I’ve tried to get my father to log on to here occasionally, but it will probably have to wait until I get back home to OH and can actually physically show him. Most of my friends know of this place, though I don’t believe any post here.
Ayesha…you are an evil woman, you know that right? (And I hope you were intelligent enough to not be standing in front of said uncle while you spoke to him.)
My wife knows I post here, but she has her own board she posts on regularly. She and I met on the internet, so it’s not so strange to her. 
As I have mentioned before, my kids call you all my “strange dope” friends.
My hubby has gone to one major and one mini dopefest. He has registered, but is having a little password problem. He likes to say he came here the “normal” way. You know, meet people then call them your friends.
Nobody in real life knows I post here. The name “neuro-trash grrrl” would draw blank stares if you mentioned it to my family, friends, or colleagues. I like it this way, if someone I knew in real life were here, I’d probably hold back a lot more than I do. Although if I read something interesting or knee-slappingly funny here, I will often repeat it to my family or friends, and when they ask where I heard it, I say “Oh, on the internet somewhere…”
Uh, I met my SO here, so there isn’t really a question of sharing it in my case, is there? 
I’ve also given the address to my mom and a few relatives but they either didn’t go or weren’t interested. I’m kind of obligated to talk about the board when I relate how I met my SO and I usually get the kind of looks Eve so acurately describes above. Like, “Oh, you met her on the internet???” Sheesh!
Mrs. Pluto treats my participation here with something between disdain and bewilderment. (“Satan? You talk to somebody named Satan?”) I’ve shared a few of the best threads with her but she still doesn’t get the attraction.
She’s been a good sport about it, though. She knows who Eve is, since I’ve got her complete works stacked on my nightstand, and it was okay with her that I attended the NorthCalDopeFest (“Just don’t expect me to be there!”) She was sympathetic when I told her about Wally, although she didn’t know who he was. Once I tried to explain to her about Ukulele Ike’s recipe for Jazzmine’s little ducklings but that was too far removed from her world to make any sense. (“He was going to cook some cute little ducklings?”)
Narile said
Yes dear, I know and I like it that way. And I was sitting off to the side of the uncle. He never missed a bite tho. Heck, he drives a taxi, nothing schocks him.
On the one hand, I get such a kick out of the humor, debates, and personal stories I hear here that I have to share them. I very often will say “I heard on the Message Board” or “some one on the Message Board said . . .” and when people asked me about Miss Eve’s book, I cheerfully told them “a woman I know from this Message Board I go to is the author”.
That said, I don’t often tell people which Message Board. Not that I post things here that I wouldn’t post in real life but, well, it’s sort of my own private refuge. Plus, if I tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on, we’d be overrun! It may be selfish, but I like to keep a place this cool to myself.
(Smilie omitted in deference to the Chief.)
Actually, this place kinda reminds me of the rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc and alt.romance.chat newsgroups.
jodih said:
[/quote]
Not that I post things here that I wouldn’t post in real life but…
[/quote]
(Bolding Mine)
Notice she said post in real life… Huh?
My name is Jodi
:: all: Hi, Jodi! ::
and I . . . I . . . I’m addicted to the Straight Dope Message Board.
It started a little over a year ago when one of my friends asked me if I wanted a little hit. They said it was perfectly harmless and that all the cool kids were doing it. So I, I signed in, inhaling deeply for maximum effect.
And I haven’t been able to stop! Sometimes I log on when I’m on vacation just to see what people are talking about. I’ve been on dates and in meetings where I find myself idly wondering if someone’s replied to a thread I’m interested in. When I hear something funny or witty, I make a mental note to try to post it the next day.
*:: Sob :: *
I’ve tried to stop; honestly, I have. But I get that feeling like little tiny bugs are crawling under my skin and I have to post again. I’m afraid it’s hopeless. Go on, just leave me here, alone in this dark room with my computer and 7000+ people I haven’t met. No, really, go on. Really. I’m right behind you, I swear, I just have to post this one thing . . . .
Oh well, have SD as one of my favorite sites on profile , what can I say, I have nothing to hide.
I’m with the Chief and others - I don’t want to share. I try to keep this place to myself and when I find myself repeating things I’ve read here, I tell people I read it “somewhere on the internet,” and that usually satisfies them.
Mr. Mayo is registered but is seldom active. I read posts to him or point some out for him to read and a lot of times I ask him to glance over my replies. (I think I make him laugh more than I do some of you guys - but that’s one of the reasons I adore him.) He knows some of the regs and why I had to rush out for my own copy of “Anna Held.” He understands. That’s another reason I adore him.
Eve- could you get away with calling us your pen pals?
I love the pen pals idea! It’s has a grounding in a non-Doper’s RL experience, yet is geeky enough to keep them from inquiring further. We can keep the SDMB for ourselves while being honest enough with our loved ones!
There is no point trying to explain what *The Dope * is to someone in the outside world. They are in the dark. WE are in the LIGHT. The Light of knowledge. The Light of Truth. The Light of Irony, Sarcasm and Wit. They have something called lives. WE have *this *.
Let us all stand in a circle and go " Ommmmmmmmmmmm"
It’s not??? Damn. I thought I just kept missing the links…
<walks off, mumbling to self>
Seriously, I described the MB to my mom as just like a group of 7000 pen pals, but with instant access to the letteres each writes. She understood that. My wife dosen’t understand at all, and really shows no interest in learning. It drives me nuts at times, and can be a source of friction.
" What do you mean you are going to Vegas/Balto dopefest? You don’t even know these people!" Um, yes, I do. Many of them very well, in fact. I had to explain why I was upset when Wally passed away, but at least she was sympathetic. And I am damn tired of hearing " Who the fuck is techchic/Cristi/CECIL/MrCynical/etc…" These are friends, damnit, friends! Why is that so hard?
I tell my friends and family about this place. Most of them aren’t on the internet or wouldn’t be interested in something like this anyway. I was at a bridal shower a few weeks back and was telling my mom about the Chicago Dopefest. The other ladies at the table were intrigued, wanting to know if the people I met were “normal” and if I was nervous, and they commented that it was good that I brought my husband with, you know… for “protection.” :rolleyes:
My husband knows all about this place. I am trying to get him to sign up, but I’m not sure it’ll happen. He was at the Chicago gathering and enjoyed himself, but he’s not sure he really “gets” this place.
Fortunately, I booted the Ex out so what he would think is a moot point. (Just for reference, he wouldn’t have “gotten” this place; too much repartee and substance. His tastes ran to extremely seamy sex chats–with f2f liasons following.)
I snuggle this place to myself. To be honest, I don’t think many of my f2f friends would “get it”. This is where I can hang out and be myself. Sometimes it’s hard, trying to convey some essence of the experience here without getting The Look. You know, the one that says, “Oh, God, she’s gotten sucked into some degenerate Internet mess!”
They don’t understand the vitality and friendships here. That’s okay; I do and it’s great.
Veb
I just joined this board and I am already becoming addicted. I found out about this board at one of my favorite websites http://www.jokeaday.com. I told a freind about it and he thinks I’m a freak.
I’m in the “read it somewhere on the 'net” camp.
Although I tell my husband about things that happen here, he’s into his own stuff so it’s just a point of conversation. He does understand, but has no interest in participating.
I like the pen pals analogy - it would make sense to most folks.
Although I’ve missed the Colorado dope fests, I’d really like to meet you folks.
But I do admit to some vague uneasiness about the fact that you can all get to my web site. Some of that unease is because I’m not happy with the design and I know that there are some broken links (I haven’t fixed the links because I’m going to redo the whole thing one of these days); and some of it is because I treasure the anonymity of this place. Can’t have it both ways, I guess.