After this post, the (anniversary) Party is Over, unless Betty Cracker or someone else sneaks in an anniversary post before midnight!
Here’s an awesome video of Lily and Rosie and Guesley!
So nice to see everyone in their prime!
I want to give another shout-out to Steeplejack for all the time he spent and energy he expended helping to find the classic posts.
John Cole Registers as a Democrat
Tunch’s Cat Tower (did not get the reception Cole hoped for!)
RedKitten Play-by-Play of the Birth
SamKitten
In this last anniversary post, can we talk about favorite comments over the years?
Commenters we miss and why? (If we build it, they will come?)
And in the spirit of “make new friends, but keep the old”, if you have a favorite commenter or a front-pager who’s still here that you really appreciate, feel free to chime in with that too and tell us why.
And a few more classic posts for your reading pleasure.
Steve
First Meeting with Steve
Say Hello to Steve
Steve Gets ‘Tutored’
Rosie
Rosie!
Doggie Drama Update
Rosie’s Adoption is Official
Rosie Is One of the Pack
Thurston
Ginger, Thurston and Lovey!
There are so many more of Thurston and the whole crew that i will just link to all of them in a comment below.
This marvelous poem by Subaru Diane came in just under the wire! (details in the comments below)
BALLOON JUICE TURNS TWENTY
by Subaru DianeBalloon Juice is really as good as it gets
(Come for the politics, stay for the pets)Sometimes it’s cheerful and sometimes it’s rude
(Come for the animals, stay for the food)It’s for excellent jackals — plus assholes and dicks
(Come for the recipes, stay for the flicks)It’s for interests, hobbies, and fun of all sorts
(Come for the movie nights, stay for the sports)It is run by a fellow who doesn’t wear pants
(Come for the football and stay for the plants)It’s for brilliant professors and every-day loons
(Come for the gardens and stay for the tunes)We argue the redistribution of wealth
(Come for the music and stay for the health)So many smart people! So many good deeds,
So many great outcomes we planted as seeds.
This place fits as comfortably as an old glove,
So come to Balloon Juice and stay for the love.
?BillinGlendaleCA
What no “Failed Foster” for Thurston?
debbie
Schlemezal (or however he was spelling his nym at the time) chasing trick or treaters down the street will always be my favorite post.
Yutsano
TattooSydney.
RedKitten.
AsianGRRLMN.
And three who can’t return:
GeneralStuck
efGoldman
Schlemazel
EDIT: I’m not understanding the format fail here. Obligatory FYWP.
Omnes Omnibus
Bnut and his tale of the girl with the houndstooth bra in NOLA.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Oh my god, Steep found a thousand Thurston posts:
First mention of Ginger, Thurston and Lovey.
Quick Puppy Update
Another Puppy Update
Puppies, Puppies, Puppies
Good Things Come in Small Packages
Puppy Update 7
A Few days after Thurston & Lovey arrived
Thurston Photo!
Ginger Gets Loose / Dumpster Diving
Naptime
Ginger Update
Yarrow
Mnemosyne. Wish she’d comment again.
Corner Stone. Always cracked me up.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Laughing at the description, but I have no memory of that story.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: He was very proud. She must have been something.
WaterGirl
I just added the RedKitten play-by-play of SamKitten’s birth.
Baud
You did great work with this, WG.
And thanks to Steeplejack.
SiubhanDuinne
At the end of 2015, I jotted down a few couplets. Honestly have no recollection whatsoever whether or not I posted any of them in the comments at that time. Anyhow, I’ve dusted them off and slightly tweaked them for the Twentieth. Dedicated to the Jackaltariat, near and far, present and absent. Here’s to another score of years!
WaterGirl
Valdivia
Violet
arguingwithsignposts
Mnem
asiangrrl
Where did all the Jen’s go? Jen, JenJen, Too Many Jens…
I wish we would see more of these guys in real time: cleek, LAMH, aimai, Morzer,
Raoul Paste
I’m a relative short timer, but my favourite comment was a response to a very long Tony Jay post:
” Sir, this is a Wendy’s drive-through“
I’m even chuckling now
WaterGirl
@Baud: Thank you!
I think John hates me for it. :-)
Sunday morning: “WaterGirl has all sorts of fun things planned.”
By 9pm on Sunday John had texted me: “I am tired of the anniversary already.” ?♀️
Too late, John, too many things were already in the works.
edited
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
I nominate Suburu for best BJ poet.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: I LOVE that! Thank you, SD.
edit: Yes on best BJ poet!
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Good list.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: Morzer comments infrequently, but still comments(may be due to his location and timezone).
WaterGirl
@Baud: I think if we all chant the names of the peeps that we miss, and turn around 3 times, they will appear on the blog.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: okay, i’ll fix that! he clearly needs to comment more often if i think he’s totally gone. :-)
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: As much as it pains me to type…. What Baud said.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
And then they kill us?
WaterGirl
@Baud: Oh, wait, did I confuse the directions for the chants? That was not intended as a conjure up the murderer’s chant. sigh
zhena gogolia
@Baud: agree. Love all the frontpagers even when I disagree with them
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: brilliant ?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: He comments more at nights, so we west coast folk and night owls see him more than y’all further east.
jeffreyw
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’m nominating you the Balloon Juice Poet Lariat for rounding up all those stray couplets.
zhena gogolia
I miss all the ones wg listed. Probably mnem most of all
Baud
@WaterGirl:
I think it depends whether you turn clockwise or counterclockwise. I can’t remember which is which.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Doesn’t that depend on what hemisphere you’re in?
JanieM
@Raoul Paste: that’s hilarious, I missed that, though i always read Tony Jay’s posts if I catch them.
It reminds me of another wonderful comment, when a commenter whose name was Uncle (something or other) seriously annoyed a lot of other people, and Uncle Ebeneezer posted this. I laughed all day.
Fair Economist
This has been great fun. Thanks to the FPs and organizers, and of course all the many contributors who have made this so lively and fun over the years.
NotMax
LAO
RedDirtGirl (not gone but too rarely heard from)
Hdeki (ditto)
JAFD (ditto again)
HeleninEire (ditto thrice)
Bella Q
Mingobat
Just Some Fuckhead
And I know going in I’m not gonna remember the correct spelling, but sounded like Ladyranxerox.
debbie
@jeffreyw:
??♀️
debbie
@Fair Economist:
Seconded.
Gin & Tonic
@JanieM: Likely that was Uncle Cosmo, who is not to everyone’s taste.
Scout211
I’ve been reading threads and comments for many years and sometimes post a comment. The thread that I thought was the most memorable and most fun was (I think) just last year. I don’t remember how it started, but it turned into a fun thread full of pedants. It was comment after comment of each jackal’s most hated examples of people mangling the English language. Improper grammar, annoying spelling errors, mispronunciations, misspellings and so many annoying things that *other people* say. It was so funny and also quite informative. :)
It was so much fun and the subject matter was so universal that it seemed to invite new lurkers to join in, which is always nice. In fact, I like all the threads that welcome lurkers and shy commenters to join in on the discussion.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: Fuckhead shows up on occasion.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: More often would be nice!
WaterGirl
I thought for sure that Omnes or BG might get Valdivia to stop by this week. sigh
WaterGirl
@NotMax: Yes! except that i don’t know who Hdeki was.
i miss muddy, too.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
What is this, high school yearbook?
(Thanks, Baud.)
WaterGirl
Sometime in the next few days I will move all the anniversary posts out of the sidebar and replace them with a single page that has all the links.
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
Hahahahaha!! ??
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: can soonergrunts meta thread be added? I’m on my phone now but I could send you the link later
raven
OL AZUL!!!!!!
Mai Naem mobile
Did Sarah Plain and Tall show up? Her posts always made me laugh.
Gin & Tonic
Along these lines, I suspect I’m not the only one who finds there are fewer trolls here these days, and of much lower quality. Who misses, say, BiP or BOB, or UNLIMITED CORPORATE CASH!! or the guy for whom every thread could be about guns? Not to mention the, um, characters, like m_c or the small footwear one.
zhena gogolia
@Mai Naem mobile: I doubt it. They haven’t been here for ages
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic: glockmeister or something like that. Wth is a magazine anyway?
Steeplejack
Can’t remember if it was already posted earlier this week, but here’s Soonergrunt’s epic “meta” thread from 2012.
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack: thanks ?
The Dangerman
@Scout211: I think that started when the Blog Boss made a comment about a comma. I could easily be wrong.
Thanks to all for this trip down memory lane.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Wait, is that supposed to be a list of people you miss?
Odie Hugh Manatee
A couple of posters I miss are Thymezone and Rome Again.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: I think it’s his favorite people I’m conspicuously missing
zhena gogolia
@Odie Hugh Manatee: thymezone, yeah!
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: Better? I’m watching the Broncos and Chiefs and not really paying attention.
raven
@zhena gogolia: I was adding as I went.
zhena gogolia
@raven: well you’re one of my favorites regardless
CarolPW
@raven: Me too.
Steeplejack
I sometimes wonder what happened to redshirt (not redshift). Lived in Maine, was a prolific commenter who suddenly disappeared right after (I think) Dolt 45’s election in 2016. I remember he(?) and Omnes had a hilarious argument about what constituted a compound. I think redshirt said he lived in one.
I miss Corner Stone (his kid is 17 now!), seaboogie and Dance Around in Your Bones, in addition to others listed above.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Dammit, I had found that one and left it open so I could add it to the list and then must have lost the plot.
Yes, that can definitely be added.
mali muso
I miss ABL. I do check her out on Twitter but it’s not the same as having her here.
WaterGirl
@Mai Naem mobile: She just seemed to fall off the earth one day, no one seems to know what happened.
zhena gogolia
For spicing things up, eemom cs and jsf
raven
@zhena gogolia: back atcha
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: steep provided the link above
Omnes Omnibus
I let Valdivia know about this thread, and she asked me pass on that she loves you all but is horribly busy right now. I offered to pass on something more insulting and dismissive, but she said no.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: @zhena gogolia:
i just added it to the list in the sidebar.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
She was always classy.
WaterGirl
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Yes!
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus: did you see Peter fritzell died? Or you didn’t know him. Wonderful guy
WaterGirl
@mali muso: I miss her, too!
If I could have just one of the Past Authors back it would be ABL and Soonergrunt. :-)
jeffreyw
@debbie: ?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack:
IIRC, Redshirt(named after the Star Trek redshirts that always end up dead in each episode) was a ‘she’ and lived in rural Maine. She said she lived in a compound, Omnes said it’s not a compound without a bunker which it didn’t have.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
Well, that comment makes no sense now!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: Isn’t that two?
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: redshirt never had enough buildings for a compound. OTOH, I would probably insisted that a compound required n+1 buildings where n= however many redshirt had.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne:
58.
raven
JANUARY 8, 2022 AT 6:39 PM
@SiubhanDuinne: Better? I’m watching the Broncos and Chiefs and not really paying attention.
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia: Yeah, I saw. I took one course from him.
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Aha, yes. A bunker.
Steeplejack
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Yes! The bunker requirement.
SiubhanDuinne
Where has Adam disappeared to? Maybe my timeline is all messed up, but it feels as though he hasn’t commented, let alone FP’d, for several weeks.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: Maybe he got busy with his job, I don’t comment much on the days that I work.
raven
Our floors are done!
NeenerNeener
@raven:
Very nice!
Baud
@raven:
That is some nice looking wood.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I comment more when work is busy.
cain
Hey @watergirl – can you find my first post again? My email address is the same as it has always been. :)
ETA oh wow!! #90!!!! YESSSS!!
Also, we put an offer on a new house and it got accepted. It’s crazy money though – damn west coast lifestyle.
Phylllis
@Yarrow: Yep, I miss Cornerstone too.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Those are my two #1 choices. :-)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: When I working, I don’t comment at all…just running around the Home of the Orange Apron looking for stuff folk ordered.
raven
@Baud: Red oak, we left the floor in the closet and the floor dude said “Ah, that beautiful old heart pine”! Unfortunately the powder post beetles like it too!
WaterGirl
@raven: Gorgeous! When can I move in?
raven
@WaterGirl: When the guy who rented it “long term” and plans to be here maybe half the year moves out!
WaterGirl
@cain: Congratulations!
Felanius Kootea
I definitely don’t miss matoko-chan but did anyone ever figure out what a cudlip was?
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Looking good.
Geminid
@Scout211: Some threads bring out the language pedants. People really like to flout their knowledge of grammar and usage.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Ever use Rubio Monocoat?
It’s a matte finish you can walk on in a day!
WaterGirl
@Geminid: ha!
Omnes Omnibus
@Geminid: Nice try.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Beautiful!
Steve in the ATL
@Geminid: I believe you meant to use “whom” there.
SiubhanDuinne
@cain:
Congratulations on the new house!
Baud
@cain:
?
raven
@cain: Our new tenant lives in LA and I think this $1300 a month house is a steal for him.
jeffreyw
@Geminid: I see what you did, cast a lure in close, under the overhanging bush where the big ol’ gooduns hang.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@raven: What type of brand and product did you use?
Was it hard to install?
Yutsano
@WaterGirl: I told SG we were talking about him. I don’t have a response yet.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: No, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if that’s what floor layers were using in my latter days. I can’t help but wonder about the look on my face the first time I was told, “No, you can go ahead and trim it out tomorrow.” I remember coming in, opening the door and getting onto my knees and very warily touching the floor. And then a foot out. And then 2 feet out. And then…
At some point I decided it wasn’t my problem if they were wrong.
mrmoshpotato
@raven: That floor looks good enough to walk on!
rekoob
This has been a great retrospective, and thank you, WaterGirl, for putting it all together. I’ve done some searching (thanks for the search-fu, Steep!) and looking at my own archives. As near as I can tell, I started lurking around 2008, just before the election. I have appreciated all the front-pagers and most of the commenters, and while I haven’t added much to the conversation over the years, I’ve followed it assiduously and to my great benefit. This has been an amazing source of information, debate, and reflection.
I’ve had the good fortune to trade messages with Elizabelle, Quinerly, TomatoQueen, and Steeplejack on various topics relating to my location in Central Virginia, my time in New Mexico, my almae matres (St. John’s College and the University of Chicago), and my forthcoming exploration of the Eastern Seaboard and beyond.
I am perhaps one of the few who still uses RSS feeds to alert me to new posts. I started with Bloglines, moved to Google Reader, and thence to Feedly, which still operates. Most likely, I got here via Obsidian Wings, since I enjoyed hilzoy’s perspective, as many others here have done.
I get my dopamine hit when I see an update on Balloon Juice, and since I usually read all of the comments, I’m pretty far behind the commentary most of the time. I seem to comment more frequently on the Medium Cool with BGinCHI, since it’s largely about recommendations and what’s neat. I like that we have such a great group of sentinels watching out for what’s coming next.
I’ll end this with gratitude to the entire Jackaltariat. In the past 18 months, I lost both my mother and my nearly 18-year-old dog (Floyd and John’s Lily could have been siblings, right down to the curled-back tail). Collectively, you helped me prepare and understand the loss. I’m stronger and better, thanks to all of you.
Onward and upward!
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: Literally.
Felanius Kootea
@cain: Congratulations! A friend went through several bidding wars for places that weren’t even at the top of her initial list, so I know it can get crazy on the west coast. Finally she got lucky when a couple made a decision to sell to her (second highest bid) instead of an investor with an all cash bid because they had gone through the same thing for their new home and appreciated that she planned to actually live in the home.
WaterGirl
@Yutsano: I really miss him here, and i don’t really do twitter. :-(
Felanius Kootea
@Geminid: That was really good – my right eye twitched a little!
raven
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: 3/4 red oak and Monocoat finish.
It wasn’t hard for me to install, I just paid the $9000 to have it done. This job entailed removing the entire flooring system, joists, sills, subfloor (not included in the 9k) and replacing. We took out walls and insulated the whole joint so we’re looking at around $65k we hope
WaterGirl
@cain: Your first comments in this post from 2007.
You used your real name so i’ll just provide the link above.
mrmoshpotato
Oh great. Now you’ve decided 90 is special too.
Steeplejack
* DVR Alert! *
Director’s cut of Lawrence of Arabia coming up at 8:00 EST on TCM.
debbie
@raven:
Love them!
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Fortunately our carpenter works with the floor guy all the time so I think it’s kosher.
Another Scott
Thanks WG and Steep and JGC, and everyone here. You make me spend far too much time here, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
He’s not missing, but germy nee germy shoemangler has to be one of my absolute favorite ‘nyms and commenters. Lots and lots of clever folks here to go with the clever handles.
Cheers,
Scott.
Steeplejack
@raven:
Very nice color.
raven
@Steeplejack: The boss lady is responsible for all decisions.
Redshift
@cain:
Me, too! If you posted a response to my original dead-thread request, I missed it.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@raven:
Did the contractor supply the wood or did you pick it up from a box store?
How long was the installation process?
Thanks.
James E Powell
@Omnes Omnibus:
A proper compound has a helipad.
CaseyL
What a trip down memory lane the lists of names are! We have lost so many people over the years, and considering how many died that we know about, I worry about the ones who dropped off without a further word.
I do think our tempers have gone completely to shit over the last 5 years, and it’s possible some folks dropped out just because they were worn out – not from BJ, necessarily, but from, well, everything. I feel it myself pretty often.
Don’t miss the trolls, though.
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack:
Oh, so David Lean thinks he’s better than Svengoolie!
Another Scott
@mrmoshpotato:
90 is not a Special Number.
[/pedant]
Hehe.
Cheers,
Scott.
Steeplejack
@raven:
I like lighter-colored wood floors, but a lot of them look washed out. Yours is just about perfect. Nice touch of honey. Give the boss lady a ?.
WaterGirl
@rekoob: I use Leaf, which is an RSS reader that uses Feedly for the feed. I don’t read the posts in Leaf but it does tell me when there’s a new one!
That’s a lot of loss in a short period of time. No matter how old you are or whether you can see it coming, you’re always too young to lose your mom.
Glad you are here.
Do you have a new dog, or are you planning to get one?
The first comment I see from you is in this post from 2014, but you might have used a different email before that.
Omnes Omnibus
@James E Powell: Well yeah. A bunker is a necessary but not sufficient item.
ETA: Without it, one has a hunting and/or fishing camp. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Steeplejack
@mrmoshpotato:
TCM getting ruthless with the counterprogramming!
Felanius Kootea
@CaseyL: Oh God I just remembered E.D. Kain!
raven
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: The wood came from a supplier in “Bethlehem” GA. It sat in the house for three months while the other work was done. We had hoped it was going to be done my Christmas and they got the prep done but didn’t actually lay and finish it until this week. The new tenant was going to come the 15th but we talked and, partly because of covid, he’s going to wait until Feb 1 to come and “furnish” it. We’re not going to charge him even though he was willing to pay the 1/2 month.
WaterGirl
@Redshift: I just did the first 10 requests in each thread, so I did not get to yours. But I’ll do it now because you asked so nicely. :-)
No name
One of my favorite posts:
https://balloon-juice.com/2009/12/16/pet-rescue-thread/
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: Of course not, 42 is THE SPECIAL NUMBER.
WaterGirl
@Felanius Kootea: Check out the Past Authors page linked in the sidebar and in an earlier comment.
That’s a real trip down memory lane.
raven
@Steeplejack: She smat. . . We can’t wait to see the 8ft cherry planks they joined and are making into a counter top.
Spanky
Re-reading the Please get my fucking Subaru out of the field post reminds me how fucking useless AAA is and always has been.
Ymmv, and if it is, good on you. But three bad experiences between the Mrs and me is two too many.
SiubhanDuinne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Looked up his archives. The last time he posted was December 20. I had hoped to see a 20th-anniversary post from him. Hope you’re right that he’s simply too busy with work
to bother with the likes of usto conceive, research, and write a special anniversary message.Sure Lurkalot
I’ve enjoyed the retrospective even though being a relative newbie, there is a sense that you kind of had to have been there to get the repartee. Still amazes me that so many have contributed for so long.
About the time I started to check in more frequently, HeleninEire was moving to Eire and I was so jealous of her being wisely born to escape the trump regime. Mnemosyne, Cornerstone, Schlemazel (sp?) and EF Goldman we’re almost always around and I miss them too.
ThresherK
I cannot Yahoogle things properly, so: Can someone find out my first post in these pages?
Also, as a fellow Southern New Englander who knows Wright’s Dairy makes a mean pie, I miss EFGoldman, whom I once asked “Is your nym a combination of EFHutton and GoldmanSachs?”
WaterGirl
@No name: That was such a sweet story!
I added it to the list of links and called it Sweetest Pet Rescue Story.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@raven:
Did the 9 grand include the wood or was that just for the labor?
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: I did write to every front-pager letting them know the anniversary was coming up. Not asking them to write a post but letting them know so no one got blind-sided or got caught flat-footed because they didn’t know in advance.
A few wrote posts, some didn’t. I’m really pleased that Tim F wrote one!
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: I am just tickled to know that someone knows to go to the Authors page. :-)
Sure Lurkalot
@raven: Great job on the renovation of your rental, looks modern and homey. Hope your tenant loves it!
James E Powell
Has anyone seen Amir around lately? Last post I remember from him he said he was checking into a hospital. Anyone know how he’s doing?
Baud
@James E Powell:
That’s the last I heard.
SiubhanDuinne
I’ve always thought it would be interesting to see a world map with dots or clusters wherever jackals live. Wouldn’t need to identify specific commenters, so no fear of doxxing — just a nice visual representation of how we’re distributed. How hard (or easy) would that be to compile, based on folks’ willingness to volunteer the information?
WaterGirl
@Redshift: The first post I found with a comment from you was in 2014. Unless you changed your email address at some point, that would be your first comment.
Steeplejack
@WaterGirl:
I went there to look up Hillary Rettig. I had completely forgotten about her, but she was a great front-pager for a while. Saw her name when I was spelunking in the archives.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
It’s a good shortcut for certain kinds of searches.
WaterGirl
@James E Powell: I suspect that we are all wondering about Amir. I know I am. I have not seen him since that announcement that referenced “a few days”.
Fingers crossed, we all love Amir.
Steeplejack
@James E Powell:
Don’t think there has been any word since then. I am worried too.
Mike E
@raven: The oak floor I helped install in my brother’s Philly row house 35 years ago is still going strong…his daughter bought the house and stripped it down to the studs, that floor and the entryway staircase are the only things she left alone!
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne:
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne:
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne:
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
@WaterGirl:
Wow, this really IS a full-service blog!!
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: I really liked Libby Spencer, who filled in for DougJ for awhile when he was away.
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack: Lawrence of Arabia vs Frogs!
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: I want to know why more of those guys aren’t commenting! :-)
edit: Are the 14 from Russia reading, or trolling? Inquiring minds…
Actually surely the ones who are trolling have a VPN or something in place so they don’t look like they are coming from Russia.
zhena gogolia
@rekoob: so sorry for your losses
zhena gogolia
@Another Scott: germy is great
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Nice.
Who is “not set”? CIA?
Mai Naem mobile
@raven: nice looking classic wood floor. I truly believe the currently trendy white/grey plank tile is going to be the future 80s grey/mauve/carpet/tile combo.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Probably
edit: Seems like one would have to go out of their way to have their location “not set”.
zhena gogolia
@raven: Enjoying Bleak House while stretching my arm. Makes me want to read it again.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud:
You – blowing your cover.
WaterGirl
@ThresherK: Your first comment was this:
That’s a classic! Here’s the thread from 2010.
Mai Naem mobile
@WaterGirl: wow, I wasn’t expecting so many countries. That’s a big reach. Wouldn’t have expected Pakistan, Ukraine and Luxembourg. I am disappointed not to see one African country. Not even South Africa, Egypt or Rwanda.
FelonyGovt
I’ve really enjoyed the anniversary retrospective, even though I don’t comment all that much and have only been here since 2016. Thanks, WaterGirl!
scav
@Mai Naem mobile: They’re on the map, presumably just with lower numbers.
Suzanne
Gray is already over. The interior designers I’m working with are doing lots of honey and warmer colors. Warmer than the blonde maple that was so big about 10-15 years ago, but not all Ye Olde Earlye American knotty pine or routed oak.
But we just did our living room and dining room floors. We pulled up the carpet and intended to just refinish what was there, but there was oak only at the perimeter and pine in the center. And some of the oak had split over the years and the previous owners replaced with cheap lumber. So we decided to put a new floor on top. We did oak, but fairly dark, since there is dark oak elsewhere in the house. It is more formal than I would have chosen had I been working with a blank slate…. but my architectural values lead me to hold fast to what is good.
BeautifulPlumage
Happy 20th! Thanks for the retrospectives. I’m relatively new and enjoy what you all built.
WaterGirl
@Mai Naem mobile: More than that!
When we get down to countries 98, 99 and 100 (Afghanistan, Belarius and Cuba) there is only per person for each one. 124 countries represented on BJ. Here are the last 25. Alphabetical order, of course.
Wanderer
Congratulations Balloon Juice on 20 years. Thank you to all the front pagers for keeping everyone thinking and learning and hoping. Thanks to all the commenters. I really enjoy everything you write (except one pie lover).
WaterGirl
@FelonyGovt: You are most welcome!
Glad you are here now.
realbtl
Some of you may enjoy a serious way back trip. John Cole 2-2006 Flame warriors.https://balloon-juice.com/2006/02/13/flame-warriors/
SiubhanDuinne
@Mai Naem mobile:
The same thing struck me, about no African nations. As cosmopolitan as we otherwise are, that really seems anomalous.
I guess it was always too much to hope for Antarctican representation.
:-)
ETA: Just saw WG’s final list, and there are in fact a few African nations listed — Sudan, Rwanda, Niger — so six of the seven continents are represented. Cool!
Baud
@WaterGirl:
What’s the time frame?
WaterGirl
@Baud: December 9 , 2021- January 7, 2022
aka, The last 30 days.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Oh wow. I feel seen.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: Balloon Juice by continent:
rekoob
@WaterGirl: Thank you for your kind response and observations. Judging from my Bloglines account, I may have used my quadri**** address at gmail earlier. I often forward items from my RSS feed to archive/review later, and I saw that I did that with BJ in September 2008.
No plans for another dog at the moment, since I plan to split my time between Coastal Delaware and NYC, and I have a friend with a delightful 14-year-old Poodle. We all have that one dog — Floyd was mine.
No name
@WaterGirl: Thank you! The picture of that happy boy ❤️
Mary G
@Mai Naem mobile: I hate that stuff. Looks like a milk spill gone wrong.
Sure Lurkalot
@WaterGirl: Amazeballs!
Redshift
@WaterGirl: Thanks! Not bad for my first outing.
raven
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Both
raven
@Mai Naem mobile: Our bathroom will be such.
WaterGirl
@Redshift: Not at all!
rekoob
@zhena gogolia: Thank you. All of us benefit from the collective support the blog provides.
Mary G
@Suzanne: ANY suggestions on how to find a landscape designer/contractor? I took out a mortgage to pay a good one and no one has even had time to do a paid consultation. All my neighbors are probably dissing me for not wanting a giant, ugly “infrastructure installation” or replacing the yards with more house, but somebody must need work.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: Sounds like you have some good things in your life, including a delightful pup. Maybe at 14 “dog” might have been a better word choice?
SiubhanDuinne
Soonergrunt sighting upstairs!
ThresherK
@WaterGirl:
Thanks for that nugget. My guess was our blogmaster’s Subaru stuck in the field saga. Alllmost.
raven
@Mary G: Have you tried things like “Angie’s List”
How to Use Contractor Referral Websites
Tips for using online resources to get the best contractors for your projects
It’s not the same but we used Zillow for our rental and it worked well.
There go two miscreants
@WaterGirl: I have really enjoyed the anniversary posts and comments, and the geographic reach of the blog is impressive! Thank you for all the work putting it together.
Suzanne
@Mary G: God, I am having a hard time finding good contractors, too. I found a good landscape company in my area by total chance. Literally just by driving around and I saw a truck, snapped a picture of their info, and looked them up. Do you need design or just work? Does anything you plan to do require a permit? Otherwise, you know all the ways I’d suggest…. ask neighbors, troll local magazines and look at the image credits, check Nextdoor, etc.
Suzanne
I would also check nicer neighborhoods for local companies. Usually posher suburban neighborhoods have higher standards for their landscape (plant quantity, size, tree variety, etc.) and the landscape companies that work in those places will be able to help recommend plants that will meet your needs.
Mai Naem mobile
@WaterGirl: I am impressed to see Syria and Papua New Guinea and I am surprised to see Uruguay so low considering there’s supposed to be lots of ex-pats living there.
Gin & Tonic
@Mai Naem mobile: Don’t want to be That Guy but a) geolocating IP addresses is an inexact science and b) I bet a good number of unique visits here are spiders/bots.
Mai Naem mobile
@Suzanne: I just figure ‘standard’ color woods will never look ugly dated and you can do the trendy stuff with furniture and easily removable decor. My issue with grey is that if grey gets dirty and/or worn it looks dingy. I don’t even like grey cars. I would like to see green(not 70s avocado green) make a comeback. I did notice the 2022 color of the year is what I call an ‘ice green’ which I’ve always liked because it’s the kind of subtle color that changes depending on what it’s next to.
Suzanne
@Mai Naem mobile: If you’re talking about the Benjamin Moore color of the year, October Mist, I agree with you 100%. I love that silvery sage green and always have. Thinking about it for my dining room. (Many companies do a Color of the Year thing, it was started by Pantone. They will all say that the color is different. Gives you an idea how rigorous all that color science is.)
I like gray, but even I am over it for interiors right now. Everything dates. I tend to like things that are fairly spartan and material-y/textural. Honestly, w/r/t personal decorating, I say to mix up things, as long as they are good quality. And not too much brown boxy furniture.
Mai Naem mobile
@Mary G: i think things will pick up once COVID(cross fingers)rates drop. Good landscape people are hard to find. My neighbor is a property manager who has steady work and even he can’t seem to find good people.
Fake Irishman
Late to the party per usual (having an infant and a three year old does that to you), but thanks to Watergirl and Steeplejack for putting this all together. I started lurking in 2010 and commenting a bit in 2011. When my union got put in the crosshairs of a right wing group in 2012, I wrote Kay (then a front pager) asking if she would amplify our plight. I don’t know why I reached out to her, but somehow I trusted her to understand and you all to help us out. It was gratifying to be right in both counts.
When one Richard Mayhew became a front pager in 2013, I was amazed at his granular knowledge of health insurance, which really complemented my policy knowledge and interests. He actually @‘s me on Twitter from time to time and always engages with ideas and questions. We’ve written one academic piece together and he’s introduced me to several cool colleagues in addition to discussing a few of my articles in this blog. All these cool things happened to me because John Cole is a misanthropic mensch that attracted this community of misfit toys through random foresight, basic humanity and lots of pet pictures. It’s incredible and humbling how many really talented and committed folks are on this piece of electronic real estate.
Now, according to blog custom, I believe I am supposed I tell you all to go F*** yourselves.
J R in WV
@raven:
Did you ever tell us what wood the floor is? I’m asking…
Laura Too
I am so grateful to you all! Mr. Steeplejack you had a formula to find old posts but I can’t find it, so if you see this could you put that in here? I would love to poke about for some old posts. I spent today in kind of a sad place- it is Schlemazel’s birthday and close to the anniversary of his death and our family keeps his FB page alive to meet every year. It is really nice to stop by here & find people bringing him up with such kindness.
Watergirl, you are amazing! Putting this all together takes work and you have such a big heart.
Steeplejack
@Suzanne:
The Benjamin Moore “Color Trends 2022” page has some nice looks. I like the October Mist, also the Pale Moon yellow that is in some of the pictures down the page. I am tired of all white, which a lot of the shelter shows (HGTV, etc.) seem to be overdoing now.
Mai Naem mobile
@Suzanne: the sage silver green is the color I am talking about. I get ideas from a lot of good stuff I see in commercial buildings – don’t care if they’re old or new buildings. Everything from the landscaping features to furniture. And I figure they’re going to put stuff that’s going to be durable not just throwaway garbage.
Steeplejack
@Fake Irishman:
Fuck you, too, buddy! Coffee and doughnuts are to the right.
Steeplejack
@J R in WV:
Red oak.
Mai Naem mobile
@Gin & Tonic: it was kind of cool thinking somebody from Papua New Guinea was reading BJ. Oh, well…
One of the Many Jens
@WaterGirl: ::waves hand:: Hey there, one of the many Jens is in the building! This anniversary extravaganza has been great, and I’m much appreciating it (and still catching up) – thank you all for putting this together!
Happy 2022 to all Juicers! (Egads, I’m still having a mini heart attack every time I write “2022.” How?!?)
J R in WV
@J R in WV:
I see you told us Red Oak, which I would have guessed had I had to guess. Beautiful wood, can’t wait to see the cherry.
Our floors are hickory with multiple coats of matte poly, really pretty, There’s a frame of walnut around the edges, which if I had properly understood flooring when I dreamed that up I would not have done. It turns the flooring project into cabinet making …
NotMax
@Steeplejack
You prankster, you. Nothing on B-J is to the right.
:)
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: In case raven has retired for the night, i believe it is red oak.
WaterGirl
@Laura Too: Give me a shout if you want some help finding old posts.
WaterGirl
@One of the Many Jens: There’s no such thing as having too many Jens! Lurk less, comment more. :-)
Steeplejack
@Laura Too:
A general Google search would start with
where “[search terms]” is replaced by the word(s) or phrase(s) you are trying to find. (Don’t put the brackets in your search terms.)
Keep in mind that searching for a single nym is going to be tough, because Google seems to let “ephemeral” terms fade away after about 10 years. And, of course, you may get hundreds of hits for a single nym. It’s usually beetter to search for, or include in your search, words that go to a specific event.
. . . Okay, I went back through my notes and found the following links re Schlemazel. I don’t know if they’re in order—or even useful—but at least they could provide you a starting point for searching.
Laura Too (Schlemazel’s niece) on his death:
https://balloon-juice.com/2019/01/25/rip-schlemazel/#comment-7168632
TomatoQueen: https://balloon-juice.com/2019/01/25/rip-schlemazel/#comment-7168748
J Michael Neal: https://balloon-juice.com/2019/01/25/rip-schlemazel/#comment-7169023
Laura Too (Schlemazel’s niece; [email protected]): https://balloon-juice.com/2019/01/25/rip-schlemazel/#comment-7169099
Picture and bio of Schlemazel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PowerPlayClubMN/photos/a.155508271208046/2134592426632944/?type=3&theater
“Into the Mystic” for Schlemazel:
https://balloon-juice.com/2019/01/25/good-thoughts-for-schlemazel-an-ongoing-series-of-posts/#comment-7166946
I think I’m under the limit for hyperlinks. ?
Laura Too
@WaterGirl: Awww, you are so sweet! I know how busy you are. I think you did try to find some for me but I know it can be labor intensive.
WaterGirl
@Laura Too: Actually, I still have my notes from when I looked for him in 2019 so I could easily get you started.
WaterGirl
@Laura Too: I just sent you about 40 links from my notes file your uncle for 2019.
Sister Golden Bear
@Steeplejack:
Genius!
Laura Too
@Steeplejack: Thank you for this!!! I will never forget your kindness to me, the tour, the taxi, the talk. I hope someday to come back between variants to meet up and finish our conversation.
Laura Too
@WaterGirl: You are positively amazing!!! Hugs!!!!
Steeplejack
@Sister Golden Bear:
Just went back and read some more of it myself. It is great!
It reminded me that I miss shortstop. Another good commenter who disappeared. Would occasionally reference the third baseman, apparently their partner.
Sister Golden Bear
@Suzanne:
Although interestedly for 2020 the majority chose sort shade of green.
Apparently, according to the YouTube interior designers I follow, it’s rare to see that sort of alignment.
And I’m happy it’s green — although I prefer stronger, darker greens —because as I’ve been whole-house redecorating (in addition to whole-house remodeling) I’ve been wanting to use green as one of the secondary accent colors, but last year it was really hard to find things like kitchen canisters in green.
mvr
@Steeplejack: FWIW, when I used your tip from a previous post (site:balloon-juice.com nym) (repeated by you in this thread as well) I found that it helped to put in a year as in “site:balloon-juice.com nym 2008”. Without the year the oldest thing I found for my nym was 2009, but with “2008” added I was able to find an earlier post of mine.
I still wonder whether I have found them all, but anyway for anyone else who is looking, adding a year might get you something that doesn’t come up otherwise. Or at least it did for me.
WaterGirl
@mvr: The first comment I find from you was March 16, 2008 on this post.
I searched on your email address and your nym, and that’s the earliest comment I find. When you search from the back end the results are pretty definitive.
Hope that’s what you were looking for!
Steeplejack
@mvr:
Putting in a year can sometimes work, but it can also get you a lot of spurious hits where people are referring back to “in the 2008 election campaign,” etc. Glad you were able to find some stuff.