic novelists like Neal Stephenson. No pressure or nothin’. Thank you for being here – all you front pagers and regular commenters.

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    @Caphilldcne: After your beach vacation, come back and tell us where your nym comes from.

    Totally guessing, of course, but I’ve always assumed they work on or near Capitol Hill and live in the northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C. I hope the real explanation is spicier than that, though!

  38. 38.

    PaulB

    I find myself lurking because I hit the site a few times a day and just catch up on whole threads.

  41. 41.

    CindyH

    I have commented a few times, but am mostly a lurker.  Kay and rikyrah usually express what I would comment, so I just leave it to them.  :)

  43. 43.

    weasel

    Not exactly a lurker, but comments are at least a year apart so might as well be.  Have been using this nym since the BBS days

  46. 46.

    Deep Southerner

    I’ve commented before, but it’s been a while. So this is a test

     

    ETA: I’ll be damned. Still works, apparently.

  48. 48.

    Anotherlurker

    I greatly appreciate the depth and variety of knowledge and opinions here on BJ.  I find this welcoming space to be a good place to start my research on various current events topics.

  55. 55.

    WaterGirl

    @sab: I don’t see why not!

    I clicked on the photo at the link, saw that the post was from Dec 2009, and then it just took a minute to look through Dec 2009 pics in the media library – because you can view them by month.

  57. 57.

    Ryan G

    I don’t think I’ve commented in several years… long enough that this login isn’t in my password manager, at least. Or my previous password manager. And I’ve probably gone through four email addresses since then at least. So this will be starting from scratch either way.

    ps Huh, it looks like I don’t need a password. Neat. I’m going to try to impersonate myself.

  59. 59.

    Mercy

    Lurk, lurk!

    I read daily but seldom manage to hit a thread in real time. My two cats are BJ rescues. They came to me as wee kittens in September 2016 and were major contributors to my sanity through that awful winter.

    Also discovered the Mary Bennet: Mage books through you guys. My mother and I devoured them at breakneck speed.

    I am delighted to be part of this community, even if in frequent silence.

  65. 65.

    WaterGirl

    @Ryan G: This is the only comment that comes up with your email address.  If you want me to find your old nyms, you can send me your previous email addresses and I can look.

    My email is my nym at balloon-juice.com

  66. 66.

    BobinPDX

    Total lurker here.  Have only commented 3 or 4 times.  Been here for a long time.  I remember the mustard conundrum, and when Rosie came into the house.

  67. 67.

    CCL

    @CindyH:

    Kay and rikyrah usually express what I would comment, so I just leave it to them.  :)

    Yup… and Another Scott does as well.

  68. 68.

    WaitingForMountainLife

    Longtime lurker here – I’ve also been lurking since John was a republican. I do fit right in with the pets though – 2 cats and a dog that looks a bit like Lily.

  69. 69.

    lowtechcyclist

    @weasel:

    Have been using this nym since the BBS days

    Did you ever play any Diplomacy on AOL?  Back in the mid-1990s I was in a game or two with someone with that nym.

  72. 72.

    mali muso

    Semi-lurker here.  I read daily but don’t always hit the threads in time to comment or don’t have anything to add that hasn’t been said.  I drifted over here from the GOS sometime in the early days following the 08 Obama victory when the other place became a shit-show.  And have stayed ever since. :)

  74. 74.

    zhena gogolia

    This is a fun thread. Great to see everybody. And I totally remember that pup with the green hat!

  76. 76.

    Carol Van Natta

    I read B-J nearly every day, and comment nearly every year. I’m a pro-grade slacker.

    In my defense, the Calamity Fairy found me a couple of years ago and keeps coming back like Edward Gorey’s doubtful guest. Life changes galore during pandemic months, though thankfully, none of the bad ones caused by the ‘Rona itself. Estates to settle, remodeling supervision to finish, and very late books to write. Especially the latter, so I must lurk back to my writing cave again.

  78. 78.

    Ken

    @WaterGirl: I am too lazy.

    Weren’t you the person who, during the site migration, filtered down the rotating tag list to under 10 megabytes? That wasn’t the action of a lazy person.

  80. 80.

    Mike Molloy

    This might be my first ever comment; if not I’m sure it’s first 3 or so.  I read the posts daily, but like a couple de-lurkers above, I find the comment threads grow too fast for me to keep up, one reason for my not commenting.

    Cole had a post a few weeks back about what TV people are watching, and I wanted to mention that I’ve been watching the Turkish historical melodrama he recommended, Ertugrul.  (Which is great btw, thanks for the rec!)  Seemed like the discussion moved off of that pretty quickly though.

    Anyhoo, I appreciate the chance to delurk.  Hello!

  82. 82.

    Joe Shambeaux

    Loooooong time lurker here. I’ve learned so much from reading the comments and discussions and flame wars over the years.

    I admit to being a little intimidated since so many of the folks here are so knowledgeable and opinionated. I’m a speech-language pathologist by trade, and only a dabbler in political discussions. Trying to shake off a lifetime of Texas-German Lutheranist non-confrontation ain’t easy, but I’m getting better about not caring when feathers are ruffled.

    A lot of y’all have helped show me the way  Much appreciated

  84. 84.

    eddie blake

    greetings and salutations, lurkers.

    i tend to get to the threads late, but i know i should comment more when possible.

  86. 86.

    WaterGirl

    @Mike Molloy: Yeah, I think it can be easier to feel more a part of a thread if you join in early and can take part in the back-and-forth.

    I supposed one strategy would be to catch a thread when it’s posted and then jump on the moving train. :-)

  90. 90.

    H.E.Wolf

    @WaterGirl: ​

    Hey guys, we are all hosting this lurker party, right?

    Where is the rest of the welcoming committee? :-)

     
    Been in the wind. :)

    Much love to the lurkers!

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Hello, numerous nyms that I’ve never seen before. Are you trolls? Admit it—you’re trolls!

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    @Joe Shambeaux:  Yeah, I like to think we all have something different to offer.  I’m not the amazingly well-read literary person, or the science person who can help us understand viruses and vaccines, or the witty person who can make everybody laugh.

    But I like to think we all bring something to the table.

    So jump in!

  94. 94.

    Edmund Dantes

    I was a regular commenter for a long time back in the pre-Schiavo awakening for John.

    I went dormant for awhile during the Obama years commenting fairly sporadically  (but still reading everything) as life was pretty hectic with jobs, moving around, starting a family, have become more active again as things have settled down personally.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    @PatrickG: Okay, I laughed.

    But you would be surprised at the number of lurkers who sent email requesting the zoom link for the holidays.

    So it must be a little more complex than that. :-)

  97. 97.

    silvery

    Well, since it’s lurker appreciation day, I feel obligated :-) I’ve been here forever, since when John was one of the few decent Republicans left. I appreciate all the causes, donate to quite a few, and had fun explaining to my husband where the new calendar came from this year. I’m also really hoping that Adam keeps posting on the threats to our democracy.

  98. 98.

    mali muso

    @WaterGirl: Yeah, the zoom was a good time!  The last few have happened right during the kiddo’s bedtime routine, so I haven’t had a chance to join in.

  99. 99.

    WaterGirl

    We have had multiple days of temps in the 90s and a heat index of 107.

    It started raining last night, and I am sitting here typing as I look out the windows, watching and listening to the rain.

    It’s like I can literally – and I mean the real literally – see the dry grass geeking up as I sit here.

  100. 100.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Caphilldcne:

    It will be 5-10° cooler than D.C. My brother just fled down there to be with his family while the new stain on the Sighthound Hall floors cures for five days.

    Currently 97° in my little corner of NoVA. ?

  101. 101.

    WaterGirl

    During lurker appreciation day, it’s not just a chicken in every pot… it’s a reply to every lurker.

    We are glad you are here, for sure.

  102. 102.

    AliceBlue

    I’ve commented a few times, mostly on the Medium Cool threads. I shared some of my experiences as a military child on the Leto and Avalune military life threads; that was so interesting and fun. I think I started reading BJ around 2008. Found my way here from Daily Kos.

    Anyhoo– I appreciate all the front pagers and blogmaster John for creating this space. Politics, pets, gardening, food; couldn’t ask for anything more.

  106. 106.

    Tenax

    Heya! I’ve been following this blog through the RSS feed for… goodness, quite a while now. 10 years or so?

    The bloggers here are pretty darn sharp, and usually everything I’d have to say is already said in a thread, once I get there.

    Good job, everyone!

  108. 108.

    Aziz, light!

    These days I primarily lurk, though I have been around since 2007. Originally I was Soylent Green, then a Russian phrase (in Cyrillic) from the Firefly movie, and now a third SF movie reference. I am familiar with all Internet traditions, and I can assure you that the helicopters are not laughing.

  110. 110.

    WaterGirl

    @Other Other Other John: Love your nym.

    I once had a Steve that I lived with, a Steve that was my best friend, and a Steve that worked for me.

    One day as I was telling a story someone asked which Steve I was talking about, and I said “there are too many Steves!”.

    Not a month later, my partner Steve became my -ex, and the fellow who worked for me found another job.  I will never make a comment like that again!

  114. 114.

    Tony Jay

    Hello, Members of the Infrequent Comment Community!

    Everyone here is very nice, except for the ones who aren’t nice, but since everyone has their own opinion about what constitutes nice, it follows you all have your own opinion on who ‘they’ are, so we’ll say no more about them.

    Maybe it would be an idea to peg this thread so it stays near the top for a day or so. Might encourage the shy or the late to the scene to jump in if they’re less concerned about contracting a case of dead-threaditis.

    Anyway. Hello. Have fun. The good, clean kind.

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    @Dahlia: I ordered 10 different kinds of dahlia’s last winter – I think ordering plants and flowers was how I dealt with the pandemic.

    But none of seemed terribly happy this year.  Since you are Dahlia, I thought maybe you could put the fear of god into them or at least whisper an encouraging word in their direction.

  118. 118.

    AntiCliche

    Long time lurker, thankful for the daily virus updates, the brilliance of “tire rims and anthrax”, the ACA explanations, the intelligence assessments, and so much else.

    I appreciate you all.

  119. 119.

    WaterGirl

    @CCL: Yeah, sometimes I wait to see if someone says what I am thinking – and they often say it better than I do!  But sometimes I say screw it and jump right into the comments.

  120. 120.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @WaterGirl:  I guess it depends on what you consider the next generation after that. Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman, Liz Taylor, Anne Bancroft and Robert Redford all kind of spring to mind…not too shabby.

  121. 121.

    Cermet

    Long time not lurker that most here wouldn’t mine if I just turned into a lurker … in any case, just discovered a hidden section of first floor bathroom ceiling hidden under a vertical wall cabinet that went to said ceiling and its to was super wet; the ‘dry wall’ ceiling area hidden by said cabinet was covered in black fungus. Put on a special filtered breathing mask, gloves and sealing goggles and removed the dry wall section and cleaned out the remaining black fungus and some white slime (!?) Pretty sure I know what caused it (and that has been stopped but not really fixed) so once the bleach dries I’ll get into the real work and see what’s really up. Hopefully a straight forward fix and repair. Damn, a year ago had the other side of that wall open but noooo. It was fine then when access would have been trivial.

  123. 123.

    NicaKnit

    I’ve been reading since before the demise of Google Reader, but this is probably my 3rd comment ever, and all have come in the last month.

    Like some others, I read nearly everything but nearly always a bit late.

    I appreciate the laughs and knowledge I can find here daily.

  128. 128.

    Martin

    Would like to encourage our lurkers to surface to tell me when I’m wrong. Safety to provide and receive criticism is one of the great benefits of a community. And that safety enables the opportunity to explore provocative ideas.

    Also, I’ve gotten myself mysteriously banned twice (and unbanned with watergirls great help – love her!). Don’t read anything into the fact you can’t post – sometimes the ban flag gets set and nobody knows why.

  134. 134.

    Ken

    It is wonderful to see so many people have been reading the blog. Welcome isn’t quite the right word, but welcome anyway.

  135. 135.

    scribbler

    I have commented a little bit.  But it’s still hard to come out of lurking mode.  I covet my precious invisibility.

    I would miss BJ terribly if it disappeared so please… John, Anne Laurie, Water Girl and all who make BJ run – keep it running!

    Also, Kay and Baud, don’t ever stop commenting.

  136. 136.

    Elizabelle

    @Steeplejack (phone):   With a heat index of ….

    In Richmond, we are 96 with a heat index of 106.  Good day to stay inside and meet lurkers.

    T storms around this time Monday and Tuesday; have to finish some work so I can dip in the pool before that happens again ..  Very unstable air.

  138. 138.

    Highway Rob

    Figure me to be 130-plus comments late to this party. Although I went to an Austin meetup many, many moons ago, so maybe I don’t count as a lurker anymore.

  146. 146.

    Poe Larity

    Maybe we didnt need death panels

    The figures show continued migration to the South and West at the expense of counties in the Midwest and Northeast. The share of the white population fell from 63.7% in 2010 to 57.8% in 2020,

  148. 148.

    SpaceUnit

    Okay fine.  Here I am.  Been lurking around this joint forever.  I haven’t commented because I can’t usually hang out and keep up a conversation.

     

    Also, I still have no idea what a pie filter does.  But I like pie, so there’s that.

  150. 150.

    Mike Field

    Just a thank you to John and all the front pagers for putting together a great site.  Especial thanks for the daily COVID updates that have been so useful and informative (if frequently depressing and disheartening). You all are terrific and though we lurk, we love.

  151. 151.

    Avalie

    Have always loved this community but have been (with the rare exception) a lurker since around 2005 when I found this place, via Obsidian WIngs maybe?  Have commented and gotten involved  bit more recently now that I have a little more time on my hands.  Love the wide range of topics and the knowledge, genuine enthusiasm, and caring of the frontpagers  and commenters.

  153. 153.

    TxTiger

    I’ve been lurking since around 2003, when I kept reading posts on dkos that talked about what John Cole had said. There were two John Coles being cited if I recall correctly – one a national security figure of some type, and this one. I returned to Balloon-Juice often because John offered insights about being a Republican during the Bush years that helped me in navigating relationships with my R dad and brother. And my dad often used the term balloon juice in place of bullshit, so I liked the blog name.

    I check the site fairly often during the day but don’t post much since I work for a government entity and am never sure how much we are being monitored.

    Anne Laurie’s COVID posts this past year and a half finally convinced me to pony up some cash to support the blog – I would wake up early every day to check what was new and keep ahead of the news about this virus. I’m just sorry it’s again such an essential thing to check.

    Thanks, WaterGirl, for inviting us lurkers to post. Sometimes I feel like I’m wearing an invisibility cloak at a party filled with gregarious and interesting people – I see everything y’all do but you have no idea I’m even here.

  155. 155.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Elizabelle:

    “Heat index” temp is 108°, although I try to stay off that because, like “wind chill,” it feels like a tabloid-y stat to me. Suffice it to say that it’s hot as hell!

  158. 158.

    piratedan

    @WaterGirl: hey now, don’t get me chanelling Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show Larry King Game!   Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico! Hello!

  159. 159.

    WaterGirl

    @SpaceUnit:  Welcome!

    The pie filter?  Let’s say you think this WaterGirl person is obnoxious.  Not just that you disagree on certain issues, but maybe you think she is disingenuous, or plain old annoying.

    You click the little cherry pie that’s right by the circle with the number of comments.  You choose WaterGirl from the list of nyms and then instead of seeing her comments, you get a dessert-related image in place of her comments.

    You can still click to see the comment if you want to, but otherwise you can just roll on by.

  161. 161.

    WaterGirl

    @Mike Field: As Obama would say, we love you back.

    I think John loves the lurkers most of all.  He has a real soft spot for lurkers.

    When I suggested checking for nyms on the “report a problem” form so we wouldn’t get spam in it, he said “but what about the lurkers???”

    John loves you guys.

  162. 162.

    sab

    @Tony Jay: Is it safe to keep this up until BJ After Dark? ( I realize you are in a very different time zone.) BJ After Dark thinks everyone is a troll, even the frequent commenters.

  166. 166.

    WaterGirl

    @TxTiger:  Happy to see you post a comment.

    Take off your cloak now and again, and maybe soon you’ll be comfortable without it.

    Not sure what to say about government monitoring of computers.   I will check the handbook, but I am pretty sure people are allow to check Balloon Juice even when they are not at work!

  167. 167.

    Mary G

    Welcome to all new and infrequent commenters but readers. I have always loved the Balloon Juice community and it makes me happy to know that there are more of us out there.

  168. 168.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @WaterGirl:

    That’s “elk and squirrel” in Spanish, which I think might be a close approximation to “moose and squirrel,” a joking reference to you know who.

    ETA: I don’t know about Alce, but Ardillo is definitely a troll.

  169. 169.

    Teoconut

    I’ve been lurking so long, I’ve lost count of the years. I love this site for the politics, pets and community.

  174. 174.

    thunter2309

    @WaterGirl:   Ha.  Not too much.  I was late to the game in terms of establishing a highly used name (thunter) with something unique.  23 was Don Mattingly and I can’t recall now which player originated the 09.

  177. 177.

    JoyceCB

    Maybe one day we could have an open thread for all the non-American jackals, regulars and lurkers both. I know we have other Canucks here, and British, Scottish, Irish, the inimitable Tony Jay, Europeans, Aussies, and lots more. This blog spans the world!  Not forgetting Malaysia and China too.

  178. 178.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @WaterGirl: Yes. Steve McQueen is probably in that generation too and arguably Dustin Hoffmann (nearly the same age as Redford). I’m not that big a fan of McQueen’s acting but he was undoubtedly a style icon of the highest order and exuded effortless cool. I should be able to name more of the great female actors of that era but I’m drawing a blank on most.

    Honestly I’m not sure Redford and Hoffmann aren’t in the next generation after Newman and Taylor. They’re all pre-boomers but I don’t know where they draw the line between the “Greatest Generation” and the next one after that. Redford and Newman did such good work together I think of them as being in the same cohort even though Redford is about a decade younger give or take.

  180. 180.

    Montanareddog

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ms Bacall came to a bookstore in the early to mid-90s in the city where I was then living, to promote her latest book. I bought it, looked at the long queue to get it signed and thought I’ll browse the shelves until the queue dies down a bit. Next thing I know,  she is being ushered out of the back of the room. Man, was I mad with myself! And you’re right  – a formidably elegant woman whose great facial bone structure served her well into old age.

  181. 181.

    WaterGirl

    @JoyceCB: That’s an interesting idea.  What time would the post go up, though?  Time zones might be an issue.

    Though I guess we could pin it to the top for 24 hours and see who all chimes in.

  186. 186.

    Phylllis

    @WaterGirl: Have you been reading my elementary report cards? Phylllis is a pleasure to have in class, however, she prefers to play by herself and not talk to anyone. 

    I don’t think we knew the word introvert then.

  190. 190.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @sab:

    Brevity is cool. There’s one long nym that comes out to be three lines long on my phone screen. Slightly off-putting, but, hey, blog comity. On the other hand, “JL” is so skinny in lowercase and sanserif font that I have trouble “selecting” it when it’s a link.

  191. 191.

    Penn

    My memory says I started lurking here shortly after our host stopped being a Republican, although I could be a little off. I post maybe every other year or so I’m guessing. :)

  192. 192.

    WaterGirl

    I am off to eat lunch now, but I will check on the thread when I am done.

    Remember, you guys are not just welcome on lurker appreciate days!

  193. 193.

    Porky Pine

    Long-time lurker here, since not sure when. I probably discovered B-J from TBogg’s blogroll. Nowadays it’s really my main blog community. I learn a hell of a lot from all of you…OK, most of you. There is a LOT of assembled expertise and wisdom in this group, so much so that I have only jumped in with comments a couple of times.

    When there was the previous welcome to lurkers post a couple of weeks ago, someone commented that B-J is like eavesdropping on witty, informed conversations at a party of really smart people. I completely agree, and as an opinionated but fundamentally shy person, I will continue to read and be informed, but mostly in silence.

    Oh, and I don’t know how to do the fancy boxes for quoting previous comments, either. But I’m perfectly fine with the comment set-up. LGM’s threaded comments drive me nuts.

  194. 194.

    Elizabelle

    Since an open thread:  glad to see this:  Richmond Times Dispatch.Virginia health commissioner issues universal indoor mask mandate for K-12 schools

    Students, teachers and staff at Virginia’s public and private K-12 schools must wear a mask while indoors under a new public health order Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration issued Thursday.

    The move came after a handful of school districts in recent days decided to buck the Democratic governor’s interpretation of a state law and opt not to require face coverings, against the current recommendations of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tension over the politically divisive issue has exploded at one school board meeting after other in the past week.

    “This is a way to ensure uniformity in schools across Virginia,” Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said.

    The mandate came in the form of a public health order from the state health commissioner, Dr. Norman Oliver.

    It requires that any individual aged 2 or older wear a mask while inside a school building, with limited exceptions for activities including eating, drinking, sleeping and exercising. The text of the order says it takes effect Thursday and will remain in effect until the CDC guidelines change.

    The order also says anyone with a medical condition or sincerely held religious objection to wearing a mask “may request a reasonable accommodation.”

     

  195. 195.

    Tim in SF

    I’ve been lurking since about a year or so before John’s Schiavo-inspired conversion. That’s when this blog went from “a blog that I usually read” to “a blog I read *first* so I don’t miss anything” and that’s where it’s stayed ever since.

    I rarely comment, though.

  196. 196.

    Feathers

    For those who tweet:

    John Scalzi has pledged up to $1000 for voting rights org, at a rate of 10 cents per reply to the tweet below. Apparently, he’s only up to matching $700. I hadn’t bothered to reply, because I assumed the match would be quickly met. There is also a pledge to vote in every election legally possible through 2023. Anybody else want to donate a dime?

    Scalzi voting rights donation tweet

    To celebrate (almost) hitting 190K followers, for the next 24 hours, for every US citizen who promises to vote in every election they can through the end of 2022, I will donate to voting rights orgs in the US. 10c per promise, up to $1k. Respond by replying to this Tweet. Go!

  198. 198.

    matryoshka

    I guess I count as a lurker, mostly. Been reading here since early 2005 but rarely comment. However, this morning I came here for a primal scream and am only a little bit sorry for all the profanity about covidiots. Thanks for the opportunity to come out (again).

  200. 200.

    sab

    @Steeplejack (phone): People who actually know me will figure out very quickly it is me. But googling it gets you ballet companies and swedish engineering firms.

    My RWNJ had a clever nym at one point, and two thousand miles away I knew at once that it was him.

  202. 202.

    pajaro

    I’ve been a lurker for years. The only time I try to comment is when I think I have something to say that the rest of you haven’t already said; it doesn’t happen that often. FWIW, my only real deep dive here was during la affaire Tara Reade, when I did think I saw some things that many folks were missing, at least at the beginning.
    Please keep up what you do, which is to wonderfully balance comments that report on stuff we need to know (which sometimes makes me crazy) with a host of wonderful items to help keep us sane. I also really appreciate your suggestions on how we can actually help fix things. And a huge thank you to Ann for the covid posts.

  203. 203.

    DB11

    Lurker threads are a good idea. It’s rare that I have time to comment on regular threads (since I work) while they are still active.

    And on the rare occasion where I am available to participate, it’s tossing pre-ignored comments at a closed wall of regular commenters. They engage within their in-group and blithely disregard (or actively pie?) most others— especially if any part of your political opinions crosses the accepted orthodoxy here. In the end it’s rarely worth the time and effort.

    There’s lip-service to lurkers about participating more (not from you Water Girl — your genuine efforts to grow the active community are always well-appreciated), but the most frequent commenters here prefer to interact and confirm their beliefs amongst themselves.

    I don’t need validation or an audience for my opinions, but I do like respectful and challenging exchanges — which I find rare here for those outside of the clique.

    I stay to read Anne Laurie, Betty Cracker, Kay, Tom Levenson, Tony Jay (and a few others) that I appreciate for the fact that I learn something new most every time I read them.

  204. 204.

    steve g

    Basically I’m a lurker who has posted maybe 3 times ever. I come for Anne Laurie and other politically oriented posts and the daily doom scroll of Covid news. Sometimes I stay for the Mendocino and Paris slide shows and nostalgia. There were some good times in the 20th century. Sigh.

  206. 206.

    eachother

    Thank goodness there are few calories in my Balloon-Juice consumption or I would look like, well, a balloon.
    I came across BJ through a Rachel Maddow mention in 2015.
    Pets, book recommendations, garden stuff, politics, comments, Covid news, …. People!  A full spectrum blog.

    I lurked for a few years. Allowing myself  time to learn about the place. I now consider myself to be a participating member. Knowing I am still learning about the Balloon Juice culture and community.  I feel connected in more than a wire and tube kind of way

  210. 210.

    VeniceRiley

    @SiubhanDuinne:  Bacall’s last movie was a detective noir indie written and directed and starring a friend of mine. Trouble is My Business. He’d be chuffed if folks started finding it on their streaming and renting or buying.

  211. 211.

    pattonbt

    Been a lurker here since pre-coles conversion. Posted more (still rarely enough to count as a lurker) in the gwb and Clinton / Obama primary wars eras. Still read the site pretty much every day and appreciate the whole community. I figure others capture my thoughts a lot better and more humorously than I ever can, hence lurking. Two Aussie rescue cats (yes they have an accent when they meow, we’ll only one actually meows) as have been an expat in Perth coming up on 20 years. Favourite commenter was (pardon spelling it’s been forever) Makato chan. “Cudlip” still gets me to smile.

  212. 212.

    donatellonerd

    think i started reading soon after John stopped being a republican. From Atrios links. comment occasionally, mostly to thank BillinGlendale for pictures from my childhood. don’t really have time to follow threads, except occasionally and then from the top to the bottom. i appreciate lurker appreciation day and Water Girl recognizing me (so maybe i’m only a semi-lurker).

  217. 217.

    Tony Jay

    @sab:

    Oh, this should definitely hang around until the week early hours. A few drinkies, a bit of medicinal herbiage, get the music links flowing, and before you know it there’s a party going on.

    I’m going camping in the morning so I’ll be hitting the snooze button soon, but when I check in again in the morning I expect this place to be chock full of emptied key-bowls and the stench of regret.

  219. 219.

    Rick Taylor

    I’ve been following this group at least ever since John wrote his Iraq War Retrospective. He’s the only person I know of who wrote a mea culpa for that that seemed to me to be worth a damn. I post once in a great while, but have been mostly quiet. I do learn things here.

  222. 222.

    Jenny Howard

    Barely broke out of the lurker shadows two years ago when l  adopted Orville and Wilbur, two senior cats. Stepped out again a year ago with a first anniversary post about those fine kitties. Still lurking.

  227. 227.

    WaterGirl

    @DB11: I get what you are saying.  I figure that the more welcoming we are and the more others chime in, the less we have the same conversations with the same people.

    Of course, I like the people who are here already so that’s not a dig against them.  But we are all at Balloon Juice because it’s not stale, so I love it when we open the windows for some fresh air.

  228. 228.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Feathers:

    I’m not a Twitter tweeter, but I’d love to add to Scalzi’s count. Is there some way for someone who has an account to register my intent with him?

  229. 229.

    WaterGirl

    @steve g: I hear you.  I don’t think our good times in the US are over, but it is sometimes an act of faith to believe that.  Join in whenever you like, or not, but we are glad you are all here.

  234. 234.

    Taphozous

    Yet another long time lurker. I think I started dropping by this blog when Cole was still a republican. I enjoy reading the comments, but usually feel the points I would like to make have already been expressed (possibly better than I would have done.)
    I de-lurked a while back to contribute to one of the fund drives and at this rate I might stop being a lurker.
    For those who are curious my nym is a bat genus.

  237. 237.

    Martin

    @raven: Not quite yet. The last two weeks have been a bit of a  shitshow due other things (hint: my covid test was negative) but I’ve got a date set. I’ll be at it another month.

    Not sure if I’ll be posting more or less. Is this place a reprieve from my anxieties around work that I won’t need as much? I dunno.

    Been enjoying a heavy departure into philosophy the last two weeks. Forgot how much I enjoyed philosophy in college.

  239. 239.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Montanareddog: I didn’t pick up on the theme that we’re talking about those still among the living, just great actors of the golden age of the silver screen and the generation that followed them.

    Hoffman is only a year younger than Redford I think. I’m fine putting Redford in that later generation. The Redford/Hoffman/Nicholson generation is the last generation to have a significant number of greats still with us.

  242. 242.

    LightCastle

    Very rarely comment (I am sure I have in the past at some point) since threads are often well on their way before I end up getting to them.

    Still read quite regularly.

  244. 244.

    DogDawgDamn

    Been lurking awhile…comment occasionally. Hey everyone! Love the convo, keep it going.

  248. 248.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @WaterGirl: I get it too. I’ve had some people come at me here on occasion. Part of the issue is when you write something the way someone reads it isn’t always the way it sounded in your head when you were writing it. Inflection and nuance get lost. People misinterpret something as being serious when it was intended to be humorous or make more of something than you intended because of that.

  250. 250.

    Magrat Garlick

    Joining in to claim the nym.  Does no one else identify with Magrat?

    Love you WaterGirl.  Take care of yourself

  251. 251.

    frosty

    @WaterGirl: Water Resources Engineer / Watershed Planner here. It seems like the one water thing you haven’t done was stormwater sampling – pulling water samples from the flow out of outfalls when it rains to send to a lab to see what’s going into the rivers. My favorite was the combined (sanitary* and storm) sewer in Baltimore. Yeesh.

    ‘* Narrator: it wasn’t very sanitary.

    PS Hello lurkers ! Nice to see you.

  252. 252.

    Bob7094

    I’ve been lurking here since around the  time of John’s conversion, got here by way of a link from Fired O’Glake.  I hardly ever comment because 1) I don’t have anything relevant to say, or 2) the thread is long dead.

    The 7094 in my nym is for my first computer: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/7094.html

    (Not the one at Columbia, however)

  254. 254.

    topclimber

    Does being last so often include me in the big tent of BJ Lurkers? Probably needs its own category.

    Have I done it again?

  255. 255.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @frosty: We have those in DC too…pretty much every city East of the Mississippi has or had that issue. My hometown of Grand Rapids, MI was (I think) the first city the EPA made fix the issue with combined sewage overflows because it was one of the first cities to warn people not to go into the river after heavy rain. At the time the city was kind of pissed that they got punished for doing the right thing by warning people, but in the long run… no untreated sewage ever flows into the Grand River anymore, at least not in Grand Rapids. I don’t know what happens in Lansing though.

  256. 256.

    VeniceRiley

    @raven: Friends in comedy are forever. Try Safety Geeks on youtube. Same guy. “Randy Minky” is the best character name ever.

  257. 257.

    raven

    @frosty: My friend heads this project:

     

    Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research Program for which he leads research projects investigating: 1) wet and dry season dynamics on aquatic ecosystem metabolism as driven by water column depth and flocculent organic matter, 2) subsidy-stress effects of saltwater intrusion on wetland soil ecosystems, and 3) long-term interactive effects of storm-induced phosphorus loading and drought on ecosystem productivity and nutrient dynamics spanning freshwater, brackish, and marine wetlands.

  259. 259.

    Mike in NC

    In the Washington Post today, wingnut Hugh Hewitt tried to weigh in on the CA governor recall dog-and-pony show. Of course he loves fellow whackjob Larry Elder, but believes if the Orange Clown endorses him, Elder would lose votes.

  262. 262.

    rockstar

    I have been lurking since before Cole gave up on the bottle – greetings all! Now back to lurking…

  265. 265.

    Sure Lurkalot

    Compared to this group, I’m a babe in the woods here, started in a deep hidey hole around 2016. I had no idea there were lurkers here there and everywhere. It’s a pleasure to see? meet? know about? you. It’s a fine space, generous to a fault, often cranky, always something interesting.

  266. 266.

    DB11

    @WaterGirl: Thanks for your response.

    There was a comment made in the John Cole / 500+ comment / post-Cheryl thread that suggested that the place would fall apart if it were not for you and AL.

    I fully concur: the effort that you expend to build the community and website (and in AL’s case to keep it current with ever-updating content) is critical to BJ’s functioning.

    That  — plus the fact that I’ve only known you to be encouraging, kind and welcoming to anyone that comes here to engage in good faith — makes you an  indispensable cog in the BJ wheel.

    On the commenting side, Betty Cracker’s hair-trigger wit, open-minded & well-informed opinions — along with her fundamental kindness and decency — is the necessary counterweight to the insularity, grudge-holding and contempt heard from (some) other regulars…

    (She’s not the only one of course, but she provides cover and weight for others to stand up)

    I’m also so glad that Kay reappeared a while back — since her concision, insights and knowledge slice as a rapier through the thicket of ossified opinions that might otherwise stand unchallenged.

  267. 267.

    ChuckInAustin

    Not my first comment, but I rarely comment even though I’m a daily reader. Mostly I comment when shit’s going down in Texas, ice storm, austin bomber, etc.

  270. 270.

    Tony Jay

    @WaterGirl:

    There are a few actors of the current(ish) generation who have that unteachable special something that makes them the riveting centre of every screen they appear on. Even if its early in their career and the part was small, you could tell they had the same ‘it’ that made the stars of yesteryear what they were, and if they’d been around back then they’d have been box-office gold too.

    Frex, throw the 1990s versions of George Clooney and Carla Gugino together in a 1940s screwball comedy and you’d have a guaranteed hit in all 48 states. Put Brad Pitt and Leo Di Caprio in a late 60’s crime caper and they’d be just as cool as McQueen or Newman.

    Some people just belong on the screen. It’s the only thing that explains Tom Cruise.

  272. 272.

    Terry

    I only comment every few years, but just needed to say something about Afghanistan: Holy shit, I feel terrible about it. I understand the reasoning behind the administration’s decision to exit and it may have been the best decision with the info they had at the time (or least bad?), but it is going terribly. I am worried for the people there, especially the women.

  274. 274.

    Brachiator

    @WaterGirl:

    My first computer was a Compaq with 28k of ram, I believe.  $3,000!

    There was a time when it seemed that a new computer always cost $3,000.

    I remember that PC Magazine would always have a cover story: x386. All the computing power you will ever need!

    Until next year.  Same headline, new specs.

  275. 275.

    Bob7094

    @WaterGirl: ​
     

    It wasn’t actually mine. Local University taught Fortran to local high school computer club members and allowed them in the computer center. This lead to an after school job doing data entry, which led to a summer job programming.

  277. 277.

    WaterGirl

    @Terry: Afghanistan has been a shit show for a long time, and they wanted us out.  Talk about throwing good money after bad (in a general sense) – we could have stayed forever and we couldn’t have fixed Afghanistan.

    So I think Biden did the absolute right thing.

    But damn, like you, I feel bad for every person who worked from within in Afghanistan.  It is going to be really ugly.  It’s heartbreaking.

    This outcome was totally predictable – even before we set foot in the country.  Fuck Bush and all his war-mongering buddies.

  278. 278.

    Reverse tool order

    Lurking since before the Schiavo thing, first comment.

    Have a question for you all re California recall voting strategy. “Hell no” not being an option on the recall itself, going with “No”.

    But the second question… I see three strategies for who else: leave blank, vote for a certain non-winner (to dilute votes for whatever &/*≠ leads), or vote for a second tier fool (for possibly more dilution). What do you think?

    Thinking the “Aircraft Mechanic/Actor” guy for option two.

  280. 280.

    WaterGirl

    @Brachiator: Yes, I think mine was a 286.

    You are right, for a very very long time the computer cost $3k, but you got more and more for that $3k.  That was true for years and years, until finally there was a price drop.

  283. 283.

    Steeplejack

    @VeniceRiley:

    Might need more of a clue, since Trouble Is My Business doesn’t show up in Bacall’s IMDB and Wikipedia bios and she doesn’t show up in the cast of the several movies with that title at IMDB.

  285. 285.

    WaterGirl

    @Reverse tool order: I haven’t read Major Major’s thread on that from this morning, so there is surely better information there.

    But we cannot count on the recall failing, which says to me that it’s totally foolish to abdicate by leaving #2 blank.  If Dems do that and the recall passes, CA is totally fucked because a Republican is governor.

    If I lived in CA, for #2 I would vote for the best possible Dem OR – unless there was consensus that all Dems should get behind candidate X – then I would vote for candidate X.

  286. 286.

    Scout211

    @DB11:

    I don’t need validation or an audience for my opinions, but I do like respectful and challenging exchanges — which I find rare here for those outside of the clique.

    I hear you.  I am not a regular commenter but after many years of being a lurker, I started commenting more during the TFG’s term.  Many lurkers do feel slighted when no one responds to their comments and it seems as though the regular commenters just talk among themselves.  But one commenter in an earlier lurker thread said to remember that maybe your comments don’t get a lot of reactions from the commenters,  but there are many, many people who are reading your comments. They just stay in the background most of the time like you.  So your comment may not have a great comment section discussion, but it will have been read by countless readers who just read and don’t comment here.  This is, of course, a top 10,000 blog. So countless!

    And in my experience, the only time I had a ton reactions to one of my comments on a thread was last summer. The many reactions I got felt like a cast of thousands yelling at me for being wrong, wrong, wrong. So be careful what you ask for. LOL

    Anyhoo,  hello to all the lurkers.  Please go ahead and comment whenever you feel like it and just know that countless readers are reading your words.

  287. 287.

    DB11

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: For sure.

    This has always been a challenge in written communication, (conveying tone, intention, humour), but especially so in the context of rapid-fire, internet exchanges.

    And even more-so because of the well-researched and documented personality shifts that many people undergo when the engage anonymously online. (more short-tempered, belligerent etc).

    A lot of dickish and nasty behaviour gets excused under the rubric of cleverness and ‘snark’.

  289. 289.

    WaterGirl

    @NotMax: Good idea.  I didn’t notice any apostrophes here today, did you?

    What NotMax is referring to is that every comment from a nym that has an apostrophe in it wilL ALWAYS have to be manually approved.

    The solution is to either leave out the apostrophe, and we won’t judge you because we know the deal OR to substitute an “*” in place of the apostrophe, and we will all know what you did there, too.

  290. 290.

    Steeplejack

    @Martin:

    Did you already give your notice? The last I read was when you were going to drop the big news on management the next day.

  294. 294.

    Bob7094

    @WaterGirl: ​
     

    First computer I owned was an IMSAI 8080. Built from a kit, initially with 16K RAM and two 8″ floppy drives. Still have it.

  295. 295.

    Ken

    @VeniceRiley: Lauren Bacall died in 2014, that movie was released in 2018.  Is she in some archival footage, or appearing on a TV or something like that?

  296. 296.

    Brachiator

    @Reverse tool order:

    Have a question for you all re California recall voting strategy. “Hell no” not being an option on the recall itself, going with “No”.

    But the second question… I see three strategies for who else: leave blank, vote for a certain non-winner (to dilute votes for whatever &/*≠ leads), or vote for a second tier fool (for possibly more dilution). What do you think?

    I think it a little strange that you can vote NO for recall, but still vote for a possible replacement.

    This may confuse some people.

    I have read that there are over 100 candidates.

    Obviously I will not vote for any Republican or libertarian (Larry Elder) .

    I don’t know if it matters whether you choose someone or leave the option blank. Is there a least harmful Democratic Party alternative??

    Unfortunately, if the 50 percent plus 1 threshold is met, whoever gets the most votes wins.

    I note that the Republicans did not endorse anyone. They just want to get out the angry vote.

  297. 297.

    Alce _e_ardillo

    @WaterGirl:

     

    @Steeplejack (phone): well that is close enough for government work. Yes I have always been a huge fan of Jay Ward cartoons since I was knee high….. As for being a troll, I occasionally come out from underneath the bridge. Been lurking around 10 years more or less. The minds at work here are a little intimidating…..

  300. 300.

    Scout211

    @Brachiator:

    I have read that there are over 100 candidates.

    Actually there are 47 candidates on the ballot if you include Newsom.  The Davis recall in 2003 had over 100 candidates.  Check out Major Major Major Major’s post downstairs for all the latest on the California recall.

  301. 301.

    DB11

    @Terry: @WaterGirl: Yup.

    Such a waste — of lives and treasure — and an all-round, predictable tragedy.

    It was always going to end badly, and the only way to avoid that would have been to never enter that morass in the first place.

    Biden has done what he absolutely had to do, and the withdrawal shit show we’re witnessing wouldn’t be improved by waiting even longer to cut bait.

    The only thing that can be done now is to ensure that those Afgans most at risk (for their wartime assistance) get exfiltrated in time to save their lives… along with  a path to US citizenship for them and their families.

  302. 302.

    frosty

    @WaterGirl:  IBM 1130. My dad took us Explorer Scouts to his office to write a program, punch some cards, and run it for Computing Merit Badge.

    Next was an IBM mainframe in college that wasn’t as powerful. That experience cured me of ever wanting to program anything again.

  304. 304.

    stinger

    Welcome lurkers! Sorry the thread got to almostmore than 300 comments before I saw the post and could chime in.

  306. 306.

    Martin

    @WaterGirl: Well, it’s certainly not my intention. But one of the things that is becoming quite clear as I work through the stages of retirement is that the obligation I created to myself to take care of my family has left me not really having a good sense of who I am. So I say that not as someone who knows I will be someone else after retirement who doesn’t want to be here, but as someone who acknowledges he simply has no idea of who he is and really has no idea what’s coming.

  309. 309.

    Geminid

    @DB11: I also hope we can bring out as many at-risk Ahghans as possible. The problem is that we can only bring out a small fraction of them. There will be hundreds of thousands,  probably millions, left behind. Now it looks like the Taliban will take over most if not all of Afghanistan, and they will have vengeance on their mind.

  310. 310.

    Ohio Mom

    Hello all you brave lurkers coming out into the comments!

    This thread leads me to remembering when I started de-lurking, slowly and in fits. That was a good move for me, it’s good to have a home in the vast internet.

  311. 311.

    Brachiator

    @WaterGirl:

    Afghanistan has been a shit show for a long time, and they wanted us out.  Talk about throwing good money after bad (in a general sense) – we could have stayed forever and we couldn’t have fixed Afghanistan.

    The Taliban wanted us out. We tried. I don’t know if there is an effective alternative to hardcore Islamic fundamentalist extremism in the region.

    About the only thing we can do is respond if the Taliban actively supports international terrorism again.

    I don’t know if we can get Pakistan or other nations to try to rein in the Taliban.

    So I think Biden did the absolute right thing.

    Totally agree.

  312. 312.

    e julius drivingstorm

    Just showing my appreciation to both front pagers and commentariat here. So many here also comment at LGM and even Crooked Timber. Learned so much from Adam’s or David’s perspective about the big issues and Betty, Anne, Tamara about how to stay grounded with the gardens, pets, home improvements. And of course John is everyman. Who’d I miss? Cheryl now at LGM is not lost – just next door.

    Without further ado, I accept this World’s Greatest Lurker award from Watergirl but they’re playing me offstage so sorry for those I’ve left out and (mic fades out).

  313. 313.

    frosty

    @Martin: During my last year Raven recommended a book called The Retirement Maze. I found it really helpful, and it changed some of my planning. For instance, I stayed on at work as a part-timer (no bennies, no requirement for any hours) and I’m working a couple of hours a week with colleagues who I really like for a client I really like.

  315. 315.

    WaterGirl

    @jnfr: I found this and 10 other comments from you in SPAM.  You are now marked as not spam.  I released your comment in the Hochul thread and one comment here.  The rest of the test messages… I deleted.

    Try posting something new now?

  316. 316.

    WaterGirl

    @jnfr2: You posted with a new nym this time, and that always has to be manually approved the first time.

    Please try posting a new comment as jnfr so I can confirm that it will show up right away.  thanks

  317. 317.

    TiredOfItAll

    Commented a few times, but definitely more of a lurker than not.  But I learn a lot from all you folks.

  318. 318.

    Brachiator

    @Geminid:

    Now it looks like the Taliban will take over most if not all of Afghanistan, and they will have vengeance on their mind.

    Strangely enough, it looks as though they are just picking up where they left off. They are determined in their fundamentalism.

    They have a vision of an ideal society and are determined to realize it.

  319. 319.

    Reverse tool order

    I’m not strong on who’s who in Calif politics, but none of the Dems seem well known or strong. Think that’s been deliberate on the part of the state party. Right now, I have no reason to want or choose any of the people running. So, seems like the best thing to do is hinder the few clowns getting slightly higher out of the background noise.

     

    We really need sanity to turn out, most of all.

  321. 321.

    Drdavechemist

    I’ve been reading since roughly the Obama inauguration (when I had a lot of time on my hands while Dr. Mrs. Dr. Dave was on sabbatical), but rarely comment myself since I either don’t catch a thread in real time or don’t have anything unique to add to the conversation unless it connects to an area of expertise or a particular personal experience. Definitely value the perspectives and talents of some of the regular commenters and often come away with useful information for conversations with like-minded friends and colleagues.

  324. 324.

    jnfr

    @WaterGirl:
    Bless you! It is hard being invisible. I didn’t mean to spam, I was just hoping someone would see me.​
    Thank goodness trying the new nym worked :)

  327. 327.

    DB11

    @Geminid: True.

    The administration’s position that they’ve given training, money and arms to government troops and it’s now their job to continue the fight elides the fact that the Taliban are really the ones with the motivation and means to prevail.

    Anyone with the smallest amount of human compassion will despair of what’s to follow, yet I still think Biden made the difficult but responsible choice to withdraw.

    He will be made to pay a political price for it, by the media and his opponents, but decided not to keep kicking the can down the road… which I respect him for.

  328. 328.

    WaterGirl

    @jnfr: Actually, I had already found all your jnfr comments in SPAM when you tried jnfr.

    Please try a new comment as jnfr – and make note of that in your comment.

  334. 334.

    Brachiator

    @Scout211:

    But one commenter in an earlier lurker thread said to remember that maybe your comments don’t get a lot of reactions from the commenters,  but there are many, many people who are reading your comments.

    I comment from time to time. I was most pleased to once get praise from a lurker.

    It was a wonderful confirmation that someone felt my comments were worth reading.

  335. 335.

    lurker

    Saw this post earlier and thought it was too tempting.  Then I realized I had to comment ‘cuz, ya know, lurker…

    Welcome to those even more infrequent than me, and greetings to those less infrequent than me …

  336. 336.

    lurker

    @Tony Jay:

    Am reliably informed by the voice in my head that there really is no explanation for Tom Cruise, or at least none that I can fathom.

     

    Beyond that, I agree with you.  Another classic duo was Bob and Doug McKenzie, who managed to make Canadian culture popular.

    …

    I am informed this is a minority opinion though…

  339. 339.

    Geminid

    @DB11: trump left Biden in a bad position. The Taliban signed an agreement that said they would reduce fighting if the U.S. pulled out. They did nothing of the sort. The Taliban correctly judged that trump cared about no one but himself, and proceeded accordingly.

    trump wanted to withdraw 5,000 troops from Afghanistan. But as critics pointed out, he could have done that without signing a hollow peace agreement. trump may have been following orders from a higher authority based in Moscow, though.

  340. 340.

    Lepercorn

    Long time lurker both here and at LG&M. I started with Kos in the early days of the blogosphere, but never got into commenting. Except on facebook.?

  343. 343.

    Terry

    @DB11: ​
    I totally agree with you, Brachiator, and WaterGirl. I think Biden made the best decision (even if the results are going to be tragic), but without having all the knowledge of the situation, I don’t know if it is so — I just hope so.​

  345. 345.

    Raoul Paste

    I’m off to get some takeout food, but wow!

    I can’t recall seeing 341 comments before. Of course, this being balloon juice, someone will immediately correct me

  346. 346.

    Tony Jay

    @lurker:

    I’ve heard tell it’s something to do with ’emanations’ from some other dimension, but they’re only visible for short bursts.

    Hence the height thing.

    Nope. I got nothing. He’s just ridiculously watchable for no apparent reason

  349. 349.

    EighthCousin

    Left coast introvert here… have posted a couple of times–late, in dead threads. But I read a lot every day, starting with Anne’s updates.
    Started BJ about the time Sarah P appeared on the scene. Don’t remember how I got here–maybe via Andrew Sullivan or Wonkette. I enjoy the variety of people and subjects here. Science and history are special interests, but can get sucked into almost any topic. Y’all are nice people!

  351. 351.

    GBintheHC

    I’ve been thinking about signing up for commenting here for about 15 years and this post clinches it. I read this blog 5 times a day and love this community. Maybe one day I’ll have something to add.

    Hugs and Farts,

    GB in the HC

  352. 352.

    SFBayAreaGal

    Wow, I love seeing all the creative nyms from the lurkers that dropped their cloaking shields. Please keep posting.

  354. 354.

    bluejoye

    I have read that we’re supposed to vote for Kevin Faulconer as the least objectionable R (after voting NO of course). I’ve also heard that they want us to vote NO and leave the rest blank. Not sure which way to go on that but plan on telling everyone I know to remember to mail in their ballots. If we turn out, this shouldn’t be an issue. (And by turn out I mean open the ballot that has been mailed to us and return it. Really not that hard!)

  355. 355.

    lurker

    @Tony Jay: the emanations might explain why no one is allowed to run next to him in frame.  Or, it might just be some sort of personality defect…

    the comments recently from a fellow actor that he is all business when working on set and committed to making an entertaining movie seemed like a bit of fluff, but I can see how that attitude might explain both some of his success and a few other aspects of him overall.

    The height might just be that they got the projection specs from the other dimension wrong, but realized if they fixed it that if would look weird when he was suddenly 6-5 or even 2m tall.

  356. 356.

    DB11

    @Geminid: Agreed.

    trump left Biden in a bad position.

    I’m trying to think of a single file, agency, policy or issue where this statement isn’t equally applicable…

  357. 357.

    lurker

    @WaterGirl: missed this comment when I saw Tony Jay’s.  really need to not spend more time thinking about that topic…just about anything else is worth using the cycles

  358. 358.

    stinger

    @NotMax:

    Footnote to eschew apostrophes in nyms might be in order, also too.

    Sure wish that could be changed. I have to use a nym instead of a name for that very reason. “Asterisk” just doesn’t cut it.

  359. 359.

    WaterGirl

    @bluejoye: Huh.  I think both of those are a bad plan.  Except for the voting no part!

    Leave it blank, you are sure to get a republican.  Vote for the least objectionable Republican and you are still sure to get a Republican.

    I wonder if this messaging is Republican rat-fucking at work.

  362. 362.

    lurker

    @DB11:

    @Geminid:

    doubly agree on this – what tag did allowed him to tie the hands of the guy he knew he might lose to – the US would have to follow through on the agreement, even though it was bad.

    it also obviously served interests outside the US at least as much as our interests to make the process hard to deal with.

    at the same time, tfg being tfg, he could have reneged and totally made it stick, as he is 1) not trustworthy on any agreement; and 2) he could have found a violation by the other side, probably even a legitimate one.

    not convinced he thought all of this through.  some of his moves suggest multi-dimensional chess, even though I think he is just spilling cat litter on the floor and pointing to the patterns as art.

    ETA: well, i put it out there, but the cat litter line is stolen from someone. they might not be happy with me about that.

  363. 363.

    WaterGirl

    @stinger:  It’s not the site programming.  It’s a core wordpress thing.  I believe that it’s because they use an apostrophe to represent something specific in their database structure.  (Like a common in a CSV file.)  The same is true for one other character, but I have forgotten what it was!  (Maybe it was a comma?)

    For the site rebuild, I painstakingly went through and tried every fucking character as part of a nym, and all worked except the apostrophe and whatever else it was.  No way am I going through that again in order to be able to say which character. :-)

  365. 365.

    Gracklefeet

    Hello Jackals! I read the latest Balloon Juice posts first thing every morning and you-all have been so helpful with getting through the past few years. There’s realism mixed with optimism;  and to distract from the politics there’s reminders of the good things in life including music, gardens, food and pets. The  sarcasm, and use of colorful language for those who deserve it, has been cathartic.

    I’ve been around since the days of Tunch. I follow a couple of you on Twitter and appreciate that too.

  367. 367.

    DB11

    @Terry: I think that the definition of political courage is to make to responsible decision — even when you know that the immediate outcome of that choice will be, at best, mixed. (And that it will be spun in the most damaging way possible by most of the media and all of your political opponents).

    I’m not certain that they’ve wound it down in the best way possible, but I am clear that it had to be wound down.

    Plus it’s likely that there never was a ‘best way’ available, so you just have to bite the bullet and get the additional damage (consequence of your decision) behind you… instead of forever just ahead.

  369. 369.

    Mirona de FTL

    I’ve been lurking since the link led from the Great Orange Satan (2006?) but only commented a couple of times because I couldn’t come up with a cool nym.   I know I belong here because (1) I’m a Democrat (2) I have three dogs (3) like to cook (4) and was born in Garden City KS where Albatrossity lived for a while!  My dream is to get drunk with Betty Cracker and Adam Silverman – we all live in the same state, so why not?

  371. 371.

    DB11

    @lurker: It’s a good line, so definitely worth stealing!

    (and besides with your slightly-belated attribution it’s really only borrowing, isn’t it? :)

  372. 372.

    Rob

    @WaterGirl: ​
    Hmmmm. I’m already thinking of changing my nym, by working in the state I live in, Maryland. Maybe I’ll add flyby lurker to it too. Or start a band with that name.

  375. 375.

    Brachiator

    @bluejoye:

    I have read that we’re supposed to vote for Kevin Faulconer as the least objectionable R (after voting NO of course).

    Where is this coming from? My first instinct is to reject all Republicans. I don’t want any of them near the governorship.

    Can you do a write in?

    I would think that the lieutenant governor should be the alternative choice. But I guess this is not an option.

    I’ve also heard that they want us to vote NO and leave the rest blank.

    I was going to do this. Now I need to rethink my options.

  377. 377.

    Tony Jay

    @lurker:

    The foreshortened emanations come through a naturally weathered prism, which explains the encroaching wrinkles and the stubbornly unchanging hair colour.

    It all makes sense now! Well, except for ‘The Mummy‘. That was just a terrible error of judgement.

    Next week on ‘Auditing the Stars‘ we ask “Adam Sandler – What the f#@k is up with that guy?”

  378. 378.

    Czar Chasm

    Still a lurker, I am, but I’ll pop up to comment once or twice a year. It’s not that I’m not interested, or are too anxious: I don’t think I’ll have time (I work in human services, & also try to keep two very young grubs alive & thriving).

    I have an amazing head of hair, so that’s something.

  379. 379.

    WaterGirl

    @Geminid: I really don’t recall.

    The open (or close) ” that doesn’t show up properly in post titles is an unrelated issue – a screwup when the original font was created, that was never fixed. ?‍♀️

    Good lessons in we can’t control a whole bunch of things in life.

  381. 381.

    lurker

    @Geminid:

    @WaterGirl:

    pretty sure the other unusable character is the lower case e.  You really don’t need it.  You can make all of the sounds of an e with other vowels…

    ; – )

  382. 382.

    Ida Slapter

    I’m still pretty much a lurker, and I’m late to the thread as usual, so I’ll just slide in to say I enjoy all the features of this full-service blog. The FPers and jackaltariat continually delight, amuse, educate, comfort, and inspire me, and I thank you all. It’s also cool that you are actively reaching out to lurkers to let us know that we are welcome here. I’ve never felt otherwise, but it’s a kind gesture to all.

    This and LGF are my daily reads and home bases. I became a regular reader at the time of Terri Schaivo, I think, and right around when Cole went to the shelter to get an additional cat and came home with Lily.

    I have a pretty good eye for photography, and I really should put together some of them for some On The Road segments. My mom’s family was filled with photographers from waaaaaaaaaaaay back, so I have some fun old stuff you might enjoy. My mom’s father was a photoengraver, and I also have some old albums filled with proofs of the different things that he made the printing plates for. Think turn-of-the-20th-century box, can, and other product labels, magazine ads, medical and scientific illustrations, etc. Some are just exquisite! I think I have just talked myself into creating some cool stuff to share with you. Don’t hold your breath, but I can do this!

  383. 383.

    normal liberal

    I make the occasional comment, almost always at the tail end of a thread. Mostly I lurk.  I’m one of the surprisingly numerous Illinois jackal wannabes.

  384. 384.

    Geminid

    @Tony Jay: Are you going camping? I envy you. Camping was on my list of things to do this summer, but I have not made it happen. I did get some fishing in with a friend, on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. That’s some nice water.

  385. 385.

    Meerkat

    I’ve been lurking since the early Obama years; don’t remember exactly how I got here. Came for the politics, stayed for the pets and everything else. I read every day but don’t usually feel like I have anything to add that someone hasn’t already said.

    I have two rescue cats so I guess I fit in here.

  386. 386.

    Esme

    Hi, everybody!  Been reading the blog nearly every day for close to 15 years now–long enough that I don’t have the slightest memory of how I found it in the first place–but I’m pretty sure this is my very first comment.  Pleasure to meet you all!

  388. 388.

    Caphilldcne

    @WaterGirl: 

    Pretty simple. I live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington DC in the North East quadrant. I’ll try to find a fresh thread for when I get back tho. Incidentally I’ve actually attended a DC Balloon Juice meetup I’m a committed lurker.

  390. 390.

    Tony Jay

    @Geminid:

    It’s not ‘camping’ camping, unfortunately. Girlfriend’s step-aunt and her husband are celebrating their 50th anniversary by inviting all extended family units to a local campsite for a weekend of beer, BBQ and ball games.

    With Covid and Brexit we probably won’t get past the Channel until the 2030s. The fuckers!

  392. 392.

    Caphilldcne

    @SiubhanDuinne: haha. You guessed it. So no, not spicy. Sadly I think I get less spicy and have to eat less spicy as the years roll on!!

    PS so cool that you used “they” pronouns. I have likely mentioned in the past that I’m a gay man so he/him pronouns are cool for me.

  395. 395.

    SmallAxe

    Semilurker, thank you all for providing mental floss and laughs. Been out there doing my best to stop former classmate Tucker and his nonsense with some other alums. F that guy

  396. 396.

    WaterGirl

    @SmallAxe: I used to work with a fellow who inserted a middle initial of F when speaking about someone he didn’t like.

    It’s a neat trick because people often don’t know middle names.

    But when he referred to our dean as Bill F. George – right in front of tons of people – if you were in the know, you knew exactly how he felt about the dean.

    Tucker F. Carlson

  398. 398.

    BSR

    Delurking to say thank you for recognizing lurking.  I take pride in my lurking, and hope to lurk for many years longer!

     

    Commencing relurking in 3….2….1

  401. 401.

    Gary K

    Why is it called lurking? It’s more like “being kind of late in reading the post, when others have already moved on, and besides I have nothing clever to add, or somebody already said what I would want to say.” The posts here are great, the comments as well, and I enjoy being part of the audience, for the most part.

  402. 402.

    WaterGirl

    @BSR: When we first started working with the site developers they thought it was rude that we called people lurkers.  They didn’t know that “lurker” was a thing.

  405. 405.

    SpaceUnit

    “Lurking” creates an image of hiding in darkened doorways and creeping around in the shrubbery. I haven’t done that in years.

  406. 406.

    Esme

    @WaterGirl: That’s funny – I thought lurking was standard internet parlance.  Is this because I came up in the days of bulletin boards and forums?

  407. 407.

    PhaedrusOnBass

    I guess I could be considered a “lurker” since I only post maybe two times a year. I have loved Juice for many years, and I follow the exploits of the Cole critters closely. I appreciate the good humor and deeper analysis that I find here.

    I also write music and fiction, but am too shy to demand promotion here :D

    Thank you for recognizing people like me.

  414. 414.

    PaulB

    I mostly lurk but occasionally add a comment or supply some pics for a gardening thread or an on the road thread. I’ve been around for years, though. I think the only time I got passionately involved with a thread was when I was dealing with some idiots in 2008 who were trying to pretend that there was no substantive difference between same-sex marriage and domestic partnership and that we shouldn’t try for the former because “‘gay marriage’ or whatever you choose to call the issue is about as far down the list of things that are really important as we can go.”

  415. 415.

    Haydnseek

    Hi everybody!  Love this place.  Been around since the naked mopping lost mustard days.  I was thinking that Bethany college has a music department, and it would be a real hoot to get a classical string section from the orchestra, rent ’em some tuxedos, and do a video of them out there with John’s previous car.  We’ll call them “The Academy Of St. Subaru In The Fields.”

  417. 417.

    S. Cerevisiae

    We’re not even close to a TBogg Unit yet!

    I think I found this place from blog roll at Liberal Oasis, that’s also how I found the great snark blogs that got me through the Bush years. I used to comment a lot on Sadly, No! back in the day, when that place was in its prime it would constantly crack me up ?

    I absolutely love the community here, so much knowledge and good vibes, there is nothing else like it.

  419. 419.

    Kmax

    Late to the party

    Busy day

    I want to object to this thread

    I made my semi-annual comment last week

    ?

  428. 428.

    Tony Jay

    Right. I’m off to bed. I don’t maintain this level of intellectual vim by staying up all night on Top 10,000 blogs, you know. Big welcome to all the wonderful Lurkers who have surfaced here, you are the rock upon which Cole’s Church is built, and how you deal with that terrible truth is between you and your immortal soul.

    This should probably become a regular thing. Open a Lurker’s Lounge once a month, regulars keep it to a bare minimum, give folks room to let off some commentary without worrying about getting their hairs singed.

    We’ve got to remember that these are just simple readers. These are the people of the Interwebs. The common clay of the Balloon Juice. You know… Lurkers.

  431. 431.

    Yutsano

    I see TBogg people…

    All’y’all lurkers are wonderful people full stop. When PsiFighter visited Seattle way back in
    2013* there was a lurker who was an absolute hoot! I’m almost certain she won’t peep up here (she didn’t give her reason just that she would always remain a lurker) but I’m hoping she’s still out there and hopefully a Seattle meet-up will happen in the future!

    *I think it was 2013. I don’t remember the year exactly. I just know it was at Pike Place Pub and it was an amazingly fun night.

  432. 432.

    jackson

    I came to this blog when someone (sullivan?) mentioned it was written by a sensible republican. Never left. Here through all the critters and mustard and so on. Maybe commented once.

  435. 435.

    Ida Slapter

    @S. Cerevisiae:

    OMG Sadly, No! in its prime used to make me cry on a regular basis. I’m so glad some of its old commenters are still around to bring the wicked snark. I discovered RumpRoast around that time, and with it the irrepressible Betty Cracker, who can still make me laugh so hard I scare the cat!

  436. 436.

    lurker

    @Tony Jay: am feeling a little insulted by where that blazing saddles reference goes …

    ETA: not disputing accuracy as it applies to me personally…

    ; – )

  437. 437.

    Oclarkiclarki

    I’ve been lurking for at least 15 years and I have recruited my spouse.  BJ is usually the first site I visit in the morning and the last I visit before I nod off.

    Many thanks to John and all the commenters–I feel that I am a part of your community and will take the opportunity to plant my flag.

  439. 439.

    something fabulous

    As an Infrequentcommenterlurkercusp but Constant Reader, the very least I can do is add towards a TBogg, then read all the comments! Greetings, cats ‘n’ kittens!

  440. 440.

    Gracklefeet

    @Rob: We turned our garage into an aviary and have been handraising pet birds for years. We also hand-raised a couple of abandoned starling chicks (they are legal to keep without a permit in our state) — they are 12 and 13 year old now! One spring we rescued / released a couple of abandoned grackle chicks. They have beautiful, shiny black feet — really striking!

  441. 441.

    nclurker

    i’ve been reading bj for years,but one night i was reading one writer lamenting his dogs
    passing.
    as my dog was sleeping with his head in my lap as i read,i knew i just how he felt and had to send condolences.
    ncl was the quickest nym i could type in.
    and so it is.
    best site on the tubes.
    thanks to all.

  442. 442.

    S. Cerevisiae

    @Ida Slapter: I still see some of the old regulars in the non-comments at Wonkette (my current go-to for snark) and a few at LGM too. We have to get this thread over a TBogg now.

  443. 443.

    dkinPa

    Well, let’s see.  Water Girl posted this at 2:15 p.m., and it’s now 9:30, which happens most days and is why I mostly lurk!  I think I started reading the blog during the younger Bush years, but it turned into a lifeline during the four years of Mango Mussolini.  And is still a lifeline with Covid.  Nice to know there are lots of kindred spirits around!

  447. 447.

    Inspectrix

    @Oclarkiclarki: Same story in my marriage: my spouse lurked for a long time before me and eventually got me hooked.

    I am a rare commenter and when I contribute, it’s never about politics. By the time I get to the political threads, someone witty or eloquent has already said what I’m thinking.

    Sometimes I need breaks from BJ and I will share why… the (very appropriate) outrage about current events makes me anxious.  It’s not always great for my state of mind to stew in that outrage.  I’m all for outrage as long as it leads to taking positive actions like volunteering, running for office, donating, and organizing.  I really like the fundraisers, the profiles of organizations meriting our attention, and hearing what you’re all doing to make this world a better place. Carmudgeons unite!

  448. 448.

    TheflipPsyd

    Hello — mostly a lurker although I’ve probably delurked more since the pandemic than in the many years before that. I started reading the blog when John was still a Republican and probably started reading regularly during the Terry Schiavo days. I am a faithful multipe times a day reader. Coming here is one of the first things I do every morning and the last thing  I. do before sleeping. I tend to get to the threads later so I don’t  comment much. But I read most comment threads faithfully. It really is exactly like someone said about being able to listen to witty conversation at a party. And since I’ve never been the life of the party, it is even better because there’s  no pressure to have to be witty. The frontpagers and regular commenters are so quick at times that it can be really intimidating.

    Watergirl, thanks so much for this thread. And a very special thank you because as a lurker, when I have commented in the past, it typically has been at the end of the thread and as the conversation has already gone in a different  direction, there often is no response. I don’t think that comments are ignored per se. I’ll  use a clichéd simile, the blog comments are like a bendy river and once the conversation starts, it follows the current and even if a comment is on topic, if the current has flowed past that, there won’t be a response. Anyway, bad simile aside, you responded to one of my comments within the past six months.  When you responded, you “saw” me (can you tell I’m  a psychologist?) and gave me the confidence to comment occasionally. Your warmth, your genuine kindness, and your welcoming nature are greatly appreciated. You commented early in th. thread about all of the things you don’t bring. You are the heart of the blog, the incredibly high EQ of this blog (emotional quotient).

    And,since this comment took forever to type on my tablet and I’m  probably talking to myself,I’m going to declare

    LAST COMMENT ???

     

  449. 449.

    WaterGirl

    @TheflipPsyd: Sorry, not the last comment. :-)

    I decided to check this thread one last time before heading to bed, and found this incredibly kind comment from you.  What a nice way to end the day, and I think I’ll read it again in the morning.  I can’t think of a nicer way to start the day than by reading such an encouraging comment!

    I will check back in the morning to see if there are any other comments in moderation.  That way next time you all comment, it will show up right away.

    I kind of liked Tony Jay’s (I think) suggestion of a regular Lurker’s Lounge.  Anyone else think that is a good idea?

    Goodnight, all.

  451. 451.

    RicoG

    I’ve commented before between one and five times total. I have been lurking for longer than I can remember. Fifteen years? Dunno. I can’t even remember what Nym I’ve used. This is the one blog I read daily and almost every post. How do we post a picture, btw? Do we have to use code and have the pic hosted somewhere? I’d be happy to share pics of my doggo. He’s a jackabee – half Jack Russel half beagle. At least, that’s what he looks like. He was a stray our friends found.

  453. 453.

    Platonicspoof

    @Raoul Paste:

    The post with condolences for John’s loss of Tunch was almost 1,000 comments when I last saw it many years ago.

    And this isn’t a correction, since technically it’s what you recall, not what I recall, but it made me think that one of the reasons I appreciate the BJ commentariat is that there’s enough diversity and expertise here that I can expect corrections and additions.

  454. 454.

    Pink Snapdragon

    It’s been years since I’ve commented here, but I began reading Balloon Juice during the 2008 presidential campaign.    I miss many of the commenters who don’t comment anymore, for whatever reason, even though some of them irritated the crap out of me.

  457. 457.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @RicoG:

    Only front-pagers can post a picture. Send yours in an email to WaterGirl and she’ll do the necessary. Her nym at balloon-juice.com.

  460. 460.

    WaterGirl

    @RicoG: Only front-pagers can post photos, so I edited his comment to include the awesome photo at the post he had linked to.  Sorry if that was confusing!

    I love to put up pet posts for the Furry Friends feature.  If you want to see previous posts, you can find a link under Featuring in the sidebar.

    If you – or any of you – are interested in doing that, send me an email and i’ll let you know details.  It’s pretty easy!

  461. 461.

    WaterGirl

    @Call me Ishmael: Ha!  I had to approve this one because earlier this week you decided you wanted your nym to be just Ishmael.  :-)

    I’ll leave this one as is, so that no matter which one you post under, it will show up right away.

  466. 466.

    Jenny Howard

    @WaterGirl: :)

    Over 20 years ago, someone told me never to put something in writing that you didn’t want to see on the front page of the paper under your name. I don’t always succeed, but using my actual name always makes me pause if I’m emotional about what I’m writing.

  467. 467.

    WaterGirl

    @Jenny Howard: Yep.  i have only posted under my real name at one blog.  Decades ago, Al Giordano said comments could go through without moderation if you posted with your real name.

    So I started doing that, but I don’t think I would do it again.

  468. 468.

    PaulB

    I didn’t realize that there were two “PaulB” posters here. I wonder which of us was here first?

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