We 99ers–we who joined the SDMB back in 1999.
How many there were, and how few left.
Some died, & shall always miss them.
Other were banned, and are missed to greater or lesser degrees.
Most just…vanished. Alive? Dead? Abducted by aliens, to keep Elvis & Bigfoot company? We’ll never know.
Are you a 99er?
If so, post here, and share a memory or two, if you are inclined.
I remember Phaedrus. (I posted to the I-Hate-Inside-Jokes thread in the Pit in the manner of Phaedrus, but I’m not sure anyone got it.) Satan and David with the Left Behind Board invasion. I always knew that would come to no good. I remember when Czar was Slythe and said something like that he would kill my God with a sword if he encountered Him. I remember thinking that Tris was an atheist and David and Gaudere were male lovers. What else? Oh, yeah. I remember the Up the Butt, Bob thread. Oy.
Joined up about the same time as Bosdra.
More of a personal memory: I remember having a back-and-forth in Great Debates with Stoid about the legitimacy of Bush’s election. At the end of it all, I asked her a cite for something or another. Instead of providing the site, she wrote that a thread had been done about it in the past, and asked “weren’t you around when that was discussed?”
I remember december and Collounsbury, though it hasn’t been that long since they were booted off.
Revisited some of the Melin-gate threads recently. Yikers. Wonder how that would go down today.
:smack :
Well, I fat-fingered that one …
Bosdra = Bosda
Sorry about that.
My first post was on the AOL Straight Dope board. If I remember right, I answered a question about Gatorade®. I was quoting, and misquoting, an article in Sports Illustrated, from memory. In that one post, I managed to piss off four people; flaming was not relegated to the Pit in those days. I was unclear in one place, and I made some factual errors (including mis-identifying the University of Florida as Florida State University.)
That would have chased off some folks, but not me. My dad had called me worse kinds of dimwit when I was a sprout. I knew I was a fool sometimes, but I knew the difference between ignorance and stupidity. I stayed because there was a lot I could learn here, and once in a while there’s something I can teach. Yeah, sure, giggle into your hat, but it’s true.
Disclaimer: IAN (I am Nott.)
Wow, I don’t feel like I’ve been here for almost five years. I don’t think I’ve posted anything terribly memorable in that time, though… I should probably get to work on that.
I think I came across the original board on AOL way back when, but I didn’t recognize it after it had gone to the Web in 1999. I remember when the board ran fairly quickly! 
User 239 here. I spent many an hour after school in the library wandering the boards and #sd. Not a thing has changed.
I remember Melin, the creation of 3FMB, WallyM7, and slythe. The numbers of mods has about doubled since then. I remember when sanibelman actually posted once in a while. I always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, though… I never really caught in-jokes as they were created, except for 1920’s Style “Death ray,” which is hardly an old phenomenon. I remember annoying the crap out of people in #sd reiterating that I was jjtm. People always seemed to confuse me with jjimm and Chef Troy.
Man. Checking my join-date, It’s officially been five years here. Sounds about right; I’ve spent a lot of time here. Easiest five bucks I ever spent.
Hey, can us '99ers be “Inaugural Members” or something? 
Feh. I guess since I joined on 1/25/2000, I’m not good enough to be a member of your little club. 
Isn’t slythe now Czarcasm?
Zev Steinhardt
Howdy.
Let’s see…I remember Wally and I remember post count parties and the bannination thereof.
I was only 15 at the time, and I can see the tremendous maturation of me (ok, maybe not so much), over the past five years. I got pitted once (or I pitted someone else, I don’t remember), for posting a thread asking if I should tell my girlfriend I wanted to be with her forever, and then getting mad at people for telling me I was too young. Upsetting at the time, but just amusing now.
There’s been a lot since then, both on the boards and off. I’ll be here for a while (I just haven’t gotten around to paying yet) longer, I think…
I’m surprised no one has asked whether Czar used to be Slythe, especially since I mentioned it.
D’OH!
: hanging my head in shame and going to sit in the corner waiting for someone to whack me on the snout with a rolled up newspaper :
Zev "I-obviously-didn’t-read-the-whole-thread-and-I’m-truly-ashamed-of-it Steinhardt
Are we gonna get a reunion so that we can brag about or jobs, our SOs and then point and laugh at those who got bald?
I’m in.
Oh, man… about two years ago, I went back and looked at some of my first posts. I’m amazed I survived here. What a dipshit I was! If I’d joined now and acted that way, I woulda been run out of here but quick.
I remember stumbling through the AOL SD site, but I don’t know if I ever posted to the board. I’d like to think so, then I could be one of them AOL SDers that trumps us '99ers. I do remember, after AOL wiped the SD site, there was a direct link that would bring you to the AOL SD MB. I’m sure it’s gone by now, but I might have posted around then, too.
Amen to that. I think I had a thread in the Pit where I was pitting a friend of mine IRL, and we were posting back and forth to each other while sitting there in study hall, and everyone in the thread basically said “What the fuck is up with you immature assholes?” Maybe we could get those posts deleted. Mods, if you need to delete those posts to get the board to run faster, don’t let me stop you.
And I DO post. My posts just get ignored. (See a recent thread in the Pit, that was followed by two threads on the same subject by others that got much higher responses. I can’t win.)
When I joined I lurked for a while before posting. The first really memorable thread I recall was Coldfire’s “May 5, 1945” thread.
I remember meeting my fellow Dopers for the first time in Kansas City. I was nervous about it, wondering what they would think I was like IRL. It was Ender, Homer, and Juniper if I recall correctly.
I remember when slythe decided to change his name (I’m surprised no one else has brought it up ). To my recollection, he was the first to ask the board to rename him (testing out his then-fairly-new IMHO forum), and he came very close to ending up being Chicken of Bristol. That one came from evilbeth, and was winning by a long way over all options until Mercutio thought up Czarcasm.
The threads:
Wow. Looking at those old threads, it’s fascinating to note how many active people from back then aren’t ‘Charter Members’ yet. Of course, a lot are. I hope the big sign-up email from Ed will get some of those valued former poster back in the fold.
I’m actually looking forward to the boards in the fall, since the last presidential election season was so much fun to watch in GD. Much heat under many collars, but mostly civilized debate over it all. I was mostly too timid to participate, but it was a lot of good reading.
Remember when the boards used HTML code and you could use images right there in threads? I can’t actually remember anyone ever using those features for a good purpose, but I remember them.
I remember when Contestant #3 was the bad boy of the board. Also, a long debate about prayer at Cessandra HS graduation. Issues about Satan being on the ahem receiving end. When Flora met Ike. The Loverock debacle. The Icelandic invasion. Political discussions that were not immediately polarized and vitriolic. And lots and lots of great posters who no longer choose to join us.
**Mega The Roo ** was around alot then, IRC. and **Nachos4Sara **, both of whom always were entertaining, intelligent and somehow now have something called a LIFE.
Like Phil Dennison. I miss him very much. And Spiritus Mundi doesn’t post much anymore. I even miss DavidB. He drives by once in a while.