Errr…More of the Straight Dope. I was 10 when Return . . . came out. Still haven’t read it.
jessica
An oh-so-innocent link loomed in front of me. It beckoned my name. The Straight Dope. I clicked on the link and found myself browsing among many enlightening topics at the message boards. Yet I had still not put two and two together. These boards could surely not pop up in the middle of nowhere without some reason. In addition, who was this Cecil they kept referring to? Was he the great and fearless leader of these boards?
One day, in a flash of inspiration, I reasoned that if these boards were at boards.straightdope.com, then something had to be at http://www.straightdope.com. Lo and behold, all of Cecil’s columns! I wept with joy! I had beckoned numerous Cecil writings onto my computer screen! I spent untold hours trying to find what guidance Cecil could provide for my life, not to mention trying to find the answers to many questions which had consumed me for years. My life will never be as ignorant as it was before again.
[sub]If this is a witnessing thread, do I need to reference Cecil 3:16? Should I call this my Cecil-mony?[/sub]
Started reading Uncle Cece in the Phoenix New Times, back when they carried Straight Dope and Miss Manners, before they decided that the paper’s mission in life is to expose wrongdoing and injustice, and “fun” columns just wouldn’t fit in anymore. Don’t know how long ago, but when the first Straight Dope book appeared on the bookshelves, I snapped it up instantly as an old fan.
Now, they are all loaned out, and I can’t find a one. (snif) …Have to rely on the website and the board, I guess.
Y’know, I honestly can’t remember.
I assume I saw a link somewhere; I was under the direction of the Gods of Random Surfing, I guess you could say.
Unless it was the gentle guiding hand of Cecil himself…
Yes, that’s it! Cecil sent me a message! I am a Chosen of Cecil!
[sub]Okay, maybe I need to get a little sleep now, and switch to decaf…[/sub]
I leaned about it from a fellow SF fan and writer. She had moved into the area and we had set up a date to meet with them. In the meantime, she had written a letter to the local paper, to tell them the lyrics to “Louie, Louie.” When we met, I mentioned the letter and told her I was impressed she knew the lyrics. She told me she got them from the first Straight Dope book.
The rest is history.
Got a copy of the Chicago Reader on a trip to Chicago in 90 and didn’t find him again until I ran across a copy of The Straight Dope in a used bookstore. (Obviously, someone had no idea of the value of what they had discarded, but I was happy to profit from their ignorance.) After that it was a long wait before I ran across him again on AOL in 96. (Cecil is, in fact, responsible for my continuing with AOL for three months after I had planned to drop it entirely.)
I need to make the Chicago pilgrimage. 
me three! i was surfing the internet when i found this site, http://www.bored.com , and it referred me to the straight dope, and i, too, found the archives first before figuring out how to get into the MB. 
sheepish grin
me three! i was surfing the internet when i found this site, http://www.bored.com , and it referred me to the straight dope, and i, too, found the archives first before figuring out how to get into the MB. sheepish grin
Me four. Dear Husband e-mailed me a link to thie site from work and got me hooked. Have to have at least a daily fix now. Damn him. Can’t get through the day without an SD column or a look at the message boards. I haven’t posted much yet - I’m still one of those creepy lurkers.
Nat
I guess I’ll need a signature if I’m going to start posting…
I was waiting to see my mom after she had breast cancer surgery. We knew we were gonna have to wait so I went to the bookstore and this book caught my eye, it was the trade paperback of More of The Straight Dope…I read it and I got hooked, this was about 1989…years later I got on the Internet and found this site from http://www.amused.com…and that’s when Cecil changed my life…praise Cecil!!!
Keith
I like reading alternative newspapers like the “Chicago Reader”. So I have been familiar with the collumn for 10 years or so.
It took me forever to find out Mr. Adams was online too…
=)
My sister gave me a copy of the first Cecil book back in '87 or so. I was going to school at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and started picking up the Reader. I found the web site around three years ago, but didn’t start reading the boards until a little over a year ago. I think something caught my eye in threadspotting.
My dad handed me this book that was supposed to explain why wintergreen LifeSavers made sparks when you chew them. I hadn’t known that they did, so I didn’t delve into it right away, but nothing goes unread for long around me. I took it to college with me and tried to spread the word, but no one was interested.
[[Now, they are all loaned out, and I can’t find a one. (snif) …Have to rely on the website and the board, I guess.]] Theo
Not true! Get Straight Dope Books Here
ps - best pizza in New Mexico? You can eat pizza in Chicago. In New Mexico we have chile rellenos.
Happy 50th Birthday, Ed.
Jill
specifically The War Prayer. One of the links led to the Straight Dope Home Page, and the threadspotting thread was one (which I won’t link here) called “There’s a spider in my bathroom,” by Demo (then Democritus). I first posted there, and found inspiration for my name from the subject.
I didn’t find the War Prayer till just this week, when Louis B posted the link in one of the Pit threads about the WTC and Pentagon attacks.
Thanks, Cecil. And happy birthday, Ed.
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A few other hats for other well-wishers.
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And now, back to the regularly scheduled thread.
huge props to nostradamus! very funny, sir or madam.
Let’s see…this was probably '86 or so. I know I was 8 or 9 at the time.
My mom bought a copy of the first book to read on the way home from my grandparents’ house. As usual, she fell asleep about ten minutes into the trip. So, I found it and read it. It was the coolest book I’d ever seen. I thought Cecil was hilarious. Plus, it had a chapter called S-E-X. :eek: When you’re 8 it just doesn’t get any better than that!
I’ve read all the books he’s put out since then, and one day I thought to search for him on the Web. Hmmm…come to think of it, I may have originally found the old AOL website, since the first ISP we had was AOL and I know this was more that 4 years ago. Anyway, I’ve lurked on and off for years, and last month I registered. So here I am! Howdy!
I was surfing the net for a good BB where I could discuss all sorts of interesting topics. I took about 9 months before I finally found this place.
I am not familiar with Cecil except what I have found at this site. I am familiar a similar type of straight dope as my mother used to purchase those other books like “Why do Poodles have wet noses ?” and “Do penguins have knees ?”