Ok I was reading an thread that said opal had passed on and I wondered if they were talking about the same poster that started the “hi opal” on every thread meme (tho no one called it that back then) or if it was a diffrent one that I missed in the 10 years or so I was off the board …
Yes, it was the same poster. Learning of her passing was a very sad experience for me.
[ol]
[li]Yes, it was the same OpalCat who gave rise to the meme.[/li][li]No, it wasn’t anyone else.[/li][li]Hi, Opal![/li][/ol]
oh wow she was one of the more interesting posters back then as long as religion didn’t get in the conversation …
Religion? Think you’re thinking of the wrong person. I can’t recall Opal in too many religious threads.
Oh, and for the record, Opal herself didn’t actually ‘start’ the meme. It arose out of a thread talking about how many things were required to make a list…
Can’t remember who the first person was to put HI OPAL at :3
Here’s a post from Dec 2000 where she says it started back in the AOL days:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=971670&postcount=8
So was the question awkward or was Opal awkward? Or both?
That’s a post where she says someone else started it (using “Hi Opal” as the third item of a list.)
Right. The OP mentioned that Opal started it. She didn’t. It was someone else.
Sorry, Cochrane, I had a synaptic misfire there.
And IIRC, Opal found it annoying and wished people would stop using it.
No, as early as 2002 she embraced it. She even made a shirt for it.
She also had a custom title. Something like “Third on a list”, I don’t remember exactly.
She may have found it annoying at times, but I happened to meet her a couple of times at dopefests and when I asked her about it she said that she didn’t mind it.
Also, it’s surprisingly hard to work “hi Opal” into a conversation when you’re actually saying hi to Opal.
Not religion, but buckeyes. She started a thread (sorry, can’t find it) about buckeyes that began, continued and ended totally off the tracks. Can anyone link to it?
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10576940
found via a link from
found via a 1/2 second google search of sdmb opalcat buckeyes
If this is what you’re looking for, you’re welcome.
Here ya go:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10576940#post10576940
And here’s where she got pitted for the buckeye thread:
Wish I’d been around in those days. I’m beginning to realize I missed meeting a number of memorable folks.
Post #2 and #3
And rarely does a day go by when I don’t have some thought or memory of her. Especially when one of the zombies gets revived and I catch a series of her posts. 
Honestly, I miss her, too.