# Hi Opal (She's EVERYWHERE!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 5, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555 "2009-02-05T13:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/1 "2009-02-05T13:37:56Z")
Scanning the Chicago Trib this a.m. while swilling my joe. Not in a hurry to do anything productive, I find my eyes falling upon an article in the LIVE section (is that a long or short i?) about the E-Trade baby calling a golfer a shankapotamus. Tracing the roots of opatomus usage, it cites **OpalCat of [opalcat.com](http://opalcat.com)**: _“When my ex-husband and i were dating, we were obscenely sweet and cutsie … Somehow we ended up applying the syffix ‘opotamus’ to words - ‘sweetopotamus’ instead of 'sweetie. …”_ My friends, need we any clearer sign that we are truly in the year of the cat? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/2 "2009-02-05T14:46:55Z")
World Domination, baby! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/3 "2009-02-05T15:13:03Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > My friends, need we any clearer sign that we are truly in the year of the cat? I thought it was the year of the Ox? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/4 "2009-02-05T15:17:28Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Scanning the Chicago Trib this a.m. while swilling my joe. Not in a hurry to do anything productive, I find my eyes falling upon an article in the LIVE section (is that a long or short i?) about the E-Trade baby calling a golfer a shankapotamus. > > Tracing the roots of opatomus usage, it cites **OpalCat of [opalcat.com](http://opalcat.com)**: > _“When my ex-husband and i were dating, we were obscenely sweet and cutsie … Somehow we ended up applying the syffix ‘opotamus’ to words - ‘sweetopotamus’ instead of 'sweetie. …”_ You beat me to it! I suspect any [Tribune Company](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribune_Company) paper might carry this article as well. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/5 "2009-02-05T15:47:33Z")
> [@Madd\_Maxx](#): > > I thought it was the year of the Ox? It is. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/6 "2009-02-05T17:30:56Z")
Some of you may have waded into the morass that is my expansive and exhaustive (and exhausting) website before, but sometimes someone hits on something in there that even I’ve forgotten existed. This was the case this week when I was contacted by a writer for the Chicago Tribune. The article he writes is [E-Trade baby ad puts ‘shankopotamus’ in play](http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0205-shankopotomusfeb05,0,4034847.story) and is apparently from the Superbowl. The article in the Tribune makes reference and quotes this article from my website ([opalcat.com](http://opalcat.com)): [Terms of Endearment: The Evolution of Nicknames](http://opalcat.com/Fun/evolution-of-nicknames)… and article that I’d always figured maybe 3 people tops had ever even read. Anyway, kind of nifty and quite out of the blue! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/7 "2009-02-05T17:36:28Z")
You have become one of the cultural trendsetters of Illinois. Right up there with Ex-Governor B-rod! ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/8 "2009-02-05T17:43:56Z")
**Dinsdale** [already mentioned this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=505188) but I guess you may just - with good reason - not even pay attention to anything that reads “Hi Opal!” any longer. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/9 "2009-02-05T17:46:28Z")
Congratulations, **OpalCat**! It’s weird the way things work sometimes. The most popular page on my website is a listing of Toronto DAB stations that I put together back in '04 or so. It doesn’t even link to other pages! I can only conclude that people are googling it. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/10 "2009-02-05T17:50:09Z")
Oh wow it never even occurred to me that anyone else would have seen it! I started my own thread about it. Heh. I think it’s pretty damned funny, myself. Hooray for being one step closer to world domination! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/11 "2009-02-05T17:56:50Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Hooray for being one step closer to world domination! I’ve decided not to pay my taxes this year to qualify myself for a place in your cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/12 "2009-02-05T18:05:32Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Oh wow it never even occurred to me that anyone else would have seen it! I started my own thread about it. Heh. I think it’s pretty damned funny, myself. Hooray for being one step closer to world domination! You still owe me picture of the turtle with the watches thing. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/13 "2009-02-05T18:07:34Z")
Oh crap! Well the bronze isn’t done so it’s a painted rough-plaster body but let me go take a picture real quick. (I had planned on waiting until it was _finished_ finished to take photos, but let me go snap a couple real quick just to show ya.) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/14 "2009-02-05T18:22:33Z")
OK here are progress photos. I took the most recent ones 5 minutes ago, but keep in mind the finished piece is going to look better (and be better photographed… no,uh, kittens in the edges of the frame, for examples :X [http://gallery.opalcat.com/gallery/burden\_of\_time](http://gallery.opalcat.com/gallery/burden_of_time) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/15 "2009-02-05T18:25:14Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’ve decided not to pay my taxes this year to qualify myself for a place in your cabinet. If those taxes go to me instead, you’re a shoe-in. Otherwise, [citizenry requirements](http://opalcat.com/Fun/citizens) are pretty well spelled out. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/16 "2009-02-05T18:46:31Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > OK here are progress photos. I took the most recent ones 5 minutes ago, but keep in mind the finished piece is going to look better (and be better photographed… no,uh, kittens in the edges of the frame, for examples :X > > [http://gallery.opalcat.com/gallery/burden\_of\_time](http://gallery.opalcat.com/gallery/burden_of_time) Oh wow. Between that and the painting, you are just scary talented, **Opal**! I never knew. Fantastic job! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/17 "2009-02-05T19:00:50Z")
> [@neutron\_star](#): > > Oh wow. Between that and the painting, you are just scary talented, **Opal**! I never knew. Fantastic job! aww thanks! I’m hoping to make a career out of it. But so far the only things I’ve sold are [a print of this painting](http://katherinefernie.com/gallery/paintings/agile)–to a friend, no less–and [this sculpture](http://katherinefernie.com/gallery/sculpture/52_sculptures) to some doctor I never met while it was on display at a gallery. HERE’S HOPIN’ THOUGH!! Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/18 "2009-02-05T19:06:40Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > aww thanks! I’m hoping to make a career out of it. But so far the only things I’ve sold are [a print of this painting](http://katherinefernie.com/gallery/paintings/agile)–to a friend, no less–and [this sculpture](http://katherinefernie.com/gallery/sculpture/52_sculptures) to some doctor I never met while it was on display at a gallery. Well, if you ever produce a managable-size print of that huge self-portrait, my offer to buy remains. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/19 "2009-02-05T19:38:13Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > …[a print of this painting](http://katherinefernie.com/gallery/paintings/agile)… I _waaant_ one. Why do you tempt me when I’ve just paid the rent and I have $1.90 in my chequing account? _Why?_ (Seriously, after I pay off my credit card this month, I’ll be checking out your website with an inclination to buy! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555/20 "2009-02-05T19:45:49Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Well, if you ever produce a managable-size print of that huge self-portrait, my offer to buy remains. The sizes I can do are [here](http://katherinefernie.com/prints/) though there is a possibility of custom sizes with some discussion. (Do you want to know how much it cost to SCAN that mofo so I could even DO prints??? $250!!!) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-opal-shes-everywhere/484555.md?page=2)