I discovered the books in the 80’s, and found the column online in the late 90’s, when the local alternative paper was getting rather spotty in carrying it.
I lurked on the message board since '99, and finally signed up in early 2000.
What she said, verbatim.
I read the Chicago Backward "R"eader.
I had never heard of The Straight Dope or Cecil Adams. Someone on some board, blog, or what not (I can’t recall) that I frequented posted a link to the What if The Lord of the Rings Had Been Written by Someone Else thread.
I never looked back.
The books of Cecil’s columns. I joined the bb and forgot about it for 2 years. And then one day, I had some time on my hands and there was an interesting debate going on re the Confederate flag being made into a prom dress, and I’m still here…
I sat next to the bookshelf in my eighth grade science class. When I got bored, I’d lean over and grab a book. Happened to grab The Straight Dope one day. I was intrigued, and after some, I asked my teacher if I could borrow it after class. He said yes, so I did. To make a long story short, I was hooked and I’ve been mostly lurking here for four years. :eek:
That teacher’s always been my favorite.
They begged me.
What brought me here was weekend-evening-shift-boredom and a mention of The Dope over at Snopes.
I lurked for a long time–my only internet access was at work, and I was paranoid about posting from my workstation.
holy crap! I just realized I joined about a month before QtM! :eek: Man, he’s got like twenty-five point something times the number of posts I do, lol. I always think of him as being one of the big names from way-back, so it’s hard to imagine I’ve been a member longer’n him.
I was just getting to know the internet a bit, shortly after we got online access. There was a link from the AOl welcome page to Weird News From the Wires or something like that. I checked it out and there was a link there to the Straight Dope. Took a look and there was cmkeller talking about creation, and Rowan posting something intriguing, can’t remember what, so I signed up. Been spending waaay too much time her ever since.
Yes, but you missed (or, more likely, deliberately ignored) the part where they said “…to please shut up!”
I was in a discussion on another message board about the mythology behind Star Wars, and someone linked to a post on the old AOL Straight Dope message board in mid-late '98. I started reading articles, joining in discussions, and well, here I am.
I’ve read Cecil’s column in the Reader for many years, and have been reading it online for pretty much as long as it’s been online. For whatever reason, the “message board” link never registered with me until about a year ago. Once it did, I was hooked.
A friend e-mailed Scylla’s Horror of the Blimp to me as well. I was instantly hooked and signed up almost right away.
When the SDMB went to pay, I had no problem ponying up the money. It was well spent, as far as I was concerned.
A friend of mine at work got me hooked on the site. I wandered over to the boards and voila, I was hooked.
None of our papers carry Unca Cece either, and we even have a local “Reader”.
I’ve been a fan of odd bits of trivia and useless information for years. One year hub got me the first Straight Dope book for Christmas as a lark. The AOL board was mentioned in the book so I went off to teh internets to find my little corner of the world. The AOL board was shutting down at the time and moving over here (that was like mid 2000, iirc). I lurked for quite a while before registering because I was in awe of the clever usernames. I couldn’t be clever enough to have a Shirley Ujest or Czarcasm inspiration so I waited to register until I couldn’t stand it anymore. I’ve been addicted ever since.
I was unhappy with the direction of a political discussion site I was a member of, and someone linked to an article here. I have been hooked since.
I work a night shift all alone in an office and peruse everything here.
I honestly can’t even remember. The SDMB seemed so trivial in the beginning compared to all the other websites that I never really took notice until I began to post more, and more, and now it’s a daily addiction.
Was this right after your departure from the NBA?
I was reading Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader, when I came across some story that referenced an article by Cecil Adams of the Straight Dope. Not having a clue what it was, I looked it up on the internet and wound up here.
I signed up a few days before my 17th birthday, damn how quickly time flies…
Yeah, there are a lot of really smart people that post here. Basically we kick ass in that regard. Let us know when your B-day is so that we can wish you a happy “Sweet Sixteen”. How precious.Will you get one of those HUGE parties that all the big celebrities show up at? That would be sweet to see Larry The Cable Guy, and Reba Mac and Tire.
Soon you’ll be old enough to drive, then nothing can stop you. Well, the barrels full of water are supposed to stop you, but if you hit them just right, it’s like bumper cars. I hear they make a pretty good splash, I’ll let you know.