# The Official SDMB Press Conference. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2004, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871 "2004-04-25T02:30:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/1 "2004-04-25T02:30:05Z")
Okay everyone, here is your chance to ask that one burning question of another Doper that you have always wanted to ask. I’ll go first. Ginger Of The North, what _DO_ you see in Weird Dave? Rue De Day, are you really Dave Barry incognito? ---
**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/2 "2004-04-25T14:08:20Z")
Eve, what did you know, and when did you know it? ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/3 "2004-04-25T17:08:24Z")
Chicago Faucet: How many posts before a doper is comfortable enough that s/he doesn’t suffer from embarrassment or paranoia when their thread goes belly up before it even got started? I really need to know because I’m still new, a bit paranoid, and slightly embarrassed after starting two bankrupt threads. 😃 And yes, I’m sorry, I really mean well, but this is a pity post. _hugs_ ---
**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/4 "2004-04-25T23:00:25Z")
[Official Sounding Voice] Well, uh, Cinnamon Girl, I’m glad that you asked. You see, the crux of what you are alluding to can be summed up, uh, by realizing that if your thread turns out to be a dud, uh, no one looked at it anyways. So, it will just drop off the bottom of the list without anyone even noticing. Your embarrassment and paranoia stem from your mother. I cannot show any physical affection towards you, uh, for fear of litigation, so you are left to hug yourself. [/Official Sounding Voice] ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/5 "2004-04-26T01:25:30Z")
You started a thread solely to ask me what I saw in my husband. I don’t see your motivation here. Why not ask Shayna what she sees in Spiny Norman? Or Heloise in Coldfire, or Anniz in Montfort, or MsRobyn in Airman Doors? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/6 "2004-04-26T06:05:34Z")
> [@Cinnamon Girl](#): > > Chicago Faucet: How many posts before a doper is comfortable enough that s/he doesn’t suffer from embarrassment or paranoia when their thread goes belly up before it even got started? > > I really need to know because I’m still new, a bit paranoid, and slightly embarrassed after starting two bankrupt threads. 😃 > > And yes, I’m sorry, I really mean well, but this is a pity post. _hugs_ Your “no panties at work” thread went big-time. You get no pity. That said, _I_ could get a thread off the ground if I said “panties” in the title. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/7 "2004-04-26T07:02:26Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > That said, _I_ could get a thread off the ground if I said “panties” in the title. You may be brighter than you think! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/8 "2004-04-26T20:35:10Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > You started a thread solely to ask me what I saw in my husband. I don’t see your motivation here. Vanity search, accidental discovery or tipped-off? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/9 "2004-04-26T21:21:57Z")
“Tipped off,” I guess. A friend noticed this and I hadn’t opened the thread until she mentioned it. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/10 "2004-04-26T22:15:24Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > Your “no panties at work” thread went big-time. You get no pity. Link? Dirty old men like me have enquiring minds that want to know… ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Star_to_the_Right)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/11 "2004-04-26T23:09:25Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Link? Dirty old men like me have enquiring minds that want to know… [Linkety-link.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=250194) Now don’t say I never did anything for ya. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/12 "2004-04-26T23:55:11Z")
This is directed at all posters. Are there any “famous” people in the teeming millions? I mean, we could all brag that like "You have more money then me? Yeah! Well! I talk to (insert famous person here)! Thats right (insert famous person here)! I swear, I won’t rat you out to the press. SDMB Honor. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/13 "2004-04-27T00:19:00Z")
Oh relax, Ginger. I’m just trying to have some fun and get people involved. I am very amused by you and your husband’s posts, so take this as flattery. But, no one has asked a question yet. So, here’s another one: Lynn Bodoni, what special powers do you wield, real or imaginary, as an administrator? And, how did you become one? And, Flamingbananas, there was a thread about six months ago or so about the very same topic. If I remember correctly, there weren’t any big revelations. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/14 "2004-04-27T00:20:01Z")
Um… er… _keeps thoughts to self regarding certain things posted in the thread_ To Dopers who have had a long-distance relationship: How did you make it work out? F\_X ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/15 "2004-04-27T01:47:50Z")
> [@Flamsterette\_X](#): > > To Dopers who have had a long-distance relationship: How did you make it work out? I can contribute to this one! My wife and I were long distance by 1200 miles. We subscribed to the same publication for collectors of certain items, and she replied to my classified ad. She bought a few things from me, and we became friendly in letters. At first they were just short letters. Then we discovered that we had all these other things in common that were too poignant not to explore, so we did! The letters grew in length, to ridiculous amounts like 37 pages. We told each other everything about ourselves, and did this for two years. After six months, I saved up the cash to fly down here to meet her in person. I was nervous as hell. I don’t mean butterflies-in-the-stomach nervous, I mean **really nervous**. But we knew each other already, and it went well enough that she flew up to visit me at 10 and 14 months into our relationship, and I went again at 18 months. Meanwhile, we spent hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars on phone calls. At the end of the 22nd month, I flew down here for good, and a week later we were married. It’ll be 6 years in a couple of weeks. Those are the details. As for how we made it work out, well, I guess we realized that we would not likely ever meet someone else with whom we had such a connection, and we’d better not do anything to mess it up. That’s how we still approach it. The “love buzz” has mellowed a lot from the first year or so, but everyone’s does, and you get down to being married people. We’re friends, first and foremost, and we want to remain friends. We treat each other like people who want the other to like us. There’s a lot of respect involved, and we don’t say things to each other that we are going to regret, wherever possible. We don’t behave in ways that are going to make us wonder what we did this for in the first place. Put another way, my wife was such an amazing person that I was willing to give up my family, my friends and my country to come here and be with her, and I haven’t regretted it for a second. It took me 37 years to find her. If she had not shown up out of the blue in my mailbox, I shudder to think that I’d still be doing the same thing I was 6 years ago. Gawd, that’d be horrible! I’ve grown into the kind of man that she wants to be married to. So here we are, and I love her like you couldn’t imagine! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/16 "2004-04-27T03:23:34Z")
**Pseudotriton Ruber Ruber** , what does your handle mean? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/17 "2004-04-27T11:14:27Z")
[Pseudotriton Ruber Ruber](http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=173681) and [some photos](http://www.livingunderworld.org/gallery/photos/caudata/plethodontidae/pseudotriton/ruber/). Of course, if you meant “_Why_ use _that_ screen name” I guess the question still stands. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-sdmb-press-conference/241871/18 "2004-04-27T12:43:34Z")
Thanks, **tom**. I thought it sounded like some kind of sci-fi thing. Nice to know the real deal, maybe I can get it out of my head now. 😉