You know, I always wondered about the number of Tennesseans on this Board.
To the best of my knowledge, The Straight Dope has never been published in any Tennessee newspaper, ever.
How come we have so many Dopers from Tennessee?
They’re really bored?
(And they’re all wired due to the groundbreaking work of Al Gore, who invented the internet. 
)
I didn’t live in TN when I started here…but then, I got here from another set of message boards rather than from any familiarity with Cecil Adams or what the Straight Dope is.
Naturally I know now…
Tennesseeans are just naturally inclined to the adventurous spirit of things new and provocative. It’s the Volunteer State after all. If it weren’t for Tennesseans there’s a reasonable chance there wouldn’t be any Texans and you know where that would lead.
On the serious side of this issue, there’s just a natural curiosity and willingness to explore avenues to the truth in this part of the country. In spite of some of the figures that are used to display such information, some Tennesseans made it through school and learned a few of the things that are taught in them.
I first heard of the Straight Dope when A&E had the short-lived series on TV … watched it religiously. And, well, it disappeared, I finally got internet access and, as they say, the rest is history.
Zeldar, please don’t advertise that. The rest of the country looks down on us enough, as is. If they realize that our volunteers helped to bring Texas into the fold, then we’ll really get it.
And to answer the OP: I was directed here by a friend from Vancouver. I’d never heard of Cecil or the Dope before that fateful day.
I came here because of FARK. I noticed that several of the articles came from SD so I started reading through the site. Then I started on the message board. Now I never visit FARK and spend way too much time here when I should be doing work (like right now).
Cable?
My mother bought a couple of the Straight Dope books and after reading them I found the website. Some years later I now post occasionally, but only occasionally. ;>
Heretic.
Cecil is inescapable. Many have tried–and failed. Truth, pissant attitude and a willingness to take on mind-boggling questions will do that for a man. Just check out his columns.
No wonder he’s cranky.
How did TN discover Cece? Could be, oh maybe, bookstores, the Internet…stuff like that.
You thought there was safe zone?
I started with the first SD book, but the column was briefly published in the Memphis Flyer a few years ago. I’m still not sure why they quit. Idjits.
-Lil
I found one of the Straight Dope books in the library a long time ago and got hooked. When I got Internet access, I found the site. Then I found out about message boards and said “let’s see what that link at the top of the page does”. Then I lost many, many hours of my life…
But I, too, have often wondered about the many Tennesseans on the board. Is there a higher per capita number of Tennesseans here than from other states?
Someone on another board had “Fighting ignorance since…” as a sig for a while. I googled the phrase and for the SDMB. In fact, I read the columns and lurked for a long time before I tried posting here.
StG
Back in the summer of 1987, I was depressed wandering around a bookstore, looking for something to read to cheer me up, when I found the book. I was instantly hooked, and reread it until the next one came out (several eternities later), which I promptly bought and devoured.
Then, in 2001, tired of Cecil not answering my questions, I registered here, and have been annoying the hell out of folks ever since.